Caroline's First Christmas!!

What an amazing weekend we had!! Caroline's first Christmas was about as perfect as it could have been (if only we had gotten to spend more time with my family it truly would have been the best ever!). Adam's parents (Mimi and Papa to C) came to town on Thursday. They helped with all the last minute food and errand shopping before the weekend full of events. Adam and I still had some running around to do on Christmas Eve. Mimi kept Mary Scott and Caroline at the house so they didn't have to get out in the cold. Doesn't Caroline look adorable in her "I believe in Santa" shirt?




Later that evening the whole family went to Christmas Eve Communion at Trinity. It was beautiful! The church looked fantastic and really got us in the Christmas spirit.

Adam, Caroline, and me


Mimi, Papa, and Caroline


Mimi, Papa, Andy and Mary Scott



After we got home, we had the most amazing dinner!! Adam and I made rack of lamb, pappardelle pasta with a white truffle butter sauce, and roasted carrots and parsnips. It was a perfect meal for a perfect evening. We used our beautiful china and Mimi's beautiful silver chargers so the table setting was extra special! After dinner we opened gifts.

Right before that, however, Caroline gave us a little gift in the form of an exploding diaper. She does normally wear clothes...


But we left her naked since we knew that she was getting some cute Christmas pj's to wear that night!!


After LOTS of gifts, wine, and laughter we all went to bed so that Santa could come visit!! He was certainly good to Caroline this year. He was good to Daisy as well, but all she wanted was Caroline's new toys (but that worked out okay since all C wanted was the wrapping paper)




But the greatest surprise of that day was SNOW!! We got snow on Caroline's first Christmas! It was magical. We didn't take her out for long (and it didn't stick that much) but we did let her feel it. She giggled everytime a snow flake landed on her.


After a nice bath to warm up, C spent the day planing with all new toys.



Adam's Uncle Bob came to visit Christmas Day evening. He was, as always, a great addition to the company!! We stayed up late talking and laughing. We ate homemade soups for dinner and just had the best time! The next morning Bob left and another of Adam's Aunt and Uncle and cousin came for brunch and visiting. My mom and sister stopped by to bring some gifts (my mom was sick and didn't want to get anyone sick) and Caroline racked up again!! We had such a busy weekend but it was perfect!! I am honestly a little sad that it's all over. I hate to put away all the decorations and all C's cute Christmas attire. I don't want to wait until next year - it was just too much fun!!! Oh well...I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas that was as perfect, fun, and memorable as ours was!!

Seven Months Old!!!

Seven Months Old - December 23, 2010

Today my little Caroline turned 7 months old!! I just can't get over it! My little babe is more than half way to one years old. Time just goes by too fast. I feel like I just got this precious baby and now she's closer to being a toddler than a newborn. Yikes!! She doesn't go back to the doctor until she's nine months old, so we don't have any new stats. She has been sitting up so well and doesn't really need me that close by anymore! She can get up on all fours when she's on her tummy and she's got the rocking motion down but she's not crawling yet. She did move one hand forward today so I'm thinking that she may be crawling before we know it! She's been babbling a lot and saying "da da da" but she hasn't assigned it Adam yet...so I may still win that one! :) Although we wouldn't be surprised if her first word was "Daisy." She loves that dog. She smiles everytime she sees her (which is a lot since she's constantly watching her) and whines when Daisy leaves the room. We think the feeling is mutual. She's a champion eater and has pretty much loved everything we give her, including asperagus and cauliflour. She's in love with "mirror baby" (her own reflection). She will smile, bounce, and even kiss herself in the mirror. She's been waving some but it's not consistant. She waves at Daisy all the time and she waved "bye bye" to one of her diapers. She loves music and will bounce to the beat. She's such a wonderful little girl!!

Happy seven months sweet baby girl!! I love you so much more each and every day. You truly are my most precious gift. I am so excited to share your first Christmas with you. I know you won't remember it, but your daddy and I will remember it forever. You are the very best thing in the whole world!! Merry Christmas baby!!!




Daisy decided that she needed to have a photo shoot too. She sure knows how to work the camera.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

I just love this time of year! I love seeing lights up all over the city. I love all the holiday outfits that little kids wear. I especially love getting Christmas cards in the mail each day. I love this year even more since we get to share it with Caroline!! She's too young to grasp the concept of Christmas but she is noticing all the decorations. We put the tree up and once we got lights and ornaments on, she was in love!!

She thinks the little alpine tree in the kitchen is fun.


But she really loves the tree in the living room the most. (I'll take a better picture at night - the day pic doesn't show all the beautiful lights)


She's been reaching for anything that sparkles!


She loves the wreath that hangs on her bedroom door. She has to touch it every time we go in there.


She's been "talking" to the twig snowman, probably saying how much she loves Christmas!


Or maybe how much she loves looking at the hanging ornaments in the kitchen...


There's no doubt about it - Caroline is so excited about Christmas!!


Daisy is too...well, sorta.



I never realized how little time I actually had when I worked outside the home full time. The only day that the office was closed was Christmas Day (and it wasn't the most flexible place, so I worked Christmas Eve two out of the three years I was there). I have loved getting to do shopping during the day and doing fun Christmas activities with Caroline. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else and I am so thankful that I get to be at home with my little girl for her first Christmas!!!

Sweet Heart

When Caroline was born the doctors did an echocardiogram and EKG on her heart since I have a heart condition and it can be genetic. While all the structures of her heart looked normal, it was just too small to say with complete certainty that she did not inherit anything so they told us to come back when she was six months old. Last week we went for her follow up appointment. I hadn't thought much about it since she was a baby, but I got more and more nervous the closer we got to the appointment. What if something was wrong? What would we do? As it turns out, I had no reason to worry!! Her aorta looked perfect (that's the valve/artery in my heart that is affected). Her pulmonary valve looked great too (that's the valve in my mother's heart that affected). He did find a small PFO (patent foramen ovale) or small hole in the atrial wall. About 15% of the general population has this. Everyone has an opening in utero and it's supposed to close before birth. Caroline's did not close. The cardiologist explained that this isn't a "disease" but rather an "abnormality." Often times it happens randomly but can also occur genetically. Since heart conditions run in my family, he is going to follow her to see if it closes or not but since this is common enough he said that would call Caroline a "normal, healthy child" unless something radical changes in the next few years. What a relief!!

At first I was upset though, even though it's a fairly common abnormality. Since I'm the one with the heart problem, I felt like it was my fault that she had this hole. Why didn't she get Adam's perfect heart? Was I so selfish in wanting kids that I put her at risk for inheriting a less than perfect heart? I have to keep telling myself that this really isn't an issue - it's just a teeny tiny hole that may go away in the next few years. And if it doesn't, big deal. My baby is the happiest baby on the planet. She smiles and laughs as if it's her job. She doesn't know that there is anything different about her heart, and she shouldn't! She is loved and perfect in our eyes - what else matters????

And now what you all really want...some Caroline cuteness!!


Some sweet friends gave C a gift and put the bow on her head. She really seemed to like it!

Happy Birthday Dear Friend!!

Last Friday Adam, Caroline and I went to Chuy's to celebrate Anna's birthday! Anna and I have been friends for such a long time. We were inseperable in high school and people used to say that we would marry brothers. Strangely enough...we married fraternity brothers!! We had so much fun at dinner and loved that we got to celebrate this fun day with her. I hope you had a fun birthday Anna! We love you so much!!

Me with the birthday girl

Adam and Caroline (he's making her do "the train")

Staying Warm

It has been so cold these past few days that we have decided to stay inside and stay warm!! Both Caroline and I have had little colds this week so I didn't want either of us to get if it wasn't necessary. We've been lots of fun stuff around the house (and lots of not so fun stuff like laundry).

We have been working on our crawling!



But that got a little tiring...


So we baked some yummy cookies!


When we did have to leave the house (diapers are a must) we made sure to bundle up!!

It's beginning to look a lot like a frustrating Christmas!!

Today was finally the day. We were going to put up the tree. I have been waiting to do it since Thanksgiving but Adam's work schedule hasn't allowed him to be around a lot since then. I finally gave in and realized that if I wait for him we'll be waiting all month. I was going to do it myself. Big mistake. We have a big artificial tree and I've never put one together. I put the wrong section in at the wrong time and I spent 30 minutes trying to pry it apart. I finally got it apart and got the tree up. Success!! Well, until I plugged in the lights and found that none of them work except the very bottom strand. So much for having a prelit tree... Now I've got to go to Home Depot and buy lights and then string them before I can start decorating. Is anyone interested in being a stand in husband do this for me??

I'm sitting here as frustrated as can be and I know I need an attitude check. I'll get lights and I'll string them like a champ. I'll get the tree decorated and everything will be fine. At least I have this little stinker to cheer me up!!

A Taste of Two

A couple of weeks ago I babysat for a super sweet 13 month old for a few hours. Adam went to law school with her parents and when they asked for babysitter advice (they were coming into town for the weekend) I volunteered. It was so fun having two little ones home with me. The two girls are at such different stages so it was really neat for me to see what C will be doing in 7 months!! Lily was walking, saying some words, and eating big people food. I did get a crash course in babyproofing...something that we have not done yet. Lily seemed to really be intrigued by outlets. It was good though, because now I know what furniture I need to anchor to the wall in addition to putting those outlet covers on and locking all the cabinets with chemicals.

Super stylish with her baby Uggs - so cute!!!


Caroline was so interested in the big girl. She watched her the whole time!


She did do a lot of funny things that made C smile.


And she even helped Caroline find her mouth. How sweet!!


It was a very fun afternoon. While I know that I could handle more kids one day, I know that for right now one is about all I can handle on a full time basis. This was a great trial run! Thanks for coming over Lily!!

Thanksgiving

We had the most wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Adam, Caroline, and I went to Charlotte, NC to spend time with my family. My brother and his wife live there and graciously allowed us to take over their home. We left Birmingham around lunch time on Wednesday (the busiest travel day of the year). Not such a smart move. We hit traffic several times. That's bad enough on a normal day, but it's even worse with a hungry baby. We finally made it, much later than planned, and were able to enjoy the rest of our trip.

The best part of the trip was that Caroline got to meet her great grandfather and spend some good time with him.



I have more pictures to post from our trip, but I have to go through them first. It was a perfect first Thanksgiving for Caroline. We missed Adam's family but we're so excited about sharing Caroline's first Christmas with them!!

In honor of Thanksgiving I want to say that I am so thankful for the wonderful family that I grew up in and also for the family that I was lucky enough to marry in to. I am beyond thankful for the friends I have (the family that I made here in town). You all make life a lot more beautiful!

Most importantly, I am thankful for my husband and my daughter and for the fact that I get to witness moments like this every day. I am so in love with them.

Six Months Old!!!

Six Months Old - November 23, 2010


Half a year has gone by since this little girl came into our lives. It's hard to believe it's been that long. Half of her "infancy" is gone. What an amazing six months it has been!!! Caroline is 26 3/4 inches long (90th percentile), weighs 15 lb 6 oz (50th percentile) and has a head circumference of 16.5 inches (40th percentile). The pediatrician said that she is growing great and has hit (and even surpassed some) all of the developmental milestones at this point. She is sitting up so well. She still gets a little off balance at times, but she's sitting up for long periods of time unassisted. She can scoot around on her tummy, but she can only go backwards. She wants to crawl so bad but can't figure out what to do with her legs. Her gums seem to bother her a lot, but still no teeth!! She LOVES music and bounces to the beat!! She like to look in the mirror and is also facinated by lamps. She likes when we sing or read to her and she gives the best hugs in the world. She's been eating so well and soon we'll move her to three meals a day. Her sleeping pattern is still crazy, but we are working on that. She loves to be the center of attention and will let you know when she's not getting enough...I'm thinking she takes after Adam on that :)

Happy six months Caroline!! I am so thankful to have you in my life. I love watching you grow and learn new things. You certainly are the best gift I have ever received. I love you so much!!!

Shutterfly Christmas!!!

I love Shutterfly! I really do! I love them even more after I heard about this great deal for bloggers - blog about the Christmas cards and get 50 free 5X7 Christmas cards!! Woohoo!! I know we'll have a lot (Baby's first Christmas) so 50 free cards would be great! Plus, it's super simple...which is a necessity with an infant.

There are so many Christmas cards to choose from. (Follow this link to see for yourself - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards) I can just imagine a beautiful little card with sweet Caroline's picture (and big sister Daisy). I have never used Shutterfly for Christmas cards, but I have made photo books. The quality is fantastic and the prices are great. They also do gift tags (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-gift-tags) and party invitations (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/party-cards-stationery) which I plan on checking out this holiday season as well. The customer service is great so there's nothing to loose!! Check out Shutterfly this holiday!! Merry Christmas!!

More pics from the baptism

My family was in fact there...but they left early to get the food ready and then I didn't take a lot of pictures at the house because we were all having too much fun spending time together!!!