Beach it up!, the Dreaded Swaddle, and the Door Men

We had a fabulous time in Orange Beach last week.

There were several firsts:

• Parker's first time in the pool
• First family vacay
• First time to be held by Paw Paw Mike and Noni
• First time at the outlets
• First time to be changed in the outlets (thanks Jason!)
• And the first time at the beach, though I don't think I sat him in the sand (:

It was a busier vacay than we're used to, but we still accomplished eating at some our fave places, which is always the focus of any trip Jason and I go on, and so it will be for Parker!

We had pool time, beach time, family portraits and a very brief shopping trip to the outlets. It was perfect. Here is a pic of us on the balcony. If you're not on Facebook (and you really should be) you can check out my public album here.

Getting back on schedule has been a bit of a chore, especially since the day after we got back, our new front door was going to be installed. Thank goodness for Mom. We stuck P in my bathroom which is as far away from the front door as you could get. 2.5 hours, a visit from the City Code Enforcer, 2 Door Men, saws, hammers, ants, and a visit by me to get a building permit later, we have our new door!

And for those of you who would like to know, installing a new door is considered a structural change where we live. If it is over $1000 you have to get a building permit. How I was just supposed to know this, I have no idea. But the officer was very nice and so were the installation guys. Again, thank goodness Mom was here or I would've had to take P with me amidst all of the chaos to get the permit. The door isn't painted yet (it will be brown with white trim), but here is the gigantic hole and the semi-finished look. And yes, there is creepy Mom looking through the sidelight.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as mentioned in a previous post, we're trying to drop the swaddle again. Part of the resistance is P, but mostly, it's me. I just haven't been ready. It's been a doozy of a day so far with one of his precious arms out (he's crying right this very minute), so we'll see how it goes the rest of the weekend. Here is his battle scar from this morning. It is the tiniest scratch above his right eye. Doesn't he look so cute, though?!