OUR MINI VACATION | CHARLESTON, SC

(this post has lots of pictures)

During the first week of May (I'm so behind on updating the blog) we took a mini vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. Gary had to go down for work for a couple of days so me and the kids decided to go with him! I had never been to Charleston before and wanted to check it out and I thought it would be fun to go as a family. Gary was busy with work the entire time but me and the kids kept busy and had fun!

I had a lot of plans to explore downtown Charleston but as soon as we got to Charleston the weather was terrible. It literally stormed the entire time we were there except for the first day. As soon as we got to our hotel I packed the kids up and left to find the closest beach. 

We ended up going to Sullivan's Island! It was such a pretty beach and not crowded at all! The only thing that I did not like about the beach that day was it was extremely windy! Jax fell asleep and I put him in his stroller and the stroller was moving because of how strong the wind was. Sophia had a great time though! She wrote her name in the sand, ran from waves, and just enjoyed every minute of it. I say this all the time but she seriously is a little mermaid. 

It was Jax's first time ever to the beach but he ended up sleeping the whole time. He did stay awake long enough for me to take a few pictures. It was also my first time taking the kids to the beach alone. It wasn't too bad. Just felt like a lot to carry. But we did it and had fun

We ended up just hanging out in the hotel room until Gary was done for the day (which was late). The second day we were there was when it rained like crazy. I wanted to do something fun with the kids so I drove us into Charleston and we went to the aquarium. I knew Sophia would enjoy it but didn't think Jax would because he is so little but he actually loved it! He smiled so big and laughed at almost everything. We even watched a 3D movie that he did great through. The movie was probably my favorite part about the day. The movie had side effects that Sophia loved. When it snowed or rained in the movie, it snowed & rained in the theatre too. Jax did amazing during the movie too!

The next day we hung out in the hotel room and packed up because it was Gary's last day of work there. We left around 1PM & headed to our next stop of our little mini vacation - Virginia Beach - which I will post about tomorrow!

OUR WEEKEND + A GRATEFUL HEART

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Ours was good. We spent most of the weekend at home just relaxing which was nice. We are trying to be smart with our money so staying home allows us not to spend anything. We sat down the other day and looked at where our money was going and it was on unnecessary things such as eating out. We've decided to try the envelope system and only paying with cash to save so we'll see how this works. My family is all planning on going to the Dominican Republic in Christmas so my goal is to save money for all of us to go with them! 

We have a Family Fun envelope to use as a family so Sunday evening we decided to finally go try Whit's Frozen Custard. They recently opened in Marietta and we have never tried frozen custard so we had to check it out. It was a really cute place! We sat outside and the weather was perfect. The frozen custard was good BUT I'm not really into sweets too much so it was kind of a lot for me. Sophia and Jax loved it though and it was nice to get out of the house as a family!

Now it's Monday and it's just me and the kids at the house. I promised Sophia that we could do one of the activities off of her Summer Bucket List today. I wonder which one she will choose?

Today I'm grateful for a relaxing weekend. I'm grateful for new places to come to our town so we can enjoy them as a family. I'm grateful for another week at home with my babies.

What are you grateful for?

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Good Morning! Hope everyone had a great week! We don't have anything planned this weekend but I'm sure we will find something to get into! The past couple of days have been kind of bleh because of the rain so I'm hoping there is nothing but sunshine for the weekend!

Here is what you might have missed this week on Sophia + Jax:

++ Sophia and I made a Summer Bucket List of all the things she wants to do this summer! I can't wait to do them all. 

++ I finally got around to posting Jax's SIX MONTH update! I'm a little behind because he is now eight months but I will be posting those in the next couple of days. 

++  In June 2011 I took pictures of Sophia at seven months in a rocking chair on my parents front porch. Four years later I decided to take the same pictures of Jax at the same age in the same rocking chair to compare the two. Do you think they look the same?

++ Willow Trees are my absolute favorite tree! My aunt has a beautiful one in her front yard so me and the littles decided to play under one! I love how a tree can bring so many giggles and smiles to Sophia! 

++  Yesterday was my first time linking up to Oh Hey, Friday! where I shared bits + pieces from our week with lots of pictures!

OH HEY, FRIDAY! | WEEK ONE

Happy Friday everyone! I'm finally getting back into blogging & decided to join the oh hey, friday! link up over on September Farm. I plan on keeping up with this every Friday as a way to share  bits + pieces from our week! 

001.  O U  R  G A R D E N  I  S  G R O W I N G!

 A couple weeks ago Sophia + my dad planted some vegetables in our backyard and everything is growing so fast! Right now the only vegetable that is ready to eat are our peppers and they are delicious! We cut them up and ate them in a salad yesterday. Mmm! I can not wait for the rest of the vegetables to grow!

002. M Y  L I T T L E  M A N  I S  P U L L I N G  H I M S E L F  U P! 

Jax doesn't sleep in his crib but I've been putting him in there to play while I clean and put his clothes away. This week while I was doing that little man surprised me and pulled himself up! He was so proud & just smiled at me. Me on the other hand was having heart palpitations and trying to convince myself that I wasn't witnessing this. Wasn't he just a newborn?! 

003. H O T  T U B  F U N

My parents live next door and have a hot tub that they haven't used in years! They finally decided to fill it up and keep the water at a cool temp (kind of like pool water) and little miss Sophia has been playing in it non stop! We have to literally fight with her to get out! She's our little mermaid!

004. O U R  F A V O R I T E  T E E T H I N G  N E C K L A C E

Now that Jax finally has his first tooth he wants to always have something in his mouth to chew on. I am ALWAYS carrying/holding him so this teething necklace from The Vintage Honey Shop is perfect! This is their silicone teething necklace and it's one of Jax's favorite. What's also nice about their necklaces is the go with almost all of my outfits. If you have a teething baby check their necklaces out! 

005.  N A P T I M E 

One of the many things I love about being a stay at home mom is being able to watch my littles as they nap. Sophia hardly naps anymore but Jax still takes about two a day. I usually find myself just watching him as he sleeps. Aren't sleeping babies the most perfect thing you've ever seen? I know that I should be cleaning instead of watching him sleep but drinking coffee and staring at him is much better!

WILLOW TREE FUN

// necklace via The Vintage Honey Shop 

Willow Trees are my favorite! Ever since I was little I have always loved these trees - except for Grandmother Willow - for some reason I was so afraid of her when I watched Pocahontas. Which is crazy because I watched Pocahontas with Sophia the other day and Grandmother Willow is not scary at all. She's actually very wise and I ended up looking up and saving some of the quotes she said in the movie. This one is my favorite:

"All around you are spirits, child. They live in the earth, the water, the sky. If you listen, they will guide you. Listen with your heart., you will understand" - Grandmother Willow.

My Aunt has a beautiful willow tree in her front yard. So after picking mulberries the other day I decided we'd play under the willow tree! If it didn't end up storming we probably could have spent the entire day under the tree. My dream would to have a willow tree in my yard. Maybe if I'm lucky I will get a wise, talking willow tree just like Grandmother Willow. I'd never leave from under the tree.

SAME ROCKING CHAIR - FOUR YEARS LATER

My parents live next door and have a beautiful front porch. When Sophia was little we spent a lot of time on the front porch and now that Jax is here we are doing it all over again! When Sophia was 7 months old (June 2011) I took some pictures of her in the rocking chairs that are on my parents front porch. Fast forward four years and the same rocking chairs are on the porch. I decided to take some pictures of Jax in the same spot. I tried to get the same poses but this was the best I could get. Also, Jax is teething bad so there is drool all over him. 

I think it's so fun to look at them side by side especially in the same spot. I think they look the same but I do see differences. Sophia was a little darker than Jax at this age. Her hair is darker too. Jax of course is a lot bigger and is def all boy. I just love my littles. I want to try and go through Sophia's pictures and maybe find another spot I can compare the two in. Here are some more of Sophia and Jax in the rocking chair both at age seven months.

JAX | SIX MONTHS

So I feel like a terrible mom because I have been slacking on posting Jax's monthly posts. What's even worse is that Jax turns EIGHT months tomorrow and I haven't even taken his seven months picture yet. I'm going to take it today (bc technically he's still seven months) and just take his eight months in a week or two.

//

On April 24th, when you turned six months you're grandma bought you a small "1/2 Birthday Cake" that said "Happy 6 Months Little Man"She did the same thing when your sister turned 6 months. You immediately stuck your hand in it when I put it in front of you. Sophia giggled so much when you did that and ended up licking all of the icing off your hand.

w e i g h t | at six months you weighed 25 pounds! still my chunky bubbers. you are now wearing 12-18 months in clothes and wearing a size 6 diaper.

e a t s | WE MADE IT TO OUR 6 MONTH GOAL OF BREASTFEEDING! But there's no stopping anytime soon! Our next goal is 12months. We've got this! I'm so proud of the both of us. You are still nursing on demand. I'd say probably every 3-4 hours. We have been giving you baby food here & there. So far you've had banana and sweet potato and seem to like it!

s l e e p | You are the best sleeper. At 6 months you are only waking up about two times a night to nurse and then you go back to sleep. You will only fall asleep after nursing you and then you need held the entire time. I don't mind at all except during your naps I know I should be doing house work but I'll just hold you for now.

l o v e s | You love early mornings and playing in your jumper first thing. You love watching your sister play and really loving bath time. You love the song "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" you immediately calm down as soon as I put it on.

d i s l i k e s | Still not a fan of your carseat. You're ok if Sophia is in the backseat with you but you cry when you are alone. You don't like loud noises. I've noticed that when Sophia is playing and will scream it scares you.

m i l e s t o n e s | At six months you have learned to clap. You clap all the time especially when you're happy. You can ALMOST sit up on your ow. You are reaching and grabbing so much. You are also saying "DaDa" and "MomMom" You say "MomMom when you want picked up or want to nurse.

I love watching you learn so much. These next few months are my absolute favorite because of this reason. They are my least favorite because of how close we are getting to you turning a year old. It's going so fast.

HAPPY SIX MONTHS LITTLE MAN.

SUMMER BUCKET LIST FOR KIDS

Summer is officially here and I am ready to have fun with my kids! We've spent a lot of time at the pool which has been fun but I want to add more activities to do this summer. So I sat down with Sophia the other day and we came up with a list of things she would like to do this summer! I named off a ton of activities (most of them are activities I remembered doing as a kid) and she yelled "Yes, I want to do that!" at the ones we have listed above. She was so happy just coming up with the list and kept asking when we would do each one!

We've already done a few of the activities listed but maybe we'll do them again. The days feel so long as a stay at home mom so I'm hoping these activities will keep us busy!

What are your plans for this summer? Do you have a bucket list too?

// You can download our Bucket List here.

BERRY PICKIN' + A GRATEFUL HEART

Yesterday afternoon my mom & I took the littles to my aunts house to pick mulberries from her mulberry tree. We got enough to make a mulberry cobbler that I'm excited to make (and eat). Sophia and I made a summer bucket list the other day and picking berries is something she wanted to do so we will be crossing that off of our list!

Today I am grateful that my little Sophia finds so much fun joy from something simple as picking berries. I am grateful that she loves nature and being outside. I am grateful for the delicious mulberries picked by the sweetest little hands. AND I am grateful for the mulberry cobbler that will be in my belly soon. 

Linking up with Emily @ Ember Grey. What are you grateful for?