Carlson Crew: 8 Months Old/ Beach Girls

To my little loves,

To say that life has been an adventure these past few months is an understatement. We moved into our beach house on February 1st and all of us are soaking up every single minute! We make a point to play outside on the private beach every single day. We've had one day of rain since we've been here and we even made a point to dance in it :) The mornings and the evenings are my favorite times of day. The water is so still and glassy and the sunrises and sunsets take our breath away. Most weekends we have rented the SUP boards and Mimi and I were fortunate enough to find ourselves amidst a family of dolphins. They were within 10 feet of us and it's actually a lot more frightening than one would think (but exhilarating and extraordinary at the same time). I've swam with dolphins before in the Bahamas but it's even more incredible in the wild! We've gotten really good on these SUP boards, but the second I got overly confident and wore a hat with my favorite sunglasses, I ate it in the shore break and lost everything as I tumbled in the waves. At least it provided entertainment to everyone watching :)

Our friends joke that on weekends our place turns into a spring break open house. We load up on Costco food, snacks, and drinks and friends and family come and go all day long. It's been more fun than I even could've imagined. I keep telling Luke that I want to move back here permanently in the next 10 years, keeping my fingers crossed :)

Leese, you've become quite mobile since we got here. You started scooting on your stomach at 7 months and can go backwards and sideways but not really forward, lol! You roll over to get toys and it's pretty funny to watch. You sat up by yourself about a week before you turned 6 months old but I've been a nervous wreck because when you go down, it's usually head first. Your left bottom tooth broke through the surface on March 10th and both bottom teeth were clearly visible by St. Patrick's Day! You were an amazing sleeper but recently you've been going down between 6-7pm and then you wake up at 1am and drink a full bottle before going down again until 6:30am. Your dad is amazing and does the feeding since he's been getting home around 7:30pm and misses you so much! You have the absolute sweetest belly laugh. When anyone sneezes or says a-choo, you chuckle like there's no tomorrow. It is truly the funniest thing ever. You LOVE peek-a-boo and play it by yourself with your blanket. Ella may be your favorite person on the planet. If she leaves the room you start to whimper. When we have guests you will let others hold you but always follow me with your eyes and track where ever I go. When we make eye contact, you smile from ear to ear. You love to roll your arms and feet with excitement just like your sister did. You squeal when talking to yourself and love clothing tags. If you could chew on them all day long, you most certainly would. You also adore your nanny, Gisela. She just may be the best caretaker on the planet. She runs to hold you every morning and makes/blends healthy, organic food for you on a weekly basis. She hardly ever puts you down so you get fussy when someone isn't holding you. I can tell that you both have a special bond and it warms my heart that you are in such great hands during the day. Just before you turned 8 months I stopped pumping and switched you to formula. We started by mixing your bottles with half breastmilk and half formula and you adjusted so well with no issues. I feel like a whole new woman without my pump attached to me (I finally can enjoy your feedings and I get SO much more done at work). To all my fellow working pumpers out there, I commend you! Everyone that meets you says, "She is just the easiest baby." You still have your moments, but your sweet disposition is all anyone can talk about. We all just can't get enough of you my sweet love.

Ellabells, if there was a best big sister award you would definitely be the recipient. You are my little helper and I don't know what I would do without you. You are so proactive and run to your sister's every beck and call. You will even start to prep her bottles for her. We switched your class at school so you are with the older kids but you adjusted so well and are still the tallest in the class, crazy! You've become much better at sharing and have made tons of new friends. Your school teachers had told you that if something was special to you, you didn't have to share it with anyone so you started saying that everything in sight was "special". Daddy is your knight in shining armor. Some mornings you'll crawl into bed with us, cuddle up close to him, and then look at me like I'm not giving you both enough space. It's pretty funny! You scream, "Daddy!" with a southern twang and it cracks everybody up. I can't fathom that you're still only three years old and thought of you turning four is just mind blowing to me. Thank you for making me such a proud mommy Ella. I truly love you more than I ever thought possible.

We got to spend this February weekend with Poppo unaware that he would be in the hospital just days later. I can honestly say that he was the kindest, sweetest man I've ever known. We are all better people for having him as our grandfather. He was a war hero and our family's hero. His love for life and his family was unparalleled. We know that he is dancing and singing amongst the angels and I look forward to the day that I get to hug him again.

Our neighbors are the famous Sorenson family and they were so kind to invite Ella and all of her friends over to swim in their beachfront spa.

Elise had her first swim lesson at Waterworks and she whimpered the entire time. Luke kept talking about how great she did and it had me wondering if were watching the same child :)

This three year old of ours has become a little ocean lover since we've been here. I hope she can hold on to these memories forever.

There were 3 days in a row where the swell had picked up enough that we had surfers in front of our house. Luke and his childhood buddy had so much fun. We had a bonfire with all of our kiddos that lasted passed midnight!