{Clearwater Beach}

We love the Gulf beaches and headed even further south to Clearwater Beach for our next stop. After 3 nights at the first hotel and Ryker not sleeping I was on my phone the whole 2 hour drive to the beach reading article trying to find something new to try to get this CRAZY kid to sleep. And with no such luck {everything I was reading we have tried and it has not helped} I called our doctor and they told me he was actually teaching a sleep class the following week... if that was not an inspired phone call I don't know what is. 

 Is he not the cutest beach bum baby? He LOVE it here. He loved playing in the sand - well mostly eating it and he really loved the waves and water. When Ryker came to the beach the first time he HATED the waves and water. Even this time he was a bit hesitant. Ryker is VERY reserved and cautious and I have a feeling that Grayson is going to be the total opposite.  

 I think this might be the only picture then entire trip of Ryker with a smile. Silly guy. 

 Grayson was in heaven to actually take a nap in his bed and not in the ergo or car seat. He slept like a king with the ocean breeze and the sound of the crashing waves. We pretty much moved to the beach while we were here. You should have seen the looks we got while walking here. 

 Life doesn't get much better than this. Drinking "water juice" aka crystal light, eating cookies, and sitting in his own Ryker sized chair. 

 Brady was good and did some of this...studying for boards. 

 Ryker didn't love playing in the water much but he was in heaven just digging in the sand all day. 

 Oh and this is me... I was here even though I am usually the one behind the camera. 

 A crazy grumpy morning... After being up all night with Ryker, a sun burn, and sand in the sheets and Ryker refusing to go back to sleep at 5am I lost it. I put our shoes on and decided if he was not going to sleep then I would make him walk until he was tired and well I might as well "enjoy" a sunrise at the beach. We walked and he cried and we walked and he talked and I ignored him out of pure frustration... this went on for almost 1.5 hours and then we headed back to the motel for breakfast and me hoping for a nap but NOPE. This kid is so stubborn I am terrified for his teenage years. 

 So we headed to the beach for day 2 and we were all grumpy except for Gray and he was cutting teeth and the only one who had a good reason to be sad. It was not a very good day for anyone in our family and we are all getting more frustrated that Brady and I decided to call it quits and head back to Atlanta even though we were supposed to stay for another day. We thought that once we got our grumpy kids in the car they would zonk out fast out of pure exhaustion but NOPE wrong again. We got to enjoy 5 solid hours of screaming/crying from our little gems. I was so angry by this point that I was not even tired. Sad way to end what we wanted to be such a fun filled memory vacation. But I guess that is just part of being a parent and reality that our children will be turkeys and maybe we just wont do a big vacation for a while. 

Oh and I thought this was really sad. Ryker would not let me put sunscreen close to his eyes and he got fried under his eyes only. It was really weird/sad looking. 

Here is to hoping Ryker starts sleeping better again and that our next family vacation is more fun that this was... if we take one. 

{My Handsome Man}

Brady is on his way to Nashville today for his first interview with a company that we really want to work for {he had some interviews here in Atlanta but we didn't really want to work for them. He just used them as practice}. I am so proud of Dr. Wood! He has worked so hard to get to this point and he is ready to be working in a clinic. We wish you luck Sweets! I know you will do awesome! 

 I think he looks so hot in his new suit! 

GQ right?! 

{Disney World}

We decided to "treat" our family to a fun vacation for surviving PT school and headed to Disney World and the beach. Read on to find out why this was a biter/sweet vacation. The boys were both really go for the drive down to Florida and we were thrilled to have a good start to our trip. 

Day one at Disney World went really well. The boys were awesome and Ryker was having such a blast even with it being a million degrees and SUPER humid. He was a total daddy's boy and would not go on a single ride with me. Kinda sad. 

 We were all super happy to play in the water at the splash pad and cool down. 

 Grayson was a champ and spent both days in the ergo. 

 Ryker LOVED driving the race car with daddy. 

 The only characters Ryker was interested in meeting was Daisy and Minnie. We waited like 30 mins to meet them and he was SO excited until we got up there and then he turned super shy. 

 Gray loved both of them though. 

 Ryker totally has a crush on Daisy. On our last day at the park we let the boys pick out a toy and Ryker found a Daisy stuffed animal that he fell in love with and carried it around the store and was set on it until at the last minuet he found a Captain Hook ship and decided to get that instead. I wish I would have gotten a photo of him hugging it. 

 Ryker's favorite rides were Peter Pan and Buzz Lighyear. 

 We didn't get too many photos of the trip but at least we did get a few of all four of us. 

Ryker has been a terrible sleeper and on this trip he hit rock bottom. We wore him out like a crazy at the park and still he fought us on bedtime for 2 hours and then woke up every 2 hours through the night and woke Gray up also. So not fun and especially when on vacation. Brady and I were so dead from keeping up with the both at the park that we had no patience for all of the crying. I thought that once you got your baby sleeping through the night you were set... NOT this crazy almost 3 year old sleeps worse now than he ever did as a baby. 5am is SO still the middle of the night. 

{Grayson :: 8 Months}

Wow how time flies by. I can not believe my little angle baby is 8 months old already. His sweet personality is growing and developing every day and he is such a joy to be around. 

•  You got 3 teeth this past month {and you were not even too grumpy about it - thank heavens!} 
• You enjoy eating solids more and more
• If we are eating you think you need to be also
• You are not a very good nurser anymore... well lets be honest you have never been that great in that department
• You are officially on the move- you army crawl and roll like crazy 
• You are getting close to real crawling - you get up on your knees and rock
• You love to play with what ever Ryker is playing with
• You giggle like a mad man and we LOVE it!
• You started saying "mama" and I LOVE it. Although I don't think you have made the connection to me and the sound
• You LOVE to swim you are such a fish
• You LOVED the waves at the beach and eating sand
• Diaper changing is a wrestling match with you
• You still love to jump all day in the jumper
• Your good morning smiles are still my favorite. You wake up so happy!
• You can go from laying down to sitting up on your own
• You like binkies for the first time 

 And how could we have a blog post without a brothers picture and a Ryker picture. Ryker did not want me to take this. I thought it was funny. But at least he was being sweet and picking me flowers. this little boy already knows the way to his mama's heart. 

Both boys have been making progress in the sleep department so the past week has been MUCH better and happier at our home. Thank goodness!!