GULF SHORES VACATION

we embarked on the biggest adventure with the little one, a 12 hour roadtrip/beach family vacation! I wish I could say it was smooth and easy but I'll save that for another post ;)

I booked a beach house back in December. I found a 3 bed/3 bath duplex right on the beach which was perfect for us. There was 6.5 of us going so I didn't want to waste money on a bigger house. The house I choose was actually on a HGTV remodel show last year, which I thought was too neat. 

We left west texas after church on fathers day and went straight to my parents where they were having quite the fathers day party. we munched on food, caught up with family, and then packed our things. I had ordered us t-shirts from Uber Prints a few weeks ago and loved how they turned out and how comfy they were!

Monday morning we woke up at 4:30 and loaded up the van we rented so we can all ride together. It was fun but I bet some of our family would beg to differ ;) We stopped in Monroe, LA because it's not a trip through the town unless you stop at Duck Commander.. right?!

we finally arrived at our beach house at at about 6:30pm and got out to stretch our legs! Cody ran around and let Ev touch sand for the first time while my dad and brother went through the chaos to get pizza. Us girls got settled in to the house. 

the next few days were a constant flow of 

6:30 wake up/coffee

unfortunately the sun was up and shiny at 6:30 everyday so most of us were up! that made for long days + a fussy babe!

8:00-9:00 breakfast at the house

10:00-1:00 beach

1:00 lunch at the house

2:00-4:00 beach

4:00-either beach, make dinner, get dressed and run into town/out to dinner/ etc.

then back home to watch the moon rise

Evynn tried a whole slice of watermelon this trip! it took her some time to realize she could hold it herself but then she was a pro ;) and called for a bath afterwards ;)

sandy blonde hairs :)

we at the hangout one night. It was a lot of fun but more of an experience than for the food-overpriced and not a lot of sea food options. But they had a great live band and a huge foam pit that the kids loved playing in. 

note that her outfit is a beach scene ;)

sharing a homemade popsicle in our matching swimsuits

dad, cody, and steph caught a jelly fish! ahh!

we had her in cute swimsuits all week then day 3 she fought us and we settled on a backwards swim diaper and hats that she kept on for 5 minutes

on the morning we left, we ate at brick and spoon in orange beach, al and oh my word was it delicious?! Each couple shared a breakfast appetizer (because, vacation) either beneigts or these banana foster egg rolls. Yum. I got the gulf shrimp omelette and cody got the crab cake eggs benedict. I definitely recommend this place!!

Uncle Cody entertaining Ev... with pictures of reveille hahahahaha

We were approaching dinnertime as we entered the Texas border so we decided to stop at Cody's sisters house and eat there and let Ev see her cousins/run off some energy. It was the best idea! It was little whirlwind for about 30 minutes but then back on the road to the final leg of the trip!

Back at my parents house on Saturday morning we had to indulge in Momo's donuts-maple bacon, turtle cheesecake, fruity pebbles, and more. Evynn also LOVES my parents cat Jake and followed him around saying his name and petting him. As silly as it sounds I'm glad she got to see him in person since sweet boy has a tumor and won't be around much longer :(

All in all it was a great trip! We left with little to no sunburns and a whole new appreciation for our house/our routine/people traveling with kids. I am very thankful for our family who graciously dealt with us this week and helped out in any way (like walking around at 3am). 

baby led weaning

I knew I wanted to do BLW (baby led weaning) once I heard about it, long before we were even pregnant. cody and I love eating healthy food, try to avoid much processed food, and want to try our hardest to not have a picky eater (since we are far from picky and we've seen way too many picky eaters)

what is baby led weaning? introducing foods in their actual form to 

infants so they can learn what food feels like and looks like, they're 

able to learn to grab and pick up and transfer to their mouth 

independently. the weaning part is because they wean off nursing by

 eating how much they want.

I was SO excited to get started on Evynn's half birthday, i took things slow-introducing 1 food at a time for a few days, then introducing one more... we did straight up food (a half of a banana, a slice of avocado) so she could hold the whole thing and nibble off bites, and then also made mashes and purees for her babysitter with the same foods (to make it less messy). because if we're honest, when Ev holds it and is in charge, much of it ends up on the floor 

Now its been 2 months and some days BLW meal planning is easy, avocados for us with tacos, avocado slice for you! other days I'm scrambling to decide what she can eat.. some things aren't soft enough, some things you're supposed to be cautious with, some things I just straight up don't think my baby is ready for! However, I know my 8 month old will be a 1 year old, like, tomorrow and so I need to toughen up and introduce more textures and flavors. 

another issue, Ev still has NO teeth! it hasn't bothered her too much, she gums or sucks on anything to get it soft enough, but it still scares me when giving food. I'm weary to introduce meats (until her Dr says so) for this reason. 

french toast sticks

broccoli

sweet potato rounds and banana bites

we haven't done strict btw like I mentioned above, we do purees/mashes for her babysitter, and food pouches when going out to eat (until we get better at eating, then we'll just feed her off our plate). 

pros of BLW:

it's cheaper! as inexpensive as a 79 cent jar of babyhood costs at the store, I have to say that a single sweet potato or a whole bunch of bananas stills beats the cost

its healthier obviously! we just give her the organic produce that we already have at our house.we know what she is eating is a pure and it can be. have you looked at the ingredients in a jar of babyhood.... 'nuff said. 

it's teaching her textures/motor skills as mentioned above, allowing her to grab, pick up, and put in her mouth her own food is teaching her what avocados feel like vs. broccoli and so on. she's able to know to open her hands wide to pick up a whole banana vs using her pincer grasp for little pea. 

what we've tried: liked vs. disliked

sweet potatoes

avocado

banana

carrots

zucchini

yellow squash

egg yolk

brocoli

peas

pears

blueberries

mangos

yogurt

green beans

french toast
black beans
strawberries
raspberries

mommy and me meal ideas:
so now that i'm trying to get creative on what to feed her, it just makes sense that i match our meals together to make cooking a lot easier... so here's some ideas:

baby: ezekiel bread sticks sans crust made french toast with just egg yolk in butter, homemade organic apple sauce from the day before 

mom: french toast with the egg whites, bacon

baby: egg yolk scrambled eggs with a bit of breastmilk, pear slices sans skin

mom: scrambled egg whites, bacon, other half of pear 

(we just happen to have bacon on hand, I really don't eat it everyday)

egg is an allergen, so we've been very cautious giving eggs and monitoring for signs of reaction-none so far!

baby: roasted sweet potatoes slices with the skin removed, bites of black bean burgers, avocado slices

us: black bean burgers (black beans, garlic, eggs, bread crumbs) on ezekiel buns, with avocado slices and siracha mayo with sweet potato slices on the side

baby: leftover black bean patty, mango slices, yogurt

mom: black bean patty topped with fried egg and salsa, mango

baby: french toast slices without crust, organic plain yogurt, strawberry and banana slices

mom: french toast, yogurt, strawberries and bananas