Summer in a Nutshell - Yes, in November.

I just feel this need to post these pictures that I've had from the summer that I never shared. Being on maternity leave for the whole summer was perfect. And with Kendall being such an easy baby, we were able to stay very active and social.

My parents recently put their beach house on the market this summer so we tried to spend as much time down there as we could. We have loved that place. It has been a peaceful retreat for years and years and a quiet, private place that we have enjoyed often. We were sad to see it go but the constant storm damage was just becoming too much for my parents to handle. I am glad that I was able to take Kendall down there a few times before it was sold.

The bond that these 2 have already is amazing. It's what I had hoped it would be. And I hope it remains that way. There are going to be many times when Kendall will need Deuce. And I hope that we are laying the groundwork for that relationship and those needs down the road.

I am proud of Deuce and his curiosity about our new Down Syndrome world. His teachers have told us that he has something special. That he gravitates towards the kids with special needs and developmental disabilities. That he's friends with everyone. He sounds a lot like my husband to me. And that a trait that I'm thankful he got from Ed.

We spent a lot of time over the summer with friends. Introducing Kendall to his new environment. We are so thankful for friends and family and the tremendous amount of support we have received.

family vacay. 2012

We had one of the best vacations ever back in early August.

We spent hardly any money.

We hardly got dressed in much more than a bathing suit or yoga pants/basketball shorts.

We only wore flip flops.
And we just sat by the beach.

It was perfect.

 Rebecca's parents have a house at Topsail so we went for a week. Rebecca and I drove down with Chase, Austin and Deuce. Ed, Daniel & TJ came down a day later. The first thing the boys wanted to do was go to the water and throw rocks and mud. They could do this for hours.

 Rebecca's sister and nephew came over to hang out for a little bit. Talon is only a few months younger than Deuce & Chase.

 All week long the boys had their fair share of timeouts.

They would push, shove, fight over toys, cry and scream and then hug it out a few minutes later.

Neither of them go to daycare yet so it was good for them.

Rebecca and I just laughed most of the time.

 We spent most of our time at the beach. Believe it or not Deuce has never been to the "ocean" part of the beach. We usually go to mom's place and it's on the sound with it's own beach area so we never have reason to go to the ocean side. Deuce immediately became obsessed with the ocean and the waves.

 Like he didn't want to get out of the water obsessed.

Like he had super bad diaper rash from the sand and water.

 You know we played sports.

Is that a stance or what?

 We hung out on the amazing screened in porch.

 We napped on the beach.

 We attempted to put Deuce and Chase together on a mattress on the floor. They both slept through 1 night and got up at the same time super early. Both boys crawled into bed with me & Ed and slept a little longer.

 Daniel & Rebecca took the boys on the kayaks so I could take a nap.

Alone.

 Deuce had so much fun on the kayak that it put him right to sleep.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest. It was beach, beach, beach for us and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I am missing summer vacation already.