Getting ready for Christmas

Because of this sweet little girl, I think this Christmas is going to be our best one yet!

We took some Christmas pictures earlier today and we're still trying to choose just the right photo. She got all dressed up in her Christmas dress we bought her before she was born and her beautiful new monogrammed silver bangle that my dear friend Leigh Ann got for her.

Hope all of you are enjoying this special time of year!

Pitty Party

Yep.
I'm having one.
A SERIOUS pity party.
How in the world am I supposed to leave this face and go back to work on Monday?
I never thought it would be so difficult.
In 12 short weeks, this little girl has got me wrapped around her little toe. (Technically, that occurred in the first 24 hours, but still.)
She is too cute for words. I literally hold her and stare at her for hours. I have not taken any of this time for granted. Oh how I wish this time would not come to an end. But millions of moms all over the world do it every day. They leave their children in trusted hands so that they can go to work to earn an income. I know I can do this, but I certainly don't want to.

My little Sugar Plum

First, my apologies for not posting in awhile. I have no idea where the time has gone! The days just get shorter and shorter and I get fewer and fewer things done. I really don't care, though. I spend hours looking at my little Sugar plum and she just gets cuter and cuter as the minutes pass. She has the cutest little cheeks that I lovingly refer to as 'hams'. We have ham bones, ham shanks, ham sandwiches, ham rolls....you get the point. And I take every opportunity to kiss those hams all day long!

Miss Caroline turned 2 months old on November 18th. We had her first round of vaccines and it was without incident (thank heavens). I firmly believe it was much harder on her mommy and daddy than it was on her, but she made it blatantly clear she is not a fan of shots EITHER!

What is Caroline doing at 2 months old?

-Sleeping between 6 and 8 hours each night (thank you, sweet child of mine!)
-Wearing a size 1 diaper...just barely....she just stopped wearing Newborns at 7wks
-Eating between 4-5 ounces of formula each feeding and just a little bit of breastmilk each day (this lasted until week 9)
-Wearing 0-3 month clothing
-She sleeps in her swing at night (and sometimes with us)
-She loves her bouncy seat and smiles profusely at Roomy the Lion
-Smiling...she just started this and her smile is DARLING!
-Cooing...oh my...she is just a little talker! And so good at it!
-Weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces at her 2 month check up
-Her length was 22 and 1/4 inches
-She is in the 50th percentile for weight and height but she still looks petite to me!
-Her favorite activity is her bathtime. She just puts her feet on the edge of the tub and looks around like she doesn't have a care in the world. Her Daddy and I do this together and we think it's our favorite time too!

Fortunately, she has not been sick at all. We are so thankful for this. I'm scared to death that she will start to get sick once she starts daycare the first part of January. She'll be about 14 weeks when she starts and I know it could be worse, but still.....

We decorated the Christmas tree this week and I love it! Christmas and Thanksgiving are my favorite times of the year. I love being with our families and I love everything about the season. HAving Caroline will make it all the more special.

I'll try to post some pictures this weekend. I have her baptism and Thanksgiving pictures to post. I really need to be more proficient at downloading our pictures. If you must know, that has been my excuse for not blogging lately. I swear I'll get better!

Hugs-

Thankful

Hi everyone!
I am thankful for so many things today.

First, I'm thankful that Kristen's husband, Mark, made it home from Iraq yesterday. He's home for 2 weeks and I know his whole family is treasuring every second.

Second, I'm very thankful that my family and friends are coming in town this weekend for Caroline's baptism. I am really looking forward to this. This is such a huge step and I'm so thankful that we can do this for her.

Third, I'm very thankful for my wonderful husband. He is such a good father. He helps so much and I have learned so much from him. I think there were a few of you (ahem!) that were a little concerned about my parental capabilities (ha ha!).

And last, I'm very thankful that my sister made it home from London safe and sound.

Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy this sweet little picture---this is my family and this is who I am most thankful for.

Sugar

Diapers.....

See this darling face? Cute, huh? This is Tank and he loves to eat DIAPERS! Ewwww!
Now I know why so many people use Diaper Genies.

Sugar

Tropical Stom Ida, Shopping, and the Baptism

Tropical Storm Ida turned out to be nothing more than a big thunderstorm in Mandeville. Thank heavens! Can you imagine having to evacuate with a 7-week old and 2 German Shepherds? Oh my word! Hopefully, our neighbors to the east of us in Gulfport and Mobile will also be as lucky.

Caroline's baptism is this Sunday and I am so excited! I couldn't be more proud to have our daughter acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God and that he died on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven. This is HUGE! I am so happy that our family and friends will be there to see this blessed event. Susan is going to be the godmother and Matt is going to be the godfather. I know we've made the right decision in choosing both of them to be such a special part of her life. On a more trivial note, her DRESS arrived in the mail TODAY! It's precious and I can't wait for her to wear it!!

I have absolutely nothing to wear that FITS! Heavens! When is this pregnancy weight going to come off? Of course, eating lots of Halloween candy hasn't helped the situation, but truly, nothing FITS! I have 13 lbs left to go but I swear things have shifted! How can this be?

Maternity leave has been so enjoyable. It saddens me that I only have 5 short weeks left. It has flown by and she is growing up way too fast. At times she still seems so small and other times she appears to be growing like a weed. She grasped for her first item tonight as we were changing her diaper. It was so cute! I had to break out the camcorder immediately and tape it. (Thank you again Daddy and Sandy for the fabulous camcorder!) If I could figure out how to post some videos on here, I'll post some.

I've attached a couple of pictures from the past few days. Enjoy!

Sugar

The first post....

My sister said that as a new mom, I must take up blogging! How else were my family and friends supposed to keep up with Caroline?! Before Caroline, I didn't have any interest in doing anything with a blog other than READING THEM! I must admit, I do read many blogs and have enjoyed them so much. By creating this blog, I hope to create lasting memories for Caroline and some semblance of enjoyment for my family and friends!

As I write tonight, Caroline has had a big day watching her two favorite NFL teams remain undefeated. She LOVES the Colts and the Saints! Her parents are fully convinced that these two will appear in the Super Bowl this year! She secretly hopes to be a cheerleader for the Saints when she gets older. :)