Family Vacation at the Grove Park

Last weekend, the Pierce family headed up to The Grove Park Inn for a long weekend of relaxation and fun! And what fun we had! We drove up Thursday morning and the 4 1/2 hour drive was grueling to say the least as this was our first long trip as a family. All in all Will did great, but by the time we arrived we were ALL ready to be out of the car! Friday, Mom and Kelley and I headed out for the spa and got massages and facials which were both amazing, and Saturday the boys played golf. The weather was GREAT all weekend and thanks to a handicap bathroom (Will slept in his pack and play in the shower) we had a truly relaxing time! Thanks Mom and Dad!


Playing in the hotel room

 The view from our room...and what a gorgeous view it was!



My two handsome boys!

A little wrestle time with daddy...

I added this picture for two reasons: 1st to demonstrate how the humidity absolutely ruins my hair for the weekend and 2nd because I just love his sweet little face!

Me and my peanut!

Will in his favorite spot!



Why is my husband wearing a robe backwards to feed my son???... Because inevitably, Will either sneezes his food ALL over us or blows bubbles and gets the food everywhere...

My beautiful parents who were gracious enough to take us on this amazing vacation!

Uncle Drew, Aunt Kelley and sweet Miss Lucy at Dinner

I know I know...way too many pictures- I just can't help myself!

A Saturday of Solids....

Ok...so it has taken me as as long to write this post as it did to actually accomplish this project! About a month ago I set out for the farmers market with my mother in law, excited to take on the task of making Will's baby food. And so I bought what I thought to be a reasonable amount of veggies and fruits that I could find in season. Zak and I thought it would be fun to tackle the project the following Saturday morning while Will was taking his nap...how WRONG we were! The project took us 6 HOURS!!!! Note to self- never tackle 18 apples, 13 sweet potatoes, 3 bundles of carrots and a pound of peas in ONE day! Below tracks the WHOLE process!



All the produce...



Steaming the peas

The result of chopping and chopping and chopping...

 

We baked all the potatoes

Let the pureeing begin!

A two year supply of baby food! haha not really...but it did wind up being over two months worth!

and... the DISHES!

Will says THANK YOU as evidenced by how tight his pants are getting!

How to Miss a Child

What an incredible convicting article on how precious our time is with our little ones. There are many days I really miss my smart phone as we made the family decision to downgrade my phone to a basic phone when I quit my job to be with Will, but after reading this article I see the blessing in disquise that it truly is! Makes me think about how important it is to be a good steward of the precious time we have with our kids...

How to Miss a Childhood

The Curse of the Formula....

I know that many of my friends who have breastfed their babies have often said how nice they think it would be to know just how many ounces their little guys were getting at each feed! Well let me assure you, ignorance is bliss! As a result of being bottle fed, I know just how many ounces Will receives at each feed, and I must say, it is incredibly stressful to know that a full feed is between 6-7 ounces when my little guy recently seems to lose interest at 4 or 5! I know as his momma that that is NOT a full feed. On top of that, Will still gets so distracted eating that unless we feed him his bottle in the dark, with the lights off, he will ONLY eat 3 ounces and then stop. for good. 

I might not care so much if he had consistently been a wonderful sleeper or if we hadn't just dropped his 5th feeding of the day. I find myself stressing over it all day and wondering if as a result it will be a terrible night. I must say though, Will has rarely EVER woken in the night due to hunger so I recognize that I really just need to CHILL OUT and let my little man regulate himself.

ahhh motherhood... the never ending game of trial and error....with a moving target...

Most days I think I'd just choose ignorance.  But for now, we'll just take it one day at a time and pray that I don't get an ulcer!

Will: 6 Months old

I am so late, as usual putting this post up! My sweet baby Will turned 6 months old one week ago yesterday. We had our well check up and he did GREAT! This is BY FAR my favorite stage! He is showing so much of his little personality and is developing at a rapid pace!

The Skinny on Mr. Will:Age: 6 months
Weight: 17 pounds and 14.5 ounces (55%)
Height: 27.5 inches (85% ...seriously? what is going on here?!?)
Head: 43.5cm (55%)

Eating: My little peanut is LOVING real food and consuming quite an obnoxious amount. He eats breakfast, lunch and dinner which generally consists of a fruit and a vegetable and oatmeal. We planning to hold off on the meats and dairy for a while. He sometimes eats 3 stage 2 containers of food! He is less interested in his Milk, but still takes between 5-7 oz 5 times per day. We are working on dropping his dream feed and have it moved all the way back to 9:30pm. I would say in the next 2 weeks we will have completely eliminated that feeding! Yey! I can't wait. We started the little monkey on his very first sippy cup with water and he LOVES it. He still hasn't quite figured out that he has to tilt it back for anything to come out, so for now I am assisting.

Sleeping: Right at the 6 month mark we had some SERIOUS sleep regression where Will started waking up at midnight and was awake off and on for the rest of the night- a true nightmare. But once I realized he simply no longer wanted his feet confined in the sack, he has been sleeping from 7:30pm- 7am like a champ! He continues to take two 1.5 hour naps and we have eliminated the catnap between 3-7pm which seems to be working out better! This is the hugest area of encouragement to us in our home!


Will loves Tuck, Tucker is not the biggest fan of Will :)



Milestones: Will is literally ANY DAY from crawling. He is up on all fours rocking back and forth and often he even starts crying because he gets so frustrated. He has started scooching across the room though which is super exciting. I must say, he looks far more like a little boy to me than a baby which breaks my heart! He loves loves loves people and lights up every time we go visit the grandparents or when we get to the church nursery. Every Sunday when I pick him up after the service they tell me that he is the easiest baby. I'm just glad he saves his bad behavior for at home and not while we are out. He has been consistently sitting on his own for a good while now and seems to enjoy his new view. He definitely has started crying when I leave the room and lights up every time Daddy comes home! There is no shortage of talking out of the little guy and we hear lots of gagagag and dadadada...I myself am just waiting for the momomom!

Easter with the Shipman's

We had a very nice Easter this year with the Shipman's. We went to church Sunday morning with them and then had a super yummy lunch back at their house. We decided to take advantage of actually being dressed up, since we don't have to get that dressed up for Summit (our church).



Having a blast with my Grandpa

Mrs. Shipman comforting Zak after I informed him that 90% of the self timed pictures he took weren't good... He is one heck of an engineer, but I don't think he should ever quit his job for photography.

One of the very few family photos we have!

Will and Aunt Miranda!

Three generations...

What a beautiful Easter with our sweet family! Matthew 28: 6-10