11 months - yay!

Caroline is 11 months today.  She's getting so close to her big First Birthday!

As I posted earlier, she started taking lots of unassisted steps yesterday.  This morning I think she finally figured out the concept of her sippy cup.  I'm so glad - that's one step closer to being able to transition her off the bottle.  What a big girl - she's really growing up. 

And, she's up to 8 teeth now - 4 uppers, 4 lowers.  This has really helped her get after her finger foods.  She tried mac and cheese for the first time yesterday and loved it (well, I don't think there is any food she doesn't love.)  Some other foods she has fun eating - peas, corn, bread, waffles, tortillas, bits of meat and chicken.  She can just about eat an entire banana by herself.

First Steps

Don't blink - you might miss them!  So far it's just short little bursts of steps so I put a couple of them together.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

From a Tiny Orange to a Little Peach

No, this post isn't about food.

Caroline will no longer be a little Orange County girl, she is going to be a Georgia peach.  That's right folks, for those of you that haven't heard yet, we're moving.  To Atlanta.  Hot-lanta is what some people call it.  That's also the reason that there hasn't been a post in so long.  We're in the middle of the move right now. 

We spent last week in Atlanta househunting.  After much stress we finally found a place and will be moving in on June 3rd.  Today our apartment was packed up and cars shipped out.  We're spending the long weekend in California before we ship out east on Memorial Day.  We wanted to spend as much time here as possible and hope to hit the beach on Saturday and Temecula on Sunday.

Caroline has been a trooper.  Over the last 2+ weeks, she has spent more nights in a hotel room than in her own room.  Thankfully there was only one night that she had trouble sleeping.  Since then I think she has just been so worn out by all the activities that sleep has come easy for her.

She already has some play dates lined up when we get back to Atlanta.  We met a little girl and her nanny at the park and they've invited us to the zoo after we get settled. 

Here's hoping for an enjoyable weekend and an easy transition into our new house. 

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day wasn't just a day for me - it was the whole weekend!  We started out Saturday morning driving to Santa Barbara - roughly a two-ish hour drive.  We got there - checked out State Street by car before deciding we must have a little lunch.  So we happened upon this burger place.

 

Once we were fortified with burgers and fries, we drove on up to Los Olivos.  A friend had recommended a couple of wineries up there so we thought we'd check them out.  Caroline was a trooper and hung out with us- although she and Jeremy took several walks while leaving me to the wine tasting.

Traveling on to Solvang, Caroline found a shoe that fit...

...and couldn't have been happier!

It was getting late, so we motored on to Lompoc to spend the night.  Caroline had a very fitful night, but we all slept in until after 9 am.  That morning happened to be Mother's Day and Caroline surprised me with a special necklace and a book with a special inscription.  Now how did Caroline know I cry every time I see the video of Christian the lion being reunited with his former owners?  So sweet.

 After a late start, we started back down to Santa Barbara - such a gorgeous city!  There was even a guy giving out hugs.

Jeremy decided to take him up on his offer.

 

Next stop: Mission Park and the mission itself.  The park was basically a huge rose garden.

 And the mission

 View from the mission

And finally the drive home.  This is approaching Malibu.

There was even another surprise when we got home on Sunday evening.  Jeremy gave me a nice bottle of wine and a book - just for being his baby's mama!  Now that's a good man! 

I love you Caroline and Jeremy!

Zoomars

Today we took a little trip to San Juan Capistrano to go to Zoomars Petting Zoo.  It's on Los Rios Street which is an adorable little area near the mission in San Juan. 
We took the Amtrak down.  It was only about a 15 minute ride, but we had fun with our friends, Maddie and Kayden.  I think Caroline was thrilled that she didn't have to sit in her car seat while she was in a moving vehicle.

There were so many bunnies and guinea pigs at Zoomars.  Which to feed first?  Who's hungry?

This guy got a little too close.   So he got extra carrots.

 

So, yeah, there were other animals, but I fell in love with the bunnies and guinea pigs.  The goats were too aggressive.  Caroline ended up just throwing the rest of her lettuce and veggies down on the ground for them.  I think she had had enough of them jumping up all over us.  We also saw llamas, turkeys, ponies, pigs.  There were probably some other animals, but I can't remember them right now.

We rode the little train at the zoo.  I think the mommies had more fun than the kids.  This is Kayden's mom, Shannon.

Afterwards we had lunch at Ruby's. Here's Sophia looking like a rockstar as always. 

 

Then it was time to head back home on train.  It was a long day, but Caroline was a trooper.  She stayed awake and in good spirits until we got back to the car.  I think she fell asleep within a few seconds after being buckled in her car seat.

Mmmmm, apple pie

Yesterday we took a little drive to Julian, CA, to try out their famous apple pies. 

Open wide!

Somebody is a big fan of the pies!

This little pony was kind enough to let Caroline pull his hair.

To return the favor, Caroline let him nuzzle her a little bit

And finally, what road trip would be complete without stopping by the side of the road to take some pictures of camels?

Who knew there was a market for camel milk?

Apparently this place has been on Dirty Jobs. 

We got there too late to take a tour of the farm.  :(