Road Trip!

Molly was busy last week! She went to 8 states in 8 days!! Molly, Mommy, Daddy, Grammy and GPop hopped in the car last Thursday and headed North. Brandon was in a wedding in Lewes, DE on Mother's Day weekend, so we decided to make a family vacation out of it, and take Molly to visit Ginny's side of the family up north.

So, Thursday morning, Grammy and GPop arrived at our house in Greensboro and we packed up the car. And boy was the car full! We had bought one of those soft top carriers to go on top of the car, and we had that filled to the brim with duffel bags of our clothes, and then inside the car was all of the things you need when traveling with a 3 month old :) But, it was bearable, and so we all piled in and got on the road about 11am. The first leg of the trip was from Greensboro, NC to Lewes, DE for the wedding weekend. The 7 hour trip took us about 9 hours. We made 2 two hour stops so that the adults could eat lunch and dinner, and so Molly could be changed, take a bottle and stretch. Molly did great in the car! We had tons of toys to try and entertain her, but of course she slept a good portion of it. And as the week went on and she spent more time in the car, she started to sleep even more. Hence why our days and nights are mixed up again, but that is ok, we will get back on schedule soon. About 30 mins away from our destination, Molly had had enough, but it wasn't worth stopping, so we all just gritted our teeth and listened to the poor girl scream. Of course as soon as we pulled into the parking lot of the Inn we were staying, she stopped. :) We stayed in a gorgeous Inn right on the waterway in beautiful historic Lewes, DE. Lewes is the "First Town in the First State", so we thought that was very fitting for Molly's first road trip destination. Uncle Andrew joined us from DC Friday and Saturday night, to hang out with Molly and Mom and Dad, while Brandon and I enjoyed hanging out with friends from Elon and the wedding festivities. Brandon was so excited to introduce Molly to all his college fraternity brothers :) So, throughout the weekend, folks stopped by our suite to meet Miss Molly. It was a lot of fun!! The suite we stayed in had a spiral staircase which lead upstairs to the bedrooms, so I pulled my first real protective Momma routine, and told my parents and brother that only Brandon or I was allowed to carry Molly up or down those stairs. Really I was just worried that if for some reason they fell holding her, that they would never forgive themselves. But I guess you could say I was also just really being an overbearing mom, but oh well, it is my baby! They respected my decision. And we had a great family weekend!! And Brandon and Ginny had a blast celebrating with Pat and Jennifer and friends at their wedding.





On Sunday, my first Mother's Day, we packed up and continued north. We took the Lewes-Cape May Ferry, which was really neat to start off the trip. Even though we were on the boat, traveling in the car, and not at home, I enjoyed every minute of the day with my little girl :) And it was even more special since I was also with my mother, and we were in route that day to see her mother in Connecticut. We arrived in Chester, CT at Ginny's grandmother's retirement community around 7pm that evening. Ginny's Aunt Diane (from Biddeford, ME), and Cousin Nicki along with her husband Adam (from Boston, MA) were there to great us all along with Ginny's Grandmother. Molly is the first great-grandchild, so Great-Grandma was especially excited to meet her!! We stayed up late that night talking, eating, and oohhhing over Molly :) The next day we enjoyed a stroll and lunch in a nearby town and just enjoyed our time together. It was so special that Aunt Diane, and cousins Nicki and Adam took off work on Monday so that they could be with us.






Monday evening, Brandon, Ginny and Molly packed themselves up in the car again (with just a few items this time) and headed to Natick, MA to see Ginny's college roomie, Mikaela and her husband Greg. They are expecting their first baby any day now, so it was very exciting to introduce them to Molly, and see the baby belly on Mikaela :) We had a wonderful visit, and then headed back to Connecticut late that night. Ginny can't wait to head back sometime soon to meet Baby M!! Since Molly was born on Greg's birthday of January 27th, we were waging guesses that Baby M might make a debut on Ginny's birthday of May 17th :)


Tuesday was a relaxing day (which was much needed!). Mom & Dad took Grandma grocery shopping, and Brandon and Ginny just hung around the condo and played with Molly and relaxed. Tuesday afternoon we did a 4 generation photo shoot, which was very exciting!! Ginny's mom and grandma had already had a 4 generation photo shoot when Ginny's mom was a year old, so we worked hard to position ourselves so that we could try and mimic that photo and have a very special keepsake. I think we took about 100 photos overall, but we came out with some great ones :)


Wednesday, we bid our goodbyes to Grandma Moseley, and started our trip south again. Our first stop of the day was in Langhorne, PA, to visit Ginny's Great Aunt Margie (Gary's aunt). She had recently had a bad fall and was in the nursing home facility of her retirement community, but we made the best of it, and made her day by bringing Miss Molly by for a visit. Dad's cousin's wife, Cindy was there with Margie when we arrived (Cousin Alan had to work), so it was great to see her as well. I am so glad Margie got the chance to meet Molly. Margie kept saying how much she wished Ginny's Nana (her sister) could have still been around to meet Molly. We got some wonderful pictures there as well, and will cherish those memories and will be sure to share them all with Molly one day.


After leaving Langhorne, PA, we continued south and arrived in Arlington, VA around 7pm Wednesday night for a visit with Ginny's brother, Andrew. He had prepared dinner for us, and we enjoyed grilling out and meeting his girlfriend, Shay. We were all pretty tired, so we weren't a lively bunch, but it was nice to have a pitstop and of course to see Andrew again.


Thursday AM, we packed the car up one more time, and finished our trip back to North Carolina. We arrived in Greensboro about 4pm, and we were all glad to be back safe and sound and looked forward to sleeping in our own beds.


Molly was a trooper on the trip, but I think she was glad to be home as well. She had a whirlwind week, and met tons of people, but I know it is trip we will all cherish and will talk about for years to come. With many of Ginny's relatives being older and so far away, it was really special to be able to introduce them to Miss Molly :) And all the adults were spoiled to have 8 straight days with our precious Molly, and were so excited to see her develop and grow up right before our eyes doing all kinds of new things and being much more interactive :) She was reaching for toys, putting everything in her mouth, and making all kinds of new giggling and cooing sounds. It was wonderful!!! And of course she captivated everyone with her smile :)


So, now our little girl is a traveling girl, and we can't wait to take her many more places in the years to come and show her everything this world has to offer!!

3 Months Old

Wow! Three months old!! I know I will say this every month, but time is flying by!! And once again, we are falling more in love with her everyday. Especially now that she is making more sounds and smiles at us a lot. It is so much fun!! There were a few milestones this month that are worth noting.

Molly gave us her first giggle on April 13th. I was looking at her in the mirror, as she LOVES to look at both her own and our reflection together. And she giggled! It was one of the sweetest sounds my ears have ever heard. Luckily Brandon was just in the next room, so he heard it too. We haven't gotten a ton since then, but have heard a few more during playtime. On April 25th, she did another distinctive giggle, and this time also added a coo sound with it. Brandon and I were both with her this time, as we talked and smiled at her while she was on her changing table after getting home from daycare. That is where she seems to smile the most, and I think it is because we are a good distance from her face. The smiles are becoming more frequent. Every morning when I put her in the car to leave for daycare, and every night when I pick her up, I make sure I get a smile out of her before I close the car door. Just makes me feel better before we start out on our drive. Sounds silly, but it just does.

On April 15th, Brandon and I enjoyed our first Date Night Out! Our friend, Jess Pardue came over to watch Molly for us, so we could enjoy a dinner outing at one of our favorite restaurants, Natty Greene's. We people watched, relaxed and of course talked about Molly :)


Another milestone, but not such a happy one, is that Molly had her first cold this month. And of course she ended up sharing it with Mommy and Daddy too :) The joys of daycare, and building up the immune systems. She actually started showing symptoms the evening of the 14th, but when we brought her home on Friday night the 15th (before our date night), she was congested and sneezing. Jess was so great to deal with that so that we could still enjoy our night out! It worked out great that it fell over the weekend, because she slept most of the weekend to try and fight it off. Two weeks later she is still sounding congested, but much much better!! I know there will be plenty more to come, but I think the first cold and learning how to deal with it, was the worst. We elevated the mattress, made sure she stayed warm, ran the humidifier at night, and put some really good use to the nasal aspirator :) I also gave her the first doses of Tylenol to help her sleep better a couple of nights. But overall we survived, and hope to be better prepared next time.

Molly celebrated her first Easter this month! And had her first visit from the Easter Bunny ;) Molly and Brandon spent Good Friday (since both daycare and his work were closed) in Wilkesboro for the day to visit with Brandon's family. Of course everyone was so excited to see Molly, especially Aunt Jana, and Cousin Ashlyn :) Jana texted me that evening to say, "Guess who I am loving on!?!" And then I texted back to ask Ashlyn if she was enjoying her cousin, and she responded as I guess a 10 year would...."Oh yeeeeessssss!! I could just dump her in my Dr Pepper!". It cracked me up!! And I guess to her, that just meant she could just eat her up :) I am so glad Molly has such a great and loving older cousin. Cousin Weston loves her too, of course, but boys just aren't into babies the same as girls :) Uncle Andrew came in town from DC for Easter, and so we spent Saturday and Sunday with Ginny's parents and him. We did some projects around the Tash house in Winston-Salem on Saturday and then went to Guilford Park for church in Greensboro on Sunday morning and lunch back at our house. It was a wonderful weekend, and so glad Molly got to spend all that quality time with all her immediate family.



Molly also got to enjoy one of her first Guilford Park Presbyterian events this month. We attended the Family Church Picnic at Bur-Mill Park in Greensboro on April 10th. Several of the girls from my church circle were there with their families, so it was nice to have all the kids together :) I can't wait for them to all grow up together at GPPC :) Molly played on her blanket, and took in all the sights and sounds of her church family :)

There are so many more things I could say about our precious girl.....but bottom line, she is such a blessing, and we LOVE her to pieces!!!