Girl Clothes

Molly Anne and I had a busy day yesterday. We went to visit our friend Cathy at Teeter, Mary at the cleaners, Ann in the Lilly department at Belk and returned some stuff at Nordstrom and Carters. Then we grocery shopped for her first time. That was funny because I just had to get a few things so I pushed her stroller and carried a basket, while I talked to my friend Cheryl on the phone. Crazy.  Then it was pouring when we went outside. But we got the few things we needed for dinner that night. Ha!  

Anyway...

I really didn't buy a ton of clothes for our baby while I was pregnant because we didn't know if she was a boy or girl!  I constantly told Kevin how much money I was saving by not knowing the gender! ;)

And I also told him he was in trouble if we had a girl.  Well....!!

Here are a few holiday things I've ordered!  I've also gotten some cute things from a couple resale groups on Facebook. 

Where do you get your smocked things for a steal?!

Uptown and New Bedtime Routine

Yesterday we went uptown to Tara's condo to have lunch and hang out.  This was Molly Anne's first time uptown so I had to show her where Kevin and I met - blue building in below picture. 

Tara fixed a big lunch and we just chatted and caught up. 

Her mama stopped by too which was a treat!

One tired little baby when we got home.  It's tough being ooohh and ahhh over all day! ;)

A couple pictures from Monday!  We didn't leave the house but I wrote 20 thank you notes.  I've done 45 total since she's been born!  Holy moley is right. We have some very kind friends and family.  And now I'm glad I don't have all of those notes hanging over my head!

Good friends tell you they're coming over to help you with a new bedtime routine.  

We changed up her bath last night and didn't use the Puj tub. Instead we used the regular child tub as suggested by two of my friends.  Molly Anne liked it much better.  She was relaxed!  Thank you Kimmy for suggesting and Sarah for also suggesting and making me do it!

Sarah even dimmed the lights for her to chill out.  We also added an extra feeding between 6-9pm to get her extra full before going to sleep.  It worked because  she slept until 2am and didn't eat until 2:30am. Thank you Smother!!!

Happy Wednesday. We have a little play date at a friends home and a pediatrician appointment today!

New Clothes

Please forgive these ucky pictures but I am blogging from my iPad and I'm too lazy (or maybe busy doing other things!!) to get my computer out so these screen shots will have to do. 

I have had some Christmas gift cards that I've been really wanting to use but it didn't make sense until everything I wore didn't have to be flowy. 

I got these first two tops from South Moon Under....one of my favorite Maryland stores. 

I saw these shorts while I was at Anthopologie last week and I haven't stopped thinking about them.  I may end up getting them.  

And I also placed a J. Crew order because so many things were on sale and I can wear several of the things I got through Fall. I'll try to do a post on what I got from there soon!  

First Weekend by Ourselves

Well, we had a good first weekend by ourselves  and I survived my first full week at home too.  Aka I kept Molly Anne alive by myself plus Kevins help.  I didn't even know how to care for a newborn other than my instinctual ways until the hospital and mom taught me everything.  And I'm still learning every day from friends (I've asked my friends Sarah, Kimmy and Kelly 18,000 questions) and trial by error.  Ain't no shame in admitting this and I hope it helps any pregnant or soon to be pregnant friends feel comfortable that they can do it and will pick it up easily too. 

We had more visitors on Thursday - our next door neighbors.  The boys were SO cute with her. I told them she could be a wife to one of them!

Mills also got groomed last week, finally!

And Rachel and Maggie met Molly Anne on Friday!

Our friends Kimmy and Jeff came over Friday night and brought dinner and hung out.  Good times!  

She gave me lots of pointers and helped me with the bedtime routine.  She convinced me to swaddle both of her arms in for the first time and in a new swaddle pod that Sarah let me borrow. This led to Molly Anne sleeping from 9:30-2:30 instead of the usual 1:30 wake up.  Needless to say I ordered the swaddles on Amazon Prime at 2:30am!

Hanging on our back patio and staring at the monitor!

Saturday we chilled!  All of us!

Same thing Sunday plus we went to Midwood for some BBQ. It was good to get out. We have had more advice that says to go out now while she sleeps so much.  It's worked well because she eats at 6pm then she sleeps for 1.5 hours before bedtime routine begins at 8:30 so we just go to dinner around 6:30/7 and it's easy. 

I also was headstrong in not using a paci but that lasted 2.5 weeks haha.  The pediatrician said to use it in between feedings when she couldn't get soothed. It works!

That's all for now. We have a fun week planned!

Our Must Haves

These are our must have so far.  We are obviously by no means professional parents but these things have made life easier!

Diaper Genie.  Enough said.  And we have found the refills are cheapest at Sams Club versus Amazon.  They're $20 for a 4 pack at Sams or $18 for a 3 pack on Amazon.  I had heard that the Diaper Genie wasn't really necessary but I cannot imagine the grossness without it. 

Boppy Changing Pad Liners - these are essential because if she has a little accident on the changing pad table, you can just throw this liner in the wash instead of changing the pretty pad cover.  Speaking of changing pad covers - get at least 3, maybe 4.  Sometimes there are multiple accidents on that in a day and you have to do laundry right away because your third one hasn't been received from Amazon yet! ;)

Gowns - I don't care if you get them at Target or if they're Kissy Kissy - have a lot of them.  They make life SO much easier, especially the 4am diaper changes.  They're even easier than zippers.  No snaps on pajamas unless it's for a special occasion ha!  Molly Anne wore one of these home from the hospital.  The Kissy Kissy one was nice for this because it's convertible which means it snaps at the legs so the car seat strap would work.

SwaddleMe - we got all kinds of swaddle things to try but when the pediatrician recommended these because they're so easy with velcro, I ordered them right away.  These work for now, maybe we do something else later.  Molly Anne doesn't like her arms swaddled in so these work for her having them out too.  You can also swaddle arms into these.

Wipe Container - my friend Katie wasn't kidding when she said this thing worked.  It only dispenses one wipe at a time.  We use Pampers wipes.

Avent Bottles - we had tons of Dr. Brown bottles and thankfully I didn't open them all before Molly Anne got here.  They are WAY too many pieces and our pediatrician said there really aren't proven facts that they prevent gas.  So she suggested these Avent bottles that are so easy and only 3 pieces plus a top.  I've been boiling them each morning after they're used but I know most people use their dishwasher.  For me, it's easy to just put them in a big pot of water, boil it and then they're done.  I think I'm working with about 20 bottles right now and that's been fine.   

More visitors and life

We have had some special visitors this week. My friend Lindsay that I grew up with in Maryland and now lives in Boston was visiting her mom in Virginia this week.  On Monday they and her little boy Hayden drove down to see us.  How nice is that?!  They are like family to me. 

We visited for hours and just loved having our children together.  It was crazy that we have children of our own when we were reminiscing all of the things we got into when we were kids. 

Sarah came to visit!

And also Crissy who is Kevin's cousins wife!  

Yesterday after Crissy left, we played dress up in a dress that Fran gave Molly Anne!  Seriously how cute!!

Mills the protector.  

We facetimed with my mom for almost an hour and Molly Anne was smiling at her. It was so cute. 

She was also grabbing at this toy Lindsay brought her. It was precious. 

Things have been good since Mom left. I've actually survived without her which I wasn't sure was possible!  I've gotten bottles boiled, laundry done, mills is still alive and may even get taken to be groomed tomorrow, I've showered every day, we've eaten real meals thanks to our friends and mom last week, I've stayed in touch with my work stuff, Molly Anne has been bathed and is sleeping well, the house is now clean thanks to my fav ladies....  I really can't ask for more.  Now I do need to knock out some major thank you notes (gosh, people have been incredibly kind to us!).  And I'm sure there are other things lacking but we are trying. Kevin has been around a lot during the day helping and obviously at night too.  He's keeping up with the yard, dishwasher, helping on laundry and cuddling our sweet girl.  He's been a lifesaver.  We ventured out to SAMs Club last night which was good.  

That's all for now! 

Weekend

Friday my friend Emily came over to meet Molly Anne!

A few minutes after Emily left, Dad surprised us and arrived back in Charlotte much earlier than expected!

We decided to take our chances and go out for dinner for the first time since she was born!  

At Chuys. 

Molly Anne was so good!  She basically slept most of it. 

Saturday we had a photographer come take pictures which I should have back in a couple weeks.  

Lots of cuddle time with my parents!

Sweet girl. 

Saturday night Kevin and I went to a couples shower.  We took Uber and had a big time.  First time we had been out like that since October!  It was in the cutest neighborhood and had the best outdoor space - patio, covered area and awesome pool with waterfalls.  Gave us lots of good ideas. 

Sunday morning my parents left. So reality really began. I can't even begin to tell you how lost I would have been without them.  I'll leave it at that before I get teary talking about it!  

Yesterday went well though and so far today has been good too.  We upped her milk to 3 ounces every feeding because it didn't seem like she was getting enough. This definitely made her sleep better last night.  

Mills watching over my sitz bath.  I'm telling you - forget the witch hazel pads, spray stuff and anything else the hospital gives you - these baths are what have helped the most. Thank you Aunt Susan for suggesting them and for mom for making me take them. 

Last night hanging out with my people!

Today I've been to the dermatologist, gotten mills some tick med and now I'm expecting a childhood friend, her mom and lil boy in a couple hours. We are looking forward to their visit!