Aniston is 9 months old

Diaper Size: 3

Clothes Size: 9 months  

Eat: She is eating three solid meals a day and loves when she goes into the high chair. I have started to space out her bottles a lot more now and she gets three 8oz bottles of breast milk a day. Our little "trash can" will even eat Presley's food that she doesn't want. Presley even knows to give it to her if she doesn't want it :)

Sleep: Her sleep schedule is still the same. However, since we are in the middle of remodeling the floors the girls haven't been able to sleep in their room and right now are "roommates" in the living room. That is going better than I expected. I love to hear them giggle when they see each other first thing in the morning.

Play: It is so hot here in TX, so I am trying to find some outdoor activities that involve the water. In our community, we have a pool and she likes it. She has a little float raft she sits in and we push her around. She really enjoys the splash pads, but isn't a fan of it when it splashes really fast in her face. She loves to crawl and walk around (holding on the furniture) in the backyard. Presley and Aniston love the water table and that keeps them occupied for a long time.

Milestones: She finally got two bottom front teeth. They took forever to actually break the gums and she wasn't bothered by them. 

Likes: To play outside and tries to eat all the leaves that are on the ground. It definitely is a mission to make sure she doesn't eat all these leaves. Her new favorite toy is the princess castle that Presley got for Christmas. She likes how she can stand and "play" with it and it even lights up. Going to the grocery store is also something she LOVES to do. She gets to eat a banana and gobbles it up!

Dislikes: When you stop her from going somewhere she wants to go. She also doesn't like it when Presley screams really loud. I can't blame her for that, I don't like it either. Anistion also encountered her first stomach bug and she was not a fan of that. It was so sad to see her feel sick and all the throwing up and dry heaving. It was only for one night, but definitely a long one night.

Personality: She is still such a happy baby. She is starting to cry a little more when she doesn't get something she wants or if Presley takes something away from her. 

Splash pad fun

"I think I am going to like it here in TX"

Push me HIGHER!

Yummy bananas!

Our first PCS as a family

May 16, 2018

We are PCSing from New Bern, North Carolina to Houston, Texas. We have known for a few months that we were moving and it just came up so quickly. Before the movers got here we had a bag packed for us and all the things we didn't want them to take in one area of the room. We took down all the picture frames and anything else that was on the walls. We tried to make it very simple for them and just put everything that was in the closets out on the floor so they knew exactly what they needed to box up. John even used a good Pinterest idea and had a different color tape for different boxes so when the movers came with all of our stuff they knew which room to put the boxes in. They movers said they liked it.

It took two days for them to move our stuff out. The first day was just putting everything into boxes and the second day was dismantling the couch, cribs and beds and putting everything into the moving truck. Both days it took the movers all day to do it.

The only main concern I had with the move was my breast milk. I have saved enough for two months worth of feedings and didn't want it go to waste. Luckily, Johns parents gave us a cooler that held all 1600oz of breast milk. It made it all the way with not one oz lost!!!!

There were some hick-ups, like the moving company we picked to take two of our vehicles didn't realize he had to pick them up on that specific date and didn't have a truck in the area to get them. He said he could have someone come the next day, but we wouldn't be there. Fortunately, we knew that John had to go back to NC for a few weeks while we were in TX, so we had some time to get the cars moved. This time we really researched the company to pick up the vehicle and called them constantly to make sure they new the day we had to have the cars picked up and made sure there was a driver for it.

Even then, that was a hassle. The driver that was suppose to pick up the cars didn't pick them up on the day he was suppose to. Apparently, they had scheduled him to do too many pick ups in the short amount of time. Long story short, we got the cars to TX, but it wasn't as easy as it was the first time from FL to NC. I did tell John that next time, we aren't going to be shipping the cars. Waayyyy too much of a hassle.

The move for us went very smoothly. It took us three days to get from NC to TX. We stopped in Atlanta and Baton Rouge for the night. We really wished we could have made it more of a vacation trip, but since we had dogs it made it really hard to find hotels and with the check out times it was hard. The girls behaved so well, better than I thought. The two nights we got to the hotels we didn't get in until 2/3am and when we had to wake them up they thought it was party time :) Once we arrived in TX the girls really didn't want to go back into the car. I think they though we were going to keep on traveling.

Goodbye New Bern! You were so good to us. Blessed us with two wonderful children. You will be missed.

Naked baby in Montgomery, AL. She had an explosive diaper and didn't have any spare clothes to change her.. oops! Don't think she minded it :)

Both passed out! As you can see we packed the car to the MAX!

Presley loving the smoothie that Dada got her.

Hanging out in the hotel

Home Sweet Home

Presley's second dentist check-up

May 4, 2018

I can't believe it has already been 6 months since Presley went to the dentist for the first time. She has gotten a lot more teeth since then and really loves brushing her teeth. She even likes to brush her tongue :) Since we live in a small town there isn't a pediatric dentist that she can see that takes our insurance. So she goes to the same dentist that I go to. They are very friendly, but I am curious to see how different it will be when we move to Houston and have a bigger city that might have a pediatric dentist that takes our insurance.

She was such a good patient. She didn't really want the dentist to look inside her mouth, but she did like brushing her teeth with their toothbrush.

She loved waving at this little bear. I think she thought it was a real animal.

We spent more time in the waiting room then with the dentist. Presley didn't mind it.

1st check-up vs 2nd check-up

Beach Day

The weather is finally warming up and before we move from North Carolina to Texas we wanted to get in at least one family beach day. Presley hasn't been to the beach in over a year, so this will still be a new experience for her. Of course, this will be a completely new experience for Aniston too. John and I always laugh now when we go to the beach about how much different it is now compared to when we were younger. Before we would wake up, maybe grab a drink and head off to the beach. Now, we have two kids to get ready and ALLLLLLL the stuff we have to bring. We really have to plan it out and get some of the stuff ready the night before in order to leave at a decent time. Some of our must haves for the beach with kids now are:

1. Tent
2. Food and water
3. A change of clothes for the girls after the beach
4. Swim diapers and sunscreen of course
5. Some sand toys for the girls to play with

Funny story, when we first took Presley to the beach for first time we didn't know that the swim diapers didn't hold the pee. Presley was sitting on John's lap and felt warm water on his leg all of a sudden. Later, we googled if swim diapers absorbed the pee and found out they don't! :)

Aniston is 8 months old

Diaper Size: 3

Clothes Size: 6/9 months and 9 months  

Eat: I have started to try to space out her feedings a little longer. When she wakes up and before bed she gets 7 oz and gets between 5-6 oz in between twice a day. She will eat around every five hours. She is eating everything now and she loves it. She enjoys going into her high chair because she knows she is going to get food. Those bibs with pockets on them are lifesavers. Sometimes I think she ate everything and I look in the pocket and most of it is in her bib :) When I give it back her face lights up like it is Christmas morning! 

Sleep: She is still such a good sleeper. At night she will sleep from 7pm-8:30 am. She takes 2 naps a day. One from 10:30am-11:30am and then from 2pm-4pm.

Play: She is crawling so fast now! It is like she is going 100mph! She has mastered how to get down from standing, so now I don't have to worry about her crying in the crib if she decides to stand up. She can squat down and pick up a toy.

Milestones: Eating everything under the sun. We call her our little "trash can." (Think she gets that from me :)   ) She loves to drink water from a straw cup and steals Presley's cup whenever she gets a chance. She does spit out most of the water she takes in, but she'll learn to swallow it all soon. She is babbling a lot more and says "Mama" and "Dada." She is even walking while holding onto the furniture. 

Likes: Following around Presley is her favorite thing to do. Whatever Presley is doing she wants to do. She loves going for walks in her little car and loves when Presley pushes her. Presley even tries to show her how to press the horn to make the "beep" sound. I can push her a little higher on the swing.

Dislikes: Being putdown after being held and isn't a fan of Zoey kissing her yet. 

Personality: She is truly such a happy baby. She looks up to her sister so much and loves to play with her. She doesn't have too much interest in the dogs yet, but probably because she has Presley to play with. Her face lights up whenever she sees Mama, Dada and Presley.

Presley and Aniston wearing the same outfit a year apart from each other. You would think I planned it, but didn't know until after I dressed Aniston :) They look so much alike

Her shirt is so true. Ain't no milk like your Mama's milk :)