Beach Shots

Just want to share some (oh, just a few dozen!) photos so far from our beach trip. Tomorrow is our last full day here - boo!!! I will blog more extensively on the trip later, I hope... plus I will do separate posts on things like our visit to the fort in historic St. Augustine. Since there are so many photos in this post, I have provided you with some background music below. I chose this song because, for some reason, it has been stuck in my head the past few days. Rick Astley songs always reminded me of Florida, anyway, so maybe that's it (I promise I am not trying to "Rickroll" anyone - it's a different song!). Push play and listen as you peruse the pictures, if you'd like. And sorry for the recent live version; it's the only one I can find available to embed... he still sounds the same nearly 20 years later, huh? Anyway, enjoy the beach shots!



We stopped at Grandaddy's and Leila's in Jax before we continued to St. Augustine Beach

Dad grilling the red snapper and amberjack

Mike and Crystal taught us a card game called Golf

The rest of the fish caught by the men while deep-sea fishing

Cecilia swims with "Buh-buh"

Chris put the water wings on her instead of Caroline - and she loved it!

Adults stayed close since the wings are for ages 3 and up...

She loved the freedom - a natural in the water!

She wanted to swim even without the wings - she instinctively put her legs behind her and held her head up, kicked her legs...

Caroline enjoys floating on the noodle

Cecilia learned to count to three by doing this... "Un... doo... fwee!!!!"

The wings are bigger than her head!

Caroline likes to stay near the steps when a flotation device is not available

Stephen made this appetizer from some of the small snapper (vermillion) that they caught... it is raw fish, fresh cilantro, red bell pepper, and lemon and lime juice. The citrus juices sort of "cook" the fish as it chills in the fridge... yummy, and not at all like what you'd imagine it to taste or feel like...

Two of Mom's three boys helping in the kitchen... and neither one is Mike. This is rare.

Uncle Stephen draws with Caroline. They drew boats and fish.

Same as above, but including wall o' mirrors and bizarre chandelier

A great shot of Uncle Mike and Aunt Crystal with the girls... don't they say that pregnant women "glow"? Mike looks pretty glowing as well!! :)

She would have forged straight ahead if I didn't hold her back!

Waves!!!!

Caroline doesn't quite understand how to boogie-board...

Happy to be getting splashed!!

Wandering along the shore...

Both the girls stroll along

Such a free spirit...

Discovering a shell

Precious beach bum!

Daddy and daughter

Showing a shell to Grampa

Cool Dude!!!

Group effort sand castles with Uncle Tim and Daddy

Our condo... well, it was more of a townhouse

Seminarian Uncle Tim builds a sand cathedral

Grampa shows Cecilia how to make a tunnel using a foot an some sand

Grampa removes his foot and makes the opening on the tunnel

Cecilia checks it out - future engineer

Tim's completed cathedral - it even has flying buttresses

Tim's cathedral with the Latin underneath: "Behold the Lord God, King of the World"

I built a little village similar to one that Stephen and I had when we were about 3 and 5 on a trip to the beach... I should dig up that old photo and post it too!

Rare shot of both girls looking at the camera

Carolne shows off the lizard she caught

Double flotation protection

More later - we're having a great, sunny time, as you can see!!

So Sweet!

At the Beach!

That's where I am right now - whoohoo! We arrived today after a very long drive with a toddler who was very miserable about being restrained in her carseat for so long... :( Speaking of, anyone hear of the latest American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation? They recommend that children remain rear-facing in their carseats until at least age two. Cecilia's still rear-facing and only weights a bit over 20 pounds (the bare minimum weight for turning a child forward-facing). I hope her moodiness is just a fluke and we will continue to keep her rear-facing. After all, she can see her sister in that position, so it makes sense that she'd be happier than Caroline was as a lone backseat-riding one year old. We turned her forward around 16 or so months of age since I decided my tenseness from her crying in the car might cause a wreck and endanger her more than if she was happier and forward-facing... All that said, I plan to leave CC backward as long as possible, and I hope she will get past this phase she's in right now!

Haven't had much blogging time with packing and traveling to my parents' house yesterday and then traveling to FL today. But here is a link I found recently: http://www.bluepixo.com/Parents/article/34/being-quot-in-control-quot-the-possible-and-impossible-in-parenting
Pretty good stuff overall. There was one line I didn't like, but everything else was right on.

The "Why Do I...?" Parenting Series

I have been thinking a lot lately about how my parenting style is influenced by my faith. I also recently received comments on this blog appreciating a few other posts I have done regarding attachment parenting. The combination of these two things gave me the idea to do a series of posts explaining why I do things the way I do, especially from a Catholic perspective. It can be difficult to parent this way if one has little support or examples around them, because attachment parenting is very different from most "mainstream" parenting practices, leaving some to feel like the odd man out when discussion among real-life friends turns to our children and our parenting decisions. There can be much support found online (although that can't compare to real-life support!), but there is still little support for attachment parenting in a Catholic context. Catholicism is what led me to this style of parenting, actually. Oddly enough, most online support for AP is either secular or full of liberals. But I think it is so very Catholic!

I am by no means a parenting expert. I know I have made mistakes and will continue to make them, so please do not take this as some sort of perfection. I just want to support other moms, Catholic or otherwise, who have an interest in this style of parenting. I have been very blessed in that my extended family is accepting of my parenting, but I know that others are not so fortunate and even have openly hostile friends or relatives when it comes to this subject... and that is hard - you need support!

I also want to point out from the get-go that I am not saying this is the only way Catholic parents can raise their children. I just want to show that it is quite compatible with our faith!

Some possible topics for posts in this series follow (and these aren't all hard-and-fast "rules" of AP necessarily):
Why do I...
* continue breastfeeding beyond the age of 12 months?
* sleep with my babies instead of "sleep training" them?
* use a baby sling instead of a stroller?
* plan to homeschool my children?
* never let my husband feed bottles to our babies?
* skip most vaccines for my children?
* not leave my very young children for extended periods?
* wait until the last possible moment to get to the hospital to give birth?
* practice ecological breastfeeding?
* always take my babies to Mass instead of leaving them in the church nursery?
* use breastfeeding to mother my children (as opposed to only using it to feed them)?
* breastfeed in public?
* live the liturgical year at home with my children?
* not buy any baby food and let my babies self-feed?

Just some ideas... if anyone actually is interested in one of these specifically, let me know and I will focus on it first. Suggestions are welcome as well. Many of the things listed above have gotten me strange looks at times, and that is probably because they are pretty different from the cultural norms (although baby slings have become more "mainstream" lately!). For others who may have received raised eyebrows or annoying comments, hopefully you can find reassurance here.