starting things off right.

we started things out right our first morning in cancun, but taking a long walk around the property checking out all the beautiful sights - like these pool & beach side lounge beds.  and the WATER COLOR!!!

the boys on our stroll.

and of course, my first mexican marg of the weekend!  it was amazing!!

beach baby.

from the first moment we set brady down in the sand on the beaches of cancun, he was in heaven.  he loved the texture of the sand and spent the longest time just touching it and grabbing fistfuls and kicking his fat little feet in it.  amazingly he didn't try to eat any of it!

and the water was EXACTLY that color, that's not a filter.  it looked fake & i couldn't get enough of it. or the little chubs.

naps.

naps on the hotel bed after his daddy rocked him to sleep = perfection.

aunt suz saves the day.

so grateful for aunt suz entertaining the monkey during our two hour wait for mike in the cancun airport!  after our flight into the country, mama needed a break in a bad way :)

flight TO mexico.

our flight to mexico was our first international trip with B.  however, it was our ninth (round trip) flight with him in general.  i thought we had it all down.  lots of toys for distractions, nap in the airport in his stroller pre-flight, friends to help wrangle him on the plane, copious amounts of formula & baby food just in case.  well, i actually had nothing down apparently because he went crazy on the flight!!! :)  we traveled with rob & suzanne but we were unfortunately (maybe fortunately for them) seated far apart for this flight.

first of all, brady was SUPER grabby the entire time.  would not be satiated with anything longer than a nanosecond so even after grabbing my napkin & the neighbor's napkin (not someone we knew) and flinging them onto the ground 1,000 times - he moved on to something else.  imagine him bending at the waist and grabbing every magazine & pamphlet out of the seat-back pocket in front of us and flinging them onto the ground.  same with every toy i offered him.  and wiping his binky all over every airplane surface he could reach (mmm germs).  lather, rinse, repeat.  1 million times.  my arms were exhausted from the wrangling.  at one point he even managed to fling himself backwards while i was bent over picking up a toy off the ground and whacked his head on the seatrest (insert screaming).

waiting for take-off offered some distraction for seven seconds, watching people & trucks loading up the plane.  he touched every surface he could reach, and licked the window.

and look, so sweet right?  a darling sleeping baby.  what wasn't captured was the twenty minutes of blood-curdling screaming that preceded this peaceful photo.  i am not talking about brady's usual gentle, mild crying or fussing.  i mean screaming.  back arching.  sweating (both of us).  more back arching.  hair pulling. kicking the armrest next to us.  you get the idea...he was a wild beast and i was exhausted & embarrassed & wanted to give him away. til he fell asleep, and then he was cute again.  and after he woke up not another peep except for saying "hi" to everyone that looked at him and grinning like a toothless cheshire cat.  post-nap, baby was darling & charming & everyone loved him (those who forgot about the demon behavior earlier).

mama was VERY glad when the trip was over & we were on solid ground and i had the stroller back and rob & suz available for additional baby wrangling.  then, all was right with the world again.  and thankfully wild-beast-brady didn't make another appearance all weekend :)

go with the flow.

bradykins was amazing on our trip!!  he seriously was the most chill baby ever & i wasn't sure what to expect on this kind of vacation with little to no structure, but he surprised me.  he was perfectly content to eat wherever, to nap anywhere (beach chair, stroller, crib, someone's arms), and he had no meltdowns the entire weekend.  so, so grateful for your chill personality buster & your flexibility!!  i know not all trips will be this way - and the flight to mexico was a nightmare - so i do not take this blessing for granted.  he was so enjoyable!!

(in other news he refuses to hold his own bottle.  help, seasoned mamas!)

home sweet home.

"this doesn't feel like sand, mama.  we're not in mexico anymore are we?!"

we are back home and in the post-vacation routine of laundry, catching up on naps, and settling back in.  had an amazing four days with our hubs/daddy & so grateful for the opportunity to see him mid-deployment!!  it was exactly what all three of us needed.  more photos coming soon from mexico!

mama's innovation.

mama has to be innovative with "babysitters" when getting ready these days now that buster brown is mobile.  he's no longer content just sitting on the floor in my bathroom playing.  so today when he was being kind of clingy while i finished up, i set him in the sink & he handed me my makeup when i was ready for it.  this will work great until he figures out the faucet:)

photo shoot.

behind the scenes from our photo shoot with desiree today - we left the hat on for a couple pics because it is really adorable.  cutest bear cub ever.

movin' & shakin'

just to document how he spins around on his belly to get what he wants now.  no crawling yet but he manages pretty well.