lovin' the Memphis summer

and lovin' that it isn't going to be over soon

sleep training - take 2

When Willa finally got over her cold last week, we started round 2 of sleep training. I am happy to report that she responded again and is once again sleeping for 11-12 hours without making a peep. I think it took about 3 nights this time. And she is napping pretty good too.

Here's my advice (silly because most of my friends/family have babies older than Willa or have more than one child so they probably don't need much advice from a new mom) but here it is: complete sleep training before your baby can crawl and really roll and move around the crib.

Why? Because in just the few weeks that lapsed between sleep training attempt #1 and #2, Willa got much better at getting into the crawl position and scooting around and rolling over. So when we let her fuss, she would scoot around the crib, flip herself over (on accident, I think), and get stuck in crazy positions. We always felt bad so we'd have to go in and "fix" her. Silly little girl.

way too many great pics

I put together one of those shutterfly photo books and came across all of these great photos from our travels so I thought I'd post some of my favorites for fun.

British & US Virgin Islands

Jamaica

Puerto Rico

Charleston, SCWashington, D.C.

Acadia National Park in MaineBahamas

Michigan's U.P.Matt took the majority of these. I think he does a great job with our cheap, 5-year-old camera. I was only going to post a few, but I couldn't decide so I posted a bunch. And yet, there are still so many more. Gotta love digital cameras.

Happy Elvis Week

LOL.

Did we just move to Memphis or something?

Miami

Will life ever settle down? We went to Florida for a week at the end of July/beginning of August to celebrate my brother's 30th birthday. On the flight home, the man sitting next to me asked if it was Willa's first flight. My reply ... no, it was her 10th. TEN FLIGHTS in SIX MONTHS. We need to calm down. Anyways...

My parents rented a house in Miami. We spent the majority of our time lounging and swimming in the pool. Check out that view. Willa couldn't get enough of the pool. She LOVES the water. The house was right on the water. It had a great deck and view.

Those without babies attached to them went on a deep sea fishing trip.

Here we are at the dock participating in the pre-fishing day ritual ... watching the boats come in and checking out their catches. It was soooo hot!the fishermen & their ladies on their trip

Unfortunately, they didn't have good luck. They caught a few keepers which were mighty tasty and a sailfish, but not enough to feed all 12 of us.We took the babies to the beach. It was Willa's first time. She loved the sand and the waves.
Cutey, patooty Kate (my niece) took her first steps in Miami. Go Kate!

And here are some candids of the group hanging out, cooking, and posing with another one of my grandpa's clever quizzes.Happy 30th Nick! Thanks Mom and Dad for a great getaway.