Let the games begin!

Who knew that month 10 would bring about sooo many wild & exciting happenings with Mollie! Girl is on the move and running her lips! I'll confess that one of my last posts was about her being on the move...I guess I didn't really know what that meant. I didn't fully grasp what a crawler will do your house and life until it REALLY started this past weekend. No more turning around for a second, the girl takes off and those wheels are just spinning:)



All of a sudden her communication is outstanding She's been saying 'Da-Da' for a while now and while quite vocal, no true words. Not anymore! We have 'Ba-Ba' for bottle, 'baby' for her babydoll Rosie, 'ball' 'book' and even 'bubbles!' Obviously she has her 'B's' nailed down:) Matt & I nearly feel out of our chairs when we were blowing bubbles on Sunday in the back yard and she belted out with 'bu-bles'--it was sooooo stinkin' CUTE!

After returning home from a fun weekend in Myrtle Beach, we then proceeded to REALLY child-proof the house. The socket plugs went in, I switched living room rugs with mom to have a softer one on her knees, other than my sisal and even put up the new Amazon purchase that is totally awesome, the baby gate with a pet door so the cats can get to their area, but Molls can't. LOVE IT!!!!

So, the games have officially begun...and we are having a blast!!!!! *Check back with me in a couple weeks & see if my enthusiasm and sanity are still around:)

**I just had to throw this pic in...Pops let Mollie play with his Blackberry & she was in hog heaven!

Girl's got some moves!!

This was a weekend of moves, to say the least!! Mollie is on a roll!

Saturday morning, after a much-successful C4W Purse Auction the night before (yayyy!), Matt, Molls & I along with 4 other friends had our first 'Water Babies' swim lesson~ ok, I know you're going, um, Mollie's not old enough for swim lessons. Alas my friends, according to our fabulous swim instructor Lindsey Ballenger, the sooner you get them acclimated to the water, getting their head wet, etc, the more comfortable they will be when it does come time to actually learn HOW to swim. Makes sense to me!

We sang some songs, splashed around & even went under water a few times!! It was so nerve-wracking for us parents to think about dunking our baby, but everyone did great! Lindsey was a wonderful teacher and made us all feel super comfortable. As she said 'the class was a success; no tears, no rain & no poops in the pool.' Couldn't have said it better myself, haha;)

Saturday afternoon, Molls & I were playing on the floor in the living room and all of a sudden the girl got on all fours and was starting to crawl! What the %^&*?!?! I know she can roll just about anywhere she wants and she'll also scoot herself wherever or spin on her hiney in a 360, but crawling?! Man..I wasn't ready for that! Jojo..are you ready for her this week??! ;)

I called mom & dad to hurry over to the house & Matt to come in the living room--such a trip to watch this lil peanut get around all by herself! Fast forward to Sunday and now she wants to pull herself up! Nooooo, haha!

The time has come, my little girl is now mobile. Let the baby-proofing really begin and the exhaustion really set in. As crazy as it is to watch her grow, it's absolutely incredible to watch her grow & learn. As I told a friend today, it makes me want maternity leave to be NOW, not when your baby can't do anything!

Sunday afternoon, we met up with Matt's friend John, his wife Kelly and their precious little girl Maya, who is 3 months younger than Mollie. They live in Chicago and are on IOP for the week on vacay. Not only have I never met John or Kelly, I swear we've talked via email & facebook probably over 100 times like we're lifelong friends! John is a regular blog reader (thanks bud!!) and soon after Maya was born, the new parent questions began--breastfeeding tips, sleeping issues, etc. The rest is history and we FINALLY got to spend time with our families together and celebrate our successes of survival!! There were def times I think we all questioned our sanity..but that's what friends are for right?! John & Kelly, cheers to our sweet girls and the lifelong friendship among us from here on out~ xoxo

A special weekend

What a fabulous Mom's weekend to share with my amazing mom and amazing daughter-- Blessed to have a mom that's my best friend and to be a mom now, thanks to Molls:)

Saturday we headed out to the Firefly Distillery & Irvin~House Vineyard for the 'Sippin Saturday' event. Locals, if you haven't been GO. Out of towner's, make sure to put this stop in your next trip. Wadmalaw is just beautiful to say the least.
At the Vineyard & Distillery, we sampled their flavored vodkas mmmm, ate some Home Team BBQ & collards mmmm and finished the day sightseeing the grounds, farm animals and listening to some guitar pickin' out there.

First sight of the animals

lil rascal trying to grab my shot glass!

giddy up..

Sunday, we started the day with a lovely breakfast compliments of the darlin' husband; French toast, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs & fresh fruit--my faves!!

Early afternoon we headed down to 2nd Sunday on King Street, one of my favorite free things to do in town. Ideal for a little stroll & some ice cream:)

I love my family!

 We finished the afternoon with a backyard swim including our friends, Lauren & Nicole. Perfect way to cool down after being hot downtown!! :)

Best friends!

Splashed herself silly

What a FUN weekend with those I love the most--thanks mom, dad, Matt & Mollie for making it a memorable first Mother's Day! xoxoxo

Friday Loves!

My Friday Love post is alllll about Mollie! Um, well, the whole blog is all about that muchkin:) In honor of Mother's Day it got me thinking just how LUCKY I am to 1) be a mother to a healthy & thriving little girl and 2) be HER mother.

Today she is 10 months old- wow. Matt & I enjoy every second with her & it's been amazing to watch her grow, learn new things, become aware of new people and new surroundings and the list goes on.

A few things to summarize her latest antics:

She LOVES her friends at Jojo's house!! Matt & I swear that we have the only child ever, who's excited for their parents to leave them in the mornings. Haha. I know she adores us, I'm not saying that, but it truly warms my heart that she LOVES other people, especially other kids:)

Mollie's officially a Garrett-- she could NOT get enough of the Costco samples!! On the menu last weekend were whole-grain crackers, mini spinach florentine quiche and whole grain pancakes. They must have known we were all 3 coming & decided upon kid-friendly foods:) The girl had seconds of each item..when it was quiche time & I was holding it breaking off pieces for her, she didn't want me out of her sight. I agree sista, a quiche is delish!

We had a lovely family Easter in Myrtle Beach! She's not yet a beach baby (didn't love the sand on her hands) but have a feeling that will change..she's not really going to have a choice:) We love the beach!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Whether you've given birth to a child or play the mother role to someone in your life, CELEBRATE-- you deserve it!!!

xoxo