Road Trip!

We've had ourselves a good old fashioned road trip.

Just the three of us, the open road, and a Subaru packed to the gills with diapers, a pool floatie, and Mum Mums. I usually try to be minimalist when I pack but OH MY STARS I failed miserably this time around.

Ah, well.

First stop: NORTH CAROLINA. Where we have some dear friends. They were sweet enough to let us stay with them, and then proceeded to feed us with an awesome assortment of Southern favorites. Including BBQ and homemade strawberry ice cream. They've got four darling little boys, and we loved spending time with all of them.

Seriously. How cute are these two? Whitman is just a couple of months older than Caroline.

We picked strawberries together.

We enjoyed some fellowship. And Wii Super Mario Bros. (Let's face it. That was mostly Josh. Jack experienced my skills, and then didn't ask me to play with him again.)

We even took a day trip to the coast, explored an old fort, took a car ferry, and ate dinner by the ocean. MMM.

Thank you, Caroline and Whitman, for cooperating so nicely.

And, to our delight, this family is going to stay with us soon, when they're on a road trip of their own. Perfect!

We're completely blessed to have friends and family in all corners of the country. So, you know, we can pop by on road trips. And catch up. And eat. And love on each others' kids.

And we had a fantastic time with this family. Loved them.

Next stop: CHARLESTON, SC

6 Month Pictures

This is 6 months:

Constantly kicking feet.
Interested in what's going on around her.

Eating copious amounts of baby food - everything but avocado.
All toys inserted into the mouth. The ones that crinkle are always nice.

Lots of poop.
Lots of drool.
Lots of swinging in the back yard.

Open-mouthed kisses. That involve tongue.
Tooth-less grins.

Bare feet since shoes don't stay on.
Exersaucer.
Mum mums.

Family vacation.
Dumb baby songs always make for a smile.

Violent splashing in the bath.
Rolling all over.

Little interest in sitting up.
Constant babbles.

Attempting to sit, falling over, and laughing about it. Standing up is much preferred.
Trouble with naps.

Early morning nursing in bed with mama and then falling back asleep.
Not much hair.

13 pounds, 4 ounces (4th percentile)
25 3/4 inches long (41st percentile)

Lots of work, but very fun.

[A huge, gargantuan, everlasting THANK YOU to Sarah for taking such incredible pictures - the last 7 included in the post - of our family!]

Six months

okay, so I'm 2 days late in posting this...

5/18/11

Dear Caroline,

Today you are six months old. And what a sweet, smiling, darling little baby you are. Your big blue eyes dance when people talk to you, and your gummy grin melts my heart. And your laugh, oh that precious little chuckle. It almost takes my breath away. Family, friends, and strangers alike stop to tell me how beautiful you are. And of course I agree 100%.

Although I’m excited for your next steps (sitting up, teeth, and crawling) I’m perfectly content to enjoy your babyhood in the “now.” You’re such an easy baby. You go with the flow, each and every day. You love your Exersaucer, your Sophie toy, and anything that crinkles – including the bag of chips you dumped over yesterday.

You also love the swing in our backyard, and we'd use it more if it would EVER stop raining.

You’re SUCH a good little eater, and you eagerly open your mouth for each new food we try. You’re even starting to feed yourself, with Mum Mums and and a little mesh bag I can put bananas in. And you're a complete disaster after each and every meal.

This week we’ll take you on our first family vacation, and we can hardly wait. We’ll even dip your little toes into the ocean! I wonder if you’ll like it. You sure do love your baths! You kick and kick and splash to your heart’s content. And then roll around naked in your towel afterward. It’s a favorite time of day for all three of us.

And by the way, your nude Elvis-inspired butt-wiggle is the funniest thing anyone has ever seen. Not very ladylike!

Life with you is so very sweet. Your daddy and I love spending time with you. We praise God for you and seek His guidance for how best to raise you. I’m sure we’ll make mistakes along the way, but we so hope to grow you into a loving, kind, adventurous child.

But for now, stay little for a while longer.

Love,
Mama

Motherhood

God has given me the desire of my heart: A family of my very own.

I don't have words. But I'm so deeply thankful.

I love it. Almost every moment.

The Lord has richly blessed me. I don't deserve this based on anything I've done. It's pure grace.

I'm forever grateful.

In our backyard...

Me: She's too little.

Josh: No, she's not. Look at her. She likes it.

Me: No she doesn't. Look.

Josh: Yes she does, you just have to push her.

Me: Not too high! Her little neck...

I was wrong. Or course. Once she started going, she was all smiles.

To quote my friend Amy, "this is why kids need dads."

The contents of an Easter basket for a 5-month-old.

At the last minute, I decided to throw practicality to the wind and get Caroline an Easter basket. A non-negotiable tradition, right?

And then my practical side kicked in again.

She needs nothing. Of course. I buy her stuff on a regular basis. Onesies. Rice cereal. Fast flow bottle nipples. A clip-on high chair. Etcetera. What's the difference between that and piling goodies into a basket for her to "open" on Easter Sunday? Not much.

But for the sake of taking pictures of her "first Easter basket", I did just that.

I found an unused basket in our house, and padded the bottom with a towel.

Then I loaded the following into exciting items into it:

Oatmeal cereal. We were running out.
Baby food jars/packets of fruit. When you can't eat candy, fruit is the closest thing, right?
Spoons. Because we were always running low on them.
Sippy cups. We'll need them eventually.

And then a few gifts more for fun. Books, of course.

A book about baby sign language. Can't wait to start that in a couple of months!

And my personal favorites: Two "Indestructibles" books. Yes, that's right. Bite proof, rip proof, chew proof, and completely washable. AWESOME. My friend Kendra had brought some to Indy for the Hoosier weekend, and I was totally impressed. I picked out Humpty Dumpty (because it seemed Easter-ish) and Mama and Baby.

I love the colors. The artwork. The fact that there aren't words and I can just talk with Caroline about each page. I highly recommend them!

Cousins!

Look at these two.

Telling secrets already. Nothing but trouble.

Michelle is my cousin. Inez is her little girl. She's just two months younger than Caroline.

Michelle and I grew up together. We were very close. We're hoping that these two get numerous chances to spend time together over the years. You know, playing Barbies. And American Girls. And more Barbies. Like their moms used to do.

Caroline and I tagged along on Josh's business trip to Chicago. That gave us the opportunity to hang out with Michelle and Inez for the day. Way fun.



The weather that day was terrible. Cold and rainy. But you wouldn't know it in the Garfield Park Conservatory.


We actually met up at a great downtown coffee shop. And then walked the babies, in the rain, to the green line. And then kind strangers helped us heave the strollers up the stairs.


We rode the L out to Garfield Park, and enjoyed the warmth and beauty of the conservatory.

And it was so fun to catch up.


The girls cooperated nicely by sleeping.


After walking around the gardens, we took the L farther out to Oak Park for lunch. Quite the adventure! We loved it all.

Michelle and Inez, we can't wait to see you again soon!