blogging | family | food | Travel | Uncategorized

Nashville Eats and Drinks

By on April 10, 2017

nashville eats and drinks | where to eat in nashville | nashville restaurants | sunshineandholly.com

Josh and I just got back from an amazing kid-free weekend in Nashville.

We explored, listened to music, shopped, and ate and drank until our bellies were full and our heads were tipsy. Nashville has so many amazing restaurants and bars, and we were pretty bummed we didn’t get to try out more. But there are only so many meals in a day! We’ll just have to go back soon. Here’s some of our favorite Nashville eats and drinks.

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blogging | family | Family Fun | photography | spring | Uncategorized

Spring is Here!

By on April 6, 2017

Spring isn’t my favorite season.

(Give me all the Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra, Flonase, and allergy eye drops…)

But I sure do love when the weather starts to get warm and the days start to get longer. We had a pretty mild winter this year, thankfully. I can’t handle cold weather with two kids. Being cooped up in the house day after day? Or putting on 15 layers of clothes to go outside for 5 minutes before the kiddos start whining to go back in? No thanks! I have no idea how moms up north do it. We need to be outside!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we were up in Athens for a birthday party and I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of the kids in their new spring clothes.

spring is here | photography | sunshineandholly.com

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babies | baby | car | family | Travel | Uncategorized

Tips for Road Trips with Kids

By on April 5, 2017

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website. 

tips for road trips with kids | sunshineandholly.com

I’m not a fan of road trips.

 

I really hate riding in the car for a long time. We took a ton of road trips when I was a kid since my mom hates to fly. And while I’m grateful that I got to travel and see so many parts of the country, I think I learned to hate road trips at a young age. And I still dread being in the car for over an hour. I get bored, cramped, and carsick.

tips for road trips with kids | sunshineandholly.com

But flights are expensive. So if we want to travel these days, we have to load up the minivan and hit the road.

My kids are pretty good travelers in the car. Lucky for them (and for me as a mom) we live in an age of portable DVD players and iPads. So we just plug them into the matrix…er…give them the iPad, and let them zone out to a movie or two while we’re driving.

Here are a few more tips for road trips with kids.

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babies | baby | breastfeeding | family | Uncategorized

My Experience Breastfeeding in the NICU with Low Milk Supply

By on April 3, 2017

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I always wanted to breastfeed.

It was something I’d always pictured doing when dreaming about being a mom. It seemed like such a sweet thing – a calm, snugly way to bond with your baby. And of course I wanted my babies to have all the wonderful benefits of breast milk!

 

breastfeeding nicu baby low milk supply | sunshineandholly.com

Graham was born 4 weeks early. I was certain I was going to have a 10lb, 2-week late baby, so you can imagine our surprise when he came so early, weighing in at just 6lbs 2oz. My labor and birth went smoothly – everything worked the way it was supposed to.

graham's birth breastfeeding low milk supply nicu | sunshineandholly.com

I was able to hold Graham for about 5 minutes after he was born, and then he was whisked off to the NICU so they could monitor his breathing. I didn’t get to hold him again or try to feed him for almost 12 hours. A lactation consultant was sent to my recovery room soon after the birth to show me how to pump. I really hadn’t thought much about pumping – I thought I’d have plenty of time to figure that out once my maternity leave came to an end. I started pumping that day every 3 hours…little did I know that I would be chained to that pump for a lot longer than I ever expected.

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