Sweet Sisters

I can't remember if I have shared any of these pictures. 

I also can't remember what I had for breakfast.

New Years 2017

We went to Blair and Brett's in Greenville again for NYE. Now that its March, I don't remember what happened :) - but I do know we didn't break into her house, set off the alarm to dispatch the police at 2am, or break anything. (Why do they keep inviting us back?)

But we had a blast, and it was a house full of people and 3 small children who slept through the loud noises. And then had the entire house awake at 7 am with train noises. 

We took a few pictures right before heading out town. 

Falcons Family Photos

They lost the Superbowl - what a bummer of a game! But at least we got to play. Also, we decided to take a "#1" picture in case they won the Superbowl, I could post it right after. Olivia held up the wrong finger. 

..or she hates family photos?

..or she knew the outcome of the game?

Paci Free

Our big girl is paci free (a few years later than we should). We are so proud of her! I knew we should have taken it away earlier, but thought, with Emma coming, that it would be hard for her to see Emma with a paci. Of course, Emma didn't take a paci. But no one was sleeping well, that I really didn't want to mess with it. She only used it at night, and never had a lovie - she would just hold her pacis. 

We told her for weeks that she'd have to give it up at some point, but we would wait until she was ready. We showed her pictures of "pacifier teeth" in google images. She'd always get concerned about "those fire teeth."

Then, I remembered how successful the big bed was, because we read a book about it. So I found a couple books: "Bye bye binky" and "Pacifiers aren't forever." We didn't make a big deal about it. Just read the books as we would any other book. Then we changed the subject.

On day 5, she said she wanted to get rid of her paci. I was shocked and offered to put it inside the feet of a build a bear, so she could still hold it. She said, "no mama, I want to put it in the trash." (The book mentions it going in the trash). She did and slept fine that night.

I, however, felt so sad about her pacis (the things she loved most in the whole world) being in the trash. A couple of her friends had the pacifier fairy come trade the pacis for a gift. So I wrote a note from the fairy about how she was taking the two pacis to babies who didn't have any pacis and they would be loved by the babies. And I left a candy necklace and an Olaf puzzle. 

I should have known .... "How did that fairy get inside my house?" Umm, she didn't, she dug through the trash outside. "Were they girl babies or boy babies?" One of each? "I wanted them to go to girl babies." Girls, definitely girls.

Our little skeptic went to school where everyone cheered for her, and shared their own experiences of what the paci fairy brought them. She was a believer! And told everyone she ran into. 

We told her we were so proud of her that we would get her a present at Target (anything she wanted!) on Saturday (a few days away). The next night was hard. But I reminded her about the target gift, which helped. And the book says for them to do something to keep their mouth busy like kissing stuffed animals. She asked the next couple of nights, but never asked again! And slept fine.

When we were headed to Target she said, "I'm going to pick out a real live bunny!" Dan goes, "Thank god you said 'at Target.'" She found a $72 dollar car that was for a doll we didn't own. After pushing it all around the store, I finally convinced her the $10 bubble machine was SO cool and we headed home with that. 

I am so proud of her and how this was a non-event. Thank goodness for books that give her ideas that didn't come from mom and dad. ;)

Emma vs Olivia - One Year

Forgot to post a side by side. They weighed the same, but little Emma is much much shorter.

What to do with muslin swaddles when your baby is older?

I know you already know how much I love Swaddle Designs. Their muslin blankets (THE softest ones ever - sorry Aden & Anais), now come in a "touch of shimmer" collection available at Target.  

For a little throw back to newborn Emma, take a look at my first review here. We LOVE these blankets. I know you found yourself swaddling your infant in these incredibly soft breathable swaddles, but did you wonder what to use them for when your swaddling days are done?

Here are a few of our favorite ideas:

1) Impromptu picnics. I love that these are so easy to throw in my purse (instead of a bulky quilt). They are great for the playground, the park, or the front yard. Adding a snack and calling it a picnic makes my 3 year old's life.

2) As a light weight blanket. These are nice for this spring (February?) weather we have been having. A light blanket is nice, it keeps the wind and bugs off of the girls, but they don't get over heated.

3) For the babies. Since our babies were swaddled in these, Olivia's babies must be as well. I love that they don't take up a ton of room, but help entertain Olivia. And with the swaddle instruction pictures sewn in, even Olivia can do it!

4. Travel. Because they fold up small, we keep them in the car, my purse, the diaper bag. They are used as impromptu changing tables, bibs, or just a layer between our kiddos and whatever germs are on the highchair, seat, etc. 

The sweet people at SwaddleDesigns are giving away a 4 pack of their touch of shimmer collection to one of my readers. Head over to Instagram to enter!

Emma's First Birthday Party

We lucked out with the most beautiful spring weather for Emma's party. I'm not sure how I would have entertained so many children if we were stuck inside. It made the flamingo theme even better!

The cupcakes were from Publix, but I used candy melts and a food coloring marker to make flamingos and some "one"s to top the cupcakes. 

The biggest hit, however, were the marshmallows dipped in leftover candy melts and pressed into gold sprinkles. Straws were from the dollar section of target. The kids thought these were the greatest! 

We had lots of alcohol, obviously. Including kids pink lemonade and adult pink lemonade. Emma spent half her time crying over not being allowed to have wine. And the other half carrying around an empty beer bottle.

My favorite part were the Happy Birthday balloons! And then we printed each of her monthly pictures to hang across the fireplace. 

A yay balloon and her sweet high chair topper. Which fell off one second into the smash cake pictures. 

I'm going to make the girls wear their flamingo shirts again and get a good picture. They were too excited for the party to pose for the camera. 

It was such a fun time, and I love that we had so many people there to celebrate our sweet Emma. Olivia said, "I need to have my friends here, and Emma needs her baby friends." And we had both! Such a wonderful Saturday!