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.

Pumpkin Pickin' at The Great Country Farm

Saturday, October 4, 2008: Caroline's first trip to the pumpkin patch...who knew it would be such fun!

We had heard great things about The Great Country Farm located in Bluemont, VA...and I have to say they were all true!

There was an animal farm to visit (check out Caroline's imitation of Mattie below), pipe slides, corn mazes, a HUGE bouncy ball trampoline, cow train rides and of course the highlight...a hayride to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins...and much, much more to do especially if Caroline had been a little bigger. However, Daddy did manage to talk Mommy into letting him take Caroline down the pipe slide. I wasn't sure how she would react. Well, actually I thought she would be terrified and crying as they came out at the bottom, but I was wrong, well a little wrong. By the look on her face, I'm not sure if she really knew what had happened. SO, Daddy had to take her again...but I think she had a good time. Caroline and Daddy also rode the cow train ride...a little less terrifying to an 11 month old. I think Daddy intentionally picked the cow named "NICK" to remind him of the Army Corps! ;~) When the cow train ride had come to the end of the road, we decided to take a break and eat some lunch and enjoy the live music. Caroline LOVES music...swaying her head from side to side to the beat!

Now it was time for the main event...the hayride out to the pumpkin patch, where Caroline picked the most perfect pumpkin! Well, with a little help from Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandad! ;~)

Here are just a few pics of our day at the The Great Country Farm and the Pumpkin Pickin' event! Happy Halloween!

Hey Look at me...pretending to be our dog Mattie.

Daddy...what just happened...was that a slide?
Caroline and Daddy riding the "Nick" Cow Train
Our Family...Mommy, Daddy, and Caroline in the Patch with the perfect 'lil pumpkin

(well, two of them)
Grandma, Grandad, Caroline, Daddy, and Mommy