Birthday Weekend

This past weekend I had a great time celebrating my birthday with my family!  I had asked for a few presents (mostly some new clothes) but what I really wanted was time.  I asked Mark for time with him, time with the whole family and time by myself!  I got a bit of all three!

Friday night, Lindsay, Brad and Grandude all kept their eyes on Caroline while Mark and I went on a date. We had a yummy dinner at Macaroni Grill, did a bit of shopping for me and Caroline and stopped and got some dessert on the way home. Date nights have become so important to me. I'm thankful for wise couples that have instilled in me the value of a weekly date night!! I am fine throughout the week when Mark is gone but it seems that the moment we leave for a date I am able to breathe a HUGE sigh of relief. Often times I will even ask Mark if we can have a minute of two of quiet so I can collect myself so that the rest of our night can be filled with talking and laughter!

Saturday, Mark and I took Caroline on a little jog.  I am so proud of Mark.  He has started running and is doing a great job.  It's a joy to be able to workout with him now!

Afterwards, we went on a little adventure and had lunch with this friend...

Not a dog, but a pig named Olivia!

Mark, Caroline, Lindsay, Kelsey, Grandude and I all went to visit a petting zoo.  We had so much fun! 

I love this picture of Kelsey below, "I've got nothin" or maybe she is trying to hug sweet Olivia!

While we all enjoyed our time there, we did spend a good bit of time reassuring Caroline that everything was OK.  She never cried but she never really warmed up to the animals either!

Even Aunt Lindsay tried to help out and you can see that Caroline still wasn't too thrilled.  Who doesn't love a baby bunny!?

She did enjoy the "hay ride" though.

Lindsay is such an animal lover and the pictures of her and Kelsey throughout the day are gorgeous.  She has such a bright, contagious smile.  There are so many good pictures I didn't know which ones to post.  :-)

We had a great time learning about the animals.  This is PJ the chicken.  Did you know that chicken's feathers are soft?!  Me neither.

It turns out we didn't really need to go to the petting zoo though!  We had our own banana eating monkey with us the whole time!

Sorry about the terrible humor.  I seriously don't know what happens to me when I write!  Surely, I don't make jokes like that in my everyday conversations!?

Saturday night we went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner.  I thought the girls would enjoy watching the guy cook in front of us but the "fire" ended that pretty quickly.  The food was good though and I enjoyed some more time with the family.  My birthday weekend was great.  Here's hoping to a great year as I prepare for the big 30...eeks!

Extra hands!

Two weekends ago Mark and I had planned to work in the yard for a good portion of the day although Lindsay and Brad had different ideas!  Lindsay asked a couple of times if we would like to come over to watch the Georgia game, cookout and just hang out but I kept telling her that we were busy.  However, we were very thankful when Lindsay and Brad pulled up to help out!  It turned out to be a great Saturday.  We got a ton of yard work ton in a short time, were able to watch the Georgia game, eat yummy burgers and take the girls swimming.  I'm thankful for such a sweet family!

Below Lindsay and I are preparing for Thanksgiving by practicing our wishbone breaking skills!

Little girl!

Whenever I thought of having a little girl, I thought of bows, pigtails, dresses, black patent leather shoes and ruffly socks.  I can't believe that she is already getting to that point.  Although the "ponytail" is stretching it.  :-)

Baby Steps

Technology is great!  It's crazy to think that Caroline will grow up thinking it's normal to talk with her grandparents who live half way across the country.  She even gets to "kiss" them on a regular basis. 

This week, the technology came in really handy.  Let me preface this by saying I know my daughter very well!  Tuesday morning I took Caroline to a consignment store to sell some clothes.  While we were there, she kept pushing off of me and wanting down.  She walked around the store, holding my hand, just beaming and squealing to anyone who would listen.  On the way home I called my Mom and said, "Don't remind me of this, if I'm wrong, but...I think Caroline is going to walk soon."  Have I ruined the story already? 

Tuesday night Caroline and I got on Skype with Mark.  He was in Richmond, Virginia for work.  Caroline was standing on her own, with a sippy cup in hand, when all of a sudden she walked her little self right up to the computer screen to give Mark a kiss.  It happened so quickly I almost didn't believe it.  I propped her right back up where she was and she did it two more times.  She is such a funny girl because she never realized that she did it.  She was so focused on Mark and holding the cup that it didn't even phase her.  I think it's going to be several more days/weeks before she is really walking but it was a good start.  She did not take any steps today but she rocked back and forth and stood by herself.  Soon...

Everyone keeps saying that I should be glad that she is not walking yet but I'm ready!!  She is big enough, old enough and there isn't much that she doesn't already get into.  I'm excited about the new adventures ahead.  Mark is now home so we will be practicing her walking the rest of the week!

Wagon Rides

Sharry, Sarah and Reagan knocked on our door tonight and wanted to take the girls on a wagon ride.  

They're precious girls! 

I think they both enjoyed it but what I really wanted to show you are a couple pictures of Caroline's newest expression. 

 

She looks like she is screaming but she's not.  It's pure joy/excitement!  She did it yesterday for the first time.  I encouraged her once by mirroring the face and telling her how silly she was.  Now you can't stop her!  Every time she gets excited she opens her mouth as wide as she can!  I can't help but laugh when she does it which only provides more encouragement.  She spent a good portion of the wagon ride with her mouth wide open!

Spoon fed

Caroline has moved out of the infant room at daycare.  I had been hesitant to move up her up because it meant we would have to change her nap schedule but we've made it and I actually like the schedule better now.  Surprise!

They are very advanced in the next room. :-)  When I was dropping her off one morning the kids were all seated at the table eating milk/cereal in a bowl and they were all eating with their own spoons!  We have not been working on this at home so since that day I have started giving her a spoon at meal times and encouraging her to use it.

She is pretty proud of herself!

She's not so good at getting food on the spoon but she is pretty good at getting the spoon in her mouth.  However, sometimes she gives up and this is what I turn around to see.  Oatmeal everywhere! 

One of my other favorite meal time views is Caroline sitting with her feet crossed.  It's precious!  Of course, Sophie is always waiting anxiously for any food that drops.

Giddy Up!

Sunday night our friends Dustin and Adrienne (sorry for the terrible lighting)...

hosted a Cowboy/Mustache Birthday Party! Don't you love the fake chest hair on Dustin!?

It was tons of fun to see everyone get in the spirit.

Some of the boys even grew out their own mustaches for the evening!  I was impressed!

Eli was the most enthusiastic participant of the night.  He got a fake mustache after this picture was taken and sported it for several hours!! 

Unfortunately, my camera didn't come back out  after the party really got started.  We had a great time with good friends....so much so that we skipped our Financial Peace class!