More Florida

We decided to hit up the Naples Zoo while in Florida. Pretty sure Deacon had no clue what was going on but we were still entertained!

We all went to dinner one night and then got some fro-yo. We all sat at different tables like we were each on a separate date with our hubbies.

One day we drove to a little island that was about an hour away. We went to the beach and had lunch at a local restaurant.

My boys

Deacon had fun hanging out in the shade.

The ride home was a bit of a disaster. Deacon was spent from the long day and was in hysterics as we were in stop and go traffic trying to get off the island. We were desperate so Alan got out and walked with Deacon to try to get him to sleep. Deacon went to sleep and Alan got his workout in for the day.

We spent lots of time at the pool. I think we were hoping Deacon would like the water a little more than he did. We are hoping he changes his mind this summer!

This pretty much sums up how he felt about the water...

5 Months

Another month has flown by. I am so sad my baby is growing up but a part of me is relieved because Deacon's 4th month was HARD! But we survived and I think I have my sweet, happy baby back. We are pretty positive that the culprit to the madness was his reflux, which seems to finally be under control. We had him on Zantac for a month, which seemed to make him fussier so he is now on Prevacid. We aren't sure whether it is working or whether he is just growing out of the reflux. Either way we are just glad he is happy and seems to be feeling better.

{Of course he had to be quite serious while I was taking these pictures}

Our little Deacon absolutely loves life and you can't help but smile when you are around him. I know I am biased but I really don't think I have seen another baby that squeals and giggles quite like he does. When he is happy he is HAPPY and it honestly is hysterical! He is quite the little ham when he wants to be. He truly is the light of our lives and has brought the sweetest spirit into our home.

Here are some fun facts about our little guy:

-He is OBSESSED with rolling from his back to his belly. The only problem is that he has only rolled from his belly to his back a handful of times. This poses a problem in the middle of the night when he rolls over then starts crying because he is stuck. Although annoying at times, it is quite humorous. Literally the second you put him on his back he flips right over.

-He is SO interested in his surroundings. His head and eyes can't move fast enough to take everything in.

-He is quite the busy body. He does not sit still and does not like to cuddle. Sad for me but I'm glad he is so active and learning so much.

-He is super close to sitting on his own and I wouldn't be surprised if he started crawling soon.

-He has started sucking his bottom lip. Not sure why but it cracks us up.

-We just bought him a high chair and he loves it. He will not sit still in his bumbo and has almost flipped out several times so we needed something to feed him in.

-He loves touching and grabbing our faces.

-He is very ticklish, especially is neck, armpits, and legs.

-He lights up when his dad gets home.

-He is finally tolerating his car seat and I am so happy about this!

-We started rice cereal around 4 months and he did not like it. I took a break and made some homemade brown rice cereal. It has only been 2 days but he really seems to like it.

-He has become quite the character about nursing. I can laugh now but it was quite traumatic for awhile. There are some feedings where he completely refuses to nurse, some where he just gets very impatient, and others that he does just fine. After some emotional days of not being ready to stop nursing him, I am finally coping with that fact that it is ok if he has a bottle if he doesn't want to nurse. He absolutely loves holding his own bottle, taking it out of his mouth, examining it, and putting it back in his mouth.

-We did some major nap training this month. It was easier than I thought. He will now fall asleep on his own for his naps and usually takes two 45-60 min naps and one 2-3 hour nap each day. He no longer has to be swaddled while sleeping.

-Unfortunately, he isn't sleeping as good at night as he used to but I still think he is doing pretty well. He goes to bed around 8 p.m. and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. He usually wakes up once or twice... sometimes to nurse, sometimes just wants his binky, and other times he is wide awake and just wants to play!

{We are quite in love with this gummy, cheesy grin!}

Florida

Last year, Alan and 3 Pharmacy friends competed in a business plan competition. They placed top 3 in the nation and went to Nashville to compete and took 1st place. The business plan basically took up Alan's life for a year but one of the rewards for winning was a trip to Naples, Florida to attend a Pharmacy conference. The best part was that Deacon and I got to go too!

I'm not going to lie, I was a nervous wreck about taking Deacon on an airplane when he was just 3 months old but the plane ride went better than I expected! However, we quickly learned that traveling with a baby is A LOT of work!

Deacon was a little angel on the flights and won the hearts of many passengers.

The flights to Florida were pretty uneventful but the flights home were a different story! Deacon was awesome but it seemed like everything else went wrong. Deacon had a blow out and airplane bathrooms are not eqipped for this situation. After getting it taken care of we were stuck in the back of the plane for quite a while because the flight attendents were serving drinks. This actually turned out to be a blessing because I was able to rock Deacon to sleep.

This was the least of our problems. Shortly after, Alan puked from the turbulance, we left our SLR camera on the plane (luckily we got it back) Delta broke our stroller, which made the rest of the trip home interesting, and I got home to find out that my flat iron had been snapped in half in my suitcase. Fortunately, this all happened on our way home rather than going.

We spent the first day exploring Naples and doing a little shopping. We loved the sunshine and the beautiful scenery.

We also made sure one of the first things we did was take Deacon to the pool to dip his toes in the water.

Sadly, he didn't like it as much as we thought he would.

And every night we spent some quality family time in our hotel room. We can't get enough of our little man!

More to come of our fabulous trip...

The Jumparoo

Before I Deacon, I told myself I would never get one of those huge jumparoos that take up your entire living room. Well, I'm eating my words because I gave in and Deacon loves it! He is quite possibly one of the busiest babies and he is in heaven jumping to his hearts content. Sometimes I worry he is going to jump right out.

He tries so hard to grab and play with the toys. I'm pretty sure there is nothing more rewarding than watching him learn and discover new things.

We starting putting him in the jumparoo when he was just 3 months so Alan's Pharmacy book came in handy!

However, my baby is growing up and can now almost touch the floor.

Haircut

After an unfortunate case of cradle cap, Deacon lost most of his long locks of hair that he was born with. You would think someone died around here I have been so sad! There was one patch of hair that survived and I have really been holding out on getting it cut. It's like the bald guy that refuses to shave his head even though he literally has one strand left. So finally after coming to the realization that our son looked like he had a toupee, we decided to get it cut. I think people may have also been giving us subtle hints that we should cut it!

Deacon was pretty excited about the mirror he got to look into until he realized that he would have to hold his head still, which is impossible for him. Although not documented, we did have a case of hysterics take place.

I'm pretty sure he had some random strands of hair that were 5 inches long as well as a mullet in back.

We made sure to save some hair!

Drumroll...

Not sure why I held out so long because his hair looks one thousand times better! Now if only it would grow back faster!

Superbowl Sunday

I'm a bit late on posting about Superbowl Sunday but we had a fun get together with our friends. Thanks to the Hubbards for hosting another fabulous party this year. We had lots of great food and as always the girls chatted while the guys watched the game.

Deacon was pretty interested in the game...he takes after his dad!

Our group has grown with little people since last year. Last year, Hawkins was the only baby at the party and look at us now! I love it!

Back Row: Erika & baby boy, Deacon & Emily, Paizley & Rachel

Front Row: Maylee & Leisha, Charish & Hawkins, Lindsey & baby girl

Deacon's Nursery

I FINALLY finished Deacon's nursery! I have been wanting to share his special room but I had a couple finishing touches to do and it has taken me 4 months to get around to it. So here it is...definitely my favorite room in the house!

I'm already stressing about the day when we have to move and leave behind the chevron wall. Literally...our blood, sweat, and tears went into that thing...well maybe not mine, but still! The worst part about it is that the next homeowners will probably move in and paint right over it. If they only knew...

I have to give a HUGE shout out to my mom for the bedding. After searching for bedding and finding nothing that I liked that wasn't a million dollars, I had the brilliant idea of making my own. I'm sure my mom was not too thrilled when I presented the idea to her because deep down I'm sure she knew she would be taking over this project. Well she was right and I basically served as her assistant (ironing) on maybe one occasion while she tackled everything! Well, she did an awesome job and I am so happy with how it turned out. Now that all her kids know about her amazing skills she just might be making bedding for future grandbabies! So a thank you to my mom for sacrificing so much time on this sewing projects. It was such a special gift that I will always cherish!

I found the bumper fabric at JoAnns and the other material at the Cotton Shop in Murray. I love that place. I was so surprised I was able to find coordinating fabrics that I liked.

I found this project on Pinterest.

Alan's cousin made us this cute sign, which went perfectly in his room.

I was inspired by this mobile. It was super easy just time consuming and my hands killed from opening and closing those tiny jump rings. But, it helped kill time those final weeks of pregnancy!

I am so relieved to have it done...now onto the next room!