The Israel Family

Daddy's gone...so break out the Cool Whip!!

2012-02-17T12:34:00.008-08:00

Adam left for Washington DC this week for his first trial. I know he's having a great time but I already miss him! Caroline misses him too. She asked last night "Where's dada?" like she does at around the same time every day. I told her that he was working like I always do. Several hours later she must have noticed that he never came home so she asked again. I told her that daddy was away but he would come back. We called daddy so she could say hi. As soon as we hung up the phone she burst into tears. It broke my heart!!

This is the longest that Adam has been away since we got married. Every night he usually comes home and plays with Caroline. This gives me some time to get things done, rest, or whatever else I need/want to do. I plan a lot of activities for the mornings but our day slows down after nap time so this also wears her out for bedtime. Since Adam isn't here to do this, I've been coming up with fun things to do each afternoon to wear out some of her infinite energy. After reading my friend Sarah's blog about an activity with shaving cream, I decided to give it a try. I decided to use Cool Whip instead since Caroline still loves putting everything in her mouth. I was so sure that she would love it...

I put some Cool Whip on a cookie sheet and added some food coloring.

I stripped her down and showed her the big glob of fun...she wasn't too impressed.

I should have known that my child, who hates anything on her hands, wouldn't be too excited.

But she was ready to play once I gave her some utensils...gotta keep things off your hands people!

She may or may not have seen mommy eat a huge spoonful and decided to join in...

Something's on my hand - get it off!!

A nice long bath was in order after all this fun! We sure have had fun doing fun, new things but I'm looking forward to having daddy come home and helping me wear her out :)

Valentine's Day 2012

2012-02-17T12:18:00.006-08:00

I never really cared about Valentine's Day until I had Caroline. Now I just love it!! We celebrated for days. A little excessive? Maybe. But totally fun? Of course! We started on the Thursday before Valentine's Day with the Mama & Me Party. Caroline loved seeing all her friends (and I did too). There was lots of yummy food and the kids gave each other sweet Valentines. I didn't take any pictures of the all the cuteness, but here's a picture of the Valentine's she passed out.

On Monday, Caroline had her class party. She refused to wear the cute pink outift I had picked out. I gave it to her to hold and in protest she put it in Daisy's water bowl. Maybe it wasn't protest and just looked like fun... Either way, she was the only kid rocking blue that day. She was also the only kid who wouldn't sit down to eat lunch. She wanted to run around the room like a wild woman!!

Adam and I took C out to dinner that night to the Club. She had so much looking at the lights and the fountain. When we came home we gave her gifts. She got a Count and Learn Cookie jar (so cute, but sooooo annoying), a new plate, and a sweet book.

On Tuesday (Valentine's Day) night, Adam and I went to a grown up dinner at Satterfield's. The food was great and we enjoyed a child free conversation. Valentine's Day was our first official date back in 2004 :) Adam surprised me with Ugg house shoes and I got him a massage.

I am so thankful that I got to spend the day(s) with my two Valentine's!!

Holy Moly...28 Weeks (Almost 29!!!)

2012-02-10T07:59:00.002-08:00

In just a few days I will be 29 weeks pregnant. Only 11 more weeks until the due date and considering C was 3 weeks early and my doctor seems to think this rather large little girl will be coming early as well, I only have a short time to finish getting everything together!! Yikes! I have started getting a little (or a lot...)panicked lately.

The nursery is painted and about 99% of the furniture is in there. Adam's parents are bringing us a custom made bookcase/storage unit soon and then we'll have everything in there. All I have left to get for the room is a lamp. We have everything else (or it has been ordered) but nothing has been set up yet. Caroline's room has not been painted nor is any of the furniture in there except for the bed. She's currently sleeping in the crib in the nursery until we can get her room done. I feel like nothing is organized and it's driving me nuts. Also, I'm worried that we'll have to borrow another crib for C. I keep going back and forth as to whether or not I think she's ready for a big girl bed. I've also been stressing about having enough baby stuff. We got rid of so much from Caroline. Her onesies and gowns got so stained from spit up that we tossed a lot of them. I am having a couple of baby sprinkles so I have told myself to wait and see what I get at those, but patience isn't really a strong point of mine so I've been freaking out that we aren't ready for her today.

Pregnancy hormones have gotten the best of me lately. I have been snapping at Adam and Caroline for such small things. I've also been crying a lot. Not just little crying, hysterical crying. The other night Adam and I were getting into bed. He has been preparing for a trial at work so he's had a lot to do and a lot of late nights at the office. He's been so stressed that he had a tension headache. He said, "If I die of an aneurysm I want you to know that I love you." I'm a sensitive person and I don't deal with death talk that well so I normally would have gotten a little teary eyed and said something along the lines of "Don't talk like that." However, my super emotional response was to break out in crazy hysterical tears. I cried so hard that my nose started bleeding. I've never seen it bleed that much. I got blood all over the comforter, sheets, mattress pad, my face and arms, my pajamas, and Adam. I couldn't stop crying so it just kept gushing. Poor Adam didn't know what to do. It took about an hour before I was calm enough to lay down and go to sleep.

I had my blood glucose test this week and I failed it! I failed the first time around with Caroline but passed on the 3 hour test, so let's hope that this pregnancy is the same. I go back in a week to take the long test.

I've started to get that lovely black line down the middle of my belly. It's so strange!! I have found that if I stand up for long periods of time my feet start to swell. I've had a little bit of heartburn, but nothing too terrible. So far this pregnancy is going well and I couldn't be happier!

iPhone picture of 27 week belly

Rainy Wednesday (and a few others)

2012-02-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was a yucky, rainy day so after an early doctor's appointment Caroline and I decided to put on some comfy clothes and stay inside and play. She was quite the busy little bee! We started off doing lots and lots of puzzles.

Then she got to cooking. I'm so glad that Santa brought the play kitchen!

Anyone want some french fries or dusting mits??

After taking a break for some real cooking (and eating) we got to playing. It was time for stickers. Oh how this girl loves stickers!

Nothing better than snuggling up in mommy and daddy's bed to watch some Mickey Mouse.

Daisy got some snuggling time in as well.

This isn't from our rainy day, this is from Thursday. I've been putting Caroline in the shower with me lately. Bending down to bathe her in the bath is getting harder and harder for me. I figured that she was missing all her fun bath toys so I opted for the bath last night. Turns out she didn't really care about the toys...she did miss splashing though!

Poor Daisy...

2012-01-31T11:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel so bad for Daisy! She has to put up with Caroline chasing her, teasing her with food, pulling her ears and tail, waking her up, etc. She's mostly used to all that by now. I don't think she was quite ready for Adam to put C's pj shirt on her. Caroline decided to help and try to put on the pants. What a good dog she is! (You have to admit she does look especially cute in that little shirt!)

Twenty Months Old!!!

2012-01-30T11:51:00.000-08:00

Twenty Months Old - January 23, 2012

Caroline is 20 months old. I cannot believe my baby is coming up on 2 years old! I feel like she's grown up so much lately. I am so excited to see these fun new things she can say and do, but I also want to keep her little forever. She's been talking up a storm. She'll copy most of what we say and all of what we do. She'll pick up on certain words or phrases and repeat them. Last week she was babbling and I said "I know" in response. For the next several days she would constantly go around saying "I know" whether it was an appropriate response or not...most of the time she wasn't responding to anything, she'd just walk right up to me and say "I know!!" We can make out a lot of what she is saying (like "loon" for balloon) but she still babbles most of the time. We occassionally get clear sentences. The other morning we were all playing on our bed. All of the sudden she said "I go down" as clear as can be. Adam and I looked at each other in total disbelief and sure enough Caroline climbed off the bed and went into the living room.

She has gotten pretty good about telling me when she needs a new diaper. She doesn't do it everytime, but even a few times here and there is quite good for her age. She also wakes up dry a few times a week. She has yet to actually use the big girl potty, but she's taking an interest in sitting on it. She isn't ready to really start yet, but it will be coming soon!

In the next month we will be attempting to move her to a big girl bed! I have to be honest about this...I am not ready. The idea of her not in a crib makes me sad. She's still a baby. Only, she's really not and I have to get used to that. You don't want crib mattresses too soft. Firm is better for babies. Caroline has been sleeping on her pillow because she would rather sleep on something softer. She's also incredibly tall and the crib is getting smaller and smaller for this growing girl. I know she will sleep better in a bed but I still haven't figured out how we are going to keep her there. She still cries herself to sleep once or twice a week and I just know that she'll get out of bed on those nights!

Her big girl bedding was backordered but should be in soon. Once those arrive, we'll pick out paint. The rest of her room is slowly coming together as well. I cannot wait to see the finished product...I just hope we have it done before her sister arrives!

Carolines is such an active little girl and she wears this mama out most days! She loves to play with daddy. He throws her around and flips her and she just loves it. It makes me nervous. Surprisingly, she's only had a few bumps and bruises from all the rough play and she doesn't even seem to care. She's one tough cookie! She loves her play kitchen, Baby Stella, Mrs. Potato Head, finger paint, catching and throwing balls, jumping on her trampoline, opening and closing doors, and dancing. Her favorite foods are broccoli, black beans, french fries, barbeque chips, grapes, yogurt, cheese, cereal, m&m's, and veggie straws. We try to get her to eat new things all the time and that's starting to pay off. She now eats spaghetti! She's not a huge fan of juice (I don't give it to her often so that could be why) and prefers milk or water. She loves bath/shower time and loves to brush her teeth. Sleepy Little Alphabet is still a favorite book but she's also starting letting us read a few others.

Happy 20 months sweet Caroline! You are such a wonderful, smart, funny, adorable little girl. You constantly keep us smiling and laughing and thanking God for letting us be your parents. I am so proud of the little girl you have become.

Pregnancy Update: Weeks 24-26

2012-01-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

How can it be week 26 already?? So much left to do... Our little girl has been busy growing and growing! I feel her moving more now, but it's still nothing compared to how much Caroline moved. I went to the doctor last week and everything looked great. She has a strong heartbeat and I measured right on track. My weight gain is not what they want it to be (despite my rather large belly) so I'll have to get an ultrasound at every visit from here on out to make sure that she is growing properly. Luckily, everything looked great on the ultrasound as well. I had to wait a long time to get an ultrasound - which wouldn't be so bad but I brought C with me and if you've ever tried to entertain a 20 month old in a room without toys and/or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse you know it's going to end up bad. The only upside to that long wait was that the tech did a quick 4d ultrasound. I didn't get any pictures, just a little peek. It looks like Ann Parker is going to look like her daddy! She's got the Nelson nose (the same nose that Mimi, Uncle Andy, Daddy, and big sister have) and a long face. She was precious and I cannot wait to see her in person in a few short months. I was hoping they could confirm that she was a girl, but once again she was in a horrible position so they couldn't give me 100% confirmation.

Lately I've been craving sandwiches, sweets and fruit. I feel like I eat all the time. As I sit here and type this, I'm finishing off some sour patch kids. Thankfully I can still sleep well. I had such a hard time sleeping with Caroline (she moved all night long) so this has been a nice surprise. I have been "nesting" like crazy but I am so pleased with what we have accomplished so far. Ann Parker's nursery is coming right along. The room has been painted. The crib sheet and skirt are in and the bumper should be here next month. I have ordered a changing pad cover. The light fixture is here and just needs to be hung. We are having a storage unit made and I cannot wait to see it. I just have a few things left to order this week and we should be good. Then it will be time to put everything in place! I'll post pictures once it starts coming together, but so far I just love it.

At my next appointment I will take the glucose test. I failed the first time with Caroline and I am praying that I pass this time around because the long test was horrible! After that appointment, I will only have 2 more two week appointments before I start going every week until she gets here!! I am so excited to meet my precious little girl!

Belly pictures will be posted later tonight!

8 Years and counting...

2012-01-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is a special day for Adam and me. We will have been together for 8 years! Our wedding anniversary is in August, but I still like to celebrate our dating anniversary. We met on a service-learning interim. Although we both went to a very small school and even had a class together, we didn't know each other. The first word that Adam actually said to me was on the plane to San Francisco. He thought I was weird (and still does...) and I thought he was arrogant (still do...only now I lovingly say "confident"). I was only 19 and he was 20. We were babies. I never would have guessed that on that trip we would start a relationship that would be so great.

8 years later and here we are! What an amazing 8 years it has been. Graduating college, going to law school, getting engaged, getting married, getting a dog, buying a house, having a baby, preparing for a second baby...and the list goes on and on. It hasn't always been easy or fun, but it has always been worth it. I cannot wait to see what year 9 holds for us. 9 is my lucky number so I know it will be a good one!

I feel so blessed to have Adam in my life. Not a day goes by where he doesn't make me laugh. Even when we get mad at each other or I am upset about something, he will find a way to make me smile. He works so incredibly hard for our family so that I can stay home with our kids. He goes to work all day, comes home and eats dinner. Then he'll help bathe Caroline and get her pj's on and teeth brushed (no easy feat) and get her into bed. After that he'll go into our bedroom and do some more work. While he'd rather be sitting in the living room or dining room, he lets me watch my trashy Teen Mom 2 or whatever Kardashian show I have DVR'd for the day. True love :) After those long hard days, he will wake me up before he gets into bed because he hasn't had a chance to feel Ann Parker move yet that day and he wants to spend time with both his girls. It melts my heart (although at the time I am not happy because I don't want to be woken up). He truly is the best father.

Adam,

Thank you for 8 beautiful years! I am so proud to be your wife. You are an amazing husband and father. I cannot believe that we've been together for the better part of a decade! I love you more :)

Here are some gems from our early days...

Thankfully I didn't gain the "freshman 15"...too bad I gained the "sophomore 20"

Love is in the air!

2012-01-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is coming up and it's time to send out cards! Luckily, Tiny Prints has you covered.

You all know that I love Tiny Prints since I've blogged about them before. The customer service is fantastic and they are super fast getting your order out. They have some adorable Valentine's cards this year. Since C is in school this year, she'll need some cute cards to pass out to her classmates as well as the rest of her friends. We've got a couple of fun Valentine's parties to go to this year! Check out all of the cards here:

Tiny Prints Valentine's Day Cards

Some of my favorite cards are the "Crafty Hearts" and the "Light up Hearts" designs. I know that I cannot go wrong whatever I pick!! I am so excited about spending Valentine's Day with my two favorite people (next year I'll be with my THREE favorites). I don't know what we are going to be doing to celebrate the day yet, but I know that we will have a wonderful time. I still remember the first Valentine's Day Adam and I ever spent together. It was our first dinner date. He brought me a rose and took me to Chez Fonfon. :)

If you love Tiny Prints, follow them on Twitter, Pinterest (my favorite obsession) , or Facebook ...or all three! You can see new products and special deals (They have great things happening all the time). Why do I love Tiny Prints? They are giving me 50 free classroom Valentine's cards for writing this blog post!! I have been using them for a couple of years now and have never been disappointed in their service. Check them out, I can't wait to see what cards you pick!

Where did the time go??

2012-01-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that I am now 23 weeks pregnant! I forgot to take a belly picture at 20 weeks. It was right before Christmas and with all the shopping, wrapping, baking, and enjoying the holiday with Caroline I just forgot! I'll take one next week though.

So far I am feeling good. My sciatic nerve pain is back and worse than ever, but that's probably the only negative thing. No more nausea or headaches. I am always hungry. I am sure I have put on several pounds in the past two days as I haven't stopped eating in 48 hours. My energy is up and down depending on the day. Luckily Caroline is napping fairly well these days so I can get some rest each day. I have been nesting like crazy! I am constatly doing projects around the house and when I cannot do something, I start planning things. I have planned Caroline's 2nd birthday, what gifts to get her for Valentine's Day, Easter, Big Sister gifts, and her birthday. I have started a list of what gifts to get both of the girls for Christmas. If only I could stay pregnant forever then I'd get tons of things done!

I have another doctor appointment in 10 days. They will do another ultrasound and I cannot wait! They will confirm the gender and check on the position of the placenta. At the last ultrasound they said it was "low laying" so they would need to keep an eye on it.

This pregnancy is just flying by and I wish that it would slow down a little. I have so much to do to get ready for Ann Parker. Adam is working on a trial coming up at the end of next month so his work schedule is about to majorly pick up. That means I'll have tons to do and no help :( Also, I want to enjoy every single minute that I have with just Caroline. She's my baby (and always will be) and it's hard to think that she's about to be the BIG sister.

Here are a few pictures of life at the Israel house lately.

Sleepy girl snuggling in the blanket in between wardrobe changes.

Caroline fingerpainted the other day and LOVED it! We'll be doing a lot more of that.

Playing at the Vestavia Library before story time.

Hugging big sister Daisy (another girl who has no idea that her life is going to be changing...again)

She has a name!!

2012-01-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

Our precious little girl has a name!! Picking out names for your children is hard for me. It has to be something that you love on a child and that you can see an adult having. It has to be something that you love and not just something that is popular at the moment. The first girl name that we ever fell in love with was Caroline. It's not a family name, just one that we both adored (and still do). We had to find a name for our second daughter that we love just as much. That being said, our daughter will be:

Ann Parker Israel

She will go by both names. This name is very special and we just love it. Ann is my middle name (well, technically my former middle name since I legally dropped it). I was named after my great-grandmother. It is also Adam's mother's name. I have always loved the name. In fact - my dog, my car, and my cat from high school (who was a boy) were all given the middle name Ann. It was on our list of middle names for Caroline but we didn't think it flowed as much as Grace. Adam promised me that if we ever had another girl we could use Ann. Parker is Adam's uncle's middle name. So many stories that Adam tells are about his Uncle Bob and Aunt Mary. They never had children of their own so they loved Adam and his brother as if they were. Adam loves them both so much so it only seemed fitting that we use one of their names. Our neice is Mary Scott and we didn't want to have two Mary's so close together. Adam always loved the name Parker (for a boy or girl) so it just seemed to fit. Back in February we were discussing having more children. I was several months away from being pregnant so it wasn't a serious discussion, but we mentioned the name Ann Parker and agreed that we liked it. After I found out I was pregnant, I was actually set on another name for a girl. However, once it was confirmed that we were having another girl that name didn't seem to fit. Adam looked at me and said "Ann Parker?" the night that we found out. From that moment it became our top name. We still went back and forth because we didn't want to pick something so soon, but I think we both knew that Ann Parker was it. We did the exactly same thing with Caroline.

We are so excited about adding Ann Parker to our family this year. What a beautiful blessing she is!

What's going on over here...

2012-01-05T09:48:00.001-08:00

Adam told me that after the first of year we could hit the ground running when it came to house projects. Poor guy didn't know what he was getting himself into!! We are going to be super busy over the next few of months. I have a self imposed deadline of March 31 for getting bedrooms in order (nursery, big girl room, and ours). I'm pretty sure that this baby is coming in April and I'd really love to enjoy (or just try to be as not miserable as possible...) the last month. The rest of the stuff can be finished whenever but hopefully by the end of the summer.

I have taped off the current guest room/soon to be nursery. Once we remove the window treatments, outlet covers, and cover the furniture we will start painting. Our plan is to paint this weekend!! I have all the bedding picked out for the nursery but won't order that until the end of the month. Since it's brand new, it's not on sale but a little birdie told me that there might be a sale at the end of the month. We have all the furniture we need for the new nursery including a new twin bed! I still haven't picked out the bedding for that bed yet but it will probably be plain white with accent pillows that match the crib bedding.

We have big plans for C's current room. This will remain her room and just transition to a big girl/guest room. I have the bedding picked out and once I decide on which shams I want, I will go ahead and order. It's so cute and I know it will look great in the room. I have a nightstand for her that we will strip and paint and put new hardware on. We are also building a bookshelf and a cornice box for the window. We are looking a dresser that we can have distressed and painted so if you happen to be selling a dresser, let me know!

We finally got our bedding on our bed as well as bedside lamps. I have fabric to cover to bench once I find that. I need to frame a few pictures and art and also find some window treatments and then our room will finally be done.

Other house projects include: hanging our new window treatments in the living room (they have already been made and are here we just have to get them up!), find a new floor lamp for the living room, paint the laundry room (which will be done in the same color as C's big girl room so it will get completed soon), find fabric for curtains in the kitchen, repaint a bookshelf, find a new buffet for the dining room and work on a gallery wall.

We have lots to do in the next few months but I know that our house will look fantastic once it's all done. Slowly but surely this house is coming together. Our goal is to have it complete by the time we go to sell it :) If anyone wants to come help out you sure are welcome to! Stay tuned, I'll be taking before and during pictures throughout.

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

2011 was a fantastic year but we are ready for 2012! We're excited about some big things this year - new car for me, making a nursery and a big girl room, a much needed "babymoon", a beach vacation this summer, and most importantly - our family growing from 3 to 4!

Here's a quick look back at 2011:

January: Caroline started pulling up and learning how to crawl. Major babyproofing began. We had an icy day that kept Adam home with us for a couple of days.

February: Caroline said her first recognition word - "Day Day" for Daisy

March: Baby recognition Sunday at Trinity. Daisy had lots of teeth pulled :(

April: Tornadoes swept through the state and we spent nearly 5 days without power. C took her first unassisted step.

May: C turned ONE!! I celebrated my first Mother's Day and loved it!

June: She ate watermelon for the first time.

July: C had her tear duct surgery. It went fantastic. Thank goodness for the amazing Dr. Cogan and Children's Hospital.

August: Adam and I found out that Baby Israel #2 was on its way!

September: Caroline started PDO. We took a much needed trip to Point Clear.

October: C had her first haircut. Adam and I had a lovely weekend in Nashville (minus Caroline, who enjoyed spending time in Haleyville).

November: C showed off pigtails for the first time. I showed off a baby bump!

December: We found out that Caroline will have a little sister. We celebrated a wonderful Christmas.

We had a great New Year's this year. We had several friends over to our house for the evening. Although Caroline didn't make it until midnight, I know that she enjoyed the party. We cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for the Israel family!

Nineteen Months Old!!!

2012-01-05T06:48:00.001-08:00

Nineteen Months Old - December 23, 2011

Right before Christmas, C turned 19 months old. Things this month have pretty much been the same as the previous couple of months, so this will be a short post.

She is learning and using new words and phrases everyday. Some of our favorite are:

No mom-MEEEEEE!! (Mommy sounds like she has an Italian accent) - She doesn't necessarily say this just to me. Mommy has become her frustrated word.
Uh-Oh
Yum
Wow
Woah
Who's you?

She's been sleeping much better than in the previous several weeks. She's also eating a lot better. We have found several things that she really loves (umm...Indian food). She is getting better and better at using silverware. She still LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but Little Einsteins is quickly becoming another favorite. She is doing great in school. She loves her teachers and has so much fun with all her friends in her class.

She is incredibly independant and strong willed, which leads to lots of melt downs. Adam and I are still trying to figure out how we "parent" and our style of discipline. We have found that is very sensitive - especially when Adam gets onto her for acting up.

We will be transitioning her to a big girl bed in the next month or so. So much is in store for this little ball of energy and we couldn't be more excited!

Happy 19 Months precious girl! You are such a wonderful addition to our family and we couldn't be more thankful to call you ours. We love you more than you will ever know!!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-04T20:54:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that Christmas is already gone. The only evidence left in my house is my bare Christmas tree...and that's only because Adam and I haven't taken it apart yet but that will come tomorrow. We had such a wonderful Christmas. It may have even been better than last year - and that is a hard one to beat :)

On Christmas Eve, my family came over for lunch and gifts. My brother and his wife traveled from Charlotte, NC. They hadn't seen Caroline in over a year so we were very excited to see them! We had such a fun time laughing, talking, and opening gifts that I didn't take too many pictures. Of course in true Duggan fashion silly dares were made...like who could fit into Caroline's Cozy Coupe. Not sure why this is only thing I have pictures of. And no, you won't see me doing that. This pregnant mama is a little too big (and the two spouses were a little too smart for this).

Caroline really racked up. She got some adorable new pj's, a Mickey video, new shoes, play food and pots and pans (Santa dropped some hints about what he was bringing), stuffed animals, and several more things. Adam and I also did very well...new kindles for both of us and a new video camera!

After the fun, my family left. Adam's parents came over shortly after that. The five of us went to Trinity for Christmas Eve Communion. When we got home we had a delicious meal of spinach salad, beouf bourguignon, and fingerling potatoes. Adam and I love to cook and so we started cooking nice meals on Christmas Eve. It's such a perfect night to have a good meal and use our beautiful china. The food was perfect and Caroline was a doll throughout the meal so we could actually enjoy it!

After dinner, Caroline got to open two gifts from us. We started the Christmas Eve pj tradition with her last year and we were so excited about this year because we added a new gift - a Christmas book. Each year on Christmas Eve, the kids will get to open new Christmas pj's and a book. We'll change, read the book, and then send them off to bed. Caroline is such a wiggle worm but she really enjoyed listening to the story!

Since Caroline had about 1,000 gifts under the tree and we knew Santa was bringing about 1,000 more, Adam and I decided to open gifts to each other after Caroline went to bed. We wanted to spend the whole morning opening gifts and playing with her. I am so glad that we did - because I would have wanted to spend all morning playing with my new iPhone 4s! Adam and I both got lots of wonderful stuff from each other. After gifts we went to bed and when we woke up...

We saw that Santa had come!!

He even brought gifts for the new baby!

Caroline was quite surprised at all the fun stuff.

She went right for the play kitchen.

Her new puzzle block was a big hit too.

Then she went to check out the new potty!!

Reading a new book in her new sock monkey hat with a new sippy cup!

Back to the kitchen.

Watching Mickey with her new Mickey doll.

While she was opening her presents from Adam and me we didn't take pictures, we just videod it. I am so glad that we did because she was precious! Everytime she opened a gift she would say "Wow!" Some of her favorite things from us were: puzzles, Mrs. Potato Head, accessories for her Baby Stella doll, play doctor set, My Little Pony dolls, magnadoodle, and several more.

After all these gifts, you think that would be enough for one girl but oh no...there was more. Adam's brother and his family came over for more gifts. She got to open gifts from them, Adam's parents, Adam's grandmother, and Adam's aunts and uncles. Caroline is one very loved (and very spoiled) little girl. We've been joking that Caroline got her own Toys R Us for Christmas. It seems like she really did! We have so many new toys, clothes, shoes, books, etc. around here. Precious little girl #2 even racked up - new clothes, sleep giraffe, wubbanub, boppy lounger, bibs, and lots more.

After all that excitement it was time for a big bath before we sent this little girl off to bed. We had such a wonderful Christmas. I know that next year will be even better. Caroline will be even more aware and will be more excited and we'll have another sweet baby celebrating her first Christmas. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year!

It's a...

2011-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday, December 12 I had my big anatomy ultrasound. Adam and Caroline came with me so they could find out the big news as well. Everything looked perfect with the baby. All the organs looked great, the heartbeat was nice and strong, and everything measured right on time. Boy or girl, we really didn't care. We just wanted a healthy little baby to add to our family. We kept the news a secret until that weekend. Adam was in a wedding so his parents came into town to keep Caroline. On Sunday we gathered his family for lunch to share the news. I had planned on doing a fun reveal for my family as well but since we are all currently living in 3 different states, that didn't work out. I shared the news with all on them on Christmas Eve.

We had some beautiful cupcakes from Dreamcakes.

The Israel family waiting to find out the news!

One big bite...

Not sure if you can tell, but it's a GIRL!!! (and yes, I am wearing the cheesy "It's a girl" sticker on my dress)

That's right, Baby Israel #2 is a girl!! This pregnancy has been so different so I orgininally thought it was going to be a boy. So did a lot of others since the baby pool was overwhelmingly leaning toward boy. Toward the end I was convinced it was another girl so I wasn't too shocked when that was confirmed. We are so excited that she looks healthy and that this pregnancy is going well. We are blessed beyond words. I am just tickled for Caroline to have a little sister. Baby girl does have a name, but that will come in another post...stay tuned!!

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-29T07:16:00.001-08:00

I tried to do some fun Christmas activities with Caroline this year since she is big enough to enjoy certain things. One night when Adam had to work late we decorated gingerbread people. Easy enough, right? Wrong! We made the biggest mess! At least we had a fun time and the cookies were pretty yummy...

Getting ready for Christmas!

2011-12-29T06:24:00.000-08:00

I"m behind on blogging so I'm going to play catch up for a few posts...

We have had so much fun this Christmas season. I was sick the day after Thanksgiving so we had to wait another day or two to put up our tree but the wait was worth it. We had a great time putting up decorations. Here are some of our decorations this year.

Silly Girl

2011-12-13T10:57:00.001-08:00

Caroline is so stinkin funny these days and I wanted to record some of the precious things she does!

Last Saturday the three of us went shopping. I wanted to get a good idea of things that Adam wants/needs. He was trying to show me some shirts and ties. Caroline kept climbing in the window display and waving to people outside the store. Everytime I would pull her out she would throw a tantrum. Adam finally had enough and picked her up. He was just about to get onto her for acting up when she put her little hands on his face and said "hey baby!" to him. We just died laughing!

Up until last week if you asked Caroline, "Where is the baby?" she would find my stomach. Lately if you ask her, she will either say "Me!" or point to herself.

She has started taking an interest in picking up food directly with her mouth. I held out some goldfish so she could pick them up out of hand but that wasn't her plan. She leans over and eats them like a dog. She has also started doing this on her highchair. She was laughing at herself the other day and I said, "You think you're so funny don't you?" She said "Yes!"

I can have little "conversations" with her from time to time and occassionally they make sense. Here are a couple of examples:

Me: Caroline, let's get a new diaper.
Caroline: No.
Me: You need a new diaper.
Caroline: No.
Me: I know you don't want one but am I going to put a new one on?
Caroline: Yes.

Caroline: Where's Day-e? (Daisy)
Me: She's in her bed.
Caroline: Oh.
Me: Do you want to go see her?
Caroline: Yes.
Me: Are you going to be sweet to her?
Caroline: No.
Sure enough Caroline woke Daisy up by pulling her tail... At least the girl isn't a liar!

She knows a few animal noises. We've been working on them a lot lately. She would pick up a cow puppet and say "mmm" and then a duck puppet and say "quack." She would also pick up her baby doll and growl. Not sure why she thinks babies growl...

She is at such a wonderful age and I love all the cute and silly things she does!

One Last Guess

2011-12-11T08:34:00.001-08:00

We will find out the gender of Baby Israel this week! I am so excited to finally know who has been living in my tummy these past several months. Once we find out, we have to hit the ground running and start preparing for the arrival. So much fun, but oh so much to do!!! I've gone back and forth as to whether I think the baby is a boy or girl. At first I was for sure it was a boy since I felt so different. The US tech guessed boy and that also made me think it had to be a boy. Then I was certain it was a girl because it seems that almost everyone I know having their second child is having the same sex as their first. Then I was back to boy again. I know there is no real way to tell other than an ultrasound, but it sure has been fun trying to figure it out! My final guess is that I am having another girl. Since I only have a girl, I can only imagine the doctor saying "It's a girl." It's hard for me to think that they'll say anything different. I don't have a real strong gut feeling and my symptoms have been a mix of boy and girl Old Wives Tales so I don't have anything else to go on. Adam thinks it a boy because I've been acting so different with this pregnancy. I was so sensitive with Caroline and cried often. I've certainly been emotional with this one...but I'm not crying - I'm usually yelling or mad. My cravings/aversions are so different too. It will be interesting to see who is right.

If you want to take a final guess in the baby pool, you have until Monday night before we close it. The winner will get a Starbucks giftcard. Even if you get the sex wrong, you could still win since birth date/time/weight/etc. is part of it. The link is on the left side of the blog.

Can't wait to find out!!!!

Waiting and Waiting...for a disappointment!

2011-12-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our Christmas cards. I was so happy with Tiny Prints last year so I decided to order from them again this year. They printed my order fast and shipped it out much sooner than originally expected. I'm in love with their service BTW. The cards finally got here today - and the picture is a little blurry!! It's so disappointing. The picture that I have isn't blurry so I can only think that when the size increased it made it blur. I picked a picture of Caroline that I just love. She has some hair in front of her eye - but that's typical of Caroline. Besides, her face is just adorable so the hair didn't bother me at all. BUT, combine the hair in front of her eye with the blurriness and it just doesn't look how I wanted it to :( Since it's already the 9th, we're going to send them out (plus we had to order a bunch so there's no way that I am going to replace all of them). Oh well...we'll have better cards next year. Atleast I hope we do! Bummer!

Advent Calendar

2011-12-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

Caroline isn't quite old enough to understand what Christmas is, but she is old enough to notice all the wonderful things that go along with Christmas. She is fascinated by all the lights, ornaments, wrapped gifts, glitter, etc. She's also a big fan of dancing to Christmas music. When Mimi and Papa came into town a couple weeks ago, they brought Caroline an Advent calendar that has a yummy little chocolate to eat each night. Caroline was intrigued by it but still had no idea what it was. A few nights later and she knows exactly what comes from that little thing! She will point to it after she eats dinner. It's the cutest thing!

18 weeks and...

2011-12-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Still throwing up! I guess I spoke too soon in my last blog post about the nausea being just about gone. Isn't it supposed to be gone by now?? I didn't ever throw up with Caroline, but I did feel queasy until about this time so I guess I just have to wait it out :( Adam always laughs at me because I claim that the vitamins make me throw up and I should just stop taking them. He claims that I throw up because I'm pregnant, considering I took vitamins everyday prior to being pregnant as well.

Other than that I can't really complain. I know this is a lovely topic, but I didn't blog about a lot of things with Caroline and I have no idea about some things and I want to make sure I have every detail down so I can look back one day. Who knows...maybe there will be a Baby #3 in the future and I'll want to know!

Pregnancy Update

2011-12-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

I am now 18 weeks pregnant! One week away from finding out the gender of the baby and two weeks away from the halfway point (although I highly doubt I'll make it to 40 weeks). This pregnancy has gone by so fast. Here are belly pics from 16 weeks:

So far I am feeling great - better than I ever did with Caroline. Sometimes I forget that I am pregnant! I've entered the "nesting" phase, which is good considering all we have to do. I'm just about done with Christmas shopping for Caroline and the baby, I'm working on everyone else, I have a lot of the presents wrapped that I do have here, all the decorations are up, Christmas cards will go out this week - and that's just Christmas related stuff. I've picked out fabric for window panels for the kitchen, I've picked out a paint color for a book shelf in the kitchen, I have paint samples for Caroline's big girl room, I've separated a lot of baby toys from big girl toys and put those in the correct rooms, I've gone through all the blankets, onesies, burp clothes, etc. and made a list of what we will need for the new baby, I've started organizing the attic, and I have a list a mile long of things to start in the next month. We are going to busy, busy around here!

I went to the OB two weeks ago and everything looked great with the baby! Heart beat was good and strong. They didn't tell me what the heart rate was though. My sciatic nerve pain has been so much better and I am so thankful. I will go back next week for the anatomy scan and we'll get to see Baby Israel and how much he/she has grown! I have felt several flutters in my belly during the past week which is so exciting. I didn't feel Caroline this early, but once I felt her move she never stopped moving.

There's not much else to write about because I honestly feel so good. Headaches and nausea are pretty much gone, I'm not having any major food cravings or aversions, and my energy level is good. Things are as good as they can be I guess! I have had several dreams about finding out the gender so I'm getting anxious to actually find out! You all will have to wait a little longer because we're going to have a gender reveal party with our family and some friends. :)

Eighteen Months Old!!

2011-12-01T10:50:00.000-08:00

Eighteen Months Old - November 23, 2011

Caroline turned 1 1/2 the day before Thanksgiving - and I couldn't be more thankful for my beautiful, smart, healthy eighteen month old little girl! This has been such a fun month filled with lots of new words and skills. First - here are the stats from her check up! She weighed 23 lb. 6 oz. (25th percentile), had a head circumference of 18 inches (50th percentile) and was 32 inches tall (75th percentile). Dr. Wilson did say that she thought Caroline was taller and there was probably an error in measuring and that the nurse would remeasure after C got her shots. I was so ready to get Caroline home that we ran out before she could be remeasured! Adam and I are going to measure her at home to make up for that. She was such a good girl at the doctor's office. Dr. Wilson said that she was developing - both physically and mentally - just perfectly and she had no notes for me. She got one shot and only cried for just a second. I was so proud!

In the past couple of weeks Caroline has become more and more vocal. She tries to copy a lot of the words we say at we can actually make out several of them (some examples are: door, silly, shut, off). She has been frequently using some new words like more, tickle, see, and look. She will string a couple of words together to make a basic sentence ("no Daisy" and "di it!" for "I did it!"). She understands so much of what we say and we are trying hard to remember that! She loves to help us. She helps Adam put his shoe trees in and then put the shoes in the closet after work each day, she loves to give Daisy her treats, she will help put clothes in the dryer and my favorite - she will put her toys back in the basket when she's done. She always gets so excited and cheers for herself and says "di it!"

Not a day goes by that she doesn't make us laugh. She gives the best hugs and kisses and we just eat them up. I really feel like we hit the jackpot with Caroline and it's hard to imagine that our next child will be as wonderful, although I know we'll think the same of him/her too! Speaking of babies - I don't think Caroline has any idea of what is coming but she will pat my tummy and give it a kiss, sometimes when we don't say anything prompting her to. I think it's just a habit now but it's still precious. She's still wearing a size 4 diaper and mostly 18-24 mo. sized clothes. She naps once a day. Her sleeping is real hit or miss lately - which I hear is normal around this age. Most nights she'll go to bed and sleep soundly until morning. She'll go down around 8:30 and wake up about 8:00 in the morning. We have had several horrible nights lately where she is still up and crying at 10:00!! Even worse - she'll wake up about 1:00 am! I have found that if I let her nap for a long time (3 or more hours) she's more likely to stay up late. I've been trying to wake her up after 2 hours and that has helped a lot. Hopefully she'll be on a more consistant routine before her brother or sister arrives. It won't be much fun to be up during the night with a newborn AND a toddler!

While I think Caroline is just perfect - she is human and thus not without her flaws. She has been throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way but thankfully they don't last long. She also started wagging her finger at us and saying "no no" when we tell her no. As cute as it is and as hard as it is not to laugh, we are trying very hard to discourage this behavior. Thankfully she is usually pretty easygoing and happy!

I cannot belive that our baby girl is 1 1/2!! This age is so much fun and we are having the time of our lives!

Happy 18 months precious girl! Daddy and I love you so much. You are so sweet and smart and not to mention adorable little girl in the whole world. I am beyond proud and excited to have you as my daughter. You are so loved!!

Some pics from Caroline's 18 month appointment.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. A whole day dedicated to eating and relaxing - what could be better? I've spent the 2 out of the past 3 Thanksgivings pregnant and I must say that a whole day of eating is perfect :) And after you eat, you get to start putting up Christmas decorations!! This year we had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We traveled to Haleyville to spend time with Adam's family. My sister tagged along with us and we were so excited to get to spend some time with a bit of my family too! We didn't see the rest of my family and Adam's brother didn't make it to Haleyville this year so we did miss seeing several family members.

Caroline got to watch her first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year! Although she's a little too young to sit and watch, she did get into some of the musical numbers and stop to dance. It was precious. She spent the rest of the time the parade was on running around the house. We had the most delicious meal and I know that I ate enough for about 3 adults. Caroline didn't eat everything, but she loved the sweet potatoes, ham, and Mama Lou's rolls. After wearing herself out and then stuffing her face this is what happened:

Looks like a perfect Thanksgiving to me! I didn't get a lot of other pictures since I spent the day relaxing and enjoying family time.

Sadly, I got sick Thursday night/Friday. At first I thought it was normal pregnancy sickness but when it didn't get any better I began to think I may have picked up a bug. That messed up our plans to spend Friday decorating the house. On the bright side - we decorated after the Iron Bowl on Saturday. We were so excited about the great win and had a great time getting our house Christmas-y so it worked out beautifully. Pictures to come soon! I'll also be posting C's 18 month pictures and 16 week belly shots and 17 week info soon. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving Snack

2011-11-18T12:05:00.001-08:00

Today at school, the parents were invited to come and have a Thanksgiving snack with the kids. I am so thankful to be able to go to all these fun things!

Each class made a Thanksgiving craft. Caroline's class made little Mayflowers.

Each class walked in together. C was the line leader for her class.

Once she realized that the snack had M&M's in it - she was ready to eat!

Being the awesome sharer that she is, she decided to feed her friend Cohen the items that were not M&M's. I love his face here - he's so confused why she's feeding him!

We were so excited that our friends Sarah and Sydney were sitting across from us!

The placemat that Caroline "made." It says that she is thankful for Mommy and Daddy, Daisy, Baby Israel, books and Mickey Mouse...sounds about right to me!

I can't wait for Thanksgiving next week. Since she was only 6 months old last year, this will be the first time where she can actually eat some of the Thanksgiving meal. I know she's going to love it!

Friends

2011-11-16T06:20:00.001-08:00

Caroline and her sweet friend at Wee Flip yesterday. Caroline is modeling her new "cheese" face.

No Doubt

2011-11-15T08:51:00.001-08:00

When Caroline was an infant, almost everybody said that she looked like Adam. One lady said to us, "Well we know who the father is, but who is the mother?" Very funny lady... Her baby pictures really do look just like Adam's baby pictures. As she gets older, we get more comments that she is a mix of us or that she looks just like me. Some things I can see - she gets her hair color from me and her nose from Adam. Other than that, I have no idea who she looks like - she just looks like Caroline!

Personality wise, there is no doubt who this child belongs to. We would often joke that Caroline is just like Adam over small things. Every night I get Adam a big cup of ice and I put a piece of ice in C's mesh food holder. They sit together and eat their ice. She likes to stay up late and sleep late in the mornings - certainly not something she gets from her early to bed, early to rise mommy. But now I can confirm that she is fact just like Adam. Ever since I have known Adam, people have joked that he was going to be president one day. When I would visit his hometown, people would ask if I was ready to be politicians wife. His elementary school teachers told me that even as a young child they knew he would go into politics. Last Sunday I took Caroline to the nursery at church. When I went to pick her up, one of the nursery workers said, "She's quite the little politician." I had to hold back laughter to find out what she meant. Apparently, she made the rounds to all the workers, volunteers, and children - waving and blowing kisses to everyone. As parents would come in she would wave and blow kisses - even trying to SHAKE HANDS with some of them!!! They were joking that she was campaiging for cutest kid in the nursery (she clearly would have won)! Like I said, there is no doubt who this child belongs to...

More new posts below!

Lately

2011-11-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of what Miss Caroline has been up to lately.

Caroline has been a great help with the laundry. She especially loves when you get to wear hangers as hats!

She's been dancing with daddy.

Finding a new favorite seat in the house. (In preparation for Project Big Girl Room, we moved a chair out of the guest room and into the living room and she's loving the ottoman)

She's been a very good eater lately - notice not 1, but 2 yogurts! :)

It sure is fun with a toddler around!

Another new post below.

Pigtails!!!

2011-11-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

How cute is this little girl in pigtails??

Love it.

Project Big Girl Room

2011-11-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

I feel like it's going to be very busy around the Israel house for the next several months... We've got to get Caroline's big girl room done and her moved into that so we can start on the nursery! My due date is less than 6 months away. Caroline decided to come almost 3 weeks early. I'm trying to be conservative in my planning so I've got about 5 months to get things done around here. Throw in Thanksgiving and Christmas (and all that shopping) and that cuts down on my time (and money!) to devote to getting bedrooms done. Yikes.

I figured that we should start Project Big Girl Room. To me, this is going to be the harder of the two bedrooms to do. Baby girl rooms are easier. Pick some pink paint, toile or damask fabric, add a chandelier and voila! You have a beautiful nursery. Or you could go the ready made room route - Pottery Barn Kids, Serena and Lily, etc. Not that either of those options aren't fantastic (that's what we did for Caroline and are still so in love with her room) - it's just that they are for babies. You design a room before you ever meet your child. Their personality and preferences aren't taken into consideration because they aren't here to be considered. Toddler rooms are much harder. I want a room that reflects her personality, a room that is hers and not just what I think is pretty. Her room has be sweet and girly (like her) but fun and functional (since it will be a place for her to play and store her things) and the big one...versatile (since it's also the room that out of town guests will stay in). I know I've got to get moving or it will never be done in time!

I have found bedding that I really, really like. I haven't ordered it yet because I'm not sure that I love it. I wanted to do something white and then have the color in the curtains, pillows, and a painted piece of furniture. I looked high and low and finally found some white ruched bedding for a very good price. It's vintage looking and very girly. Before I bought it, I thought I would look a few more places. I found some beautiful bedding at Restoration Hardware and Serena and Lily that I really, really like as well. They are certainly more expensive! Now I'm stuck! Which option do I choose - white bedding with color and pattern in other elements of the room or patterned bedding with white/solid color accents elsewhere in the room?

I found a chandelier that I love. That will also add some girly-ness to the room. I was thinking about going with grey walls. They are "in" for nurserys/kids rooms these days and you can put lots of other colors with it. I could do grey and pink, grey and yellow, etc. Grey is a more versatile color so guests wouldn't feel like they are sleeping in a doll house.

Decisions, decisions... If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, feel free to pass them along. I think we're going to bite the bullet and pick out paint this week and possibly paint the room next weekend!! Hopefully it will turn out well and I won't change my mind 8 thousand times!

Almost 18 months

2011-11-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

No matter what I do to try and stop it, Caroline keeps growing up! Each new stage that she enters brings some challenges but also some wonderful things. At almost 18 months old, she is constantly testing the limits, but also constantly making us laugh. I wanted to record some of the things that she does so that we can look back and laugh again one day.

Caroline and Daisy are such good friends and it makes me smile. Caroline loves when we "chase" her around the house and always wants Daisy to do it too. Daisy happens to be one of the laziest dogs I know. We've seen her hunting dog instinct kick in over cats or deer...but over Caroline squealing and running - not so much. Caroline finally decided that she would carry food around trying to get Daisy to follow her. It works for all of 10 seconds until Daisy catches Caroline, grabs the food, and then goes back to nap. Poor Caroline gets so frustrated.

She is such a wonderful sharer, but lately has decided that some things shouldn't be shared. When we are out and she finds something that she likes, she'll put it in the diaper bag. I guess she wants to play with it later but to the rest of the world it looks a lot like stealing. We've come home with some silverware from restaurants on several occassions. She tried to take Raughley's ice cream toy last week. I never know what I will find in my bag!

She loves to take showers. If she hears Adam turn the shower on in the morning, she'll bang on the door to go in. At night I'll start the bath and she'll go over to the shower and try to open the door. When I try to put her in the bath she'll start telling me "no" and pointing to the shower.

She fist pumps when she gets something she wants.

She has a strange obsession with elevators. She gets so excited when we go in and she'll want to get down and dance. When the doors open she wants to run out and then go right back in and dance.

We went to visit a couple of friends last night who just had a precious baby boy. I was curious as to how Caroline would do since she'll have a little sibling of her own soon. She was fantastic! She wanted to hold him. She gave him kisses. She didn't get jealous when Adam and I held him. Hopefully that will be the case come spring time... I just cannot believe how big she seemed. She is becoming such a big girl!

I cannot believe that my baby girl is almost a year and half and going to be a big sister! I wish time would slow down just a little bit!

Loving the Fall Weather!

2011-11-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

We are just loving the fall weather! Caroline would rather be outside playing than doing anything else so that's where we are most afternoons. We've had a wonderful time visitng all the fun parks and playgrounds in the city. Yesterday we took advantage of the great weather AND having daddy home so we went for a wagon ride around the neighborhood.

Caroline doesn't go anywhere without shoes. She insisted on putting them on, even to sit in the wagon!

Another new post below!

12 Week Belly Pic and 14 Week Update

2011-11-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

I'm a couple weeks behind on posting this...but here's my belly at 12 weeks. I didn't mean to blend in with the wall.

I had an OB appointment last week and here is the sweet baby at 13 weeks!

Everything looked great with the baby! He/She had a heartrate in the 150's - strong and perfect. Baby was also measuring a little ahead - meaning they may move up the due date! I haven't gained much, if any, weight and the doctor wanted me to put on some more pounds. I may not be gaining much, but at least we know the baby is growing just fine.

It looks like I may be heading to physical therapy for my sciatic nerve pain if it continues to bother me a lot. I decided to hold out a little longer and luckily it hasn't been so bad these past couple of days. Fingers crossed that it stays that way! Other than that, the baby and I look good. I have another appointment scheduled for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Since the clinic will be low staffed due to the holiday, they are going to wait to do the anatomy scan :( That means we won't be finding out the gender before Thanksgiving. I guess we'll have to wait another week or two after that.

The ultrasound technician that I had last week is guessing that the baby is a boy. She said she didn't see anything and that her guess was based on the size since it was measuring ahead. Of course she doesn't realize that Adam is 6'4'' and that I may just have a big baby! I haven't had any strong feelings either way during this pregnancy about the gender. Lately I've been thinking that it's a girl though. I only guess girl because I know of 6 people who have found out the gender of their babies recently and 5 were girls. That's about a good a guess as the technician. Well, one of us will be right!

It's so exciting to be able to experience this again. Adam and I are feeling so blessed right now and cannot wait to meet the newest member of our little family!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Every time a holiday arrives, I say "this is my favorite holiday yet." I'm sure I'll be saying a bunch over the next couple of months! Halloween was no exception. While Caroline didn't really understand the concept of dressing up and trick-or-treating - she did seem to have a great time. We celebrated for days and loved every minute of it!

Last Friday she got to dress up and go trick-or-treating at daddy's office. She was, of course, the cutest kid there. She got to be a pro at putting candy in her bucket. She even went into one person's office, grabbed an entire bag of candy and then pulled it out of the office and tried to put it in her bucket!

We woke up on Saturday and went to a Halloween party at Raughley's house. Out of the 7 kids that we there, there were 3 bees!! And 2 of them were named Caroline!

Caroline and Raughley just hanging out.

The other precious Caroline bumblebee.

Attempt at a group picture (minus the other Caroline).

My Caroline decided she was done as well...

After we came home and napped, we got ready for another Halloween party that night! This party was for grownups, but we brought Caroline along for a bit. We had a wonderful time visiting with our friends. We dressed in scrubs and witch hats (witch doctors). Caroline let us know when it was time to take her home by trying to go to sleep in the middle of the room. Precious.

Yesterday was the Halloween party in Caroline's class. Parents can go if they want and of couse I did!

She proudly showed me the toys she likes to play with.

Her ghost shirt she wore for the occassion.

One of her teachers, Miss Lisa. Caroline wasn't interested in looking at the camera...

She wanted to join her friend in squishing another friend behind the chair. How sweet.

Later that afternoon we met up with Raughley and Rebecca to watch the Halloween parade in Crestline Village. She loved it! She "caught" some beads and a pencil from the floats. After that we met up with daddies for dinner at La Paz - where she had ZERO meltdowns!! We did a little trick-or-treating before C decided she was worn out. By 8:00 the entire Israel family was in bed. We had such a wonderful Halloween and we hope yours was a wonderful as can BEE!!!

Pregnancy: 12 Weeks

2011-10-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

Forgive the blurry picture. I took a picture of the ultrasound. You can atleast see that the baby looks like an actual human and not a gummy bear. If I ever get around to it I will actually scan them all and post... Also, belly pic will come later when someone is here to take it for me!

I finally made it to 12 weeks!! (I'm actually almost in week 13 now.) I am feeling much better as long as I eat right when I feel hungry. I seem to always be hungry. I am certainly eating more with this pregnancy than I did with the last one and I'm hoping that means I don't gain tons more weight! I have so much more energy than I did with Caroline, but by the end of the day I am ready to crash. This baby is sitting so low and putting a lot of pressure on my sciatic nerve. All I can do is take tylenol and use a heating pad on low - neither of which help a whole lot. This past week has been quite bad and I've been having a hard time walking. It flares up suddenly and causes a moment of severe pain. Luckily it's mainly happened while at home. I stumbled because of the pain the other day - while holding Caroline. I've been trying not to hold her as much just in case, which makes me sad. I never experienced this with Caroline and I must say that it's not pleasant. When that isn't giving me any trouble, I feel great so I'm trying to focus on that!

I haven't been having any major food cravings or aversions. I just find that I am always hungry. With Caroline I had very strong cravings and aversions. I have been having some pregnancy induced insomnia. It takes me forever to get comfortable and fall asleep and then 30 minutes later I am wide awake. I guess I need to get used to being up all night, huh?

We had the genetic screen appointment this week. The fluid behind the neck measured normal and there was a distinct and perfectly formed nasal bone. Abnormal measurements can be indicators of open spinal defects, Down's Syndrome, and Trisomy 18. We are waiting on blood results, but so far everything looked fantastic. We also had an ultrasound. The heartbeat has slowed down a lot (completely normal) and is very strong. He/She was just relaxing - a far cry from Caroline at the genetic screening appointment. She was jumping and turning the entire time! We were able to get a great profile shot and just like big sister, this baby has Adam's nose!! He/She was adorable!! It was still too early for the doctor to even make a guess about gender...plus the baby was super low and wouldn't show us their stuff. We'll find out soon enough! We will find out before Christmas which is great - plenty of time to get them gifts!!

It's so amazing to be able to experience this again. What a wonderful blessing! Don't forget to vote in the baby pool if you want to - we're going to close it in a few weeks!

See below for another new post.

Seventeen Months Old

2011-10-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Seventeen Months Old - October 23, 2011

It's getter harder and harder to get a decent picture of Caroline on demand (thus the messy face, messy hair picture above). She's such a busy girl! In one more month she'll be a year and half!! Yikes - where has time gone? She's been vocalizing more and more this month. She'll often try to repeat the words we say, even though she won't say them on her own. She's tried to copy: cold, horse, work, lunch, throw, and flower. I know there are more, but that's all I can think of. She's been consistantly saying: bye, no, go, Daisy (all same as before), but has also added yes, catch, hop and ball to the list. She can moo and quack and point to several body parts when asked. She can correctly point to different family members in pictures. It's amazing to me how much she learns every day. She doesn't cry getting out of the car during carpool anymore (thank goodness!!) and she doesn't fuss too much when I leave her with sitters or friends.

She is down to one nap a day, although on certain days she'll still take two. There are rare days when she takes none. She has been going to bed around 8:00. She sleeps like a champ! If she wakes up early, she'll always want to get in bed with daddy. The other morning she woke up. I went in to check on her and she kept pointing to go down the hall. She kept pointing until we got to my bedroom. When she saw Adam was still there, she started fist pumping. She's not a mama's girl or a daddy's girl - but she can be either at times. When she wakes up from a nap or in the middle of the night, she will always want me. When she's getting tired at night and wants to be held, she always wants Adam- but she wants me to put her to bed.

She loves music and dancing. We have dance parties almost every night. When Adam and I found out that Caroline was a girl, he said that he didn't know what to do with a girl and he was worried he wouldn't be any good. Well Adam, I think dancing to Lady Gaga and Minnie's bowtique are exactly what you do with a little girl. He truly is the best dad to a little girl I've ever seen.

Happy 17 month birthday little Caroline! We love you so much. You are such a smart, funny, sweet, curious little girl and we love watching you grow up!

Where's Caroline?

Here I am!!

Time to get out.

No!! (That is actually what she was saying here)

Apparently springform pans are good to sit in and to wear as hats. Who knew?

Old Wives Tales

2011-10-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

There are so many old wives tales about how to determine the gender of your baby. My doctor assures me that there is no way to tell the sex except for an ultrasound (and DNA testing). Here are some of the old wives tales and where Baby Israel falls...

Heartbeat: If the baby has a heartbeat about 140, it's a girl. If it's below, it's a boy. At 9 weeks the baby had a heartbeat in the 180's - so that means girl!! Of course Caroline never got above 140 and she's a girl.

High or Low: If you carry the baby high, it's a girl. If you carry low, it's a boy. This baby is sitting much lower than Caroline - so baby boy?

Face: If your face gets rounder, it's a girl. My face isn't getting any rounder with this pregnancy. Boy? Then again...it didn't with Caroline!

Old Mayan Tale: Add the numbers of the mothers age at conception. If it's even, it's a girl and if it's odd it's a boy. I was 26 when I got pregnant (I turned 27 the following month) so that would be 8 - girl! I was 25 with Caroline so she shouldn've been a boy.

Acne: If you get acne you'll have a girl. I'm breaking out like crazy so it should be a girl. My face has never been more clear than when I was pregnant with C...so she should be a boy!! (Almost everything said boy when I was having her!!)

Cravings: Sweet means girl and salty means boy. I couldn't stand sweets with Caroline and only wanted salty. This pregnancy I'm not craving much but I can still eat sweets so it's hard to say.

Chinese Gender Chart: With Caroline it said girl and with this one it says boy!

Baby Names: If you can only think of names for a particular gender, that is what you are having. I could only come up with boy names for Caroline and she's a girl... With this one, I only have a girl name picked out!

Headaches: Headaches mean boy. I am having lots of headaches with this pregnancy - so boy!

Dry Hands: Dry hands mean boy. My hands are very dry - so boy again!! (Or it's getting colder outside...)

Morning Sickness: If you are sick and nauseaus, it's a girl. If you don't get sick, it's a boy. I've gotten sick with this one a lot - so it's a girl!

Ring Test: Circle means girl and back and forth means boy. My ring made a circle - so girl!

Dreams: Whatever sex you dream about you will have. I only had dreams about girls with Caroline and with this one I have only had boy dreams - boy! I've also read that whatever sex you dream about means you will have the oppostite...so that means girl as well. Hopefully there is only one baby in there!!

As you can tell, it's pretty much a toss up for boy or girl but it's fun to guess! I really don't have a strong feeling either way of what the sex is but I am excited to find out! At first I thought it must be a boy because I just feel so different. Then I was convinced it was a girl because I kept saying "she" when refering to the baby. Now I just don't know!! We still have several weeks to go...unless of course I can convince the doctor to try to see it sooner :)

Miss Independent

2011-10-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Caroline is quite the independent eater lately. She doesn't want us to feed her. Even though she makes a huge mess we let her try to use the fork and spoon. Here she is enjoying some yogurt.

Moo

2011-10-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

Caroline hit a big milestone this week. She said "moo." She hasn't been too interested in making animal noises. She will laugh when we do it but that's about it. After weeks of going over it several times each day she finally said "mmmm" when asked what a cow says. She laughed at herself making the noise too. Precious. She was very proud of herself (as were her mommy and daddy).

Making room for baby

2011-10-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Planning for a new baby is so much fun, but a lot of work!! I thought it would be pretty easy considering this is our second, but it's actually more work this time around. We are turning the guest room into Caroline's big girl room. We are turning Caroline's current room into the new baby's nursery. We are working on making the laundry room more useable (more shelving and storage plus a "folding station" coming off the wall) since we can no longer use the guest room for storage and folding/sorting clothes. We've still got some baby gear to get, including a double stroller. We have nursery furniture, but we're looking for C's big girl furniture. We have several other house projects that we want to finish before #2 gets here as well. We're certainly going to be busy. This isn't so easy considering Adam's hectic work schedule and orders from my cardiologist to be as "sedentary as possible." Yeah right...

The second trimester is days away and I'm starting to feel the need to get things moving around here! Adam has forbidden me from painting (which is probably not a bad thing) although I'm tempted to everyday. If anyone feels like painting, moving furniture, hanging light fixtures, or picking out bedding and fabric you are more than welcome to come to our house!!!

Anyway, since we haven't done much around the house we decided to take care of some other things that don't take up much time or energy. We bought Baby Israel 2 a new swing. We had borrowed a swing when C was born but we figured it was time we got our own. We got the "My Little Lamb" cradle and swing. It's all set up and ready for a baby!! Atleast we can check that off our list!

First Haircut!

2011-10-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Caroline got her very first haircut! She's been needing it done for a while but I was hesitant to cut her sweet little baby hair off. The cooler weather brought along some allergies and so her nose was always runny. A runny nose and long hair didn't mix too well...we were wiping snot out of her hair way more than necessary :) We went to Angel Hair in Crestline Village and they did a wonderful job. Caroline got a sweet little bob. She did very well as long as she was in my lap. Since I was holding her I don't have any "during" pictures, but here are the very cute "afters."

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2011-10-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Caroline has inherited my love for shoes. She always wants to have shoes on lately. She's not too picky (although I'm sure that will change as she gets older). She will wear my shoes, Adam's shoes, her shoes, or what ever shoes she can find. They don't have to match either. We've recently become the proud owners of some sparkly ruby red slippers. She wants to wear those all the time!! The other night she went into her closet and pull out two different shoes and put them on herself!! I couldn't get a good picture since she was running all over the house, but here's Miss Priss enjoying shoes.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the Old Baker Farms Pumpkin Patch. We went last year and just loved it so we were so excited to go back this year. We had the best time!

Adadm and Caroline in the corn maze. The maze was actually really hard and I gave up...I didn't feel like spending hours lost in corn.

They had tiny tractors around everywhere and Caroline LOVED them!!

Caroline on a giant bale of hay.

She loved the ducks. She says goats, a baby cow, bunnies, turkeys, lambs, and other birds but the baby ducks were totally the favorite. She spent forever looking at them and waving.

She decided to sit on the little tractors backwards.

She played in more hay.

She loved picking up the pumpkins. She proudly picked out a small white pumpkin!

She helped daddy pick out a flat pumpkin.

And then sat on it on the hay ride back. She is also holding some kettle corn, one of her favorite things of the day. She got to try a sno cone, kettle corn, fresh squeezed lemonade, and boiled peanuts.

We came home with 1 bale of hay, 3 pumpkins, and 1 very worn out little girl. All we need to do is hang our fall door sign and we'll be set!

Caroline picked out the white pumpkin. Adam picked out the flat one.

And I picked out the big round one. We had such a fun time and we are excited to go back next year!! I can't believe we'll have another little one with us then!!

Happy Fall!!

Boy or Girl...who cares???

2011-10-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been asked (by almost everyone) if I want this baby to be a boy or girl. My response lately is just "yes." Yes, in fact, I do want it to be a boy or girl. Anything else would be strange. When I was pregnant with Caroline I did have a preference, or so I thought. I thought I wanted a boy so that my girls could have a big brother. I had a big brother and loved it. That was the only thing I knew so that's how I thought it should be with my own kids. 16 months later I look at the most wonderful little girl and sort of want to hit myself for ever thinking I wanted something different. It never bothered me with C when people asked what gender I was hoping for, but with this one I find that it irritates me so much! I've already had people say, "if it's another girl are you going to try for a boy?" or "if it's a boy are you going to be done?" Maybe I want 2 kids, maybe I want 3 - that will not depend on their gender though. If this baby is a boy then we will celebrate that we will have one of each. If this baby is a girl, then we will celebrate that our daughters will grow up being best friends. Is there really a losing side to this? I recently read a comment on another blog (of someone who found out the gender of their baby). The comment said "I know this is what you wanted and you must be thrilled" or something along those lines. I'm not sure why, but that set me off this morning!! Would she not have been thrilled if it were the opposite gender? All babies - boy or girl - are an amazing gift. I knew a long time ago that I wanted to be a mother. My wish was never to have a boy or to have a girl - it was to have a child. I don't think it's bad when people do have a desire for sex, what I do find bad is that the word "disappointment" keeps popping up. "Will you be disappointed if it's a girl?" Finding out the sex of this baby will be many things but I can assure you, disappointing will not be one of them!

Maybe it's crazy pregnancy hormones that are making me nuts over this. Maybe it's the fact that I have a daughter (which seems to be the less desired gender) that's making me protective. Maybe it's the fact that I prayed for a CHILD and not a specific gender that's doing this to me. Who knows? All this to say that...

Sweet Baby #2,
I loved you the minute I knew you were coming. Everyday my love for you grows more and more. Boy or girl, you are still my baby and will always be a wanted, welcomed, loved, important member of this family. What's important to me is that you are happy and healthy and that you always feel special - because you already are! I cannot wait to find out WHO you are...not WHAT you are. Love, your mommy

Sixteen Months Old

2011-10-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Sixteen Months Old - September 23, 2011

A couple of weeks ago my sweet girl turned 16 months. I have looked at Caroline more times this past month and thought that she looked like such a big girl. I keep forgetting she's a toddler and not a little baby! Her understanding of things has increased exponentially! I can say any of the following and she will follow directions:

Take this to daddy/mommy
Throw this away
Time for lunch/dinner/snack
Do you want water/milk? (She will shake her head yes or no)
Give that to mommy/daddy
Where's daddy?
Let's go outside/to your room
Time to go (She'll go to the door)
Let's read. (She'll pick out a book)

She's not speaking as much but she's trying to vocalize so much more! She can say yes, no, go, mama, dada, Daisy. She says something that sounds like "ooshta" all the time. She is always pointing to something when she says it so I'm pretty sure she's asking "What's that?" She'll also say "Who dat?" when pointing at people. Other things she can say: Ti Woo (Roll Tide), di di (bye bye), di di di (bye bye diaper), mememe (Mimi), oh, okay, whoa (she says that when she drops something). We'll have a little talker on our hands in no time!!

She loves taking showers, going outside, playing with her doll, looking at books, putting bowls on her head - but not hats or bows or anything that actually belongs on her head, riding in the car, swinging, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Choo Choo Soul, closing doors and drawers, and singing. She's such a joy to watch and we are having so much fun!

Happy 16 months sweet Caroline! You are growing up into such a fun, smart, beautiful little girl and I love every second that I am with you. We love you more than you will ever know!! I am so proud to be your mommy!

Pregnancy 8 and 9 weeks

2011-10-10T06:59:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to go ahead and document them.

Pregnancy 8 Weeks:

At 8 weeks I have started wearing the "belly band." My belly is just big enough that I cannot button up my regular pants. I am measuring several weeks ahead (which is normal for a second pregnancy). I also started getting sick this week. I never got sick with Caroline so this was quite unexpected. We had another ultrasound. The doctor said everything looked perfect and the heartbeat was strong.

Pregnancy 9 Weeks:

Since I've been growing faster, I've had a lot of ligament pain and back pain. Thankfully I'm at home during this prenancy so I can rest when I need to. I still have my energy, which is great! By this time when I was pregnant with C, I could hardly keep my eyes open past lunch time. I was so worried that I would be tired and not able to keep with with my energetic toddler but so far, so good. I'm sure it's coming, but I'm enjoying this time while I have it. We had another ultrasound (the one perk to being in the high risk clinic - you get tons of ultrasounds! I've had 4 already.) and once again, everything looked great. The heartbeat was very high - 182!! (Last week it was one the low side) According to the old wives tale, this would mean girl. The doctor said that she's seen tons of boys with high heart rates and girls with low heart rates so I'm just going to have to wait. She also reminded me that Caroline's heartrate never got close to the "girl range" and she is clearly a girl. Fetal heartrates change every day during the first several weeks before tapering off. Our baby's heartrate was the in the "perfect" range which means they have a strong heart and is growing exactly as they should. Music to a mother's ears...

The doctor said that I look perfect as well! I normally go for my clinic visit every 2 weeks but since everything was great, I don't have to go back for another 4 weeks!! Although I do have a cardiology appointment and we've decided to do the genetic screening so my weeks will still be filled with doctor visits. We were very encouraged by how well the doctor said that I was. We are feeling mighty blessed these days!

Now we're at 10 weeks and are anxiously awaiting the end of the first trimester!!! We have another ultrasound in 2 weeks (and it's a long one so we'll have lots of pictures) and we cannot wait to see our sweet baby again!!

A much needed break

2011-10-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am very behind on blogging. I still have C's 16 month post to put up (and she's getting close to 17 months!!). Hopefully I'll have some time today to get to them!

Last weekend, Adam, Caroline and I went to Point Clear for the weekend. Adam attended the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association Fall Meeting and we decided to tag along. I am so glad that we did because we had a wonderful time. We left on Thursday and came home Sunday. It was a short trip, but exactly what we needed! This post will be a lot of pictures, so enjoy!

On Friday, Adam had to do a little work before he went to the meeting. I'm not sure if he has taken a full day off of work since he started at the firm!! Caroline didn't want to leave her daddy, so she hid with her blocks under the desk.

After getting her out from under the desk, we went on a walk. The weather was perfect! There were hammocks and swinging benches all over the resort. Caroline even took a short nap on one of the benches. We wandered down to the beach and played there for a while.

Eventually it was time for C to take a nap. All of that running around and playing wore her out!!

After Adam's meeting was over, the three of us went out to dinner. I don't have any pictures from the evening but I wish I did! Caroline was hysterical. She was waving, blowing kisses, dancing, and talking to every person there! We seriously had people come over to our table as they were walking out because they wanted to come see her one last time before they left! She's such a little ham!

The next morning we got up to feed the ducks. They will eat right out of your hand. It was such a bizarre feeling.

I don't have any other pictures from the rest of the day. We spent the day relaxing by the pool and watching the Alabama game.

It was a wonderful trip and we were all sad to head home!

Pregnancy Differences

2011-10-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

So far this pregnancy is very different from Caroline's pregnancy. Not harder or easier, just differnt. I started getting sick very early on with C. I always felt queasy but couldn't throw up. I felt queasy 24 hours a day and lost my appetite and also a bunch of weight. Since I felt so sick I suspected I was pregnant early on but I kept getting negative pregnancy tests. With this baby, I only got queasy a few times and it only lasted 20-30 minutes at a time. Just about the time I would think to myself, "I wonder if I'm pregnant" I would start feeling better and then days would pass and I felt fine. I did get some other early symptoms though - like headaches and heartburn.

I have been throwing up with this pregnancy, but not too much and it's always in the morning. I feel terrible for about 20 minutes and then I'm fine for the rest of the day. I couldn't stand the thought of anything sweet with Caroline and now I can eat sweets all day. This is great news for someone with a major sweet tooth :) I started showing very early this time around. With C, it wasn't until 22 weeks that strangers would notice that I was pregnant. This time, I had someone ask me when I was due at 6 weeks!!! Yikes! Possibly due to all the sweets I've been eating? (I'll post pictures this evening).

As for if I think it's a boy or girl, I just don't know yet. My first instinct says boy but that's only because I feel so different. With Caroline I had dreams that she was girl and she was and with this one I'm having a lot of dreams that it's a boy. With C all of the old wives tales said boy and we know how that turned out... With this baby, they are all over the place. Either way I think it's going to be wonderful! I'd love to have a boy so that I have atleast one of each but I'd also love for Caroline to have a little sister. Maybe we'll just have to have another one after this :)

Caroline has no idea what's going on and for now I'm thankful of that. Hopefully she'll be young enough to avoid any sort of jealously issues although I'm not holding my breath.

Stay tuned for tons of new blog posts coming later!! Also, take a guess about Baby Israel #2 in the baby pool!!

Baby Pool

2011-10-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

Just for fun we've decided to have a baby pool...not the swimming kind. The guess the sex/birth date/length/weight kind. Anyone can enter. The link is on the left side of the blog under "Baby Pool." The website will calculate a winner and the winner will get a Starbucks giftcard.

Take a guess about Baby Israel #2!!!

We've got big news...

2011-09-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

There's a bun in our oven!!!

And we couldn't be more excited...especially Caroline!

PDO so far

2011-09-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

This will be C's 3rd week of school and so far she is loving it! She did cry last week when they came to get her out of the car in the morning but they told me that she only cried for a minute or two. They send home daily reports and they wrote an extra note on C's for the first day - "AWESOME Day!" Nothing makes me happier than knowing my little girl had a good day.

She got to paint with her foot.

Here are the cute bags they made.

I know that she is really enjoying herself and she seems so comfortable with her teachers. I cannot wait to see all the cute artwork that they'll be making this year!

Very Hungry Caterpillar

2011-09-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

The very hungry caterpillar came to visit us yesterday. It's not too exciting, but I haven't seen a caterpillar that big so it was pretty neat to me. Caroline was pretty intrigued as well. If I ask her "where is the caterpillar?" then she'll go to the back door at point at it!

Rescue Mission

2011-09-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

What an adventure we've had this morning!! Daisy decided that she wanted to go exploring. She started walking down the hill at the edge of our property and somehow fell off the rock retaining wall that starts our neighbor's propery. She landed in their fenced in (and locked!) yard. I couldn't get her out and no one was home to let her out. Poor girl was yelping and crying. Only one thing to do...I had to go down the hill after her! Miraculously Daisy managed to get herself over the wall (I still don't know how short legged Daisy jumped that high) but she'd hurt her leg on the fall down so she couldn't get up the rest of the hill. I could get far enough down to grab her and bring her back up. We knew we were not going to be in this house for very long so we decided not to invest in a new fence. For two and a half years we haven't needed one either. We may be looking at fences soon...

Standing at the edge of our property looking down the hill. That's the yard that Daisy landed in.

Rock Wall is roughly as high as that fence.

Safe and sound after the rescue!

First Day of PDO

2011-09-09T08:53:00.001-07:00

Today was Caroline's first day of Parent's Day Out! We have been so excited for this to start. She's only going to be going 1 day a week but maybe in the spring she'll be able to go 2 days.

I found the cutest little backpack and lunchbox for her. They make them bags which will be ready soon so she'll only be bringing the backpack to school for little while.

Everything has be labeled!

I made a sign for her to hold.

But the door mat was way more interesting...

At least she did like her backpack.

Quick picture with Daddy before he left for work!

I can't wait to see how she does! We had the option of walking them in on the first day or going through the car pool line. Since she'll have to go through the car pool line every other time, I opted to do that. I figured she wouldn't get as upset. When they came to get her out of the car, she didn't even cry! What a big girl!! She's been gone for 2 hours so far and I've vacuumed the rugs, swept the floor, did all the dishes, started a load of laundry, did 2 blog entries, watered the plants, and went through C's fall and winter clothes. I think I'm really going to like PDO...

15 Month Stats

2011-09-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

Last week Caroline had her 15 month checkup. She's growing like a little weed! She's 22 lb (25th percentile), 33 1/2 inches tall (95th percentile) and has a head circumference of 17 3/4 inches (50th percentile). Devlopmentally she's doing great as well. She's doing lots of things on time (walking, pointing, stacking blocks, following simple commands) and even some things early (feeding herself with a fork!). She doesn't have as many words in her vocabulary as the pediatrician wanted so we are busy working on that! She got three shots and did really well. She only cried a little and she was over it by the time we walked out the door! Such a brave little girl :)

Just some cute pictures...although she can eat with a utensil, she doesn't always want to.

Fifteen Months Old!!!

2011-08-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

Fifteen Months Old - August 23, 2011

Last week my little girl turned 15 months old! That just sounds so old to me. She no longer "just turned one." Every day she is learning more and more. This stage is so wonderful! We don't have her 15 month checkup until Thursday, so stats will come then but here's so tidbits on C at 15 months!

She can say a few new words, but mostly she is just repeating what we say. For example, she picked up a rock outside and gave it to me. I said "rock" and she replied with "ra." She kept saying it over and over but then later when I asked her what the rock was, she didn't say anything. She will occasionally point to her head, tummy and nose but only when she feels like it. She's a stubborn little thing :) She loves to dance and hop (she doesn't really get off the ground yet). She'd rather be outside playing than doing anything else. She has been eating much better, but only when she eats with a fork and puts the food in her mouth herself. As you can imagine, eating takes about 10 times longer than it used to! She LOVES to read! She has just recently started sitting in my lap to listen to books for longer than a few minutes. We actually read several before she is done. She also likes flipping through books herself. Her favorite book right now is The Sleepy Little Alphabet. My sweet friend Maggie and her husband Drew gave her this book for her birthday. We seriously read this book at least 5 times a day. As soon as I finish it, she'll flip it back to the first page and point at it until I start reading it again. (C is also obsessed with the bubble mower that Maggie and Drew got her - they certainly win the award for most loved bday gifts!!) Her fine motor skills are also developing very quickly! She's getting pretty good at using a fork. She can turn the shape blocks to put them into their correct hole to get them into the bucket. She can pick up crayons and scribble on paper. It's so amazing to think back to even 6 months ago and realize how much she has learned. She's at the stage where she is starting to play with babydolls!! I love it! She will pick up her doll and give her kisses and rock her. I love little girl stuff. I've starting giving her dessert every now and then. If she eats well, I'll give her a cookie. She seems to have a major sweet tooth just like her mommy! She still cannot stand bows or headbands in her hair but we're still working on that. She's wearing a size 4 diaper and her clothes size varies. She has about 10 teeth and we love her little toothy smile! She has been throwing lots of little tantrums lately and has even been sent to time out (not that it worked out well though). When she doesn't get her way she's been stomping her feet and crying and then when that doesn't work she throws herself on the ground and cries more. Luckily it hasn't been too bad and she's still young enough to be easily distracted by another toy. We're still working out how we plan on disciplining our children when situations arise so for now we're just sort of winging it. Other than those few tantrums, she is the sweetest little girl. She loves to give hugs and kisses and they just melt my heart.

Happy 15 months Caroline! You are becoming such a wonderful, sweet, smart little girl. I cannot wait to see you continue to grow and learn. You make us so happy and we love you more than you will ever know!

Gone again...

2011-08-11T14:30:00.001-07:00

We might be MIA for a while again - we're going to be working on lots of projects around the house. I've got lots of things in the works like refinishing a bookcase and a nightstand, painting the laundry room and adding new storage, making a clothespin chandlier (a la YoungHouseLove) for the laundry room, making curtains for the living room, painting planters for our front door, and I am going to (try to convice Adam to) hang a new light fixture. We're going to be super busy but hopefully we'll have lots of fun before and after pictures to share!!

Rare Moments

2011-08-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

Caroline and Daisy have always been best buddies. Lately, Caroline has been...how shall I put this...terrorizing Daisy. She pulls on her ears and her tail, she yanks out her fur, she throws toys at her, and she tries to pull off her legs (seriously). I don't think she's trying to be mean because she's usually always smiling while doing these things (and I don't think she's a sociopath - haha). At 14 months she's not old enough to understand that playing with Daisy is good but she can't play rough. Daisy has been spending a lot of time hiding lately. I caught a rare moment after C's popsicle the other day where they were being sweet. It makes me smile to see these two get along!!

Summer Treats

2011-08-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's been so hot lately so I bought some popsicles for Caroline (although Adam and I have eaten almost all of them). I thought it would be a fun thing to do so I stripped her down and we went outside with popsicles in hand.

Takes a lick.

Not too impressed. Tries to give it to me.

Mama doesn't want it, off to give it to Daisy.

I was determined that she eat something "fun" so I gave her her first Oreo. It was a success.

Friends

2011-08-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

Caroline loves having her friend Sydney come over to play. They get along so well! We try to get them together often, so I think they know they're supposed to be friends.

I also love with Sydney comes over - she always helps clean up...

AND she encourages Caroline to help clean up.

What sweet little girls!!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2011-08-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am way behind on blogging. Good excuse - we were all sick AGAIN!! In the past few weeks, we've had about 9 trips to the doctor (that's all of us combined). We've been battling sinus infections, mycoplasma, diaper rash, coughs, and goopy eyes. If we've been avoiding you, this is why!!!

Adam stayed home from work one day last week and we enjoyed the day just being together. He did have to check in with work a few times though. Every time he would pull out his computer, Caroline would take hers out as well. She's such a little copy cat lately. It's so fun to watch her!!

Pig Tails!!

2011-08-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

I put Caroline's hair into "pig tails" this weekend. I don't have any of the tiny rubber bands yet, so it looks silly - but I was just trying to see if she had enough hair.

I just picked two random rubber bands out of the drawer, I didn't intend to pick Auburn colors. Just for the record - we are NOT Auburn fans in this house (as you can tell by C's pj pants!!) :)

I'm going to get the right little rubber bands this afternoon!!! Isn't she a cutie? And yes, she's sitting in the sink. She loves it and will point to get in!!

Fourteen Months Old!!!

2011-08-03T11:13:00.001-07:00

Fourteen Months Old - July 23, 2011

My little girl is now 14 months old. Each day she is becoming more and more of a "toddler" and less of a "baby." When she turned 1, I was a little sad because my baby was gone but after these past couple of months, I am so excited to have a little toddler. She is constantly making us laugh and watching her experience new things just makes my day. She is such a joy in our lives. She's wearing a size 4 diaper now. They are still a little big, but she is so incredibly tall that she needed something that went higher up on her body than the size 3. Her clothes sizes range depending on the item. She has some 6 month clothes that still fit and some 24 month clothes that fit. It sure makes buying clothes very easy... She is still a picky eater but she's getting better. She loves bananas, strawberries, cheese, potatoes, sweet potatoes, graham crackers, and bread. She has a couple new words including "yummy" and "no" (we love that one...). She's working on a few more like please, thank you, help, outside and yes. She loves to sing and will sing the ABC's. She'll do the correct tune and will say letters, but not the right letters. It's more like "DDDP DDD." Although it's so cute, we want her to know more than D and P so we sing that a lot around here :) She dances to music and loves to watch other people dance. Seriously, So You Think You Can Dance is one of her new favorite shows. She will wave and give high fives sometimes and also shake your hand if asked. She's been teething a lot lately and it's not that fun. When she was an infant, she would teeth for a few days and then we had a break for a while. Lately, she's been fussy and drooling for weeks. She's getting several new teeth. It's exciting to finally see a toothy grin, but it can be difficult dealing with her mouth pain at times. She's still a pretty good napper. She's starting to need less sleep so her naps aren't as long. She still goes to bed easily enough so I don't mind shorter naps too much. She can climb onto and off the couch and chairs now so we have to watch her even more closely. She's starting "school" soon (aka Parents Day Out) and I'm excited about that!! It will be nice to get back on a good schedule. She's starting to remember friends and family more even though she'll go a while without seeing people. It's cute to see her face light up when she sees one of her little friends. She recognized my mom when she came to visit last week and that was fun to see. She's been working on some skills, like stacking blocks and coloring. She hasn't made any works of art yet - she's not quite strong enough to push hard enough with a crayon or marker, but she's getting the motion down so it's only a matter of time!

Happy 14 months sweet Caroline! Your daddy and I love you so much. You bring a smile to our faces every single day and we love watching you grow and learn. I am still amazed how lucky I am to call you my daughter.

She's really good at making a mess!

Everything still goes in her mouth. I am looking forward to that stage coming to and end...

I added this one so you can see her baby mullet. She's getting her first haircut this weekend or early next week!!

Hiding

2011-07-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

Caroline has recently started "hiding" from us. We'll say "Where is Caroline?" and she'll pop her little head out and start laughing. I know I say this all the time - but I just love this age!

Silly girl hiding under the table!!

14 month post coming later this afternoon!

Going Bananas

2011-07-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

We have discovered that Caroline loves bananas. She has always liked banana flavored things (like yogurt or popsicles) but wouldn't eat the actual banana. She'll eat them now, but only if you break them into chunks or give her large pieces. She doesn't like them cut into slices - you have to actually break them with your hands or she won't eat them. Not sure why, but as long as she's eating them I don't really care.

Here she is at breakfast stuffing banana into her mouth.

She wanted more!!

Water Fun!

2011-07-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm behind on blogging...big surprise! In the past couple of weeks we have had a sick mommy, sick baby, out of town visitor, and a packed calendar so blogging got put to the back burner. I have several posts to catch up on, so check back over the next few days - there will be a bunch!

Last week we had a fun water playdate with some of our friends. It's been so hot that we can't be outside much, so this slightly cooler day was a much welcomed break.

Caroline « Simple Color | Southern Wedding Photography

2011-07-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Caroline « Simple Color | Southern Wedding Photography

Here's a sample of some of the amazing pictures from C's one year photo shoot!

Doughnuts

2011-07-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Ever since Caroline turned 1, we have been struggling with her eating. I have read over and over (and heard from friends and our doctor) that this is completely normal. She's not growing as drastically so she doesn't require as much food either. We have found a few things that she seems to really like (although these can change at any given moment) such as strawberries, blueberries, toast/bread, broccoli, black beans, cheese and sweet potato. She loves ice cream and pizza like a typical little kid. Some days she seems to really love certain foods. I get excited and as soon as I go buys lots of it, she acts like she hates it. I decided to buy those little powdered doughnuts to give her a treat. She almost never gets sweets and I feel like I am always forcing fruits and veggies on her. I thought she was going to love it. She seemed to like it at first. She ate a few bites, got it all over her and even asked for more. I gave her another one and she gave the entire thing to Daisy. I tried giving her a small piece and she started crying and shaking her head no. Since I couldn't let them go to waste, I ate the entire bag. :)

One day we'll get her to eat better!

Silly Girl

2011-07-12T08:05:00.001-07:00

For the past several days Caroline has been carrying around this little bucket that some blocks came in. She'll empty out the blocks on the floor and then put something else in the bucket. We've had fun finding out what the "item of the day" is. Today it was her sippy cup. Apparently it's easier to carry it around in a bucket. Some other items she's carried around lately: cell phone, mylicon, Daisy's harness, hair brush, and goldfish...basically anything but the blocks.

She had just woken up, thus the pj's and messy hair.

Smile!

2011-07-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Now that Caroline is the proud owner of 5 beautiful teeth (although 6 and 7 will be making their appearances soon) we figured it was time for her to have her first real toothbrush. She's been using an infant tooth and gum brush for the past several months but this girl isn't an infant anymore!

I went to go and get some supplies (aka - toddler toothbrush and training toothpaste)

And then we got to brushing!

She thinks it's a game and tries to bite down on the brush and then won't let us take it out. I think we have been able to actually brush her little pearly whites though...hopefully.

Daisy Love

2011-07-12T07:52:00.001-07:00

I love you so much it hurts!

2011-07-12T07:31:00.001-07:00

I always thought that the phrase "I love you so much it hurts" was silly. Isn't love a good feeling? Why would it hurt? Hurting isn't good. Then again, I always tend to over analyze common sayings. Today was the first time in all my 26 years that I finally understood that saying and I don't think it's silly at all.

After C's afternoon nap she has a hard time waking up. She's always a little sleepy and likes to sit and rock with me for a few minutes before she fully wakes up. It usually only lasts about 4 or 5 minutes, but I love those precious few minutes. I really feel that she needs me. I know she does need me - I change her, bathe her, feed her, entertain her, and fulfill all those types of needs, but in those few minutes she's like a sweet newborn who really needs her mommy and not a toddler whose independence grows every day. Today I went into her room after she woke up. I scooped her up and we went to sit in her chair. As soon as I sat down, she wiggled to get down and ran out of the room. I waited a few seconds before getting up. I walked into the living room and there she was - toys in hand and ready to go. She had run out to get her new foam sword and a few other random items (she picked up the sword at Target the other day and since it was the first time she "asked" for something I got it). I bent down and attempted to give her a hug. Denied. She was too busy playing with her stuff. That's when I felt it. My little girl no longer needed me to comfort her as she woke up. She's big enough to do it for herself. I felt an amazing sense of pride - at only 13 months she's incredibly independent and eager to learn and try new things. I want my girl to make friends easily and I want her to be comfortable on her own. But I also felt sad because I realized that I would not have Caroline as a little girl forever. She's growing up and today I could really see that. It hurt knowing that I would not be able to have this moment forever. Rocking her every afternoon has become such a ritual and I didn't think that it would come to an end so soon.

I know the point of having children is that they grow up. There are so many wonderful things that cannot happen unless she grows up. We wouldn't experience having other children, watching her first dance recital or soccer game, taking her to Disney World, and all those other amazing things. I am raising a child, after all, and not maintaining a child. I know it will be wonderful, but why does it have to be this fast?

**I wrote this post last Friday and as of today (Tuesday) she still has not wanted to be rocked when she woke up. She really did outgrow that!

A few of her favorite things...foam sword, Daisy's harness, mylicon bottle, raspberry teether. You know, just the normal stuff.

Adam and I thought this was hysterical. She carried around the sword and mylicon for hours.

She's really into holding lots of things lately.

Her Monday post afternoon nap things to hold - a fly swatter and the whisk attachement to the stand mixer. (Sorry for the blur, she was running!)

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! We sure did! We had wanted to go to the beach but we weren't sure what Adam's work schedule was going to be like so we kept on waiting to make a decision. When Caroline's surgery got scheduled for Friday, July 1, we decided that we were going to have a nice, relaxing weekend at home - something that we don't often get to do, so this was a real treat for us! We had an amazing weekend and an even better Independance Day, filled with relaxing, BBQ, and fireworks!!

Thunder on the Mountain
July 4th, 2011

Splash Pad

2011-07-04T05:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday afternoon we took Caroline to the Gardendale Splash Pad. It was so much fun and I cannot believe that it took us this long to go! She pretty much spent the entire time at the piano thing (see pictures below) but started to warm up to the other fun things toward the end. It was the perfect thing to do on such a hot day. I'm sure we'll be going back soon!

Caroline's Surgery

2011-07-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

On Friday (July 1) we all woke up super early (like 4:00 early). A very sleepy mommy and daddy loaded up an every sleepier little Caroline to head to Children's Hospital for her tear duct surgery.

We got their a little early so we had to wait a while, even though Caroline was the first surgery of the day.

She was such a good little girl. They took all her vitals before heading back to the room. She didn't cry at all - as long as Daddy was near by.

We had to put her in a teeny tiny hospital gown. So adorable and so sad at the same time.

Like I said...Daddy had to be near by at all times. He took a half step away and she started crying so he had to pick her up again.

She fell asleep right before they came to take her back to the operating room.

We got to carry her to the doors before handing her off to a nurse. She didn't cry that much after we walked away (either that or we just couldn't hear her). We went back to the room to wait for the phone call that it was over. The doctor told us they would call in about 30-40 minutes. Almost exactly 30 minutes later they called and said it was over and they were waking her up. The doctor came to talk to us and assured us that Caroline had done beautifully and the nurse would bring her back to us in about 45 minutes. A very long 45 minutes later Caroline was finally in my arms! She was a little swollen, had a bloody nose and an IV but otherwise looked perfect. She fell asleep in my arms and I just rocked her for a while. Since she was able to keep her juice down, she was discharged by 9:00! She was a little sleepy and uncomfortable for the rest of the day, but we kept her as happy as possible with tylenol/advil, eye drops, nose spray and lots of hugs. They told us that she may not be hungry but she managed to eat a little at dinner. On Saturday morning she woke up and was back to her usual self. We are so thankful that it's over and so grateful that everything went well!! We feel so blessed to have had such an amazing doctor (Dr. Cogan) and live in a city with such an amazing Children's Hospital. Everyone was wonderful and made us feel so comfortable. I hope that we don't have to go back to Children's - but we are so happy it's near by just in case!

Happy Birthday Papa!

2011-07-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Haleyville. We haven't been there in a year (seriously...since Father's Day 2010 when C was only 4 weeks old!). Adam's parents had two pretty big floods in their house back to back so they've had a lot of work done to the house, which left us with no where to sleep. They've been so nice to come to Birmingham to visit us a lot this past year, but since their house is finally done we decided it was time to return the favor - especially since it was also Papa's birthday!

We had a wonderful time and hopefully it won't take us a year to go back! Happy Birthday Papa. We loved getting to celebrate your birthday with you!

Last playdate with Robert

2011-07-04T04:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to play with C's friend, Robert. We met this sweet little boy and his mommy at Mama & Me and we have really enjoyed getting to know them! They are moving to Mississippi and so we had to have one last playdate. We had a wonderful time and will really miss them!!

Caroline was more excited by the basket than the toys...

They aren't smiling, but since no one is crying so we considered this to be a good picture.

Caroline, Robert, and Jonathan

Good luck with everything Ginny and Robert! We will miss you!

Thirteen Months Old!!

2011-06-23T05:20:00.001-07:00

Thirteen Months Old - June 23, 2011

Today my toddler is 13 months old. That sounds so old to me! I have been debating on whether or not to keep doing the monthly posts. If I do it for her, I'll have to do it for all our other children and I didn't know if I wanted to commit. But alas, I've decided to go for it - at least until she is 2. Her first 12 months were filled with so much physical development. This year will be less physical (she'll gain a little weight, she'll grow a little taller, and hopefully she'll get a lot more hair) but it will be filled with a ton of cognitive development. I feel like I call Adam every day and say, "C did ____!! She's so smart!" Her little brain is learning at lightning speed these days and I don't want to forget anything.

Behavior wise, this has been the best and worst month so far. It's the best because she's starting to understand some words and follow some simple directions. We keep our wedding album on the bottom of a console table. Every time she walked over to it I would tell her no and move her away. This went on several times a day for the past several months. Finally a breakthrough! She'll still go over to it, but she won't open it and she'll look at me with pleading eyes. Once I say no, she's good. She'll find something else. I can say "go see Daddy" and she will walk over to Adam. She likes standing in chairs and she can now understand "sit down." Most of the time she will actually listen to me! I love it! It's also been the worst because now that she does understand some things, she can also ignore those things. She's very vocal about the things she wants. Sometimes telling her no results in a massive temper tantrum. She reminds me that she is, in fact, a toddler and that we are heading toward the exciting "terrible twos." Thankfully these tantrums don't ever last more than a couple of minutes, but for those two minutes I'm just a ball of nerves! It's my job to teach her how the world works and I know if I come unglued during her tantrums then she'll only learn that it's acceptable to keep having them. I keep reminding myself of that, but it sure can be hard to remember when you're trying to calm down a screaming and crying toddler!!

Caroline has been napping and sleeping like a champ!! We finally hit a turning point and I.just.love.it. I am guaranteed at least one (and many days two!) naps which usually last any where from 1-3 hours. This has been great for the state of our house and laundry. She will also go down to bed without crying and sleeps until 8:00 without waking up! Her eating, however, has gone downhill. She's become very picky with food. She's eating all table food now, so that makes feeding her easier. She also still wants a bottle rather than a sippy cup. The pediatrician had recommended weaning her off the bottle at 12 months and by 15 months to be solely on sippy cups. I still have 2 more months so hopefully I can do that! Here's C at lunch actually eating for a change.

This little girl is into everything! She loves opening cabinets, drawers, trash cans, whatever you can open!! She's also into climbing. I opened the refridgerator to put away some strawberries. I turned around to grab something else and Caroline had climbed inside the fridge and was grabbing cans to pull out. Sometimes I have to turn around so she doesn't see me laugh after I tell her no. She just does the funniest and cutest stuff - even if it is wrong!!

Ever since she was born, Caroline has been a Daddy's girl. She used to cry in the middle of the night and I couldn't get her to calm down. I would frantically call for Adam. He would come in and hold her for all of 3 seconds before she calmed down. Lately she's been all about me, which I (not so) secretly love. She reaches for me all the time and it just melts my heart. I love that little girl so much!

She's learned lots of fun new things. She can put her blocks away when asked and she's started stacking the rings in (usually) the correct order! Her hand eye coordination has gotten so much better in the past month.

I am just loving this stage that she is in right now, even with the tantrums and picky eating. Her personality becomes more apparent each day and I love the person that she is becoming. I only hope that Adam and I will be the best parents we can be so that we can guide her through these crazy toddler years!

Happy 13 months little girl! I am so proud of you and love you more than any mother has ever loved their child (at least that's what it feels like!).

Like Father, Like Daughter

2011-06-20T15:46:00.001-07:00

It's official. Caroline has to have eye surgery! Her tear ducts have been clogged basically since birth. This is very common among infants. Usually 4 out of 5 kids won't need anything done as theirs will open by itself. Caroline is one of the lucky 1 out of 5 kids. Adam had to have the same thing done when he was her age. I took C to the opthamalogist today. He was so nice and spent forever answering my questions. After I talked to Adam about our options, we decided that going ahead with the surgery was the best one. It's quick and easy and the earlier we do it, the higher the success rate. If this one little surgery can prevent her from having several down the road then we are on board! I'm not thrilled that she has to have it done at all, but I really do like the doctor and trust his opinion so that makes it easier. We'll be talking to the surgery coordinator tomorrow morning to set the date. I know it's not a big surgery - but it's still a surgery and that makes me a little uneasy. Hopefully they will get it scheduled soon and her little eyes will be perfect!

Last day of Waterbabies

2011-06-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

Caroline had her last swim class this past weekend. She kicked by herself the whole time - plus she tried to blow bubbles and even went under water a few times! We have had so much taking her to these lessons and we are looking forward to doing them again next summer. At the end of class, they each got a certificate. We wanted C to hold it so we could take her picture but that wasn't going to happen. She wanted to drink through a straw. After a major meltdown we gave up on the picture and let her hold the cup. This is the best we could get...

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-20T08:06:00.001-07:00

We had such an incredible Father's Day weekend. Yes, we did celebrate all weekend long. Some things just need extra celebration (like my birthday, for example). Friday afternoon was filled with a playdate (for all of us) and then dinner (Mexican - we seriously cannot get enough) followed by relaxing on the couch. We had to get up early on Saturday since it was Caroline's last swim class! I'll do another post on that later. It was the best class by far. Caroline finally kicked by herself, attemped to blow bubbles, AND she did a great job sharing toys with another little girl in the class. She's usually not one to give toys away but they kept handing them to each other. We were so proud! After class we came home, changed, and then went to Pepper Place. Adam picked out a lot of his favorite things for us to use in his Father's Day dinner on Sunday.

We decided to do gifts on Saturday night rather than on Sunday since our day was going to be busy (or so we thought). Adam got a new polo shirt from Caroline, a dress shirt from me, a gift certificate to Butler's from Daisy, and the C and I made him a sweet little book.

On the left side is an interview I did with Caroline and on the right side is her hand print. The best part is that there are many more pages so that every year we can do the interview and the hand print so that one day Adam can look back at a decade of Father's Days!

Sunday morning we went to church and then to lunch (Mexican again...go figure). We had Caroline's one year portraits scheduled but ended up rescheduling them since we decided to change the location. Adam spent the rest of the afternoon watching golf and playing with C. We made a wonderful dinner with all the yummy stuff we got at Pepper Place. We had an heirloom tomato salad, grilled summer vegetables, chicken, and then a peach and blueberry crumble for dessert. We all went to bed full and happy!!

The weekend was very quiet but so much fun. We usually spend holidays with our families but it was just us this time. It was wonderful! It's so nice to see our families, but I forget how much I love celebrating things just us.

Happy Father's Day Adam!

Adam loving his baby girl on his first Father's Day. Caroline was exactly four weeks old.

We didn't get any pictures of Adam and C this Father's Day!! I'm so mad at myself for forgetting! We were having such a wonderful day just the three of us that taking pictures slipped my mind. Here's the two of them at her birthday party a few weeks ago.

Tunnel of Love

2011-06-15T11:32:00.003-07:00

Caroline got tons of fun new stuff for her birthday - and I mean tons! She got clothes, bathing suits, outdoor toys, bath toys, pool toys, books, plates and bowls, towels...you name it, she got it. She's so lucky to be so loved! One of her favorite new things is a tunnel from Mama Lou, her great-grandmother (Adam's grandmother). She pulls it out at least once a day, if not more. She just loves it! Thank you Mama Lou!!!!

Toddler Time!

2011-06-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

This morning I took Caroline to Toddler Time at the library. We met up with a friend and had a wonderful time!! C wasn't into the songs at the beginning (she had just woken up) but she loved the story part. At the end, all the kids got an egg with some beads in it to shake. C went nuts!! It was just precious. We can't wait to go back soon!

Misadventures in eating

2011-06-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

Up until recently, Caroline has been the best eater. She would try everything that we gave her and would eat most of her food at each meal. In the past week, she's been more picky. She doesn't eat a lot at breakfast, she falls asleep during lunch (and I've tried moving lunchtime 3 times - she just moves her naptime with it!), and she gives Daisy most of her dinner. She's been pushing away sippy cups and only wanting a bottle.

Caught!!!

Feeding Daisy again

She thought it was funny. I did not.

Although she didn't want Daisy eating her food this day. Daisy has been getting more comfortable taking C's food (and why not, C just gives it to her?) so we've started putting outside during meal time.

I thought that ravioli would be a fun food for C. I spent forever picking out the best ravioli and sauce in Whole Foods. I was so excited to give it to her...

Looks like a clean tray, huh? Nope...she just pushed it all away.

I decided that we were going to sit there and she was going to eat it. I was determined not to cook a different meal. 40 minutes later...

She was fine just sitting there, only asking to get up a couple times.

She finally started getting a little impatient.

But she still wouldn't eat. After an hour and a half I finally got her out of her high chair.

I pulled out every baby/toddler cookbook I have plus spent hours online looking for good ideas. I'm going to try some new stuff and see if that pleases her. Anyone else have any suggestions???

Proof

2011-06-14T10:53:00.001-07:00

After I did the post this morning about C helping with the laundry, I took her to Mama and Me playgroup. These pictures aren't staged - this is really the first thing she did when we got there. She really does love laundry!!

Little Helper

2011-06-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Caroline is at such a fun age right now! She is learning so much everyday and sometimes that really works to my benefit...sometimes not so much. She will copy things that we do and try to say things that we say (not so much the word, but the inflection). Lately she's been helping me with laundry. I'll take a basket of dirty clothes and pour it out on the floor in the laundry room. I'll start the washing machine and put in the detergent and then Caroline hands me the clothes one my one. When they are all put in, she'll clap her hands and then I'll lift her up to see all the clothes and she'll wave at them. When the buzzer for the dryer goes off, she walks into the laundry room. I'm thinking that in a few more months she'll be able to handle it all by herself :)

The other day she was busy playing so I decided to start a load of towels. I brought the basket into the living room and went into the laundry room to start the washing machine. This is what I found when I came out.

I guess she wanted to help!! I know it seems like she's never wearing clothes - I promise that she is usually dressed! We've been outside a lot lately so she always manages to get wet in the baby pool or water table or in the dirt or drip popsicle on her so something. She's a messy little thing!

Lately...

2011-06-13T10:32:00.001-07:00

After C's birthday party we stayed pretty busy, so blogging took a bit of a back seat... It took a few days to get the house back to normal and to find a place for all the wonderful new things that Caroline got for her birthday!! Now we're back into a good routine so I can fill everyone in on what we've been doing lately!

Caroline had a swimming date with two of her little boyfriends, Robert and Jonathan. (And she learned how to use a straw!!)

She ate watermelon for the first time. We put her in a watermelon dress for the occassion.

She didn't really want to eat it. She was more interested in rubbing it on the chair,

holding it up to show the backyard,

and sharing with Daisy.

Caroline had one of her best friends come over to play.

And then we went over to her friends house!

This toddler sure is keeping us busy!!

The Final Chapter

2011-06-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

I started this blog when I was about 17 weeks pregnant with Caroline. My intention was to document our lives as we got ready for her arrival and then to document her life throughout her first year. Well, her first year has come and gone and I am excited to turn this blog into a book!! This entry will be the final entry in the book. I am still going to keep the blog going - I know all our readers would be so sad if I didn't :) But, in a true "final chapter" kind of way, I am going to give a (probably very long) wrap up of the past year. It's mainly random thoughts so probably not very interesting...you have been warned!!

It's strange to be sitting here looking back at the year. So much has happened. Obviously Caroline has grown - tripling her weight and adding nearly a foot in length. She has learned some big things, like sitting up and rolling over to walking and saying words. Adam and I have also changed. Somewhere along the way we didn't just "have a baby", we became parents. The "lets write our wills so we know she'll be taken care of should anything happen to us, whats the best way to save for her education, only look for houses that include a playroom and big yard" type of parents. We had a lot of growing up to do but I know that our lives have more meaning and joy because of that. Don't get me wrong - I miss our random late night food runs (what is it about midnight that makes me so hungry???) but staying home with sleeping Caroline is so much better than a big greasy cheeseburger!

On May 30, 2010 I thought that I wouldn't get to experience raising my child. I remember laying on my bathroom floor in a puddle of blood. I didn't know what was going on and Adam wasn't there to reassure me that it would be okay. I don't handle crisis situations well, he does. I just knew that something was terribly wrong and I was probably going to die. I remember thinking that I didn't have Caroline for long enough to know her and I was so mad. At the same time, I was relieved that she was so little that she wouldn't remember me so there wouldn't be any painful memories. We left for the hospital so quickly that I didn't get to see Caroline. I didn't know if I had seen her for the last time or not. Without a doubt, that was the most scared I have ever been. It's a year later and I can barely think about it without breaking down into tears. There will be times that I look at Caroline and start crying because I can remember the day where I thought all of this was about to be taken away from me. I hope that I never take my time with her for granted, not one single second. There hasn't been a day yet where I don't go to bed thanking God for giving me that day and for having the chance to be her mom.

Some of my favorite moments of the past year were the times that I would rock her. It was so quiet and sweet and I loved the time where it was just her and me. I remember dreading the day when my mom left and Adam was at work. I was so nervous that I wouldn't know what to do by myself with a little baby. It didn't take long for me to figure it out and soon I was loving that time alone with her!

I've loved watching her little personality develop. She loves to talk and be the center of attention (I'm thinking that comes from Adam...), she's stubborn (unfortunatly she gets that from both parents), independant, loving, and so funny! She keeps us smiling all day long.

When I was pregnant, people would tell me that soon I wouldn't remember life without her. It's strange because to some degree that's true. Of course I remember my life pre baby - but I find myself saying "What did I do before Caroline" all the time! I am so used to packing a diaper bag that I feel anxious when I leave the house without her. It doesn't feel right having a bag so light anymore!!

I truly feel like a different person since having a baby. I know I have more patience (being pregnant and waiting on her arrival did that to me!). I used to be the person who would roll their eyes when a child wouldn't stop crying in a restaurant, now I am the mother of that child and praying that people aren't rolling their eyes at me. Even if they are, I don't care anymore. I am just happy that a crying child is a problem that I am lucky enough to have. I am so much more thankful and appreciative of everything now. Caroline made me a better person when she made me a mommy!

Caroline,
You are the most amazing thing in the world. I hope that you enjoy this book of your first year - I enjoyed documenting it! I love you so much baby girl!

Adam,
Can you believe that we've been parents for a whole year?? I am so thankful that you are the one that took this incredible journey with me. I have loved you for so many years. I have only had the chance to love you as a daddy for one year, but I can honestly say - I have never loved you more. You are the perfect father. I love the little girl that you gave me and I hope that we will more more children. I think the world needs more little pieces of you in it. If I could choose again, I'd still choose you. xo

One Year Checkup

2011-05-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Caroline went for her one year checkup. I can remember so clearly taking her to the pediatrician for the first time when she was only 5 days old... Caroline did a great job! She got 3 shots and while she did cry, it wasn't for very long. They pricked her finger since last time we were there (last month when she had a virus) she was a little anemic and she did well with that too. She weighed 19 lb. 12 oz. (25th percentile), was 29.5 inches long (75th percentile), and her head was 17.5 inches around (50th percentile). She's been growing at about the same rate since she was born, so everything looked great as far as that went! She's meeting all her developmental milestones including:
walking
pointing (she's trying to get it!)
saying basic words (mama, dada, bye-bye)
waving
clapping
blowing kisses (she doesn't have it all the way yet but she's close)

Her clogged tear duct that she's had since she was 5 days old is still clogged. She gets a "goopy" looking eye every now and then. The doctor told us that they don't do anything until a year since it usually clears up on its own by then. Caroline's hasn't cleared up yet so we are going to see a pediatric opthamalogist in a few weeks. She will possibly have to have it opened surgically (very minor procedure). Adam had to have the same thing done when he was a year old as well. Although it's less than ideal, we are looking forward to having it gone for good!!

Other than that, everything was perfect. She's a happy and healthy, long and lean little girl!

Trying to leave when they brought in the shots!!!

Birthday Dinner

2011-05-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

On Caroline's actual birthday we had a special dinner, since I decided that we had not celebrated enough. I made some of Caroline's favorite foods: chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. I was very proud when she ate all of the broccoli first!

After dinner it was time to open presents from Adam and me.

We had already given her the Cozy Coupe and it was a big hit!

She also got a rocking horse that neighs when you press its ear.

And little mailbox.

Some Zutano overalls, alphabet blocks from PBK (both not pictured) and the cutest pair of squeaker shoes!!

We played with all of her new toys and enjoyed being together before it was finally time for her to go to bed. It truly was a wonderful day and the perfect start to year number 2!!

Party Time!! (Part 3)

2011-05-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last of the party posts...here are some pics that I left out!!

I had such a fun time decorating I decided to decorate every room - including C's room, the guest room, and the bathroom!! We hung things from the ceiling that led to the bathroom.

We had people put their bags and purses in the guest room. While they were there they could look at pictures of Caroline and Daisy.

We also hung a banner in the guest room.

We had pretty pink guest towels in the bathroom.

As well as cute pictures of Caroline.

Even C's room was turned into a party!

We were all exhausted after the party - especially Daisy! Begging for food and attention can be quite tiring.

Party Time!! (Part 2)

2011-05-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Before the guests starting arriving, we changed Caroline into her party outfit. I had a tutu dress with a dog applique (also wearing a tutu) made in the party colors. I did not try it on her before her party day, but thankfully it fit perfectly!! When we put it on her she got so excited!

We took a few quick family pictures before the guests starting arriving.

Since it was such a beautiful (although very hot) day, friends made their way outside to play cornhole and to play with the birthday girl!!

When it got too hot, Caroline made her way inside to show Raughley her sister Daisy...

to eat goldfish with Mimi...

and to play with Robert (who shares the same birthday!).

Before long, it was time for cake! I was hoping that Caroline would get messy with her cake and she didn't disappoint!

After cake, Caroline changed into "party doggy."

After an afternoon full of fun, the party came to an end. As guests left, we had "doggy bags" for them to take home. I baked and decorated cookies, which were quite yummy if I do say so myself.

After everyone went home, we were left with a mound of gifts, a book full of messages, and a lot of cupcakes! I am so happy that so many people came to share this special day with Caroline. I hope that when she looks back at her book in years to come, she will know how much she is loved. I hope that the signatures are from people who will also sign the guest book at her wedding one day. Adam and I feel blessed to have such a wonderful family and such amazing friends. We couldn't have asked for a better party for sweet one year old!!

Party Time!! (Part 1)

2011-05-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, the day before her actual birthday, we had Caroline's birthday party. It was so much fun! I had seriously been planning her party since she was about 6 months old. I had been joking with Adam that we would have to wait a while to have another baby because I needed lots of time to plan a 1st birthday party... In the end, it all came together and was a huge success! Our house was PACKED. We are so lucky to have friends and family that love our sweet Caroline! I took a bunch of pictures before the party and only a few during the party because I was having so much fun! Caroline had only taken a short nap and didn't want to eat lunch so I was pretty sure that she would have a major melt down during the party, but she seemed to have a lot of fun as well - which was the whole point.

We had balloons on the mailbox, letting everyone know where the party was!

The banner on the door

Our foyer table

Close up - the sign says "Please sign Caroline's birthday book. We are so doggone happy you are here!" When I was pregnant with Caroline, we gave the baby (since we didn't know boy or girl yet) a few Dr. Seuss books for Christmas. Last year, for C's first Christmas she got a few more Dr. Seuss books so it's become a little tradition. We thought it was perfect to have everyone sign Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday to You. We plan on giving the book to each of our children on their first birthday. (I also sewed the table runner!)

As you turn to the left, you walk into the kitchen. I put up some pictures of Caroline and Daisy over the past year.

The banner in the kitchen

The kitchen table. I put my pregnancy journal and Caroline's hospital album on the table for people to look through. Also, there are a few of the professional pictures hanging on the ribbons in the window. The first was my maternity phtotos, the second is C's newborn pictures, and the third is her 6 month pictures. All the pictures were done by Brandon and Stacey Gresham and they will be doing her one year portraits soon!

We also had a bowl of puppy dog ears for guests to wear.

You simply must wear dog ears at a dog party!

The only thing in the kitchen that I didn't get a picture of was the drink station. We had wine and cherry limeade punch inside and water, beer, and soft drinks outside. We put the punch in our punch bowl that we got as a wedding gift - it was the first time that we had a chance to use it and it looked beautiful!

The spread (with Daisy underneath, hoping that food will magically fall on the floor). I put little signs by some of the food. A couple of them said what the item was, like "Puppy Chow" (chex muddy buddies) and "Doggy Treats" (pretzels with kisses on top) and some told a little story - "Caroline loves snacking on goldfish and teddy grahams and specifically requested them at her party." Yes, I am nerdy...no need to tell me.

Caroline's smash cake.

Daisies in Daisy's treat jar! Also, that is Caroline's baptism candle. It was lit during her baptism and when they presented it to us they said to light it every year during her birthday.

Since it was such a special occassion and such a special candle, we broke out the nicest stuff we had!

Balloons and flowers in the living room. On the coffee table I put her album of "firsts" for people to look through.

Side table had a newborn picture, her hospital bracelet, and her album of ultrasound pics.

On the way to the back yard, I used Caroline's keepsake silver cup to hold a pick rose. Trinity United Methodist and Haleyville United Methodist displayed roses to announce Caroline's birth one year ago!

Balloon tree

Blanket and toys for the little ones

Tables for the big ones

More balloons

Cake chair

Sign leading back into the house

Twelve Months Old!!!

2011-05-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Twelve Months Old - May 23, 2011

Yesterday my baby turned twelve months old...excuse me, one year old!! And I guess I should say toddler rather than baby! We had her birthday party on Sunday (post coming soon) and we had a special dinner last night to celebrate just the three of us. Caroline has been busy growing and learning!! She waves, claps, says "bye bye" sometimes, walks (most of the time, she still crawls when she wants to go fast), dances to music and feeds herself. She's starting to copy us - if we say something several times she'll try to say it or if we pat our head she'll try to do that too. She'll aim the remote at the TV and gets excited when she changes the channel. You can see lightbulb go off sometimes when she figures something out. She would rather be outside than anywhere else and she'll throw a little fit when we have to come inside. She's wearing size 12/12-18 month clothes and is still in a size 3 diaper, although we may be moving up a size in that soon! She's using mostly sippy cups, but will still have a bottle now and then. She's having whole milk most of the time, but I'm still giving her some toddler formula (when we're out so I don't have to carry milk around to get hot). We don't have her doctors appointment until Wednesday so we'll know her stats then.

Happy 12 months Caroline! I hope you had a wonderful year - I know I sure did. You are the sweetest, cutest, smartest little girl that I have ever known and I am so glad that you are mine. Love, Mommy

Happy Birthday Caroline!!!

2011-05-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

Precious Caroline,

I cannot believe that I am sitting here writing to you on your first birthday! It feels like just yesterday that we were telling friends and family that we were expecting a baby. It also feels like you've been a part of our lives forever. I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a happy and healthy beautiful little girl. I thank God every day for chosing me to be your mommy.

The day has been filled with "this time last year..." stories. You woke up at 3:00 this morning - coincidentally about the same time my water broke last year. Although I normally love my sleep, I was so happy to have that sweet time with you this morning. Before you were born, Daddy and I had to go to the MEU three times. The last couple months before you came were difficult for me. On my forth visit to the hospital, the nurse said to me, "You are going to have a baby today! You'll be holding her in no time!" I was so excited - this was finally the day that I would meet my little girl. No more trips to the hospital where I came home empty handed. When I woke up this morning, I had that same excited feeling. I couldn't wait for you to wake up so I could hold you. (I may have helped in the waking up process...)

I've been excited about today but also a little sad. You are officially a toddler. Your infancy is gone. While you will always be my baby, to the rest of world you are not a baby anymore. You have grown and learned so much this past year and I am so proud of you. I couldn't be more in love with the baby you "were" and the toddler you are. The time we spend with you is the highlight of the day for Daddy and me. We love you so much!! Happy 1st Birthday!

Love, Mommy

My Two Girls

2011-05-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky that my two girls get along so well. I didn't think that Daisy would really like a little sibling but I have been pleasantly surprised this past year.

Daisy has always seemed to love C.

Caroline's first word was "Day Day" and Daisy is the only "person" who gets a kiss every time she sees her. Is it any wonder why we're having a puppy dog party for Caroline??

Mother's Day

2011-05-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I celebrated my first Mother's Day!! It was such a wonderful day. I got to spend it with my two favorite people and my favorite dog (and my favorite in laws for part of it!). I got several sweet cards and some great presents (I got to go shopping for new clothes, jewelry, and makeup). Since Adam didn't have a lot of work to do, I decided that I just wanted to do something fun with Caroline so we went to the zoo. I've taken Caroline several times, but Adam has never been with her. It was a perfect day to be outside. Caroline had a great time. She did not have one single melt down! After the zoo, Adam's parents went home and the three of us went for pizza and frozen yogurt. It was exactly how I wanted to spend the day!

I have more fun zoo pictures but they are on another camera so once I upload those I will post more!