Fourth of July 2012

For America's birthday we headed down South again to Florida.  Any chance we get to go down to the beach we take it!  Thankfully, since Dustin's job requires him to be there a lot we get the chance quite often!  We combined his work with a little holiday vacation for the Fourth.  So far...Tucker has spent every fourth of July of his life at the beach...this year being the second one :)  I hope we can make it a yearly tradition for Tucker!

We spent the Fourth and most of our time there with my Best friend from Florida, Alex and her little one, Lennon.  Our plan was to get the boys all dressed in their matching outfits and have a little photo session on the beach before dinner.  Let's just say that a photo session with a 13.5 month old and a 5 year old made for quite the challenge ;)  Dustin still got some great shots though and we had lots of fun running around chasing these guys around on the beach!

How cute are those outfits made by "Holli Sews Cute Boutique"?!  I love them!

We had a wonderful Fourth of July at the beach...filled with fun times with dear friends and family!  I am always so happy for the time we get to spend at the beach.

And of course, since Dustin was behind the camera we didn't get any family shots this year :(  I guess that's what I get for Dustin being such a good photographer!

I am thankful for this shot Dustin got...I will definitely treasure this one forever!  Even though we are in different states now I am blessed to have Alex as a best friend.  

I did take some with my iPhone too...

Tucker and Daddy having fun on the night of the 4th in Seacreast

And lastly...some comparisons from last year to this year!

4th of July last year and this year...look at the difference in ONE year!

As if I needed another realization of just how quickly time passes!  I am doing my Best to savor each and every tiny moment...because every day I realize just how fast our Tucker boy is growing!  We definitely treasure every day as a family of 3 and are so thankful for all of our blessings!  Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!

Tucker's first Haircut

We took Tucker for his first haircut this past weekend.  I put this off for awhile...and then Tucker's hair was so long I couldn't even get it to stay parted over to one side anymore.  His hair looked shaggy, which is a great look too, but we just felt it was time.  I didn't really know how he was going to react to this new adventure, but like everything else so far he did great and was so patient!  

A lollipop helped out too!

He just enjoyed his lollipop, maybe even 2 or 3 and held mama's hand :)

We took him to an old-fashioned barber shop close by in Mountain Brook Village...

Mark, the barber, was awesome and was so sweet to Tucker!

Trying so hard to be still...

He did so great!  

Look at our little BOY...not the tiny baby we brought home just 13 months ago! Sigh...

Proud daddy and mama with Tucker boy and his new haircut :)

And there he is!  So big and proud...I think I might go cry now, because he is growing up Too fast!

So there we have it and once again, I'm so glad we were able to document another first for Tucker!  Sorry for the picture overload...but like I said in the beginning I am using this as a sort of online scrapbook!  I still can't believe our baby is old enough for his first haircut, but he looks SO adorable! :)

Vann Family Vacation 2012

Every summer, we go on family vacation with Dustin's dad's side of the family, The Vanns.  It has been hosted in various locations across the Southeast, with the majority of the trips being at the beach.  For the past 2 years now, we have gone to Pensacola Beach, Florida.  Dustin's great aunt and uncle have a beach house there as well, so that makes it more convenient too!  On average, it's around 30 people including Dustin's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, significant others, dogs, etc...which makes for a very fun, week long vacation!

Our family of 3 headed South last Friday...Tucker is still a great traveler and naps well in the car.

We had dinner out the first night since we were the first family to arrive with Dustin's grandparents and great Aunt & Uncle...dinner was yummy and the view from our table was awesome.

And this is where we resided on the Bay for the past week...

Each individual family took turns cooking dinner every night.  I made Chicken Casserole & Rice served with Salad and Avocado...I felt like I was cooking for the Duggar family making all that food!

We enjoyed lots of sunsets and lots of time playing in the sun and sand :)

We also rode bikes...

Went on wagon rides...

And even caught some fish! :)

We had a wonderful trip and Tucker had so much fun!  He was very busy all week long and had lots of people to keep him entertained :)  We got back on Saturday and celebrated Father's day on Sunday.  The start of this Summer has been so much fun so far and we are looking forward to spending a lot more time at the beach as a family of 3!