Happy Wednesday!

Anna Caroline found the shovel & took to the dirt like a pro.  She gets it honestly.  Hope theres a green thumb around there somewhere!

Here's to the beautiful fall weather!

Oh My Stars.....

Oh My Stars..... I've been saying it a lot lately.  Seems like more & more over the past 6 months.  I wonder if it has any correlation with this Sweet Pea becoming more and more mobile.

Oh my stars she's on the table.  Oh my stars she has climbed out of the high chair.  Oh my stars she has climbed out of the strap in the grocery cart & is standing about to take a dive.  Oh my stars she is so fast.  Oh my stars she is hiding under the bed.  Oh my stars she has a fiery temper.  Oh my stars you are an eater.  Oh my stars you MELT MY HEART.

Anna Caroline loves to be wide open.  Truly.  Give her a field and she is happy to run for days.  

 Clearly she is giving me a run for my money.  I feel like each day she has a new word, today she was carrying around a baby and kept saying "baby, baby" like a little parrot.  She is a great eater & I swear most days she eats more than Mary Stewart.  She is trying to drop the morning nap but somedays needs it.  Anna Caroline tends to be such a content child & still loves our outings in the stroller.  I am thankful she is becoming more snuggly.  At night she will cuddle up with me, lean over give me a kiss, snuggle back up under my chin, lean up and give me a kiss, repeat, repeat.  It's hard to put her in bed on those nights.  We only have 5 teeth and are patiently waiting for the others as this momma is over teething.

Her personality is continuing to be revealed and it's precious!  So different from Mary Stewart.  Anna Caroline, thank you for adding such joy and spice to our lives!

Back In The Saddle

About a week a go it hit me, I think I might be back in the Saddle.

After coming off the summer of losing my father and all that encompasses that, I felt like July was a fog.  August came and I started cooking, going to the grocery store, getting back slowly into the routine of life- or at least the motions..  Now don't get me wrong- there are still nights I can't sleep, days where the lump won't get out of my throat, & I tear up at the faintest thought, but the other day I felt like I had a little bit of a break through.
I offered to keep my dear friend Emily's kids while she ran some last minute errands before their trip to the beach. I picked up my camera (something I hadn't done since May for Anna Caroline's birthday) and took pictures.

Mary Stewart adores Durham.  We are thankful to have such a handy friend to help us fix our car!

I can't quite describe it, but as I watched our children enjoy each other I felt like for the first time in a while I was back in the saddle.  Just a normal Friday morning.  Enjoying cute kids playing together, picking up around my house, making a picnic lunch- nothing extraordinary, just normal Donald living.  Thankful that though I'm never really "in the saddle"- meaning I never have it totally all together, thankful to feel kinda like I am.

Some days Anna Caroline spends lots of time snacking, as it is the ONLY place I can contain her besides her bed!!!

I tried desperately to get a picture of the "Caroline's" but as you can see mine would have nothing of it. These girls are about 6 months apart, but in about another year, that will seem like no time at all!

Speaking of the saddle- Preschool started this week.  I better get my saddle ready, because I have a feeling this horse is about to take off.........

Know the song from the 80's- wild wild west something or other, the line that comes to my mind is "love her wild wild hair"

Baby Anna Caroline

Baby Anna Caroline isn't so much a baby anymore.  Where has our time gone?  At 14 months 1 week I would consider her full fledged walking.  As long as she is moving she is happy.  Thankfully the more she walks, the less she climbs.  She is still long and lean.  I'm thinking she may be around 22 or 23 pounds.  We still have ONLY 4 teeth, but I am thinking we are working on some new ones.

Anna Caroline is now insisting on feeding herself.  Don't you dare think you could hold the spoon and feed her.  Miss Independent.  

I love hearing her & Mary Stewart giggle in the other room.  They are playing more more everyday.  She truly has such a sweet spirit, complemented with feisty independence.

I wouldn't have her any other way!!!!  

Never Gets Old

What is it about the baby pool that never gets old?

As 4 o'clock rolled around and I had a toddler who didn't nap and a teething almost one year old, I thought we needed a change of scenery!The girls loved it! As my dad would say, "Best $8 ever spent". Couldn't agree more. 

The girls loved it! As my dad would say, "Best $8 ever spent". Couldn't agree more. 

Cheers to many more afternoons in the baby pool!

So Fast......

I blink and another week, then month has gone by. I knew time flew but I feel like lately we've been going through life at warp speed!

Can you believe I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 10 month old?

("Where is me?" her favorite game these days)

Mary Stewart had her 2.5 year check up last week. Almost 38 inches tall and 34 pounds, the doc said she was perfectly proportional! I like that.

Mary Stewart is still such a sweet heart. She is a very loving and affectionate child and truly has a sweet disposition. Unfortunately for her she has two strong willed parents and so inherited some of that as well. We have our moments of being two but the good days far out weigh the bad. Mary Stewart loves the park, music class, bible study & school (this is technically MMO but she frequently ask to go to school) and being outside of course. She is quite the social butterfly so whenever friends are involved she is a happy girl.

Oh that precious baby Anna Caroline. I am shocked she is already 10.5 months old! When did this happen?

Truly she is such a content baby. Until she was 10 months old she has been happy to sit in her bucket (car seat) and watch the world go by. My friends jokingly comment that they've never seen her out of her seat or heard her cry. Seriously she may be the easiest baby ever. Now she just wants to be on the move constantly. It is so fun to watch her crawl (she's pretty speedy) and crab walk. She has already mastered climbing the stairs. Thankfully she is pretty tough when it comes to playing with her sister! She is finding her voice and beginning to have an opinion. At 10 months she was about 18 pounds, so still on the petite side but nice and long and lean. She has become quite the eater too! So far I haven't found anything she doesn't like.

It warms Matthew and I's heart to watch them play and interact. It is so fun and I am so excited for the days ahead, though I don't want them to go so fast though.

Fishies!

Last week our sweet friends invited us to the Aquarium. We were so excited! I knew Mary Stewart would love it and I was anxious to go as I had never been either. It was the perfect Friday morning. Thank you Mikki, Caleb and Micah!

You forget the amazement and wonder of a child.

How things we take for granted can be something so new and exciting.

Not sure if she ever really realized that the scuba diver was a person.....

Mary Stewart & Caleb in awe of the diver. Not sure quite what to think.

Just to document that this sweet baby was along for the ride. She continues to stay so content.

The stroller shot! I do love my double.

You really must go see the "fishes" if your in Atlanta!

Anna Caroline's Baptism

On January 15 we had Anna Caroline baptized. It was such a sweet day. We pray she will never know a day without Christ as her Savior.

Anna Caroline wore the same gown Mary Stewart did. The sweet story behind the gown is that it is Matthew's grandmother's Wedding dress from over 60 years ago! Anna Caroline was baptized in her namesake Anna Mae's wedding gown. Sweetness.

We were thrilled to have all of Anna Caroline's grandparents celebrate with us and of course Anut Randi too.

I was interested on how Mary Stewart would do at the front of the church. She sat amazingly well for 30 minutes in "big church" until it was time to baptize AC. As I would expect, she wasn't shy. She was very interested in the musicians and what was going on. At one point, Dr. Gardner picked her up as he was explaining things. This didn't phase her at all!!!

Thankful for my little family.

We celebrated with cake & coffee after nap!

Zoo & 8 Months

I can't believe it's January with the weather we have been having. I am the girl that never would want to live above the Mason Dixon line and certainly not want to deal with snow more than 2x a year so this mild weather has been right up my alley.

Today we went to the zoo with our friends.

Anna Caroline, Mary Stewart, Caleb & Micah

Perfect morning. It is so fun seeing Mary Stewart get excited about all the animals.

Mary Stewart & Caleb loved climbing on the lions. If you listen closely you can hear Mary Stewart "roaring"!

The elephant even showed off for us! Such gently giants!!!

In other news, this doll baby turned 8 months today!

She is almost 16 pounds! She is crawling and moving. She LOVES her sister & it is so fun to watch them interact together. Anna Caroline is finally getting over a cold and we are still waiting for that tooth to pop through. She is such a go with the flow, easy baby.

Thankful for beautiful days, good friends, and the children God has blessed me with!

Come Thou Long Expected Tooth

We are waiting and hoping for that expectant tooth. That tooth that is causing sleepless nights and our world to be rocked a little bit. However most of the time we are still our sweet little self!

We are officially on the move. Crawling on all fours & when the floor is too slippery Anna Caroline has mastered the army crawl.

Such a sweet heart, even when waiting for that tooth......

In other news we are almost 8 months old and almost 16 pounds! Such a peanut!

(Forgive the picture quality)

Yes Suz I am a Copy Cat

Today I saw precious pictures of my dear friend Suzanne's little men in the tub together. I don't always bathe the girls together but when I do Mary Stewart loves to have "baby Anna" (we haven't mastered Caroline) with her. Tonight I snapped a few shots and its so fun to see how tickled Anna Caroline gets when Mary Stewart talks to her. It warms my heart that they will have each other! Which makes me think of my own sweet sister (go look at the precious puppies on her blog), who by the way has a birthday today! Happy birthday Hattie!!

Mary Stewart "washing" Anna Caroline

Can't you just hear those giggles from Anna Caroline?