Beach Livin...

Getting ready for the beach.

Mckell's favorite swimsuit is her bumblebee one from grandma Rabe- thanks mom, she's the cutest girl in the sand!

We love when daddy gets to come with us- she's attached to his hip, literally

 Such a gorgeous beach

No fear for this little girl, once she got steady on her feet with the waves coming in and out- she couldn't get enough

Skimboarding- can't wait until I can try (not such a good idea right now bc of just having a baby, healing, and such)

3.5 weeks and such a good baby. He's been sleeping 6 hours at night since 2 weeks old and hardly ever fusses. Sorry all you mommies that already hate me because Kell was such a good baby, I think we've got another keeper. He does spit up a lot (Kell never did) but I'm not complaining!

pigtails and loving it

After lots of struggling and much persuasion, I FINALLY was able to put Kell's hair in pigtails! Her hair has been long enough for months now but getting her to sit semi-still is impossible. But a movie and some chocolate did the trick and I love it!

 Say goodbye to scraggly hair... on our good days

first time playing in the sand- she fell instantly in love and Jason naps like an angel in the stroller

(we found this stroller driving to the store at a garage sale for $40 and I was ecstatic! A must have this summer- wish we had room in our car to bring it back home with us)

Loves his daddy- 3 weeks old

The Jersey Shore

We finally made it to the Jersey Shore and this was the kids reaction... 

Probably passing some gas, don't you we wish we all made this face? haha

And this is the gorgeous beach we live steps away from- jealous? Don't be- come visit us!!

The boardwalk, we walk up and down daily

And this is where we live, pier village.  It's so fun with all the cute shops and yummy food that lines the bottom and we live above- can't beat this summer livin!

 We are really enjoying our summer out here. We go to the beach and pool daily, walk up and down the boardwalk, and wait impatiently until we get to spend more time with daddy (he doesn't go to work until one so mornings are definitely our favorite time of the day).

The long trek out East. . . .

We ended up deciding to drive out to New Jersey all together instead of the kiddos and I flying out later. We left on Tuesday and made it to Jersey on Friday and it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Of course we made a lot of stops, at least every 4 hours to feed Jason and let Mckell run around and get some energy out. Kell kept mostly entertained watching movies and nick jr. shows, Jason was an angel and just got fussy when it was feeding time, and Courtland and I listened to a couple books on tape. So overall- not too bad!

Kell napping in her carseat

Jason's poor neck was probably so sore- I tried to keep his head up but it always ended up falling back down

Jake and Jill only lived about a hour round trip off our path so we were so lucky to be able to stop and stay the night there on our way. I hadn't seen them and their boys in so long, it was so good to spend a little time with them. Thanks so much for letting us crash the night when I know you guys were super busy packing and getting ready for graduation from medical school!

Stopping to get some lunch, feed Jason, and change diapers- so fun.

Jason's two week stats and first bath

Jason's belly button thing finally fell out so we were able to give him his first bath in the tub. He loved the warm water on him and I loved smelling him after- don't you just love newborn baby smell.

We also took him to his 2 week check up and everything looked good and his jaundice was pretty much gone. Here's his stats:

Weight: 8lbs 2oz, 40th percentile

Length: 21 1/4 inches, 70th percentile

Head circ: 37cm, 50th percentile

He almost gained a whole extra pound from when he was born and where he needed to be at- guess he's definitely getting enough milk! He's a growing boy- and in higher percentiles than Kell every was.

Notice his bulging belly in his bath pictures- he's got a nice pot belly going. Maybe he'll be a chubby baby after all... but not likely with those Rabe boy chicken legs he's got- ha!

Jason's 2 week old photo shoot

We had Jason's pictures taken at this place called photoworks in the University Mall in Orem. Why down there... I don't really know, probably because I'm a horrible planner and so finding someone I know to take them last minute seemed too hard so this is what we ended up doing and I think there ended up being a few good ones- at least of Jason which was the point of the pictures.

Pictures and the Astill family though do NOT go together at all. Mckell's newborns- she pooped 3 times and peed twice. Mckell's one year olds she was super ornery and got so upset we had to reschedule. And these pictures, Jason was great (I don't know how you can not be at 12 days old), Mckell on the other hand... not so good. She was crying and screaming basically the entire time we were there from lack of getting her nap. I thought for sure she'd just sleep the drive down but we were dumb and forgot her 'blankie' and 'binki' which meant no nap. Rookie parents! ha

Anyway, I wanted family pictures with the four of us and because Mckell wasn't having it- they didn't turn out and I wanted ones of just Kell and Jason but the best we could get was her to stand next to him. The cherry on the cake was that Kell refused to let me put her super cute outfit I had for her and instead she wore the outfit I had on her that day (I didn't put her 'picture' outfit on her because I was worried she'd get it dirty on the way there). So this was the result. Better luck next time?

So I keep meaning to get these announcements I made printed and sent out but I just haven't done it and I did actually go to print them at walmart but the ones out here in Jersey are ridiculous because they charge $2.75 for one 5x7- sorry friends and family, too expensive for our budget! So you'll have to enjoy the announcement on here unless I can find somewhere cheaper to get them printed (not that anyone's dying to get one- ha!).

We couldn't even get her to kiss his forhead- she was being super stubborn... must get that from her daddy (or me if you ask him, lol)!

But the ones of just Jason are pretty precious if you ask me. He's already changed so much... I can't believe how fast they grow. Time for another baby?! ha I know, I know, I'm CRAZY!

Short visit from Ben and Graham

Ben flew out with Graham for the weekend for a quick interview/visit. Mckell and Graham are about 6 weeks apart so I was very curious to see how they'd play together- this being the stage where everything is 'mine'! At first it was a little rocky, both of them trying to claim their territory but they ended up playing pretty well together.

I love this picture, one of my favorites! Mckell's cheesing it up and Graham's got the 'oh brother' look on his face- too cute!

Very surprisingly with all the fighting about 'mine' Graham was very nice and willing to share his popsicle with Kell. She ate her's in a matter of seconds and Graham just took his time taking little licks here and there. So Kell decided she'd help him out and would take bites of his popsicle and then laugh. It was pretty funny watching them and their reactions.

13 days old

11 days old, sleeping on daddy's chest. Nothing more precious.