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)

A Glimpse

Just a little glimpse into a Christmas Extravaganza ( I Say this because we had 4 different celebrations! Oh wait 5!) as seen from my i phone. I hope to post some sweet pictures from the good camera but here we go.......

My sweet family on Christmas morning!

This was just too cute not to share! Anna Caroline is still just so sweet.

Meredith (my sis's sister in law, Holly (my sis), Fleur (BF from high school) & me!

Don't judge, we took this picture in an attempt to showcase 4 different years of ddd pledge classes. Cheesy I know.

When we go to Baton Rouge it is such a whirlwind but this was probably one of my favorite night. So many of my closest friends from high school and college got together one night. So fun. Wish now we would have taken that group shot!!

Mary Stewart LOVES "Lizzy Goose". I think Lizzy may like her.

Sweet Anna Caroline on Christmas Morning

Mary Stewart with her manger scene from "Maw Maw Anna". She was particulary upset today when I packed up Christmas- "Where baby Jesus go Mommy?"

Ever heard of Kissing Cousins? Here you go.....Look how she just grips him.

Watch out!!

Like I said, this is but a glimpse.... but a sweet glimpse into a wonderful Christmas

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?

Let's Back Up

As I was uploading pictures on my computer I realized I never shared my precious flower or ballerina with you! Halloween was pretty low key this year.

(5 months old)

(2 years 1 month)

Our neighborhood has a great little Halloween Parade. We walked over to the parade with Emily & Durham and Shelley & Karter. Mary Stewart enjoyed looking at the costumes and then we enjoyed pizza and called it a night. I think next year she and her daddy will be ready to trick or treat!

His & Hers

Not sure if I have ever mentioned what a wonderful street we live on. All of our neighbors are great. The sweet family across the street took us in from the beginning. They are the definition of what it truly means to be a neighbor. Anyway, they have 2 girls (college & high school), and warned us when we were expecting with Anna Caroline we were about to go from zone coverage to man on man. Boy were they right. Most of the time it's Mary Stewart and her daddy.....

and me and Baby Anna Caroline

I thought these pictures were sweet!

Crazy Fast

It's scary just how crazy fast the time goes. On Thursday Anna Caroline turned 6 months. In one breath it's hard to believe we are already here and in the other breath it seems like she's always been a part of our family. At one time I wondered if I would ever be able to love the 2nd as much as I loved the first. Somehow God allows your heart to expand and grow. Anna Caroline has captivated my heart. I am still amazed at what a content child she is. She fusses when she's tired and when she's tired! Truly she is the sweetest disposition.

Six months was maybe a bigger mile stone of me than Anna Caroline. I'll spare you all the messy details but a little shy of 3 months, Anna Caroline went on a nursing strike. I have been pumping 5 to 6 times a day for the past 3 months. After talking to my pediatrician the goal was 6 months and anything else was lagniappe. Well we've made it! Looking back it really hasn't been that bad. Yet again, I look back and see where the Lord met me and gave me the endurance. Not sure how many more days of pumping are in my future, but there is a stock pile in the freezer and I know we will be fine going forward.

Now for the fun stuff Anna Caroline is doing......

* She has begun to sleep 12 (+) hours at night!

* She loves sucking on her toes.

* She can put in and take out her pacifier all by herself.

* She rolls from front to back and back to front with no problem.

* She is definitely scooting around.

*She is eating rice cereal, banana's and apples.

* She is a much better napper than her sister, thankful for that!!!

I don't want to forget the way the takes her bed time bottle. We snuggle together and as the falls asleep she takes her left arm and crosses it over her eyes. Precious.

I swear she gave me a hug and kiss the other night. As I was rocking her before I put her down, I always pull her face close to mine and kiss her cheek. When I stood up, she pulled my face towards her and gave me a big open mouth kiss (the best kind from a baby). I am counting it as a kiss & hug.

So thankful for baby Ann Caroline.

(Anna Caroline LOVES to be on her tummy. She has great core strength. Maybe a future Pilates instructor?)

PS- We don't go for our check up for a couple of weeks, My guess is she's around 15 pounds. This is what Mary Stewart was doing at 6 months: http://ashleydonald.blogspot.com/2010/04/half-way-there.html