Caroline's 1st CHRISTmas pt. 2

It was finally Christmas morning. Of course, Chris and I were both up before Caroline. She preferred to sleep in. After making sure everything was set up perfect, we decided to wake her up and feed her before bringing her to the living room. As any first time parents, we were clearly more excited than she was. She had fun destroying the wrapping paper and wanted to eat it.

After we finished Christmas morning at home we went to my dad's to have Christmas there. We had a yummy breakfast followed by more presents. 

Playing with Papa on Christmas morning

Christmas night was spent at my mom's where we ate a delicious meal that mom made and of course, more gifts!!

Caroline's 1st CHRISTmas

Christmas finally came. It is crazy how much time is spent to prepare for this holiday and then it passes by so quickly. Of course, this being C's first Christmas, lots of planning was done, outfits were bought, just to make sure everything was perfect. Caroline had her first party at NaNa's (Debs) the Friday before Christmas. They each drew a name of someone to buy for (Caroline drew Kerrington's name)  and we bought for Nana of course. I also bought a cookie came to take for all the kiddos to eat at their party.

Our next Christmas gathering was with the Strunk family. They love Caroline so much and made her Christmas very special with new clothes and toys! We are so blessed to have them in our lives and I can only hope and pray that Caroline grows up to be just like Madison and Maggie. 

Christmas Eve was a busy day also. Chris and I procrastinated a little so we spent most of the day getting all of Caroline's "big" presents put together and wrapped everything else. We wanted to make sure Christmas morning was perfect. That night was spent with my step-mom's family at Marc and Sherry's. We had a ton of food, opened presents and then played Dirty Santa which is always a blast. We had to hurry home and put C to bed so Santa could come. 

        Caroline was waiting patiently for everyone to finish eating so she could open presents!! 

Five Months

We have reached month #5!!!!! Caroline continues to grow and change daily. She is getting so big and learning lots of new things. She loves to talk/babble and laugh out loud. Bath time with daddy is still her favorite daily activity but jumping in her jumparoo while watching Barney is a close 2nd.. We had our 4 month checkup and shots last week (a little late because Friday appt's are better for us and those are hard to come by, so technically it was a 5 month checkup) I was ready for this appointment, not for the shots, but to see Caroline'a growth in height/weight. I have had several people comment that Caroline is "petite" or "small" Even strangers will ask how old she is and when I say 5 months they will say "oh, we thought she was about 2 months." Being the first time mom that I am, I began to worry. I did all kinds of research trying to decide if these people were right or crazy. Of course, on the internet, you get so many opinions that I didn't know what to believe. Finally, it was appointment day and I had a list of questions for Dr. Jon. I told Dr. Jon of all my concerns, he looked at me and smiled really big. Then went on to tell me to not worry and to quit listening to other people. Yes, Caroline may be in the 10th percentile in height and 20th percentile in weight but that was completely normal! She is happy, healthy, and continues to grow. Definitely made this mama feel better. Only 3 shots at this appointment and she did great, just like last time.  Caroline has learned how to scoot and can go backwards but has not accomplished going forward. Definitely need some more practice. She also started sitting up by herself this month. I am loving all of these milestones but  I miss my itty-bitty baby.

Weight- 13lbs 11oz
Height 23 1/2 in
Clothes- 0-3, 3months are perfect. Some 3-6 months
Favorite Toys-  Hands/Feet, Baby Doll, Glow Seahorse

Caroline's First Thanksgiving

Another first for C has came and went. Thanksgiving!!! Chris was on vacation the week of a Thanksgiving so he and Caroline got to spend some much needed daddy/daughter time together while mommy worked on Monday and Tuesday. We had planned and prepared from the food to the special outift and hairbow Caroline would wear. However, due to some lovely teething, Thanksgiving turned out to be a little difficult. I had planned on waking Caroline up at 8 on Thursday morning to watch the Macy's Parade (my favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving) but due to a low grade temp, snotty nose, and horrible cough, Chris and I spent the morning tag-teaming to get ourselves and C ready while she fussed pretty much the whole time.  She finally fell asleep as we traveled to our first stop of the day, Aunt Kat's. Those who know Caroline, knows she is very sociable and will let even a stranger hold her, except today. Mommy was all she wanted. We left a little early hoping another nap would help. Thankfully we were going home because due to a puking incident, Caroline's outfit had to be put in the washing machine and dryer. A short nap with daddy then we were off to Nanny's where she slept through dinner and dessert. I have definitely come to conclusion that no matter how much I try to plan everything, even the smallest things can change everything. It definitely was not the ideal Thanksgiving, but Caroline looked cute, we seen lots of family, ate a lot of food, and made it through the day. We even took Caroline to Wal-Mart for some Black Friday shopping that evening. Time to prepare for the next big "first" .... CHRISTMAS!!!!

                                                                Loving the leaves

Caroline's 1st Halloween

October is the beginning of the big Holiday Season!! Technically 4th of July was Caroline's first real holiday but since she was only 4 days old it wasn't very exciting!! We have been preparing for Halloween for over a month. She had an outfit to wear every day the week of Halloween and of course a new hairbow. This was her first holiday at Debbie's and they always have a party.. We made  treat bags for all of her friends and I ordered pumpkin cookies from Creative Kitchen to take the day of her party. I guess Caroline knew it was party day and was afraid she would miss something because she skipped both naps that day. Her sweet friends even thought of her and bought her books and toys since she can't have candy. That evening we went to my dad's to hand out candy like we always do. Caroline didn't have a costume, just a cute outfit, because I couldn't bring myself to spend $30 on a costume that she would hate wearing. We did trick or treat at a few houses (friends/family) and they loaded her up with books, toys, and Barney DVD's. I think Caroline's first Halloween was a success, she was still going strong at 9:30 and then slept in the next day until after 10. Bring on the rest of the Holiday season!! 🎃🎃🎃

Four Months

We have a 4 month old. How did this happen?!?! I cannot believe another month has came and went. Caroline continues to grow and change daily. She is still sleeping really good at night. We had one week that was a little rough, where she would wake up at 3:30 on the dot. Not sure what was going on but we have stopped that (thank goodness) and are back on track. This month Caroline has really started grinning and can now laugh out loud without scaring herself. Sweetest sound ever!!! She can sit up on her own for about 2 seconds before she falls to one side. She has started grabbing things that are within reach and she loves to talk/yell and blow bubbles. We do not let her watch a ton of TV and she doesn't get to watch TV at Debbie's but we have discovered that Barney is her favorite. Something about the big purple dinosaur that captures all of her attention. If she hears the intro song to Barney or "I Love You" she begins searching the room until she spots the TV. I think if we would let her, she would sit in her swing and watch Barney for hours. I hate that she is growing so fast but I love how she is starting to really interact with us and other kids and is learning to Play!! This is such a fun age!!

Three Months

I cannot believe it is time for another post. These 3 months have went by so fast. Yes, I realize I say this every post but it really is going by so quickly. Caroline is getting so big  and she is at such a fun age. We had her two month appt a little late so she was actually 11 weeks old. She weighed 10'15" and was 22in long. Dr. Jon said she was perfectly proportional! We also had to get shots that day which was much better than I anticipated. She cried for about 10 seconds and once I picked her up, she was fine. We have such a tough little girl. Caroline continues to sleep through the night and is not a fan of being woke up at 5:30 during the week, so she takes full advantage of sleeping 12-14 hours straight on the weekend. She has started laughing out loud and it is the most precious sound I've ever heard. Bath time with daddy has to be her favorite part of the day, she loves to kick and splash the water. We are getting so excited that the holidays are coming up and can't wait to introduce Caroline to all of our family traditions, along with start some new traditions with our family of 3.

Weight (11 weeks) 10lbs 15oz
22 in. Long
Clothes- Newborn is a little tight, 0-3 are perfect, 3months are a little big
Sept 13 (10w5d) rolled from back to tummy for the first time