And We're Off!

We're officially on vacation! We're rolling out at the crack of dawn with a car filled to the gills with everything and anything we may need for a week of fun in the sun! We've got a few posts for you this next week while we take waayyy too many photos to show you when we get back! Have a great week!

Hampton's Favorite Toy

This table is Hampton's favorite toy. It plays music and sings songs in both English and Spanish. The legs come off so he can play with it on the floor, but Hamp loves to stand up and play. He pulls up on it then bangs and plays until he falls down, then he's back up and at it!

2 Of A Kind, Working On A Full Mouth

Hampton has his first.....teeth! That's right, he's got not 1, but 2 teeth coming in! He hasn't really been cranky with them, just a little more tired than usual. Of course, that could be from going constantly now that he's crawling all over the place!

Weekend Update

We were busy little bees this weekend! Friday night, Hampton spent some time playing with Grandi & Granddaddy after dinner. Saturday morning was spent running errands and meeting with The Monogrammed Monkey customers while getting ready for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive.

Saturday afternoon was a lot of fun, as Hampton went to his first party. Our little friend Braelynn had her 1st birthday party, and we had a great time. That little girl is TOO cute! Plus, she had us applique her outfit, and it looked adorable if we do say so ourselves! Hampton had quite the time watching and playing with all the other little ones, and we got some great ideas for his birthday party.

Grandma and Grandpa got here late Saturday, and we played all day Sunday with them. We drove down to the beach, headed to the outlet mall for some awesome deals (it doesn't get better than free!), and had a great lunch. After a much-needed nap, Hampton played hard with until bedtime. It was a very fun weekend, and we're already looking forward to this one.....especially since we'll be on vacation!

reading a story with Granddaddy

playing with the Grandpa and Daddy

Braelynn's birthday outfit....her theme was bees, ladybugs, and butterflies

It's Official

Tanner is finally sure that Hampton is her child.......

......since he seems to love pizza as much as she does!

A Tisket, A Tasket.....

....Hampton loves his basket! Of course, this is what we use to put the toys in, but hey, who says it can't be a toy, too? We're also super-excited now, because we know we can give him a box for Christmas and make his day! :)

Running In Circles

We have a new game in the Howard household, and it involves Hampton "chasing" Bo. Since Hampton's exersaucer only allows him to go in circles, Bo runs around in front while Hampton follows. Hampton gets increasingly more excited as they go, squealing in delight, while Bo gets increasingly more motion sick!

On your mark.........Get set.......

........Go!!!!!

Weekend Update

This weekend we....

• ran errands

• hit up the mega-sales at the outlets

• shopped for birthday and Christmas presents (might as well start early!)

• played in the park in Fairhope

• became members of Gulf Shores United Methodist (it was about time!)
  

• played at the Grandparents' house

• indulged our Birthday Cake Milkshake obsession
  

• spent a lot of time watching Hamp try to pull up on anything he could find!
  

Play Time

Friday Photo

Chomp, chomp, chomp......only 50 more days!

Put A Sock In It

This week we received a box of goodies from Bo's sister Leigh, filled with all sorts of things that our nephew had outgrown. Hampton was thrilled....not about the clothes, but the fun soft "balls" that came in the box. He managed to stick every pair of socks in his mouth that he could find. Who needs toys when socks are more fun? Of course, now that he's discovered the joy of socks, we're just hoping that he doesn't find Bo's dirty ones to shove in his mouth, too!

Up with the Sippy Cup

Hampton is starting to get the hang of his sippy cups, much to our delight. They all work just a little bit differently, so he hasn't mastered them all, but the one above is his favorite. We think it's because it's Born Free, which is the same brand as his bottles, so it has very similar parts. He's working on 2 others, though, and it's so funny because he chomps down on the spout to make the water/juice come out. So, a lot of the time it goes everywhere! He's also figuring out that just sucking on it doesn't make the liquid come out...you have to turn it up. And since he can only have just a few ounces a day, he has to turn it waayyy up! Needless to say, we're still going through lots of burp cloths in our house as we mop up his mess!

Weekend Update

This weekend was Grandma & Grandpa's visit, so of course we had a good time! Before they arrived on Saturday morning, Tanner got a much-needed salon visit and ran some errands while the guys hung out at the house. Once P&J arrived, we visited, had lunch and napped before heading to the park to play. It was warm out, but the breeze coming off of the Intracoastal kept things nice on the dock. We played for awhile before heading out for a delicious Mexican dinner. On Sunday we headed to Pensacola, then to the north end of the county before the big fun....the Jimmy Buffett concert! We unexpectedly scored 2 tickets, and though we had to twist their arms, the grandparents agreed to babysit! Ha, ha! Seriously, we think they would have found us scalper tickets just to get some one-on-one time with Hampton! We actually don't know who had more fun...us at the concert, or them with the baby. Either way, it was a great end to a fun weekend with family!

Grandpa and Hampton at the Orange Beach park

Can you spot us? No, but we were definitely there!

Cow Appreciation Day

Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A, so you know we were in on the fun! In case you haven't "herd" about this holiday, let us fill you in. On this special day, if you go to Chick-Fil-A completely decked out in cow attire in honor of their mascot, you get a free combo meal of your choice. Since we're always up for being silly (and for a great freebie!), we decided to get a-mooovin'! Thanks to Tanner's massive collection of craft supplies, we had no trouble creating our costumes. It was hilarious......especially to the Louisiana baseball team that were also there that night!

We were no chickens!
Oh, and don't worry....Tanner was also dressed up, but SOMEONE has to take the pictures, right? :)

Friday Photo

Hampton playing the piano on his music table (the legs come off)

Beach Baby

While we were at the beach Saturday night, Hampton had a wonderful time playing in the sand and with his little bucket and pail. We snapped way too many photos, and so many of them turned out great that we had to share some with you! Be warned....there are lots of photos here. Of course, we figured since the only reason that you look at the blog is to see Hamp, you surely wouldn't mind! :)

Weekend Update---July 4th Edition

The 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays, and this 3-day weekend did not disappoint! We kicked the weekend off at Pirate's Cove, and it definitely got us started right. We had been wanting to try their famous burgers since we moved down here, but it's off the beaten path and out of sight, out of mind. Well, we finally made it out there and are so glad we did! The burgers, fries and onion rings are awesome, as is the view. It's about as laid-back as it gets, too, with friendly dogs everywhere, including a huge mastiff named Tiki.

The weather was wonderful and breezy on Saturday, which was perfect for our beach picnic and fireworks in Orange Beach. We got there right at dusk and just enjoyed watching Hampton play in the sand (more on that tomorrow) before the fireworks started at 9pm.

On July 4th, we celebrated in style by grilling out, taking a nap, and then heading back to the beach for the Gulf Shores fireworks show. It sprinkled a little, and we pretty much had our little beach area to ourselves while watching the show.

Monday meant one more day of fun....but not in the sun! It rained almost all day, which meant we had to cancel our pool play date. We did take advantage of the weather to do some things that needed to be done, including cleaning the house and organizing the garage. We also ran some errands, helped Bob finish up his fence, and played delivery service for The Monogrammed Monkey.

It was a great holiday weekend, and we only wish every weekend was 3 days long and filled with fireworks!

having fun with Granddaddy at Pirate's Cove

playing on the beach before the Orange Beach fireworks

the fireworks show from the Perdido Beach Resort

worn out from all the fun!

all decked out and ready to go for the Gulf Shores fireworks show

Did Somebody Say McDonalds?

Da, da, da, da, da.....I'm lovin' it!

8-Month Birthday

Wow! Time is flying by and we can't believe Hampton is already 8 months old! He's quite the character and is one very determined boy to get what he wants. He laughs constantly and squeals at the top of his voice everywhere...especially in restaurants and stores.

Current Likes:

saying "mama" and "dada"
grabbing anything and everything within reach
playing patty-cake with Grandi
smiling and playing with everyone, even strangers
running in circles in his exersaucer

Current Dislikes:

taking a nap (he's afraid he'll miss something!)
not being able to crawl, although he sure is trying
trying on multiple outfits to see what still fits
not being able to grab the dog's tail
being changed on the changing table....it's much more fun in the floor!

Picture #1...he pulled himself up, even after we lowered the crib!

Picture #2...what's left of his month 8 paper.
We've got our hands full around here, but we're loving it!

Surprise Jimmy Buffett Concert

We love Jimmy Buffett. We're not exactly Parrotheads, but his music is so laid-back, fun and coastal that we listen to him all the time. That's why we were thrilled when we found out he was doing a free concert at our beach to encourage tourism. Unfortunately, we couldn't get tickets....35,000 tickets were gone in less than 6 minutes, and supposedly over 1 million fans tried to score them (more than the Superbowl). Of course, we were bummed, but we figured we'd get to see him eventually.

Last night, Bo was on the phone and dinner was on the stove when Bo got several calls from our good friend Wayne. Bo figured something must be wrong because Wayne called so many times in a row, so Bo got off the phone and called him back. Boy, we're glad he did! Wayne was calling to say that Jimmy Buffett was playing a surprise concert at Lulu's within the hour! We were thrilled. We threw our mostly-cooked dinner in the refrigerator, got Hamp and ourselves dressed, and headed down there pronto.

The place was packed with people braving the yucky weather to see Jimmy Buffett. We had to wait a little while before the concert started, but Mr. Buffett did not disappoint! It was awesome to see him so up-close-and-personal in his sister's restaurant. It was an awesome experience and one we won't soon forget. Don't worry....Hampton had a great time, too, watching all the people and getting lots of attention from other concert-goers. It must be great to see your first Jimmy Buffett concert before you're even 1 year old!

listening to the tunes

the man himself!