Bedtime fun

Andy and I really trying to have prayer time with Caroline at night before she goes to bed. Today after putting on her pj's Andy picked her up. I walked over and put my arms around both of them. As soon as I did, Caroline said "Jesus." It was precious. As if that didn't melt our hearts, then she smiled and said "tank you." There is nothing we could have said that would have made our prayer time more complete! I loved it!! :0)


Once we finish and get ready to put her in her crib, she spots her paci. She gets so excited and starts sucking before she even gets it. As soon as I hand it to her, she puts it in her mouth and and puts her head on my shoulder. She was a happy girl!

So as you can tell, the whole paci thing isn't working too well. But we have given it up when she's not napping or in her crib. So at least it's a start. :0)

The Zoo

This year for my birthday I asked for money to purchase a years membership to the zoo. I feel like it's something that we can do together with very little cost involved. So today, Katy and I loaded up our kids and headed to the zoo. It was wonderful. We got there early. There wasn't a large crowd and the weather was great. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. Caroline was a little fussy, I think it was because she wanted her paci. (There were several times I almost broke down and gave it to her. However, I am happy to report that we made it!!!) We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch before heading back home. Caroline didn't sleep on the ride home (even though she did get her paci for sleep time) but was out as soon as we left Pop and Peeps house. (only about 3 minutes to our house) She took a 2 1/2 hour nap and I think only got up because I woke her up! :0)

I loved the tulips, so pretty!

if you look carefully, you will see the penguins in the back

Jay and Ansley Kate

Caroline-notice the bow is gone and her hair is wiggy! :0)


Jay feeding the giraffe

We had a great time. I am really excited about my membership and look forward to our next trip!

Fun with Friends and Family

Caroline enjoying her easel while Mommy get's ready for our guest

Today Caroline and I had to stay home because we had to be here while our back door was being replaced. No big deal except the door is in our den where Caroline spends most of her awake time... So we had to get crafty. I decided to invite my sis in law Katy and her kids, Jay and Ansley Kate as well as my friend Jill and her little boy Tyler to come over for a morning of fun. We started out dying eggs and while the eggs were drying, we made sugar cookies. (lesson learned-cook the cookies while dying the eggs, they take longer than the eggs) We were able to do all of this in the kitchen and didn't have to worry about the missing back door.

Tyler's waiting to pull out his blue egg

Jay and Ansley Kate watching their eggs

Cookie time, Caroline working on her first cookie!

3 kids who are ready to hunt eggs!

Watching Mr. George and wondering why there is a HUGE hole in the wall...

Once the cookies and eggs were ready, we headed outside. All the kids got their baskets and were ready. Caroline spotted her pink swing and could have cared less about the eggs. :0) The other kids had a great time. We played a little longer and then brought out the cookies. Yesterday while in Sam's I found an awesome play set. It is a table with 4 chairs and an umbrella. Worked perfect today!) The kids were able to ice their cookies and add sprinkles. We had apples and juice pouches. The had a ball.

Placing the eggs back in the carton, making sure we have all 18!

Isn't this a great set??? Worked great for today!

Caroline taking a break, notice she's licking her lips. :0)

Mr. George was finishing the door as we were heading inside. Perfect timing! Caroline had lunch while he cleaned everything up. I went in the den to sign some paperwork and came back to find sweetie asleep in her highchair. Mission accomplished! Boy I do love when a perfect plan comes together, thank you Jesus! :0)

Our Church Easter Egg Hunt

What a wonderful Sunday! We enjoyed a great sermon by Dr. Jenkins about what happens when we hit the wall... God is with us. In Sunday School Andy shared our journey together and the Lord's faithfulness in providing Caroline for us. Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at Moe's with the Emert's. (Kids eat free with a bulletin from Church.) Poor Caroline fell asleep on the ride home and slept for the next 2 hours and could have kept on sleeping I think...

Although it was raining, we ventured out to our Church egg hunt. I am so glad we did. It was great. Caroline had a blast. She totally understood what she was supposed to do. Sometimes she got really excited and threw the hard boiled egg in her basket and it cracked... "uh oh" was her response. Precious! She enjoyed taking them out, showing them to us and then putting them back in. I love watching her discover and experience the world around her!

loved this picture :0)

oh this is so much fun, where do I even begin??

Poor Laura... she was showing Caroline her egg and Caroline decided she needed it more. Thankfully, Caroline gave it back like a sweet girl should.

I see one!

Daddy, Mr. Brent, Laura and Caroline hunting for eggs

such a sweet, beautiful little girl!

precious

Showing off her eggs

counting her eggs, what an accomplishment!

Our first real hunt was a huge success!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Crib fun

Seems like every weekend Caroline finds something fun to do in her crib while she is supposed to be napping. Last Sunday while napping, she called "momma." I walked in to find her holding her diaper. She had taken it off and pee peed on her clothes, bumper, sheets and dust ruffle. Today's wasn't quite as rough... I cleaned her room this morning and rearranged a few things. She discovered her wash clothes and towels were within reach and decided to pull them in for some fun... She had a ball and even helped me clean them up. She's still in there chatting with herself but hopefully a nap is in her near future...

Spring Break!!

I am so excited that Spring Break is almost here...less than 12 hours away. I have been so excited about the fact that we are going to be bums and enjoy doing very little. However, this morning, I remembered that we do have really big plans for Spring Break. Plans that I must say I am not really looking forward to. We decided a few weeks ago that we would take Caroline's paci during Spring Break... YIKES that's now. I am telling myself we will enjoy it for the weekend and start on Monday. I must admit that I am kind of sad... I love to watch her with it. She can hold it in her mouth, eat and talk all at the same time. It's precious. I love the sound she makes when she' sleeping, it's pretty intense! Oh well, a few more picture, a few more "pass EEE's" and a few more sucks and then it will be time to say goodbye.

I will keep you updated on how it goes!

The week in review...

It's been a pretty busy week. Being sick this weekend really put me behind. I haven't felt like I have been able to catch up. Oh well, it will be here tomorrow... Caroline and I got to enjoy this wonderful weather today. We went to the park and baby girl had a great time. She loved the slide and the swing. :-) She also enjoyed playing with her cousin's Jay and Ansley Kate. She was heartbroken when we left. I put her in her seat, she wrapped her arms around my neck and cried and cried and cried! It's was pitiful!

Here are a couple pictures of our little angel from the week.

Caroline enjoys putting her head in the water. Today she realized that she can lay on her back. She loved it. She turned from side to side and laughed!

She looks like such a big girl! She has her backpack on and her cup in her hand, everything a girl needs to survive the day!

just playing

enjoying a yummy hot dog at the party

the birthday boy! Happy 4th birthday Jay

enjoying the swing

Getting ready for next Sunday's Egg Hunt

ready or not, here I come

Last week when I was cleaning out our linen closet, I found an old Easter basket. I put it with Caroline's toys and of course it became her new favorite. :0) As I watched her play with it and put other things in it, I thought I should get her some eggs to "practice" with. She loved it! At first, she didn't want me to take her eggs out. However, now it's fine for her to take them out, hide them and then find them... Next Sunday should be very interesting!

"I thought I put one up here......"

Caroline's favorite place to "count" them is behind the chair, I guess she's scared we are going to take one.

PS-Did I mentioned that I smocked her dress? I only smocked two and this is the only one that still fits. I am going to try to let the hem out so that she can wear it a little longer.

Not the weekend I planned...

Friday afternoon as the kids left, I noticed my throat was really sore. Friday afternoon into Friday night, it got worse. I started some meds that I had in the counter thinking they would help. Saturday morning I woke up around 5am with the absolute worse sore throat ever.

I headed off to Urgent Care and sure enough, I had strep. I spent most of the day in my pj's. Andy was wonderful. He cooked me soup, bought my favorite ice cream and took care of Caroline so I could rest. (It's hard to rest when you are a mommy, you always feel like there is something you need to do...) Andy and Caroline enjoyed a fun day outside and I was so jealous.

Oh well, I hope today will be a better day. I hope to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weekend with my family.

New Words

In just a little over a week, Caroline has picked up some new words:

1. noz (nose)
2. tank you Jezus ah man (altogether)
3. i's (eyes)
4. yes ma'am
5. tom jean (Aunt Tomi Jean)
6. geg (Uncle Greg)
7. down
8. done

oh the fun is just beginning...

City girl enjoys a day in the country

After spending 18 years in the COUNTRY, moving to the city was quite an adjustment. It's two totally different worlds both having pros and cons. I loved growing up on a farm. I loved to play outside, get dirty, make mud pies, etc. Sometimes I feel like Caroline is really missing out with our small fenced in back yard. However, lucky for us, we have lots of family who live in to the country.

Today we went to visit Aunt Tomi Jean, Uncle Greg, Jack and Grace. We played outside for over an hour! Caroline had a ball! She was able to run wild. She loved running after Jingles saying "pup pup." She wrapped her tiny fingers around Grace's and followed Grace's lead. It was nice for me because she couldn't get into too much trouble...

My favorite part of the afternoon... the tractor ride with Uncle Greg. She hopped right on. As he got her situated, tears began to form. She was so proud of sitting up there, wanted to check it all out, happy as could be. It made me think of the many afternoons I got to ride with my Daddy on the tractor. It made me sad to think of all the trips she would miss with Pops. But at the same time, I am thankful she has Uncle Greg, Uncle Bob and Uncle Randy who I am sure will be more than happy to take her for a ride. (I am sure Uncle Daniel will be glad to take her hunting if she ever decides to do that... :0)) Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, so I guess we will have to do it again soon for a photo opportunity!!

Thanks for a wonderful afternoon!

Making progress! :0)

I feel like I am finally making progress with the couponing... After lots of advice, I reorganized my coupons. They are now in order alphabetically A-Z. It really is easier for me verses categories. Although I don't feel like I am saving a whole lot of money, the numbers prove otherwise. When I updated my budget last week, I realized that I had only spent two thirds of our grocery budget! That's exciting!!! Yesterday I went to BiLo and spent $4 for 6 packs of Green Giant vegetables and a box of cake mix. Today at Target I got brand name band-aids and Neosporin for $1.50. I saved $1.50 on Caroline's diapers and got Lucy's Iam's dog food for $10, which is really good!

Thanks to everyone for the great money saving tips!

18 month check up

Hard to believe my baby girl is 18 months old. She is actually closer to being 2 than 1, YIKES! She had her 18 month check up this morning with Dr. E. She did really well. She weight 26 1/2 pounds and is 33 3/4 inches tall. Dr. E was excited about her eating habits, physical, social and emotional brain development and her sleep habits.

However, we heard the words that we knew were coming but didn't want to hear... "it's time for the paci to go." My question was "even at night?" "YES, cold turkey, all together, GONE." Our girl LOVES her paci and so do we. We love to hear her ask for pass E. We are going to wait until Spring Break when I can work with her at home and rid our house of all the pass E's. I know it's going to be hard but we can do it. Interesting fact is that she doesn't use it at Mrs. Jerri's except when she takes a nap. (Go Mrs. Jerri) We have also got to cut down on her liquid intake. She drinks a lot of milk, juice and water. Therefore when she sleeps for 12 hours at night, she is wetting her sheets. I do not like to change her crib sheet, makes me a little crazy, so I have not been happy having to change it every morning this week.

She got one shot, which she was not excited about at all! It broke our hearts because she was so upset, big tears. She's a little bit of a drama queen-she's got the "stare down," slumped shoulders, fall out in the floor thing going on. However, we are working on it.

Wilson's birthday party

Today we celebrated Wilson's 3rd birthday at a local farm. It was great. The weather was perfect and the kids really had a ball! We couldn't have asked for a better day. Caroline fell in love with the chickens and the goats and wasn't scared of them one bit! I know her Pops would have been so proud of her!! :0)

Daniel and Wilson rolling

sitting still, doesn't happen very often

Daddy showing Caroline how to feed the chickens.

Mommy and Caroline feeding the goats

feeding the goats all by herself

feeding the chickens all by herself, she thought it was pretty funny when the chickens pecked her fingers!

Once we ran out of quarters and corn, Caroline decided to pick up the corn off the ground. Daddy explained that sometimes the best things in life are FREE! :0)

All good things must come to an end!

What a great day!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy 29th birthday to me. Only one more year until the big 30... I must say that it feels a little strange being so close to 30. I don't think 3o is old but it just sounds funny to me, hard to believe!

I had a wonderful birthday week! Monday night my sweet hubby brought an ice cream cake to our small group so that we could celebrate with them. It was delicious! Tuesday was the day for my actual gift. (Andy had a hard time waiting, he was so excited!) Tuesday I got a juicer complete with fruits and veggies to try out. It was oh so good! I am looking forward to having some time this weekend to make some for the fridge. Wednesday we had a snow delay. Funny thing is, there wasn't any snow! But it was nice to get caught up on some things around the house. I was even able to run an errand or two before school.

Today was the big day! It started with a great cup of coffee. I treated myself to Chick-fil-A chicken mini's for breakfast. I had a calm, quiet day at school. I came home to a clean house! Andy invited some of our friends and family over for a cookout. He cooked some yummy burgers and hot dogs. Uncle Greg made his famous potato salad and Katy made an awesome birthday cake! It was a great, relaxing evening. My friends and family were very generous! I got several cash gifts to use towards my season pass to the zoo! (Caroline and I are very excited!!) Jill, John and Tyler gave me a beautiful necklace and earring set! Neil and Megan gave me a gift certificate to get my nails done. (Girls day!!) Katy and Jeremiah gave me a gift card to Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart cash is always a good thing!

I love celebrating my birthday. I really love any reason to celebrate anything actually! I must say that my hubby spoke my love language and really filled my love tank! He went above and beyond to make this week special and I really appreciate it! My dear sweet Aunt called and sang "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." I thought about that a good part of the day. She was right. This is the day that the Lord has made-my day. I will rejoice and be glad in it-celebrate the 29 years He has given me.

I had a wonderful day and I am thankful for everything that everyone has done for me!

Caroline's words

Caroline's vocabulary has really taken off in the last few weeks. Here are a few of her new words:

1. lufey (lovey)
2. pass E (paci)
3. yes (shaking her head up and down)
4. tank u (thank you)
5. G sus (Jesus)
6. Ah men (Amen)
7. juice
8. shoes
9. please
10. mommy
11. daddy
12. hello
13. fone (phone)
14. nana (bannana)
15. golfsh (goldfish)
16. mellow (marshmallow)
17. book
18. oops (Blue Hat, Green Hat)
19. Brown Bear
20. nIt nIt (night night)
21. see ya
22. BI (bye)

I love watching her grow and develop. God is good! :0)

Pasta anyone?

I have my coupon notebook, organized and filled with money saving coupons. I have several websites marked under my favorites and I am trying really hard to get the most for my money. Just got back from the grocery... spent $16, saved $11. What did I get 4 boxes of wheat pasta, egg yolk noodles, 2 dozen eggs and a package of ham. I was pretty excited with a $5 purchase. Although, I am not sure why some coupons double and others don't...but anyway, I am learning.

Pasta is the item that I have been stocking up on almost for free. So if you come to dinner at our house anytime soon, looks like you are going to be having some kind of pasta! :0)