So we are back at it again. After taking a couple of months off from transitioning to the sippy cup, with poor baby A being sick on and off the past couple of months and me not wanting to play bad cop or deprive her of any liquids while trying to beat all the lovely stuff flu season brings with it, I am ready to take on the challenge again in the new year.

I really have been beyond lucky with Ava. She has surprised me with how well she has handled all the transitions babies encounter in their first year, after hearing so many horror stories. For example, taking a bottle, solid foods, crying it out, breast milk to formula, formula to cow’s milk, being such a good eater and her willingness to try anything, she has handled it all beautifully, overall. But letting go of the bottle hasn’t ben our strong suit. Now, I realize I am the parent and 100% to blame but part of me is sad to part ways with the bottle. I absolutely love, cherish and look forward to giving her a bottle right when she wakes up and right before she goes to bed. Some of the best snuggle time ever.

Shortly after Ava turned a year, we transitioned to cow’s milk. Once we had that under our belt, I tried to be the bad guy and go cold turkey from bottle to sippy cup but after going through about 5-7 sippy cups, none of them seemed to take. She does, however, love drinking water from her straw sippy cup but as soon as I put milk in it, thinking I would fool her, she basically gagged the second the milk hit her lips. So we’re starting slow this week, continuing to do her morning and bedtime bottle, but only offering milk in a sippy cup on her tray at meals and taking away her bottle before her afternoon naps. Let the games begin.

Here are a few sippy cups I have on reserve. I would personally chose the little pink one, if I was her. She received it as a Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle. What is cuter than a little, girly, almost vintage sippy cup with sweet, French vocabulary on it!

As football season starts to come to a close (btw, go bucks and go pack!), which I’m sure my husband would say it technically never comes to a close but nevertheless, my favorite competitive “sport” season is finally here… awards season! There are so many different award shows now that I can’t keep track of but there are three I never miss: the Golden Globes, Oscars and the Grammys. I feel like these are the creme de la creme of glamour and fashion and last night kicked off with the Golden Globes.

There are two reasons I tune in for award shows. One, is the amazing fashion and two, the hilarious hosts. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were amazing, as usual, and I especially enjoyed the George Clooney joke about him winning the lifetime achievement award vs. his wife. However, the ladies who really knocked it out of the park, in terms of glamour, elegance and overall style were Emma Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston and Amal Clooney. They just seemed to ooze beauty in every sense of the word last night.

Not to leave the men out because I think they always look handsome and dapper in their black suit or tux but we all know how much work we ladies go through to look the way we do. That is one thing I would love to know or be on a fly on the wall for on these awards days and that is what is a celebrity’s routine, from sunup to the moment they step foot on the red carpet. I would also love to know their workout/diet regimen leading up to the event, as well as how many people (truthfully) it took to get them looking red carpet ready. Whatever these ladies above did, it definitely worked!

Maybe it’s because I have always had goal-oriented parents or maybe it’s my type A personality but I think it’s a great exercise to make new years resolutions. The past few years, ever since a co-worker told me their resolution game plan, mine have been based around those. The way it works is, you come up with resolutions for the following seven aspects of your life: marriage, financial, education, career, spiritual, physical and material. These were my resolutions/goals for 2014:

Marriage – stick to a date night (we definitely had date nights, just not consistent)
Financial – set up Ava’s will (check!)
Education/Career – take apple classes (check!)
Spiritual – regularly attend church (sadly, failed at this)
Physical – lose baby weight (almost check!)
Material – organize basement storage (not even close)

As you can see, I didn’t stick to all of my resolutions but I definitely think I got an A for effort. While I love looking at each of these areas of my life (well maybe not financial), I think I need to simplify them just a little this year, especially during these first-time mommy years when I’m consumed with keeping up with my toddler. So this is what I’m hoping to stick to in 2015:

Emotional – plan monthly date nights
Physical – attend a weekly workout class, get more SLEEP
Mental – keep up with blog, apple classes and read
Spiritual – again, try to regularly attend church
Financial – give back to alma maters, even if that means $10, $20 or $25

The other overall attitude I want to have when going into the new year is to have a ‘why not’ outlook on things so if I’m presented with a great opportunity or new experience to embrace it and say, “Yes, Why Not.” We shall see!