June Recap

And just like that, we are halfway through 2017! I can hardly believe it. June was a wonderful month of fun firsts with our sweet little guy, two fabulous family vacations, and numerous game nights and good times with friends. I definitely feel blessed to be a teacher and to enjoy such a long maternity leave with the added extra benefit of summer off. Here are Eli's four month numbers, our vacation stories, and fun pictures from our adventures!

Eli's Four Month Update

Eli is weighing in at 13 lbs 15 oz and is 24 and 3/4 inches long. This puts him in the 15th and 25th percentile respectively, but his 16 1/2 inch noggin is up in the 53rd percentile! The numbers look good and he is definitely growing like crazy! He is still blessing us by sleeping through the night, and we are just now getting to the point where he can sleep without being swaddled (with his arms out). He is eating right around every 3 hours, with longer stretches sometimes, and takes about four small naps a day. He doesn't fuss much other than when he needs a nap or is hungry. Thankfully, this month's shots don't seem to have bothered him as much as they did at his two month check up.

Eli is the happiest, giggliest baby. He is always on the go, which is a good thing because we've had him on the go this month with two vacations, his first plane ride, and his first road trip. He's seen the ocean and the mountains, and got in the pool for the first time! He found his feet, can hold up his head, and is blowing bubbles like crazy. He has rolled from belly to back a few times, but not the other way around yet. Eli loves reading books, sucking on his hands, being tickled on his belly, and traveling with his favorite buddy, Mr. Bearfox. I'm so grateful that little man is a champ of a traveler, because he's fit right in to our love for travel. It's still possible with a baby, y'all! Eli is such a blessing, and we fall more in love with him each day. It's safe to say that month four has been my favorite, and I'm excited for all that is to come (but hopefully it doesn't come too fast!).

Florida Keys, Everglades, and Miami Vacation

When we earned our Southwest Rapid Rewards Companion Pass last year, I was able to fly free as Aaron's Companion for all of last year and all of this year. After a Northeast Spring Break trip, San Fran/Napa trip, and our amazing Anniventury trip last summer, we looked at the map and picked places that I could fly to easily while pregnant (Nashville and Chicago), and then we picked two places we wanted to go in the US this summer that we'd never been (the Florida Keys and Seattle). Even though we had a three month old baby, I hadn't been on a trip since December and was so ready for one! First up: flying to Fort Lauderdale, renting a car, and doing the Keys, Everglades, and a little bit of Miami.

Eli was a champ on the plane and fell asleep before we took off. The air pressure didn't seem to bother him. Let's just say that flying with a baby required WAYYYY more bags than we are used to. God bless Southwest for two free checked bags per person. And umbrella strollers are the bomb.  I pumped in a variety of places (on the plane, in the car, in the airport), and Eli did lots of bottle feeds on the trip. He still slept like a champ in his pack and play in five different hotels! He also hit up the pool at our resort in Marathon, which had to be be about 82 degrees and felt like bathwater.

We had an amazing time just driving the Keys, staying in different places along the way, and eating three kinds of key lime pie. We stayed in Marathon, Key West, and Key Largo, and explored various beautiful places in between. The water is gorgeous in the Keys, but most of the beaches are kind of rocky more than they are pretty; Bahia Honda State Park was a big exception to that, as was the beach at Fort Taylor Historic Park in Key West.

As we made our way back up to Fort Lauderdale, we spent an afternoon in the Everglades. We got caught in the rain and I got more mosquito bites than I ever thought were possible, but we did see a couple of alligators on a nature walk. Eli slept in his carrier through the entire thing, but they were pretty dang close to us. If you ever go, be sure to throughly coat yourself in bug spray and avoid the trails that go into the woods!!

We also spent a day and night up in Miami, where we explored the South Beach area. The beach there is gorgeous, but the area itself wasn't my favorite. It was a little too "clubby" for me. We did enjoy Espinola Way though, where we found a nice Italian restaurant and Eli slept through the entire thing (sensing a theme here? 3 month olds are great to travel with!). I changed blowout diapers in the rain in the back of the rental car, and we just laughed through all the crazy moments that came along with traveling with a baby. All in all, it was a great first family trip!

Colorado Vacation 

After we were home from our Florida trip for about a week, we set out for our second vacation. This time, we drove out to Frisco, Colorado to spend six days sharing a condo and exploring with my extended family. We left on our anniversary, June 15th, to drive six and half hours out and spend the night before making the final three and a half hour drive the next morning. We quickly figured out that I needed to ride in the backseat with Eli so that I could bottle feed him when it was time. We also got really good at making each of our stops a "grab food, get gas, use the restroom, change a diaper" kind of stop so that we could really minimize how many times we had to stop.

While out in Colorado, we enjoyed the Frisco BBQ challenge, beautiful mountain walks, fishing, whitewater rafting, hiking, frisbee gold, sand volleyball, and numerous games of Mafia and the couch game. My favorite part with just being with family, and it was fun for Eli to be in a place that I grew up going on vacations myself as a little girl. He's the youngest family member to ever visit Frisco, which is saying something because there were 17 of us there and we usually went every summer growing up!

On the way home, we made the entire 10 hour drive in one day! We made our purposeful stops, and gave Eli a good stretch break in the booth while we ate a pizza buffet with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Scotty. It was a great road trip and we left with lots of great memories!

First Father's Day 

While we were in Colorado, we celebrated Aaron's first Father's Day! He's pretty much a champ of a husband and dad, and we celebrated by going whitewater rafting with the family (except for Eli, who stayed behind with a friend). I bought a copy of Jimmy Fallon's book Dada, so we'll see what Eli's first word ends up being, even though I've stacked the deck in Aaron's favor!

Happy first Father's Day to my sweet husband (who literally carried our son down a mountain yesterday). You are silly and fun and passionate about raising Eli up to be a godly man. I couldn't ask for a better example for him, and watching you love our little man makes me melt. E may not know it yet, but he has an incredible Daddy, and I can't wait to share in all the joy that is to come! Love you! 💕👪

A post shared by Kelsie Kleinmeyer (@currentlykelsie) on Jun 18, 2017 at 8:46am PDT

In Case You Missed Them:

First: A Letter to Eli
DIY Ideas for a Newborn Photo Shoot at Home
Learning that Marriage is the Greatest Thing You'll Ever Do
Designing Your Dream Home at an Affordable Price

As the summer unfolds, I find myself loving being a mama even more. I wish time would stand still for a bit, because I've only got a little over a month until I enter the world of the working mom. At the same time, I know that our adventures won't stop just because I'm working, and there is a small part of me that is excited for a bit more of a routine outside of the home. We'll see! For now, I'm soaking up every second with our sweet family. Cheers to July!

Currently,

Kelsie