11 Months Old!!

Caroline is 11 months old!

I cannot believe we are here. 

This is the last month we will be able to call this little one an infant.

And then.. she's a.. sniff sniff.. toddler. :(

These months went by so fast. 

I always find myself looking back at her pictures..all the way back to the day she was born. 

It amazes me to see the transformation she has made.

She was a dark haired, light eyed little beauty when she was born.

Now she is a light haired, color changing eyes cutie.

I wouldn't change anything about these months. 

To watch her grow has been the biggest blessing of all.

I love being able to teach her things and then watch her get the hang of it.

It's like something just clicks and then boom- she's doing it all the time!

I've said it once (or twice) and I'll say it again,

this girl is so freakin' smart. 

And on another note- did you notice the prop in the picture above? Joseph's glasses.

Yeah. She wouldn't sit still for the picture. Girlfriend does not like laying on her back.

So we improvised.  

Fun Facts About Caroline:

• weighs 22 pounds
• is 29 inches long
• says Mama and Hey
• waves hello & bye-bye
• loves yogurt melts
• can climb up and down steps
• loves meeting new people
• beats on everything like it's a drum
• crawls to meet mommy and daddy whenever they come home
• can stand up on her own without touching anything
• claps at the right parts during "If You're Happy & You Know It"
• has now been to seven different states: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina and North Carolina

Santa!

We met Santa today!

It was such a great experience.

Joseph and I had a whole lot of fun waiting in line in Pensacola for just about 2 hours.
Caroline played with us, some other kids and looked around the whole time. We did quite a bit of people watching at this prime location. She was just as happy as could be!

We thought she might be getting tired towards the end of our wait. Like she was ready for a nap. Naturally, we began to start thinking that this situation could head south real quick.

We weren't sure how she would react to Santa anyway. I mean we have an almost 11 month old baby meeting this giant bearded man in red. It could get crazy. 

Like everything else though, she amazed us.

She loved him. She sat down as happy as could be on his lap and just looked at him. She checked him out up and down and then even played with his beard. When she felt comfortable enough, she looked at the camera and gave us a big smile. #moneyshot

She was the cutest, most well behaved child in that line. Success!

We love Santa Claus!

Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and everyday.

I'm so blessed to have a wonderful husband who is so loving and an extremely great father. I'm so blessed to have such a healthy and beautiful daughter who calls me Mama. I'm so blessed to have such understanding parents and a brother I can confide in. I'm so blessed to have such great in-laws that took us in for these next couple months while we house hunt. I'm so blessed to have such true friends that I can laugh and cry with and that take me as I am. I'm so blessed to have my fur baby, who comforts me in sickness and health.

I'm so very thankful for each and every person in my life. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

This year we were so lucky to be able to spend Thanksgiving with everyone.

We started Thanksgiving in Niceville, surrounded by friends and family - minus my daddy, who might I add was missed dearly (but I still got to talk to him a lot throughout the day). Then we finished up the day with another Thanksgiving in Brewton - surrounded by more friends and family.

We even got to have Thanksgiving a 3rd time: Turner Thanksgiving. Joseph has such a larger family that it's hard for everyone to get together on the actual holiday. So they have their very own Turner Holiday's. So we had that on Saturday :) More food & more family!

It really is wonderful being back close to everyone. It makes these special days that much more special.

Caroline's first Thanksgiving was a success. She had some mashed potatoes... how she felt about them is still up for debate ;)
 

Double Digits ;)

Caroline Ann has hit the double digits

and is 10 months old!

We just moved and are working on settling in..

with all of that craziness I feel as if I slacked this month on her pictures.

HOWEVER.

There are 2 pictures every month that are a necessity:

laying on daddy's chest & laying next to Ellie the Elephant. 

As long as I don't miss those two, I feel accomplished. 

Not to mention, I take 20+ pictures a day of this little beauty so all I'm missing is the posed ones.

And sometimes impromptu pictures can be better :)

So i don't feel as bad!

This little girl is growing like a weed.

And she is smart as a whip!

Fun Facts About Caroline:

• weighs 21 pounds
• is 28 1/4 inches long
• loves "Wheels on the Bus" and "Old MacDonald"
• bounces and dances to music, especially the songs on the Kia Soul commercials 
• walks by guiding herself on furniture
• thinks it's funny to make popping sounds with her mouth
• her newest favorite game is throwing toys for us to pick up
• doesn't like to sit still for pictures
• loves her puffs
• has figured out how to get around in her walker - forwards, backwards, u-turns etc. 
• has gotten her flu shot 

#letsgo

We're moving, we're moving, la la la la la!
If only you could hear the excitement I have when I say this!
I'm ecstatic. I'm dying with excitement over here and I can hardly contain it.
Everyday I remind my husband: "This is our last Thursday in the house; This is our last Friday." And guess what..? Today is our last Saturday in this house! Woohoo!
Not just this house, but also in good ole Lake Mary.
It's been good, but we're ready to bounce ;)

We are counting our lucky stars.
Joseph accepted a new job opportunity that we just couldn't pass up.
It became available much earlier than we expected, but we jumped on it and are getting gone!
It is in the location we wanted, with the perks that we wanted.
We will be close to home. aka friends and family :) Finally.

My house is stacked. box on box on box. 
My child is loving it. She likes playing in the boxes. Although we have had to stop letting her in them due to the fact that her goal is to tip it over .... ummm no more of that. 
My other child is loving it too. Ace loves that the dining room table is no longer in the dining room. What does this mean? lots of running room. (The weather has been nice lately, so Ace now runs out the back door, back in and through the dining room around the kitchen and back outside. It's quite entertaining.. as long as you're not in the running route. 

We're moving!!
I literally cannot hold back my excitement.
The overwhelming tasks of moving are not evening phasing me.  
I've got my countdown calendar going and getting things done..one thing at a time.

Wish us luck in the big move!
Safe travels, no traffic, good tunes, a cooperative dog and sleepy baby for the 7 hour trip.  #letsgo

Caroline is 9 months!

The little bambino is 9 months old today.

Our sweet little baby is not so little anymore. 

I don't think I have ever seen a happier baby. Caroline is always smiling or laughing and chatting up a storm. She has so many expressions- it's so funny to watch her as she checks out this great big world. 

She has so much curiosity for everything around her. 

We did learn this month that she is not a real big fan of hay. With it being October, we took her to a pumpkin patch....interested in the pumpkins - however, weirded out by the hay bales. It was quite a sight to see. 

And after doing this months "monthly pictures" we have realized that the process is becoming more and more difficult, as you can probably tell in the pictures. It's a joyful process ;) it's so worth it though. 

 

Fun Facts About Caroline:

• weighs 20 pounds on the dot
• 27.75 inches long
• pulls up everywhere and on anything (even if she has to bend over to stand) hehe.
• laughs hysterically when she thinks something is funny
• her favorite toys is her blocks
• knows how to clap and does it often (especially when you say "yay" in her direction)
• is really curious about jewelry- plays with mommy's rings any chance she gets and loves a good necklace ;)
• likes to play peekaboo and "where's the baby"
• is really skeptical about grass and hay bales
• loves her lovey more than she ever has before - best friends for life we're thinking
• her head is measuring in the 99 percentile now - she gets it from her daddy ;)
• walks from room to room while being held by her hands (only when she feels like it. if she's feeling lazy she will life her legs into a sitting position and refuse to put her feet down)
• is extremely ticklish 
• extremely happy

 Every day is a blessing with this little sweetheart. It's truly amazing to be her mommy.

Unfortunate Realization

We're moving in 3 short months.

In order to prep for the move and make things easier on us when it comes down to crunch time I've been packing rubbermaid's every few weeks with things that we don't use on a regular basis.

As I contemplated on what to box up today, I walked into my closet and it hit me...I don't wear half of the clothes that are in here. Not because I don't want to, but because they don't fit me. 

You know, pre-pregnancy clothes.

As I pull each item off of their hanger, I get this feeling. I would say it was a sad one.

My daughter is about to be 9 months old. Now I know I was told, time and time again, that losing the baby weight would take some time, but I never imagined it would take this long.

I wanted to be one of those moms that gives birth, has their 6 week recovery time and then bounces back and is in their favorite jeans again. Why can't that be me?

It's not for lack of trying that I haven't lost the weight yet. I work my ass off. I watch my calories and eat the right things and I work out on the reg. What's the deal? How much time is enough time to wait until I'm back in the shape I want to be in?

As I'm boxing up my crop tops and tight tee's, favorite jeans and dresses that I used to love wearing- I'm wondering if there will ever be a day that I'll get to pull this box out and rehang them in my closet. I'm wondering when one of these Small shirts & size 4 jeans will be wearable again. ugh.

So the realization is depressing.. it's going to take more time. Probably a lot more time. And then I'll have another baby and have to start all over again. Is this going to be a cycle that repeats itself? Will I ever be a 4 again? I really, really hope so.

Packing the box might have gotten me a little upset, but it did something else for me also. It motivated me even more. I want so badly to be able to wear those clothes again. So, I'm going to keep working at it.  Every. Damn. Day.





P.S- you ladies that have given birth and either wore your pre-pregnancy clothes home from the hospital or bounced back in under a month... I hate you. Not really, but I am incredibly envious.

RIP - Winkflash

I never imagined this would happen. I thought you would be around forever...seriously. I don't know if I am more mad or more upset that you're gone.

Winkflash was my go-to for all things pictures. I ordered my prints from there, posters, my greeting cards and my photo albums. They were amazing. They offered good quality and good prices. Not to mention, if you were wondering where your shipment was, pick up the phone & holler at them. Real life people picked up and were happy to help you. that's rare in itself these days...

But now, I've been hung out to dry. They're no longer servicing customers.

Did I mention, I spent my precious time prepping ALL of my photo albums for print. I'm talking about years worth of photo albums that I was just waiting to print. 2009-present. (Every 2 months, they had a coupon code they offered customers for Flat Rate books. what does that mean? It means that I could make a 100 page photo album and have shipping and all included for $25.) You can't beat that.

If you make your albums online you know this is a huge deal, most sites only offer 20 pages per book at $19.99 and then $1 per page after that. THAT ADDS UP! especially since i'm doing a year at a time. 

Ugh. I've been searching high and low all around the internet trying to find another good deal such as the one Winkflash offered. You guessed it.... no luck. 

I'm so saddened to see you go. Like really, I hate it. 

RIP Winkflash. you will be greatly missed.

 

Day Dreaming....I hope not.

I've been looking toward the future a little more today than I have in these last few weeks (so that means a lot, my poor husband. i've been trying to plan everything lately #icanthelpit)

This time though instead of necessities, it's been more about planning leisure activities. Everyone knows I hate sitting still for too long. It's only been 2 weeks since we last traveled and I'm already stir crazy & planning trips that I hope to go on eventually. In the next 2-3 years I'd like to think.

I've been looking into family trips. And romantic trips for Hubby & me (seeing as how we never took our Honeymoon.....only a "mini-moon.") Also trips to visit our spread out friends and family and our FriendFam reunions. So many trips, and not enough PTO ;) #amiright?

In the next 2-3 years, where do I want to go? EASY!

• Napa Valley
• Fort Worth
• Charleston
•  NYC
• Boston
• New Orleans
• Somewhere in the Caribbean 
• Disney World..duh. (this being closer to 3 years and 2, so our little bebe can enjoy it)

My Pinterest is blowing up. I think my Secret Boards are now catching up to the amount of Public Boards I have.....just because I'd probably annoy too many people with my obnoxious pinning habits. And we don't want that.

Some of these trips will obviously take more planning than others...seeing as how some are in "our backyard" and others are across country!

Of course for all of the trips to work out, life has to cooperate. You can't schedule every last detail about how life is going to go and who would want to anyway- surprises can be fun.

Not to mention, I've got 4 more kids to pop out ;)

So on that note:

Have a magical evening :)


                                                           I think my job is getting to me. I say Magical way too often!

 

It's already been 8 months?

I'm late...I know. Caroline turned 8 months old on the 23rd of September. What's my deal? I have been incredibly busy & Caroline was in no condition to do our monthly photo session. 

Our little was sick. Running a fever, breaking out in a rash and not eating. Poor thing, she was so pitiful. Her doctor is still undecided as to what it was that brought this on- maybe a UTI, maybe a viral infection. But, thankfully she is doing much better now. 

HOWEVER, what didn't go back to normal? Sleeping in her own bed. Hubby and I had a deal that Caroline wouldn't be sleeping in the bed with us until she was at least a year old (we've done the whole co-sleeping thing & we have gradually..bassinet, pack'n'play, then bed.. moved her out and she was finally in her own bed before she got sick). Naturally we put her in the bed with us while she wasn't feeling well. Well now that she's better.......yeah, she's still in the bed.  We will see how long it lasts.. I love my baby- but I want to be able to toss and turn like i usually do and not wake up freaking out wondering where exactly the baby has moved to. It really freaks me out. 

Any of the who....

we finally got around to taking some pictures now that the little babe is herself again.

Caroline is 8 months old, y'all :) 

It's like she grew over night. I hadn't noticed a big difference in her looks or her growth and then just one day it changed. She looks like a little person! I'm aware that's what she is, but struggle to see the little baby face that was once there. She is growing so quickly and she is maturing so fast. 

I can't believe all the things she does now. She is keeping this momma on her toes. I'm constantly catching her and stopping her from getting into things... yep- she's on the move. And she's fast. 

It's like one day everything just clicked.

 Fun Facts About Caroline:

• weighs19 pounds & 11 ounces
• is 28.25 inches long
• has now been to six different states: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas  & South Carolina
• is crawling
• can pull up to her knees
• has now been to three weddings
• has 2 little bottom teeth
• likes to bang her hands on everything
• wiggles when music is playing
• still loves the sound of the womb (we have the sound on our phones for when it's tough for her to fall asleep)
• enjoys long baths and loves bubbles
• likes her musical books
• loves watching golf with her daddy
• tries to touch everything when she's in a shopping cart or a high chair
• reaches to be picked up

 

Cleaning out the closet.. literally.

It's no secret that babiess grow. And when they do, they outgrow their precious little baby clothes.

Well, with moving coming up in just a few short months, I'm trying to make things easier on myself by slowly packing the things that we don't need on a daily basis. Where did I start? Caroline's room- because it seemed more fun than any other room.

Probably not the best place though in hindsight , seeing as how it gets my emotions going and the fact that I just want to sit and reminisce about every little outfit & the times my baby wore it. My little is becoming so grown. It was just yesterday she was in her layettes and her little mittens. Now she is wearing her footed pajamas, ruffled rompers and there are no mittens in sight.. or shoes that fit her for that matter.

Getting back on track though.. I'm packing up Caroline's clothes and accessories that no longer fit her.

Mittens, Hats, Socks, Shoes & little baby bows....it's time to go. 
Newborn...Box it.
0-3 Months...Box it.
3-6 Months...Box it.
6-9 Months...You're not too far from being in a box.

And as I fold some of these items to put them into a Rubbermaid I realize that about half of these items of clothing she never even got to wear! It makes me sad to think that they're just going into a box. Some of these things I forgot she even had. Looking at some of this stuff brings back happy little memories of our little baby in the beginning. How tiny she was. How new she was. 

Although I feel like I'm putting so much in boxes, I turn to look at the closet and it's still incredibly full. Goodness, this child has so much clothes. A little fashionista she is.

As I'm straighten up her new, less full, closet it hits me, more concrete than it has been before- that I definitely will be wanting another little girl in the future.

I always wanted 3 babies. 2 boys and a girl. When I was younger I had it all figured out that I was going to have a boy, a girl and then another little boy. 2 boys surrounding our little princess in the middle, her protectors.

Well you know what they say:

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. 

I wouldn't change the way things turned out for anything. I love that we have our little girl. She's more than I could've ever asked for. God had a plan, He knew what we needed. Time for a new "plan."

I've more recently decided on wanting 5 children- I love being a mom. My husband assures me that there is no way that we will be having 5 little boys & girls running around. I think it's a great number- we will see if we can't do some negotiating. He likes even numbers, maybe we can agree on 4?  

We'll just take it one day at a time.....or one kid at a time ;)

What I'm trying to get at is that I can't imagine not seeing these little clothes again. And making more memories in them. Whether God decides to bless us with another little girl in the future, or I pass them on to a niece of mine ;) I can't wait to pull them out again!