S..L..O..W..... D..O...W..N

I feel like things need to slow down. Caroline is growing up so fast. I know one day I'll look back and think that she's still such a baby right now, but for now I feel like she's getting to be a big girl so fast. She is learning new words every day. Yesterday it was "bug" and today it was "ice" and "bye guys!" She's also really enjoying her cousins and friends. This is a fun age and I'm loving her new communication skills so much (and her newest relief for my back-- she's walking up and down the stairs on her own!!!)
Oh and for anyone that reads this that hasn't heard yet, she'll be a big sister this December!!! We are so thrilled and thankful!!!

Caroline in her Big Girl outfit:

























A special outfit from Karen and Katherine for her 1st birthday that I've been patiently waiting for her to grow into:
























Getting ready for the swimsuit competition:
























Happy on the swing with her cousins, Cameron and Ashlyn:

18 Months Old!

Happy 18-month bday, Caroline!!! We love you so much and count it a blessing to spend our life with you and watch you grow!
Some of the things you do now that I want to remember: You say "no" when you mean "yes"..... you insist that everyone wears their shoes at all times, and you bring them their shoes and put them at their feet... once everyone's shoes are on, you declare that we're going "bye-bye"..... you always greet Casey by shouting "hi dog!!!!"..... sometimes you lean your head into Casey's so that he'll give you a bath by licking you-- gross!.... you grab anything with a handle and pretend that it's a purse, then you'll usually start saying "bye-bye"... you always have a sippy cup with milk in it..... you've gotten really good at getting things you want by signing "more, please".... you love to crinkle your nose and sniff every time you see a bunny in a picture or stuffed animal....you ask for Daddy constantly and when I tell you he's at work, you say "okay"....you love to "lello" which means color-- you think that's why we're at a restaurant (to color).... you love to play with your friends of all ages and especially your cousins....you love to "talk" on the phone....you snuggle and give the best hugs and kisses, especially right before bedtime....
WE LOVE YOU!

Summertime???

It sure does feel like summer around here. Caroline is really enjoying being outdoors and playing in the water. Mommy and Daddy, on the other hand, prefer the air conditioning :) She seems to have a new word every day. Our favorite thing she says now is "Mommy, Daddy, Dog".... like she's taking attendance for our family. Sometimes she'll do the sign language sign for "more" while saying "dog".... nope, sorry Caroline, but we're not getting more dog right now. Here are some recent pics-


She loves her new water table in the back yard

We went to the Strawberry Patch and Caroline really loved her homemade popcicle!!! What a sticky messy face :)


Getting ready for church one morning


She's really enjoying our piano

Happy Easter!!!

A girly girl

Bracelets, shoes, bows and purses.... these are a few of Caroline's favorite things. We have a girly girl on our hands!!!!


Caroline started Mother's Day Out this week-- here she is holding her lunch box on our way out the door. I think we both had a great time-- when I went to pick her up she was outside on the play ground having a ball with the other kids!

A few of the cute things Caroline has been doing lately... she really loves books, and there's a picture in one of her books of some puppies. She started kissing the puppies every time we got to that page. Adorable. In another book, there's a picture of a Mommy, little boy and a little girl with their hands in the air and the text says "We like to give thanks to God for His love for the shoes on our feet and for Heaven above." Well, she puts her hands in the air just like the kids in the picture. Adorable again. And slightly charismatic ;) Lastly, sometimes when I'm on the phone with Mimi or Grammy, I'll put it on speaker so Caroline can hear their voices and "talk" with them. The first thing she does when she hears their voices is blow them a kiss. How cute is that?!!?

Spring!!!!

We had so much fun this past weekend-- Grammy and Ron got married!!!! Caroline got to spend some fun time with family and really bonded with Baylee, her 5 year old new cousin! The wedding was held in our chapel at church, and Jeff officiated-- there wasn't a dry eye! Then we went up to Lakeway for a fabulous dinner at Rocco's, and stayed at Vintage Villas on the lake. What a perfect weekend!!!!

Black Bean Goatee and recent pics

A serious moment:

Sweet time with Daddy & the Wiggles:

What a day!!!

We had quite a day today! It will be such a wonderful memory for years to come. About a week ago my friend Karen told me about an open casting call for Pampers. They were looking for babies about Caroline's size and so we went to the call and had our picture taken. We couldn't believe that we got a call back on Monday!!! I thought that this call back would be another round of snapshots, but found out last night that it was actually a full scale commercial photo shoot! We went to the location this morning at 8:30 and there was an entire crew of production people there... this crew included a make-up artist (thank you from Mandy) and a baby wrangler (thank you from Caroline) plus about 15 other people. The photographer is a well-known artist from Austin (http://www.toscaradigonda.com), and when I went to her website to see her work I realized that I had a piece of it on my bedside table... a cover of Wonder Time magazine (my favorite!) Needless to say, it was an amazing blessing just to have her take photos of us at all!!! I got to see some of the images on the computer monitor during breaks and I just hope that someday I can have a couple of prints but for now the pictures are locked in my memory. I was so proud of Caroline and was thankful that God gave me peace throughout the day.... I was tempted several times to become anxious and not enjoy the moment for what it was. We're not sure when or if we'll hear if the images are selected for Pampers ads or packaging, but for now we're just happy for the fun day and experience!!!!

Time to catch up

I haven't posted a new blog entry in so long that I'm stalled since I feel the need to "catch up" on everything so there aren't any annoying blog-gaps. As if this is going to be published or something.... regardless, there have been a few milestones in the past 2 months since Caroline's bday.

Started walking: (her first steps were on Thanksgiving day, and she really got good on Christmas day. Thank you Caroline for making this easy to remember.)



First time Mommy & Daddy left her for more than one night: We actually went to the other side of the world for 10 days.... I don't think she even noticed since she had so much fun with Grammy, Aunt Mary and Mimi!!


First Trip to the ER: Casey (our 85 lb lab) and Caroline got into a tight squeeze and Casey knocked Caroline into a wall. She got glue stitches and the "bonk bonk" is healing nicely.


First Haircut: It was time to cut the mullet-- I did it impulsively one morning while she was eating her breakfast. It's really hard to cut hair... I have a new appreciation for my stylist!! It's not a professional job by any means, but I like to think it looks like the "Posh Spice" bob. Bye bye for now, pigtails :)
Before:

After:

Happy Birthday Caroline!!!

We had an amazing time at Caroline's first birthday party on Saturday!!! Caroline was a trooper and really enjoyed her first taste of cake. The lime green icing was all over the place and made for some great pictures. The weather was 84 degrees and just cloudy enough. We had a bouncy castle for the older kids and a sandbox for the little ones. It was such a fun day!!!
Here are some pics:

Christmas Photo Shoot

My friend Elle and her little boy Hunter (1 month older than Caroline) came over today for a fun Christmas photo shoot :) Here are some favorites:

Pigtails & Personality

With her 1st birthday approaching this week, Caroline's personality is coming through more and more :) Here's her latest "trick"... feeding Casey his dog food by hand :)






Our mullet dilemma is solved! Pigtails!!!!

Caroline's also found out how to climb through our kitchen cabinets:

Thanksgiving!!!

We had a great visit in Little Rock for Thanksgiving! On the way back, we stopped in Dallas for a wedding and to see family! Here are some pics from the trip:
Playing in the leaves with cousins Cameron & Ashlyn! Our first Thankgsiving meal together... Caroline ate as much as we did!!!
Mimi, Anne, Mandy and the girls:
Caroline got to spend a whole day with Aunt Mary & Uncle Kim-- she had a blast with them!!!
Jeff was the guest preacher at Allen Bible Church--we were so glad to be there!!! Here he is with Mike & Buddy:

An incredible week!

We just got back from our week-long trip to North Carolina! It was one of my favorite vacations ever!!! We got to see some of my dear friends and spend the weekend at a beautiful family camp in the mountains. The camp completely exceeded my expectations! Not only did we enjoy fellowship with friends, we were completely refreshed spiritually. Jeff and I didn't know how much we needed this. The staff led us in worship, encouraged our marriages and walks with the Lord, and babysat our kids during the sessions so we could really engage with the message. I am looking forward to going back year after year. Here are some of our pics-- I took over 300 this week! North Carolina is so beautiful!!!
Holly Leider Parker-- one of my friends from my Camp Ozark days!!!!

We visited Betsy Swoboda and her amazing family in Knoxville-- here are the girls: Mandy, Caroline, Bessie Mae, Maggie, Lily, and Betsy

The whole gang-- the Fritsche's and the Swobodas!

An unexpected surprise-- we got to visit Pepaw and Dee during our layover in Chicago!!!!

Biltmore Mansion-- incredible!

Our reunion group: the Clark's, Fritsche's, Corson's, Michaud's, and Svejda's