Sandbar Pictures

These pictures will forever hold a special memory for me.  Molly Anne was SO happy and SO excited.  It might have been the happiest I've ever seen her.  She could not get enough and I loved seeing her thrilled!  Plus, my sister in law was taking these pictures, I didn't have my phone so I was able to truly enjoy the moment.  I do believe there is something to be said about putting the phone/camera down and living in the present moment.  I need to do more of it so I can see the joy more.  Can't wait to frame some of these!

Meeting Blair

On Tuesday, Molly Anne and I drove from Pawleys to Raleigh (about 3.5 hours).  I also got to take my 8 year old niece Anna Kate with us to hang out with Emily's parents for the week.  It was so fun to have Anna Kate entertain Molly Anne in the backseat the whole way up.  Anna Kate is basically Molly Anne's other Mama...she is sooo good with her!

After we dropped Anna Kate off, we headed to see my best friend Kelly's new baby Blair who was born in June!  Oh what a joy it was for our children to meet!  Kelly and I went to college and were in Chi Omega together so I'm extra grateful for our friendship that has lasted 11 years post college!

Then we got back in the car and headed another 3 hours home.  It was a LONG day of driving for Molly Anne and I both but very worth it! ;)  We were excited to see Kevin when we got home!  

Pawleys

Molly Anne and I made a trip by ourselves this past weekend and into this week and had SO much fun!  Kevin stayed behind to work...he's having some growing pains at work these days and couldn't take a couple days off.  

We left on Saturday morning around 8am and headed to see my brother, SIL and nieces in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  This is how the trip went:

8am - leave and watch Sesame Street on my iPad that I had gotten a headrest case for.  

9am - she should have fallen asleep for her morning nap but didn't and she just hung out

9:45am - we stopped at Chick Fil A in Sumter, SC for a quick break and a snack (had to use stroller so I could go to the bathroom too - things you must think of when you are the only adult on a road trip!)

10:15am - back in the car with more Sesame Street on

11am - I didn't start another episode on purpose and she finally fell asleep

11:45am - she woke up

12pm we arrived

And after a quick lunch at Ships Pub, we went out on the creek.  She loved it.  This wasn't her first time on their boat but she was much older this time and I think loved it more!

Playing in the inlet

That night we hung at their house and went crabbing off their dock after the little girls were in bed.

Gorgeous right?!

We caught dinner for the next night.

The next day we played in the morning then went to a place they're members of to go to the pool.  My brother met us there with his other boat and we went out the river that afternoon for a quick spin.  Then went back to the pool.  She was in heaven!

Sunday night crabs!  Isn't the view from their house so pretty?!  It's like living in paradise every day.

The Marylanders had a little crab competition...who could pick the most?!  He won.

Monday morning hanging with Mills' golden retriever cousins - Gill and Fin.  She giggled at them and they played with her.

We went to a few shops in town then we had lunch at Bisqit in the Hammock Shops.  They have the best pickled vegetables.

Amazing view from their house.  Those houses in the distance are on the beach.

We took pictures of all the girls in matching, monogrammed shrimp and grits outfits.

After dinner we walked from their dock through the water behind Molly Anne in this picture and over to the sandbar on the left.  Can I please just tell you that this may have been the happiest I've ever seen her?  She was SOOO excited playing in that sand and a little puddle.  This picture of her is actually an after picture...you can see all the sand on her.  Emily took pictures of the girls on her good camera that I'll post another day.  They are so cute and I'm planning to get them printed!

We came home yesterday.  It was such a fun trip and they went above and beyond for us!!!  I really appreciated all of their help with Molly Anne and the three girls had a blast together.  I love that they'll grow up close to each other despite living 3.5 hours away.  There's just something about good ole family that I am so thankful for.  

Bottle to Sippy Cup Transition

Next transition - bottle to sippy cup.  Oh boy. No more bottles. Yikes.  And I must admit, I was kinda sad about it!  I've looked forward to giving Molly Anne her bottles for a year and then bam, no more bottles! 

Her doctor told us at six months to give her a sippy cup of water with every meal starting then.  We have been doing this and Molly Anne loves her sippy cup.  I do think this is because we started so early. Thank you Dr. T!

We used this sippy cup as the first we gave her. It's by Nuby and comes with a nipple top and a spout top.  We've always just used the spout type top so she would get used to it. 

Then someone told me it wasn't a real sippy cup and she needed to drink out of a real one.  Ha!  So enter Tervis Tumblers or the toss and go.  Tervis ones are the fancy ones (that leak a lot if you turn them over - we have experience in this ha!) and toss and go are easy and practical.  

So this is how it went down:

First, we had already transitioned from formula to milk so Molly Anne had had 10 days of regular organic whole milk.  Her stomach was used to it.  

The week of July 5th, Ms. Becky started giving her a Toss and Go Cup full of milk (about 6-8 ounces, her bottles all used to be 7 ounces).  She gave it to her at about 11:30am (same time as her old day time bottle) and she'd drink about half before her lunch.  She was extra thirsty because she hadn't had anything in a couple of hours.  Then Becky gave her lunch and let her eat and she was extra thirsty again and then gave her the rest.  It got her used to drinking milk with her lunch!  Becky did it for that week and by the following week, she was finishing her milk with her lunch every day.

At this same time, she was still getting her morning and evening bottles of organic whole milk.  

I polled the MICIT girls on Facebook and half said take the other two bottles away one by one and half said go cold turkey!  I  waited until Molly Anne's pediatrician appointment on Friday, July 15th because I basically think her Doctor is the Queen and knows ALL.  Because she does.  I asked her opinion - she said it doesn't matter.  Oh did I mention that her Doc just wanted bottles gone by 15 months, unless she's obsessed with bottles then it gets taken away earlier.  Molly Anne is obsessed so guess what - bottles must be gone ASAP or it would just get harder.  I'm so mean.  Tough love y'all!!!

That Friday night after her horrible shots, she had her last bottle.  EVER.  Ahhhhhh.  Kevin and I had a couple drinks with dinner.  The drinks weren't on purpose (it was Friday for heavensake!) but I thankfully wasn't overly emotional about it.  I tried not to think about it all too much.  

Saturday morning - sippy cup of milk!!!  And why not just start the hard way - toss and go cup it was!  No need for the transitional cup she was used to.  I wanted Molly Anne to learn fast!  Plus, she had already proven she could drink a whole cup of milk out of it anyway (THANK YOU MS. BECKY!).  

I set it out a few minutes before I gave it to her to let it get a little more to room temp and let me be honest - it didn't go wonderfully.  She only had about 1/3 of a cup.  But y'all I was doing it wrong - I was still trying to have "this time" with her and give her her milk in the rocker in her room.  I needed to cool it and give her milk while she sat up like a big girl and with her breakfast!  This would be our new routine, whether I like it or not!  (Side note: on weekday mornings when she goes to Ms. Becky's I only give her 1/2 cup milk and a few cheerios.  Becky gives her the rest of the milk and breakfast)

Dinner was going to be tricky because a bottle is part of her bedtime routine and had been for a year!  It was gonna be on if this affected her sleep because Molly Anne needs her sleep (and so does her selfish mother!).  You can't say I'm not honest on here.  Anyway, guess what?  She had milk with her dinner and then I saved the rest for before bed.  And she slept regular!  And has every night since.  Now we just have an extra step of "brushing her teeth" after the milk and before bed.  Don't want her teeth to rot!

Then a few days later (by the middle of last week) we eliminated the couple ounces of milk at bedtime.  It really needs to just be with her dinner.  Our new routine is bath, brush teeth, book, bed.  And if she wants a water then that's fine.  So far, mostly so good.  

Real life - there was a lot of swatting the sippy cup away the first weekend.  A little bit of chaos when she thought she was getting a bottle and didn't.  But it really wasn't terrible and she is getting better every day.  It's only been 10 days but I think she knows that bottles are history.  They're upstairs to be put in the attic so she doesn't see them.  No more bottles!  

My best advice is make the transition, make it fast and hold yourself back from reverting back to bottles.  It'll be better in the long run.  

Random notes:

1.  Our doc suggested 20-24 ounces of milk a day but do what your doc says.

2.  I love Ms. Becky and MA's doc for their wealth of knowledge and for telling me I'm only borderline insane for counting ounces and being crazy about this whole thing.

3.  I'm thankful to have been in town and not traveling for work when all of this went on!

Whoop whoop!!!!!!!!!  Overall she did really well and I'm so thankful!  This was just our experience so you gotta do what works for you.  I'm no doc or professional so ask make your own decision!  

Seven on Friday - House, Fly, MA & Mills, Pillow

Hello friends.  So glad today is Friday!

1.  We are still working on house renderings, brick and stone selections and redesigning.  Always something changing.  Met with the builder and architect on Tuesday night so hopefully next Tuesday we'll have a good idea on what it'll look like.

2.  Got to a Flywheel class this week with one of my co-workers.  

3.  Mills had his annual physical yesterday and checked out mostly okay.  He was the most excited dog ever to be at the Doctor's office.  We are going to do a minor surgery in August to take off a couple cysts and test them for cancer (which isn't expected but better safe than sorry), clean his teeth and biopsy a growth on his gum.  I just get so worried about pure bred golden retrievers so we do get him checked pretty often for lumps etc.  He's our best friend!

4.  Molly Anne is very into books these days and that's a good thing because we are now reading at least three before bed in lieu of drinking milk.  Our new routine!

5.  Where did this blonde hair come from?  Oh, my Mom.  Ha.  Ready for swim class yesterday...

6.  I tried to get a picture of them like I did when she was an infant but she's too busy for that.  So I stuck her between Mills and the back of the couch...check out the comparison...Mills' face is much whiter and obviously she's a year older! 

July 2015 versus July 2016.

Loving books!

7.  I got Molly Anne a pillow for her crib because the Doc said she can have one starting at age one!  I doubt she'll use it, except to throw around but at least she'll have it if she wants it. It's so soft and cool for her! So sweet. 

Happy Weekend to everyone.  We have some big plans which we're really excited about!  

Typical Snacks and Meals for Molly Anne

I had a comment yesterday asking about what I give her for a snack so I thought it may be helpful if I just told you all some foods I give her in general!  But first, here are some typical snacks.  Honestly I get most of my ideas from Ms. Becky but I try to have some intelligence and think of things too, ha!

Snack happens in our house (or Ms. Becky's) after she wakes up from her afternoon nap so around 3:30 or 4pm.  Sometimes I'll cut some fruit or give her 10 raspberries and a cracker.  Or sometimes I'll give her bits of string cheese and a couple of Ritz crackers (they crumble easily) unlike wheat thins.  Tuesday I had a banana that had been frozen and mashed and she loves that as a cold treat (but it's just a banana).  Here are some of her favorites:

I usually would just give her 3 of these and then save the other 3 for another time.

She also likes goldfish, animal crackers and other snacky stuff.  Oh, I always give her a sippy cup of water with her snack.  Becky gives her a splash of Apple Juice in it but I'm not that nice!

Okay so meals...

Breakfast ideas - Mini frozen waffles with an egg.  An egg and a piece of sausage patty.  Eggos make mini pancakes so I keep some of those in our freezer.  Cheerios.  Oikos yogurt with fruit already mixed in.  Molly Anne like vanilla too.  Sometimes I'll just give her yogurt and an egg.  Girlfriend loves some eggs, can you tell?!  Oh and I also give her smashed avocado for breakfast.  She and I like the same breakfast stuff.

Lunch ideas - PB&J, grilled cheese, pimento cheese with a fruit on the side, cottage cheese, turkey lunch meat.  Generally I try to do a fruit, veggie and protein for lunch and dinner.  I try to stay away from a lot of carbs (don't we all?!) but she does have some.  

Dinner ideas - SteamFresh makes single frozen packets of certain veggies so we love those.  They also make a "Pasta and Peas" combo and on a night we have a babysitter, that's something easy for her to eat with a side of applesauce.  I also try to use fresh veggies but occasionally I do just buy frozen and either microwave or steam.  Overall for dinner, she eats what we eat.  The only time she doesn't is if we are having something spicy or salads.  On those nights, I'll do a concoction of something for her to eat with our same ingredients. Tuesday night we had Beanier and Creamier so I just gave her some of the beans and meat, some blackberries and peas.

Hope this helps!  I know I still need to do the bottle to sippy cup transition post!  I'm working on it but it may be next week!