Happy Halloween from Caro"lion"

Fun with Pumpkins

To celebrate Halloween we painted a pumpkin and carved one.  This was Caroline's first experience with paint.

The finished product!

Having a little fun with the finger paints

Taking a little break while mommy cleans up the paints

Let the carving begin!

Caroline wanted nothing to do with the "guts" of the pumpkin

Daddy's spooky pumpkin

16 months!

Getting ready to go to the nursery.

A couple of times a month I have a Mothers of Preschoolers meeting (MOPS) at a local church.  Caroline goes to the nursery at the church while I'm at the two hour meeting.  The first couple of times I was very nervous about leaving her there because she really hasn't been "left" anywhere just yet.  She has done great though.  Friday was the third time for her to go, and I guess she recognized the place because she did get a bit nervous when I was getting ready to leave her.  I checked in on her about a half hour later and she was hanging out with one of her friends, eating her friend's snack.  Then when I went to pick her up, she was looking out the window watching the older kids play on the playground.  She was pretty excited to see me there for her.  I'm very proud that she is independent enough to be left alone for awhile. 

Caroline's vocabulary continues to grow.  We have some feelings cards that she likes to look at.  She has already mastered the shy feeling by hiding her eyes, and this week she mastered her surprised look and her curious look.  It's so cute.  Her favorite way to assert herself is to sign "more."  She's been doing this in a very impatient manner.

She has surprised us with some new animals sounds.  Quacking, mooing, baaing have all added to her favorite lion roaring.  And I can't forget her fish faces and kisses whenever she sees a fish. 

She continues to amaze us and make us laugh daily.  What a fun kid!

27 weeks

Less than 3 months to go!

Pretty much the same old thing, except this last week was a bit painful for me.  I have been battling a sinus infection with a bad cough and I guess I had been coughing so hard and so much that I hurt my ribs.  The doctor thinks it was a hairline fracture of the ribs.  I think it was either that or I just strained some muscles.  Either way, it was very painful and I was very thankful that my mom could come down on short notice Monday night to help me out and watch Caroline while I went to the doctor on Tuesday.  I was sent over to radiology to have an ultrasound done of my kidney, pancreas, gall bladder and liver.  These all checked out fine, thank goodness.  Within a couple of days, the pain had started to lessen and I just keep feeling better and better.

Wings Over Atlanta

Last weekend we went to the airshow at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta.  There were soooo many people there, but we managed.  There were several acts, but the main attractions were the Canadian Snowbirds and the Navy Blue Angels. 

Grandma and Caroline in the belly of a cargo transport plane.  Those things are huge!

Blue Angels

Feeling crafty

I found a little craft project that I wanted to do for Caroline.  It's a simple little applique the I put on an old shirt of hers.  It's nothing fancy, but I think I'm going to try my hand at some more complicated designs. 

Strike a pose



Smelling the flowers


I've already started looking at some other applique designs that I want to make.  I've already bought a bunch of new fabric to try it out. 

Pumpkin patch time!

It's that time of year, the days are getting shorter, the nights are cooler, unfortunately the days are still warmer but fall is definitely in the air.  We made the annual trek to the pumpkin patch today.  Berry Patch Farms did not disappoint. 



It's a big ol' punkin!



On the hayride to the pumpkins.  Caroline saw something cool.

Looks like she's going to take a bite!

"I'll take this one!"

Caroline's balancing act

So many to pick from

There were a couple of rows of cotton separating the "little" pumpkins from the "big" ones

Afterwards we stopped for some ice cream to cool off.  Found out that Bruster's gives all kids under 40 inches a free kids cone.  So, Caroline had her first ice cream cone this afternoon.  She loved her strawberry cone!  No pictures because Daddy and Mommy were too busy helping her and enjoying their ice cream!  It was cute though!

24 weeks

Today I am 24 weeks and 1 day.

This is a big milestone because (according to askbaby.com) at 24 weeks your baby becomes legally viable and if your baby was born now she would have a reasonable chance of survival outside your womb in an intensive care unit.

So, yay for a viable baby!  And she continues to kick up her heels in my belly.  Have I mentioned that this is my favorite part of pregnancy - feeling the baby move around? 

15 Month Checkup

So Friday was the big 15 month appointment.  Our little girl is healthy as a horse and right on track (even ahead on some of the milestones!)
Her height, weight and head circumference are all tracking perfectly on the growth charts. She's staying long and lean like her Dad.
Height:  31 3/4"  (86%)
Weight: 23 lbs 6 oz (59%)
Head: 46.5 cm (68%)

She had 3 shots and hated them of course, but the nurse gave her an orange safety pop to make it better.  At first she didn't seem to really care about it, but once she got a few licks in, she was loving it!

Yeah, you can't see it because she has the entire thing in her mouth!

I had to take it away when we got to the car because it was such a mess.

Ribs

Today we went to the Rock 'N Ribs Festival in Lawrenceville.  The weather was great and they had some live bands.  Caroline loved people watching and even made some friends - young and old.  She did so much better at this festival than one we went to a couple of months ago.  She was better at staying with us.
Here she is enjoying a snack, listening to a band and watching everyone.

We sent Daddy off to get some ribs for us.  He didn't disappoint.  Caroline loved her BBQ sandwich and ribs - can you tell?