Caroline Meets Santa For The First Time...Second Time...

AND SHE LOVED HIM!!


Even though this is officially Caroline's 2nd Christmas with us, she is experiencing sitting on Santa's lap for the first time. We had decided that we didn't want Caroline exposed to all of the many germs that adorned the Santa suit since she was so little last year (only 6 weeks old at Christmas).


SO, this year was it. The meeting of the big fat man in the red suit! We didn't know what to expect. I'm not sure about Brian, but my mom had said that when I was young, I never liked Santa. So I didn't know if this would be something that would rub off on Caroline. BUT she LOVED him!


She loved him so much, we have actually seen two different Santa's now. I guess that's to make up for not taking her last year! ;~)


You can see in the first pictures with Santa that she may have been a little unsure (trying not to look at who was holding her). The other Santa and especially Nellie the Elf was a big hit with Caroline. I think she may have thought that they were stuffed animals. She LOVED both of them! She kept walking back towards them, as if to say, let's play some more! It was hard for her to say goodbye, but she did manage to give them a wave as we were walking away. We may have to visit Santa again before the holiday. I think Caroline still has some things that she would like to say to Santa before Christmas Day!


All in all a good first Santa experience to remember! Just wait till next year....2 years old...we will see what happens then! ;~)


Merry Christmas!

Caroline with the first Santa...maybe if I don't look at him, I won't know that he's holding me!

Caroline with a 'lil smile!

Caroline still trying not to look at Santa!


SANTA TAKE TWO...

Caroline with Santa & Nellie the Elf...she LOVED them!

Caroline with her new found friends!

Our Family with Santa & Nellie the Elf.

It looks like Caroline is trying to wrap Santa and the Elf around her finger with that sweet smile!

13 Months Old Today AND...

WALKING!! Yes, Caroline is officially walking. It was actually a more gradual approach that began around 12 1/2 months. I could see her getting more and more confident each day. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Caroline had everyone to take her hand at one point or another to assist her in her new talent...walking. At that point she saw walking as an alternate transportation and preferred taking the crawling route in order to get to what she wanted faster.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect AND all of this practice has paid off!


Now, she has changed her mind and is liking the walking thing...she's doing more walking and less crawling everyday. Let's just say...Mommy is TIRED at the end of the day! BUT, believe me, I am loving every minute of my day, well maybe some moments are better than others, :~) but it is AMAZING seeing our once infant who slept most of the day develop into this toddler that is walking, talking, babbling, playing, waving, hugging, kissing, smiling, you name it from the time she wakes up in the morning until she goes to bed at night! She has even been under the weather (sinusitis & double ear infection) BUT she still manages to get her play time in with a smile on her face most all day.




Who is the sweetest girl in town....Caroline Elizabeth!!



We've posted a video of Caroline's new found talent...ENJOY!!


What a big girl she is!

We're SO PROUD of our little girl!!


CAROLINE WALKS!

Thanksgiving with The Wilders 2008

YES, It's Turkey Lurky time again!! The beginning of the holiday season. A time to be with family and friends. A time to be thankful for the many blessings that God has given us, especially our little Caroline. A time to eat like it was the last meal for the year...even though we definitely do not need to be eating this much food...just more to work off beginning in January, right?! ;~) EATING, DRINKING, and STUFFING ourselves in the company of our family.

This year was the Wilder's year. Each year we alternate between my family and Brian's family. We spent this Thanksgiving with my family and next year we will be dining with the Battens.

This year was a little different for the Wilder family. We have been spending Thanksgiving with my family every other year now since 2002 at the Outer Banks. My parents rent an oceanfront home for the week for us all to enjoy. We've had lots of good memories....well, except for the "The Storm" we rode out in 2006, but all in all good times! This year we were unable to coordinate the beach trip, so we decided since we were going to be in Richmond, we would at least do something different.

SO, we decided to have our Thanksgiving dinner at The Richmond Country Club. No one had to cook OR clean...which was really nice! The food was fantastic and atmosphere was beautiful as always. We spent the rest of the day, like most other families, watching football and sleeping off the turkey that we had consumed. That night we spent time around the fire outside roasting marshmallows and making s'mores...mmm...one of my favorites!!
Even though we didn't make it to the Outer Banks for Thanksgiving this year, it turned out to be a special year spent in Richmond...making new traditions! Some us of even managed to get an early start on Christmas shopping...shopping at 4am is definitely something that everyone should experience at one time or another....it's another world...only the brave can endure!!
It was fun BUT I think I will be sleeping in a little longer next year. ;~)

I hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day and enjoy the pics below.

Oh, by the way, sorry this post is a little late...I've had a sick 'lil pumpkin...just a cold, but I think she is on the mend. She must have eaten TOO MUCH turkey!! When looking at some of these pics of Caroline, I can't believe how much she has changed in the past year. This year Caroline was able to really enjoy her Thanksgiving meal (well at least what didn't end up on the floor). Last year I think she slept right through the meal. She was weighing in last year as a small turkey breast....now she is a full fledged turkey lurky!! ;~) ENJOY!!

The Wilder Family @ The Richmond Country Club

Grandma and Grandad with all of the Grandchildren

Posing by the Fire

More Posing by the Fire

Brian and I enjoying our fireside chat...and of course our S'more

MORE...ONE year old Birthday Pics of Caroline

Welcome to my house...one of my many 1st Birthday gifts...I'm gonna have fun with this!

Watch out...here I come...Baby coming through...

Grandma & Caroline before her 1 year old Doctors Appointment.

Giddyup pony...lets go!
YUMMY...this cow juice is GOOD!!

Happy 1st Birthday Caroline!

What a BIG DAY!!
I can't believe it. Our baby turned ONE this past Saturday, November 8.
I know so many people say this, but it does seem like just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital. She was weighing in a that time at only 7 lbs. 9 oz and was 19 inches long. Now she is 24 lbs. 10 oz., almost 25 lbs. and 30 inches long. WOW...what a difference. She's such a big girl! The only thing that I can think of that hasn't changed much is her sleeping patterns. She was not a very good sleeper then and guess what...she's still not a good sleeper....I guess some things never change! ;~)
The way we look at it, it's just more opportunity for us to snuggle with our little girl!
We love every chance we can get!

We had planned a Baby Einstein theme party for our little ONE year old! She LOVES Baby Einstein. Anything Baby Einstein...books, videos, Cd's, toys it doesn't matter. She loves them all.
Our family and friends were all here to celebrate this BIG DAY with Caroline and her Mommy and Daddy! We had lots of food...and cake & ice cream of course...opened lots and lots of presents. Miss Caroline even had her own special cake (A GIANT CUPCAKE!) She managed to dig into her cake (literally) ...she was SOOOOO cute!

So, with our first year of parenting over...it's time to move on to the even more difficult stage...toddlerhood! Well, I guess we have the teenage years as well, but we'll worry about this first "T" stage for now. Although Caroline is not walking by her 1st Birthday, she is crawling at warp speed, pulling up on everything, cruisin' along the furniture, and exploring all that is in her way. We are awaiting those first monumental steps of freedom, which will be a milestone that we will celebrate with both joy and tears. This will truly be the BIG STEP from BABY to LITTLE GIRL!

Oh by the way, as of Monday, November 10, Caroline is now drinking whole milk and she's loving it! There is one catch...she insists on having it in a bottle NOT a sippy cup. I guess she will always be our baby! ;~)
I hope you enjoy these pics of Caroline's 1st Birthday party!
The first of many more celebrations to come...

The Baby Einstein Cake...this was the cake for the guests...

I'm ready for MY cake!

Wow...look at these balloons...is this all for me?!?

Look...a GIANT Cupcake...ALL FOR ME!

Here Mommy, taste it...it's really good!

YUMMY!

Caroline lovin' the Baby!

Oh Wow! What a GREAT 1st Birthday!

Caroline and her friends Luke and Gabriel with their balloons...fascinating!

Happy Birthday to ME! Clap, Clap, Clap...
Wow...I even have a banner with my name on it...I'm SO SPECIAL!

Mommy, Caroline, and Daddy

Grandma B and Caroline

Grandma & Caroline

Grandma, Caroline, and Grandad...yeah!

Look POPS...it's my 1st Birthday!

Caroline's GIANT Cupcake...or what was left of it!

Caroline snuggling on the couch with her Cousins...the day after the Party.

Cousin Bella and Caroline

Election Day - November 4, 2008

Today is Election Day!

Caroline's FIRST ELECTION DAY...

Many are calling this election the biggest election since Kennedy in the '60's. Today we will have a president elect that will either be a veteran that has honorably served our country or a man that is making history being the first African American running for president. Either way, our country is getting ready for CHANGE! Much needed change in fact. Let's hope that one of these candidates can CHANGE this country for the good of the people.

With this being said, we set out for the poles around 2pm hoping to avoid the crowds and thankfully we did. It was actually uneventful. We went in... filled in our ballots...submitted them through the electronic reader machine and received our "I Voted" sticker. Daddy thought that Caroline needed a sticker...even though she will not be eligible to vote for another 17 years...but she is wearing the sticker PROUD. She still won't tell us who she voted for...she says..."It's a secret." Since mommy and daddy's vote cancelled each other out, who knows, Caroline's vote could put one of these candidates over the top!

Now we just wait and see...

Wouldn't you like to know who I voted for?!?

It's a secret...

Our 'lil Pumpkin

Caroline's 1st Halloween!

We spent the afternoon viewing "The Great Big Pumpkin Charlie Brown" in order to get us into the holiday spirit...it looks like this will become our new tradition for the Halloween holiday.

Now it was time for the big debut of...Caroline in costume...as OUR 'LIL PUMPKIN!!

Since mommy and daddy always call her pumpkin, it was obvious that there was only one thing she could be for Halloween...yes, you guessed it...a pumpkin. And she was the cutest 'lil pumpkin ever!! ;~) I thought for sure she would be pulling her stem (her hat) off all night but she actually kept it on the whole time. I think she kinda liked all of the attention that this costume was getting her! Smiling from ear to ear of course.

Here in Leesburg, instead of trick-or-treating from door to door, we have a huge parade that happens on King Street, our main street downtown. Since we live downtown, we were able to walk up to the parade to see all of the sites and enjoy the marching bands and of course all of the candy that was being thrown to all of the kids! Caroline of course is not old enough for candy yet but next year she will definitely LOVE IT! So, mommy and daddy got to eat the candy that was thrown her way. We saw so many great costumes BUT I have to say our 'lil pumpkin was the cutest of them all!!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween...enjoy the pics!

Is she cute or what?!?!

Caroline 'lovin her 'lil Mattie doggie.

I'm the cutest 'lil pumpkin ever!

OOOOOOHHHHHH...


Caroline and her 'lil doggie named Mattie
(dressed as a pumpkin as well).

Hey look...this looks like me...no it's a Jack-O-Lantern.

The Leaves are Falling...

I love this time of year. It's so beautiful. I just had to get some pics of Caroline in the midst of all the beautiful fall colored leaves. She loved it! As you will see in the pics below, Caroline was trying to figure out where all of those leaves were coming from...from the sky maybe??? Oh, I know, from the trees! Even though she's not talking it's like you can imagine that this is what she must be thinking.

SO PRETTY!!

Where are these things coming from?
Mommy...try and catch me!

Since it has been a while since I had posted, I wanted to post a couple of pics from our trip to Coastal Carolina - Myrtle Beach, SC. We had visited for the anniversary of the marine research center that Brian had been a part of as a student. We had a great time visiting with his old friends while tailgating, yes tailgating at Coastal...they have a football team now. We even got to take in the game while we were there. It was homecoming and they just happened to be playing Brian's other Alma Mater...Stony Brook. Coastal ended up losing the game...I guess you can say either way Brian couldn't lose!

Daddy & Caroline at the Beach.

Coastal Carolina University - Brooks Football Stadium

Taking Some First Steps

Ok, I may be exaggerating a little, BUT...they were still steps, even if they were executed like a weeble wobble! ;~) Unfortunately, I couldn't hold out my arms for Caroline to walk to me and take pics at the same time, so I don't have the proof, you'll just have to take my word on this. I've been trying to get her to practice some more but I think she is done for now. I think she figures the crawling gig is a lot easier and faster than trying to walk right now. All in time. She's fast now, I can only imagine how crazy it will be once she is walking around everywhere. I'm sure once she does the "real thing" we will have it on video for all to see. For now, I have posted just a few pics of the two of us together in our matching vests, well one is black and one is pink, but other than that they are matching! ;~)

Mommy & Caroline

Mommy & Caroline posing with our Pumpkin.