Paci Free!

Reaghan has officially been pacifier free for 1 whole week!

She has only been allowed to use her paci at nap times and bedtimes for almost a year now, but for some reason we just couldn't get rid of it all together. Some of it was hesitancy on my part. I knew how easily the pacifier helped her fall asleep and I was selfishly worried that she wouldn't nap or sleep as well without it. Obviously as she's gotten older its become more and more obvious that she didn't really need it she was just used to using it.

When Lilly was born I tried to feel her out about getting rid of the paci, saying that now that Lilly was here she might need all the paci's and since she was a big girl she should give her pacifiers to Lilly. She was very matter of fact in that conversation, letting me know that Lilly had her own paci's and she could keep her big girl paci's. She wasn't really getting the whole "big girls don't use pacifiers" thing. Since she didn't jump on board with a positive connection between Lilly and giving up the paci's I decided to wait for a couple months so there wouldn't be any negative associations. Maybe I read too many blog posts and over thought the idea that she might be bitter towards Lilly if she was the reason she had to give up her paci because honestly, Reaghan has shown zero jealousy, bitterness, resentment whatever towards her baby sister. So it probably wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but wait I did. Also, I needed to come to a place where I was getting enough sleep that I could handle any toddler meltdowns in the middle of the night along with the newborn's needs! Once I felt like I could handle it if went horrifically wrong, I started telling her at night during her bed time routine that we were going to have to say goodbye to her paci soon, and then I said in a few days, and then one night I told her that if she gave up her pacifier she would get a special treat. {she sort of loves special treats!} She immediately pulled her paci out of her mouth and handed it to me! haha I told her I didn't have a special treat right then, and that she could sleep with her paci one more night and the next day we would say goodbye to the pacifier and get a special treat. She went to bed really excited about the idea. I went to bed thinking oh man, this is it. We have to go through with it now! This could be my last night of decent(ish) sleep for a while!

The following night at dinner we told her our plan. We said we would put her pacifier in a special bag, take it to the ice cream shop and throw it away and after she threw it away she could get her special ice cream treat! She was so excited! I l.o.v.e when she gets excited about things. When we got there she marched right up to that trashcan, took her paci out of the back and tossed it into the trashcan without a second thought! I was the one that got a little choked up when I saw that pink paci fall into the dark hole. I'm ridiculously sentimental. But you guys! My first baby is growing up!

She enjoyed every bit of picking out all of the toppings for her ice cream and savored every bite. I knew we hadn't gotten to the hard part yet so I was still a little nervous about how the night would go. When it was bed time I reminded her of how she traded her paci for a special treat and how proud of her we were and that she could pick out a toy to sleep with instead. She chose one of her stuffed teddy bears and our bedtime routine continued on as usual. No tears. No nothing. It did take her longer to fall asleep and at one point she called to ask if she could sleep with her polka dot blanket too and we obliged her sweet request. Once she fell asleep, we didn't hear from her again until the morning!

I couldn't believe it! I was kicking myself for not getting rid of that thing sooner, but also eased my mommy guilt by telling myself we waited until she was really ready. I couldn't believe it was so easy!

But I celebrated a little too soon because he next night was a different story. There was quite a bit of pouting and tears. She wanted to know how she was going to twirl her hair if she didn't have her paci???  Reaghan's not really a big fit thrower... when she doesn't get her way she pouts, and cries and tells us she's sad. Usually she is reprimanded for this behavior but we loved her through her paci withdrawals reminding her how proud of her we were for being a big girl and emphasized the new blanket/toy that she could sleep with. She eventually fell asleep that night too! The third night was minimal pouting and no tears and by the 4th night that pink pacifier was a distant memory. It didn't affect her napping in the afternoon either which was something I was dreading! 

She hasn't asked for it once since that second night and she is very proud of herself for not using a paci anymore because she is a big girl now and pacifiers are for babies. ; ) Every night she picks out a blanket to sleep with and stuffed animal and she's good. 

I'm so proud of my little girl. The break the paci addiction went way better than we anticipated with really only one bad night! I definitely don't miss her hair being piled up in knots from all the twirling right now or the drool on her shirts after nap time! But I do cherish each little milestone, realizing there will be a last time for everything! 

Treasure all the little ins and outs mama's, I imagine in 10 years I am going to miss her sitting on my lap while I gently brush the knots out of her hair in the morning. <3

Father's Day {2017}

See this guy? This is the one my 16 year old heart fell in love with 12 years ago. If you had told me then that I was actually going to grow up to marry him and have his babies I might have fainted from happiness. Okay, probably not cause I'm really not the swooning type of girl, but you get the idea.  My 16 year old self always wanted that to be the plan, but the fact that it actually happened?! Wow. God is good to me,

I've had 2 girls with the beanie loving, 2 shirt wearing drummer pictured above. {I thought his style was so cool when we were in high school, and to be honest, I still kind of love it when he wears a beanie} We've both grown up a lot since then and even more since we decided to bring babies into this world. I've seen him grow in selflessness and compassion. He demonstrates tenderness and patience when my patience runs dry. I've seen the worry in his eyes when his girls are sick or hurt, revealing the depth of his love for them. I'm humbled by the way he always rushes to be the hero for Reaghan's timid personality. I've learned his "limit" and how he functions under more exhaustion than we've ever known. I've watched him develop into a father that is purposeful and intentional with his love, discipline, and time. 

See Lilly Grow {4 Months}

Lilly is growing way too fast for me! We are enjoying watching her develop more and more of a personality but it is bittersweet to see her growing up. We've watched one baby morph into a toddler before our very eyes and our second seems to be moving a long even faster!

In a way she's grown a lot this past month reaching milestones, and at the same time I feel like I could leave much of what I wrote last month exactly the same!

OBX Beach Week!

Last week was our annual Beach Week trip with Mark's family! We're starting to outgrow the little condo we stay in now that we have 2 toddlers and 2 babies filling the space up with all of the things, not to mention vacation with 2 kids is even more work than vacation with one buuttttt its totally worth it.

 We had some rainy days and some really nice beach days. We did some shopping, had a tornado warning one night, and I may have dressed the girls in matching outfits every. single. day.

We worked through some severe toddler anxiety regarding the beach with Reaghan. I wish I could say we overcame by the end of the week, but she was still terrified on our last beach day. Once we were down at the beach for a little while she would slowly start to relax and enjoy herself and even wanted to be carried down to the waves to SEE them {touching the water was out of the question} but her initial reaction at the top of the dunes was to have a meltdown because she was scared. So thats what I mean by work through. It completely caught us off guard because she's been to the beach here at home this season without any issues and even our first beach day on Monday in the OBX she didn't have any anxiety, but when we went back to the beach on Thursday she was a mess. Toddler's are super fun sometimes you guys.

Here's a little recap of our week:

DAY 1:

First Beach Day! It was a little overcast and windy but still fun. 

 Babies did great napping under the umbrella!

DAY 2:

It was chilly and rainy so we decided to go to the aquarium... which apparently was also every other person in the OBX plan as well. The line to get in was ridiculous so we headed to the outlets instead and then enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at the Condo!

DAY 3:

It was chilly and still a little rainy so we decided to wake up early and try the aquarium again. We got there right when it opened this time so no lines! Reaghan was terrified of half of the exhibits. She's not an adventurous kid. haha In her defense the shark in the shark tank was definitely on the creepy side and looked like it was coming right towards her and Mark!  

After the aquarium we walked around Manteo and ate at our favorite sandwich shop, Poor Richards. We played at the park a little bit, got some ice cream, had a delicious seafood dinner that night to celebrate Mark's sister getting Tenure at ODU and then took an evening walk on the beach.

DAY 4:

It finally stopped raining so we were able to enjoy another beach day! This was the day that Reaghan decided she hated the beach! Mark was super daddy and brought down a little blow up pool for the girls to play in and played games with them to help Reaghan focus on anything other than the waves! She eventually asked Mark to take her down to see them and teach her about trusting him. <3

That night we visited a new playground and as soon as we pulled into the parking lot it started to thunder, lightning and down pour! We decided to wait it out and thankfully it passed after 5 minutes. The playground was super wet after that, but we had some towels to dry it off and we still had fun. 

DAY 5:

Another beautiful day! All 4 girls wore flamingo bathing suits so we had to get a picture right?

After dinner we went out and did a little shopping and then came back and let the girls play with the things they got and made necklaces with them. Lilly tried so hard to roll over from back to belly while we were there but just couldn't figure it out!

DAY 6:

Our last beach day! Since this was our 3rd beach day in a row we were starting to get a little beached out, especially with Reaghan still being afraid to leave her towel or chair for most of the time we were there, so we didn't stay too long. We still enjoyed building some sand castles and Lilly loved the little hole in the sand we made for her so she could be propped up and see what was going on. My favorite part of the beach days was honestly bringing the girls in, giving them baths and getting them ready for their naps. There is something so satisfying about clean, sleepy babes. Reaghan was so sweet with Lilly after their baths as they laid on the floor or on the bed together while I showered. I couldn't get enough of it. I just wanted to bottle up those moments. I stared and savored as long as I could and then patted their sweet bums to sleep. 

My in laws went out to dinner at their favorite restaurant that night and we took the kids to a local, more casual seafood place for dinner. After dinner we went to Tshirt Whirl to pick out custom OBX shirts. Reaghan and Brooklyn liked watching the Tshirt press. And we ended our last night with a walk on the beach. Mark wins super daddy of the year again for always carrying Reaghan on our walks since she was too scared to walk by herself. Granted she's a petite little thing, but she still gets heavy after a while!

I'm so thankful for our chance to spend time with family and relax with some sunshine and sand in our toes! It's the perfect way to kick off summer.  

Mother's Day

Apparently I'm just going to continue my trend of posting about events weeks after they happened. ; )

We had a fun and full Mother's Day a couple weeks ago. We got home from our D.C. trip late Saturday night and we were up early the next morning for church! I bought the girls adorable matching dresses from H&M and I wore the dress I wore on my first Mother's Day 3 years ago. I looked a little more put together that morning when I only had one babe to get ready for church and we didn't have to be there an hour early for worship band practice but I still treasure my Mother's Day picture with my sweet girls.

We unintentionally matched my mother and sister-in-law with the girls in denim dresses and the mom's in floral. Our sweet new niece, Anslee Marie, who was born on April 18th, was dedicated that morning so I'm glad we got a quick picture.

After church we went home to change and then headed back to my parents for our first lunch of the summer in their backyard by the pool. My Dad grilled us up some thick, juicy steaks! Erin got me a really cute #momlife tank that I had to wear aaaaand I dressed the girls alike again in Carter's outfits that I got from Marshall's. 

I'm so thankful for my mommy. 

She challenges and encourages me in my motherhood and she is what I strive to be like as I raise my girls. I've inherited her proud, opinionated character traits which sometimes has us seeing things differently, but she is also wise and steady and strong and I hope one day I can claim that I am those things as well because of her. 

She's also a pretty great Grammie to her granddaughters! 

I've been on a fresh flower kick recently so Mark brought home some beautiful roses for combo anniversary/mom's day gift. I guess that's a bonus for him having Mother's Day and our anniversary happen in the same weekend. ; )

He got me a necklace with Reaghan and Lilly's names and birthstones on them that I L.O.V.E! For some reason the picture won't load so you'll just have to take my word that it's really sweet.

He also got me a little devotional book to do with Reaghan and my sweet sister Sara made me a cute mother's Day craft with the girls while we were on our trip. I love it and it's definitely going in the girls little memory box. I love their sweet little feet!

Side note:

I just realized I never took a picture of the gifts I made my mom and mother in law and I'm so bummed because they turned out so cute! Little footprint and hand print designs on a flower pot with some flowers {obviously} planted inside. Reaghan had so much fun helping me pick out the flowers and plant them after painting the pots with me. I've got to snap a picture the next time I'm over at my moms because I was so proud of them! I love crafty things that involve hand prints and footprints in any capacity. I may have boxes and boxes of them by the time my kids are adults! :)