Growing up...

There are some pretty exciting things going on in our house right now. Well...at least for us!!!


I got so busy with Christmas and the holidays that I totally forgot to post that Caroline is now paci FREE. That's right folks...she is now a big girl!! This was HUGE for her and us! It all happened two weeks ago on Friday night. I had picked her up from school that day and the teacher said that they were going to try to wean her from her paci at nap time because she really wasn't using it that much and now she's in a big girl room so they really wanted to encourage her to let it go. I looked around and noticed that she was about the only one with a paci so I made the decision right then that we were going cold turkey that night. We were going to do it the following week anyway so why wait! We got home did our normal routine and then it came to bed time. I told her that santa needed her pacis to give them to the babies for Christmas. And that she was such a big girl that he was going to bring her big girl toys in place of it. At first she bought it. Then I laid her down, turned the light off, walked away and the tornado started!!! She screamed and screamed for close to an hour and half before falling to sleep. We would go in a rock her, sing to her and remind her that santa needed her pacis but it took forever for her to fall asleep. Then the next day at nap time it took about 30 min to fall asleep. By Sunday, she wasn't even asking for it and was going to sleep right away! She's yet to ask for it and it's been two weeks! I'm so proud of her. Her paci was her best friend so this was a huge step for her.


The other big thing is the POTTY! I am NOT excited about this stage! But none-the-less she is so ready to go. She tells us when she needs to go..sometimes after she goes! She's so interested in the potty and the daycare is training her too so might as well take the plunge! We bought her a potty for Christmas and she loves it. It sings and cheers when she goes potty! Tonight was the first night that she actually went pee-pee in the potty! It was so funny b/c when it started singing she jumped up and finished peeing on my floor! I was laughing so hard. Once she realized it was music she started dancing. About 20 min she said she wanted to go potty again so we sat her on the potty and she went again!!! I think it's going to be really easy to train her. I'm not going at it fully yet but I'm sure I will soon!


I've been off all week and have been running around like crazy trying to find storage things to store all of these toys she got! I'm also trying to find a big girl bed and some new stuff to change her room up a bit. I just can't believe that in 3 short weeks she'll be 2. Where did my little baby go? We've also been planning a party for her. I ordered her invitations this week and the invitation that we went with had spots for 2 pictures to add to it. I thought I would take some cute pics of Caroline to put on there. Man...taking a pic of a toddler is insane!!! Maybe one day we'll be able to take decent pictures again!!! Here's the two that we went with. The others on this post are our outtakes.



Sorry if this post was long and/or boring! I wanted to be sure to record these memories since I'm using this as a scrapbook of C's life!


I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas!!! We went to Blake's parents house for Christmas Eve dinner and to open presents. Caroline got spoiled of course! It was funny this year watching her open presents because she would open one and then want to play with it and would get so distracted that she wouldn't want to open anymore! I'm sure by next year, she'll be ready to rip into the presents!!!







Then we left there and went to my parents house and stayed there until this afternoon. We had so much fun hanging out with our family. Santa came to visit Caroline and left her with some cool toys!!! My mom and dad totally spoiled everyone again this year! They gave Blake and I a Wii. So, I guess I can say good-bye to my husband for awhile!!! He's now got an iPhone and a Wii to keep him entertained!! Here's Caroline on Christmas Eve night waiting up for Santa!


Christmas morning!




Getting ready to go to my brother and SIL's house for Christmas lunch.

Rocking out with Maddox's guitar. She seemed to be more interested in my niece and nephew's toys than she was her's!


Sweet girl was SOOO tired in this picture. She did NOT take a nap on Christmas day. Just too much to do and see!

Kendall with her favorite Christmas picture....her boyfriend Justin Bieber.

I think the best part of our Christmas was the beautiful snow. It started about 10:30 and didn't stop until we went to bed. We got about 3-4 inches in Cleveland. Caroline really enjoyed getting outside and playing in it!



Caroline ended up staying with my parents tonight since Blake and I both work tomorrow and the daycare is closed. Blake and I have been lost tonight without her home with us. It's amazing how attached your heart is for your children!! Caroline is in good hands though and will have a blast with her cousins tomorrow. I'm only working half a day tomorrow and then I'm off the rest of the week! Can't wait to bring in the new year!!!

Tis the Season!

Yesterday, we had our annual Christmas get together with my mom's side of the family at Hard Labor State Park. It's so much fun to get together and see everyone! Here's some pictures from our day! Sorry there's so many! I promised everyone I would post the pictures!!! But hey...I guess this makes up for not posting pictues in a week!

The annual family picture. Miss Caroline does NOT like to smile for the camera these days!

Kendall and Caroline! Best buds.

Grandma with her grandkids!

Caroline rocking away!

My niece and nephew! They love each other...can't you tell!!!

My mom and one of her sisters!

Caroline being a mommy to the sweet baby she got!

My cousin with his son and Caroline. The kids are about one month apart!

My happy parents!

My family! And, yes my dad is doing bunny ears on me! He's such a jokester!

Our entire family, with kids!

Mom and her sisters!

Dad and Blake being really silly! They wanted me to keep taking their picture! Such goof balls.

My aunt Lisa and her family!

My aunt Jane and her family!

My cousin Pat and his family!

All of the great grandkids with Katie and Chris.

All of the grandkids!

A pooped child! She didn't get a nap all day and fell asleep before we even got on the road!

But woke up when we got home to check out her loot! She got 3 babies, a dr's kit, books, and clothes!

Our Sunday

We have had a very lazy Sunday. Caroline was up all night last sick with a stomach bug so we decided to lay low today. It was a great day to be lazy since it's so cold and snowy outside!

When C got up from her almost 4 hour nap today, she went straight to the phone and wanted me to dial grandma's number. So I dialed it for her and she laid on the sofa just like this and talked to my mom and dad for about 15 min!



Boy, do I have my hands full. I can just see her now as a teenager sitting in her bedroom or on the sofa talking to friends! She LOVES phones. When I'm on my cell phone, she'll say "I'm gonna need my phone". And my response is always that I'm gonna need you to be a baby!!!

I start my new job tomorrow!!! I'm excited and also praying that this stomach bug doesn't hit me anytime this week. I've been so stressed the last 4 weeks that we would get sick right as a start a new job. It's just the kind of luck I have. I've been so careful about keeping C away from germs lately but it still somehow hit our house. I'm just so thankful it hit her last night and not tonight!!!

Have a great week and stay warm!!!

My life!

I don't know if it's just this time of the year or if it's just my life but I feel so STRESSED everyday b/c my to-do list keeps getting bigger and bigger everyday. With this cold air we've been having, it makes it hard to do anything after work...which means my Saturday to-do list is LONG! I've also been busy because this is my last week at my current job. I start the new job on Monday! I'm so excited but am in the process of training someone for my job so it's been crazy. I just feel like I can never catch up and I hate that feeling. I've been dreaming of just laying on my sofa at night watching Chrismas movies like the old days. Then I look at my calendar and realize there is no time to sit. And after Christmas we have C's 2nd birthday so I've been trying to think of what to do for that too.

So, you can see that my mind is CRAZY right now! Which is why I haven't been blogging in awhile. I do good to have clean clothes to wear these days! It's SO hard being a working mommy but it's also rewarding. I love that C gets to play and socialize with kids all day. She is learning SO much and for that I"m grateful. She says and comes up with something new everyday. On the way home tonight, I asked if she had a good day today and she said, "Zes (yes) I did. Play with friends". So I asked if she had fun playing with her friends today and she shouted, "Zes!!!". It was so cute!

In other news, my mom was so generous to me for my birthday and gave me a new camera. My last camera was good but it would take forever to take a picture and by the time it took the picture, Caroline was on to other things! Plus it got sand in it when we went to Savannah in August so it was time for an upgrade! Let me just say that I LOVE my new camera! Thanks mom! I tried it out last night and could not believe how great the picture was. So, I ran upstairs where Blake was reading books to Caroline and took a quick picture. Here's my two cuties!



Blake and I went to my holiday party last Saturday. We had a blast!! They gave us a free room to stay in so we took full advantage and had Caroline spend the night with my parents! It was just what we needed. Blake and I have not been out for a night by ourselves since Caroline was born. Our crazy work schedules can also wear on our relationship so a night just for ourselves was great! I had a great time with my co-workers at the party and will be so sad to say good bye to them on Friday. But God has wonderful things in store for my family and I'm excited for my next adventure!

Sorry for such a long and random post...just felt like getting my thoughts out tonight!!! I'm hoping that when I can knock some things off my to-do list that I will be able to relax and enjoy this time of the year!!!