Christmas 2008

Hard to believe Christmas is over already. Caroline enjoyed it and loves all the new toys she got from Santa Claus, family and friends. Christmas Eve she wasn't feeling well, but luckily she was over it by Christmas morning.

This is a picture of the spread that Santa left for her.

First thing she went for was the trampoline. She loves to jump, I'm hoping this will save our furniture.

She got to hold a real baby-cousin Margo.

Grandma and Grandpa gave her a cute table and chairs set that Grandpa painted himself, turned out great!

Brianna gave her blocks that she likes to stack and then destroy.

There's lots more, and she plays with it all. Now we just have to make room for all of her new stuff!

We've been elfed!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

'Tis the season

The past few weeks have been filled with things to do and places to go almost everyday but I guess it's just that time of year. This past weekend was no exception. Travis was in a wedding Saturday and then it was off to Smithfield Sunday for Margo's baptism. We snapped this quick family pic before leaving the church.We finally got our Christmas tree up Monday night and decorated it Tuesday night.........and it's still standing! Caroline is definitley interested in all the Christmas decorations, and we have one that she can actually play with too. It's the cutest Little People nativity set, Caroline loves it (and so do I)! I had to take a picture of it because it is just too cute, you can push the angel on top and the star lights up and it plays Away in a Manger....so sweet.
Tonight she was feeding her baby doll a bottle and decided to put the doll in her seat where she continued to feed her. Of course she started to take her out by the time I was able to get a picture. She's becoming a good little Momma.

Tomorrow night we're going to attempt to have Christmas pictures done...........

Give Thanks

We had a good Thanksgiving, and now we're thankful that Travis is back from his week long trip to visit his family in Wisconsin. He didn't get a deer this year but returned home just in time to celebrate his 30th birthday!

Caroline and I had a fun girls' week together, and then she got to spend lots of quality time with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins over the long holiday weekend.
She love TV show Yo Gabba Gabba more and more each day. Her first word when she wakes up, finishes eating, comes in from outside, gets out of the bathtub, etc is "Gabba" She'll even start pushing buttons on the remote control to try to get "Gabba" on TV. Here she is watching it as soon as she woke up Sunday morning....in a trance!

funny

Caroline learned how to take off her shirt today. She happened to have on her pink camo pants at the time. Complete with what looks like a mullet hair do, she reminded me of a little redneck girl.

Earlier in the day she climbed out of the pack and play at the baby sitter's house and ate some cat food. I guess she thought it fitting since she had on a cat shirt........before taking it off.

Caroline and Brianna

Brianna came to visit Caroline this past weekend. The two of them had a good time playing together, and we took them to the Cape Fear Fair. Caroline of course loved the animals (until a rooster bit her) and she able to go on some of the rides with us. She spent part of the day asleep on Travis's shoulder but woke up for more fun before we left the fair. We hope to see Brianna and her mommy and daddy again soon!

Halloween

Caroline enjoyed Halloween this year. She got to trick or treat around the neighborhood a little and then met up with friends Alex and Carl at a church festival. There she trunk or treated and went on a hayride. She hasn't seen Alex and Carl in a while and boy has she missed them!

She was full of sugar at the end of the night and couldn't stop sharing it with them.....we're gonna have to keep her away from these boys in a few years :-)

Saturday morning she woke up ready for more candy.......as if she's not sweet enough!

Sunday funday

What a beautiful day! We took advantage of it and had a funfilled Sunday today. After church we ate one of Caroline's new favorites, a cheesesteak at J Michaels (a favorite of mine too!).

Then we played outside for a while when we got home and posed for a few pictures.

Later this afternoon Caroline wore her Halloween costume to the Poplar Grove Halloween Festival and had a ball. There she rode a pony for the first time, went on a hayride (and actually sat still for the most part), jumped and slid on the inflatables (with my assistance-it wore me out but she could've kept going), and ran around squealing in delight.

We hope next weekend it just as fun!

Then there were five....

.....Grimes grandchildren, finally a boy to add to the mix. We spent the weekend in Smithfield and got to meet Brayden for the first time. He is precious, and Caroline loves him already. I think she likes not being the baby of the family now and enjoys her role as a big cousin. She kissed on the babies, Brayden and Margo this weekend and even helped Grandpa feed and burp Margo (unfortunately we don't have any pictures of that though). We can't wait to see everybody again!

Brayden's here!

Our new nephew Brayden was finally born early this morning, and we can't wait to go meet him on Friday. Caroline enjoyed looking at some pictures of him earlier and kept saying "baby, baby" Congratulations Greg and Leslie!

We've not been doing much since the last post. Travis took his boat out fishing, perhaps for the last time until spring, last weekend and posed for some pictures afterwards since we realized that we have no pictures of it. And of course Caroline got in on the pictures with him.

Caroline's been trying a few new things too. She helped me bake a cake the other night and quickly learned the best part.....licking the batter off the beaters! More recently she helped me make some chocolate pudding and loved it as well. She does like to eat, especially her sweets.

And she's definitely showing an interest in her baby dolls now, feeding them, kissing them, and pushing the stroller around the house, with or without baby in it.

Wisconsin

We took a short trip to Wisconsin to see Travis' family last weekend. Caroline had a great time with her Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins up there. And she was an excellent traveler on the plane and in the car, so we can do it again sometime!

She enjoyed riding the 4 wheeler around the yard with Grandma.

Playing in the leaves with Wesley and Ava.

And she loved riding this bear!

We came back just in time to celebrate my birthday Tuesday, the big 3-0, gosh I feel old!

Rather than tradional flowers, the girls at work thought of decorating a cake with lots of 30s.

Our next trip out of town should be soon....as soon as my nephew Brayden is born! Hang in there Leslie!!

So grown up

I'm amazed everyday at how much Caroline has grown in less than 15 months and how much she continues to grow everyday. She's no longer a baby....she wants to be like the "big kids" so bad!

She was dancing with Lisa's son Josh at her wedding reception.

So proud to drink a juice box all by herself, she will NOT allow adult assistance!

Her first painting (It's a birthday cake at Fit for Fun that the kids paint)

Playing on the slip n slide with her cousins rather than in the baby pool Aunt Gina blew up for her.

Busy girl

The past couple of weeks have been busy. Caroline went to Power of Play with the twins playgroup one day, we went to Smithfield for Aunt Leslie's baby shower followed by her first trip to the Family Pool, she went to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher with a new baby sitter, and we went to her friend Emma's first birthday party. One note to add about Caroline's trip to the pool: she is not scared of water and managed to walk right into the kiddie pool face first by herself.....thank you to Aunt Gina for swooping her up so quickly, she didn't even cry!


Travis and I celebrated our anniversary Monday, hard to believe it's already been 7 years. We were able to go out to eat ALONE, thanks to Marci!

Tonight I saw that Caroline's fourth tooth FINALLY broke through the gum. Her first three teeth all came in one month, and now it's been over a month since the last tooth.

Shopping in the grocery store at Power of Play

Here Caroline realized for the first time that she has a baby cousin, Margo. Madeline, Lydia and Caroline all swarmed in while Grandma was holding her at Leslie's baby shower.

Playing in the pool with Madeline and Lydia, she loves the water!


This picture was taken right before getting in the bathtub. Caroline decided to sit back in her chair with a bag of chips to munch on....so grown up!