Shaw Family Beach Trip

We spent a week at Carillon Beach with the Shaw family which now includes Steve and Juju, The Grant Davis Family, The David Blount Family, and The Douglas Shaw family. 8 adults and 4 kids under four made for a super fun, busy week!

I'll start with my iphone photos because they usually turn out better anyway ;)

 Charlotte checking out her room for the week where she did NOT spend much time sleeping at night. 

We all loved getting lots of baby Madison snuggles :)

 William was obsessed with his special loft with a little nook. 

Your grandfather must be pretty cool if you dress like him!!

 Always a good time on the Never Rest

 William - 4 years old, Charlotte - 15 months, Ann Torrence - 11 months, Madison - 6 weeks. This picture bring me so much joy! Being an aunt to my Annie girl and baby Madison is such a gift. It's a pretty incredible experience to do parenthood with your own siblings. Sometimes it's still shocking that me, Julie and Douglas have our own children. Weren't we just small children eating ice cream sandwiches and counting stars at Jan Jan and Sam's beach house on Thomas Drive? 

My whole world minus their Daddy ;)

My favorite memory/moment of the week was walking on the beach with William, just the two of us, talking about the gulf, sunsets, sea life, and anything else his curious little self wanted to discuss. He seemed so young and innocent...hope I never forget those moments with him. 

William was so sweet with Madison! He protected her from the toddlers, Charbaby and AnnieT, who have no concept of personal space or the delicateness of a newborn ;)

 We had a fun morning hanging out with Shaw 2nd cousins, Lula and Eden. William is majorly out numbered!!!

Seeing my baby brother become a Daddy is pretty special. 

Charlotte was busy, busy, busy the entire week! She never lasted more than 30 minutes on the beach. 

Now on to the pictures from my big camera...

 Waking up to the gorgeous blue, sparkly gulf made these kiddos HAPPY!

 Just building forts with quite the view

When we arrived at our house for the week, I spotted these beautiful shutters and knew I had to attempt to snap some photos in front of them with my sweet little subject!

We managed to squeeze in one more wear in her size 6 month bubble from last summer. 

These two baby girls are hilarious together. They mostly ignore each other unless it's to fight over food or a toy. 

My timid girl in the foreground and wide-open boy in the background. Charlotte likes to stick pretty close to her mommy ;)

William soaked up every bit of beach life. He woke up early ready to swim in the pool, only coming out for a meal, then he'd spend some time on the beach, and he usually ended the night with crab hunting on the beach. Any bit of inside time he had was spent cornering an adult for some quality one-on-one time. He's quite the social little guy! Speaking of meals, Juju cooked an amazing meal every single night! We all got spoiled with her good cooking. 

Flying a kite 

Tired beach babies

Had to include Annie sucking her thumb. Baby angel owns her Aunt Caca. 

Madison got a nice first dose of Shaw family "vacations." Poor thing was probably worn out from the chaos, although she slept better at night than her big cousin Charlotte (insert eye roll). 

Uncle Ahdah and his girls

Blue eyed, blonde haired salty beach boy! 

He enjoyed yachting life. He recently when to Ahdah's company hunting camp. There happened to be an old fishing boat there. When William got on the boat, he quickly asked "Where's the bathroom?" Quin has set the bar high for boating experiences...hahaha!

Wish I could wake up to this gorgeous view every morning. 

Jan Jan and Sam joined us for a day! We loved getting to experience babies at the beach with them. They got a taste of the chaos and had flashbacks to their own 8 grandchildren at similar ages...and I thought 4 children was tough!

Baby Katie aka Madison. 

William turned into a little fish this summer! We are so proud of him for learning to swim with no floaties! He did a couple of swimming lessons before we left and figured it out on the first day there!

This boy LOVES his Daddy!!!

Jan Jan loves to swim so William soaked up the opportunity to have a new swim buddy. 

Big Lee came down with Jan Jan and Sam which was a HUGE treat. I have to share her comments on an instagram photo describing William and Charlotte. "Charlotte's piercing, sweet blue gaze; her gentle, quiet, perceptive spirit; her sly smile; her long, talk drink of water frame; her winsome personality; and her love of her brother and mommy and daddy--these are things I keep returning to as I relish my time with y'all."

"And I keep thinking of games I wanted to play with the intoxicatingly ebullient Willy. He's so much fun --creative, rowdy, boyish, kind-hearted, twinkling, and delicious." 

She captured my two children's personalities SO well at 4 years old and 15 months. She's pretty talented!

Juleann Flowers Torrence, Juleann Shaw Blount, and Juleann Torrence Blout (3 namesakes)

BLOUNTS

These two love their Aunt Birdie a whole lot. 

The way they look at each other makes my heart flutter. 

And Lee's comment about Ann Torrence..."Her sturdy little golden brown body; her smile that occupies a square mile; her robust, jolly nature; her emotional intelligence and awareness; her intense focus on tasks (ok, on eating), and her outgoing personality." She nailed it on her too. 

My babies just chillin'

I was really hoping to take some family pictures on the beach but it didn't happen this time. 

It was the most fun (and exhausting) Shaw family trip we've ever been on! We made some beautiful memories, and I'm already dreaming of going back! Thank you Mom and Dad!!!!

Madison Quin Shaw

Our beautiful niece and new cousin, Madison Quin Shaw, was born on May 11, 2016. We are so in love with his beautiful blessing from above and proud of Katie and Douglas! I snapped a couple of pictures when we went to Dothan to meet her.

 Proud great grandparents

 the sweetest big boy cousin there ever was :) 

We are so in love with our new niece and cousin!!!

William's Birthday Party

We celebrated William's 4th birthday at a bounce house/obstacle course/climbing/dancing/strobe light/LOUD arena. It was right up William's ally :) He loves anything chaotic and wild! We celebrated with his best buddy from school, Luke, by having a joint birthday party and invited their class. Granny was in town so it was extra special that she got to come along!

Charlotte was a little wide eyed and stoic the majority of the party. There was a LOT to take in ;)

The three amigos - Charlie, William and Luke. 

Can you tell he had a little fun??

the birthday boys!

Happy 4th Birthday William!

My first-born baby who made me a mommy is FOUR years old. I was a little surprised at how emotional I was about my baby boy turning 4! I didn't shed a tear or feel sadness that Charlotte was turning one, but something about 4 just seems so old. When I told William I was sad because he was growing up too fast, he said "It's okay mommy, you can still give me hugs and we can cuddle when I'm a Daddy one day." I'll have to remind him of this 25 years from now...haha! William is such a fun child! He loves people and adventure, always ready for something new. He's very determined and strong-willed, yet loving and kind at the same time. We've had our fair share of challenges with discipline and respect over the past year, but I'm hopeful we are getting out of the "threenager" phase ;)

 William would describe the perfect day as playing outside for 8 straight hours with his Willis Dr. friends. There are 23 children on our street and the majority of them are close in age to William. They play in the dirt, have water balloon fights, play "house", build forts, collect rocks, talk on walkie talkies, and use their imagination in all they do. I LOVE it because he is doing just what children are supposed to do at his age - using their imagination and playing outside! On days he goes to school, he immediately "hits the street" when we get home to play. When he's home with me, he stands at the front door waiting for friends to come outside. 

 He will finish out his 3K year at TCDC in June and then be promoted to 4K (his last year in preschool...tear). He's learned so much this year and we are very proud of him! He can identify all letters of the alphabet, count to 100, write his name, identify all shapes, has memorized nursery rhymes, and knows most of the letter sounds. His favorite game is for me to say a word and he tells me what letter it starts with :) He doesn't always get them right, but I love seeing his brain work. 

 He's still not a stellar eater but not terrible either. His staple foods are scrambled eggs, PBJ, chicken nuggets, beef tacos, spaghetti, grilled chicken, hamburgers, apple sauce, oranges, pineapple, grapes, apples, smoothies, and all things sweet! I need to start pushing veggies soon but I'm certain that will be a major battle. 

 He's playing in a spring soccer league and has enjoyed going to practice every Saturday morning with Grant. They don't play actual games but they do drills and learn different techniques. He always enjoys telling me about the drills and demonstrating in the yard. I wouldn't say he's loved it but he does look forward to going. I'm looking forward to tee ball next year :) We also did church choir this year. He and I both loved our Wednesday nights together at church. We eat dinner and then he goes to choir practice with Mrs. Betty. 

He loves his family, especially his baby sister! Every morning he begs me to get Charlotte out of the crib immediately so they can hug. Charlotte knows the drill and bends down out of my arms to hug him. He occasionally gets frustrated with her if she takes his toy or messes up an art creation and he will say "Chhhhaaarrrrr, you are being a VERY bad little girl." He still takes naps at school from 1-3 and on those nights he stays up until 9pm (not good). If he doesn't nap (T/TH and weekends), he crashes by 7pm. He loves, loves, loves his Daddy and would be his shadow all day everyday if it was his choice. I'm pretty sure Grant feels the same about his son. William, you will never know how much we love you and how proud we are of the little boy you have become. Have 4th birthday my precious boy!!!

Easter Weekend

We spent Easter in Birmingham again this year. While I love being in Dothan in my "home church" where I've spent probably 25 Easters, it's special being in my new church home where my little family gathers to worship all year. Saturday night we had dinner at the Blount's house. Juju and Steve came up on Saturday and mom made a delicious dinner. Julie had a beautiful table set and we all enjoyed a low key night!

It's impossible to get a pic of these three monkeys :)

 In a matter of weeks, Charlotte and Ann Torrence will be getting into everything! 

 They recognize each other and light up when they see each other :) :) 

 William loves exploring at Birdie and Ahdah's. They have a neat trail behind their house. 

Saturday night, after I had played Easter bunny, I heard a loud "HELLLLLPPPP" come from the basement. We soon found out our septic tank had malfunctioned and sewage was pouring from the closet into the basement bedroom where Juju and Steve were staying. Needless to say, they got out of here fast and headed to the Blount residence for the night because their bedroom was covered in sewage (EWWWW). Grant stayed up until midnight with several neighbors trying to prevent further damage :( It was terrible but has since been fixed. Drama. 

It was rainy on Easter Sunday so I didn't get too many decent pics of my little Easter blessings. Juju had Charlotte's dress made and I love it! She will wear it for the next several Easters. 

Charlotte loves looking out our front window. Mr. William loves "supervising" her every move ;)

They love each other so much. 

Here are a couple of iphone pics. My little baby doll. 

Juju and her baby girls at lunch. 

My favorite part of the weeks leading up to Easter was hearing William tell the story of the crucifixion and resurrection. He would explain "Jesus got thorns put in his hands and he bleeded a lot. Then he got put in a tomb. On Sunday, he rose from the dead and the tomb got empty." Very proud of this little boy and his growing knowledge of the Bible.