Caroline Happenings...

Hi Everyone! We have been so busy with so many new adventures that we haven't had the chance to share...SO finally here we go...sit back, relax and enjoy reading and seeing "A life in Caroline" over the past month!

It's amazing how much you change from week to week, or sometimes even day to day when you are only 16 months(on March 8). It's a good thing that the aging process seems to slow a little as you get our age...well at least I hope!! After a full day of playing, I sometimes feel as if I am aging as quickly as my own daughter! :`) You know what I mean!

Well I am going to begin the journey...is it Spring yet? Even though we just had our biggest snow of the season, yesterday (3/2/09)...yes, as you can see I started this blog a few days ago and I am just now returning...things happen, and if you have kids you know what I mean.

The month of February was busy with spending some time enjoying our nice spring like weather at the park, a special Valentine's Day, Caroline's first Little Tyke's Gym class, and finishing Caroline's playroom! YEAH!!

First things first...

Caroline absolutely LOVES being outside. We visited Ida Lee Park a few times (which is in walking distance of our house). It's a great park facility, with swings, sliding, and lots of green space to run and explore. We are SO looking forward to the opening of the renovated library, which seems to be beautiful as well as the BRAND NEW pool complex that will be opening Memorial Day weekend, which are all a part of this great park. It looks like the pool is going to have everything you can imagine, from a lazy river, to all types of slides, children's play area, snack bar etc...we can't wait!! Ida Lee Park has so much to offer for families. It's great to live so close to all of the happenings. Oh, by the way, since pool season will be upon us before you know it, I will be enrolling Caroline in a Mommy and Me swim class to reacquaint her with the swimming pool. I think she is going to LOVE IT!! She loved the pool last year (6-9 months), so I can only imagine how fun she will be this year...I'm just as excited to see as Caroline. I love our new adventures. The only thing I am dreading is getting into a bathing suit...my diet starts now!! As you can see, Caroline enjoyed all of her park adventures...she loves watching all of the other kids play as well....laughing when they laugh!! Playing with Grandma and Grandad at the park was waaay fun...she's too cute!!

On to the next adventure of the month... Ahhh...Valentine's Day! Yes, we made sure that Caroline knew that she was our favorite Valentine!! Daddy bought her a teddy bear to snuggle with on that special day. And lets not forget the stuffed animals and gifts that she received from her grandparents and Aunt and Uncle...she's a LOVED little girl!! But I will have to say, her most favorite gift that day, probably were the heart balloons given by her Daddy and I. Well, if you didn't know, balloons could be her most favorite thing. In fact, when visiting our local Home Depot store recently (no, not on Valentine's Day...but I could see that happening if Brian is involved! ;~)), their store displays were decorated with balloons. Caroline ran to each one of them and pointed up to them as to say, "these are for me, right?" Who knew she would think that ALL balloons are created for her!! ;) Needless to say, we had to try and avoid all other balloon displays to keep our little toddler happy. We ALL had a nice Valentine's day together.

Her daddy and I spent our evening at the movies at our church. "Fireproof"' was the movie of choice. It was really good...I would definitely recommend it for couples!! It was a great Valentine's day viewing. Our little Caroline spent the evening with her Grandma and Grandad dressed in her Valentine's dress, playing with her balloons and all of her Valentine's...her stuffed animals! Giving kisses and hugs all around!! She's such a loving little girl. She will ALWAYS be our little Valentine!

And the next...

Caroline's first Little Tyke's Gym class. This is a class offered by the Parks and Recreation here in Leesburg at the Olde Izaak Walton Park in town. This particular class is for children 8 months to 18 months old. We've only been to one class so far, but Caroline had a lot of fun! It's just a big open space...lots of room to run...which is nice. At the beginning of class, everyone sits in a circle for songs and then they are on their own (well with their Mommy's help of course) to explore all of the gym equipment...pint size just for them!! ;~) There are mats, tunnels, slides, and even an uneven bar. Our little Caroline had to try that one out...maybe she will be a gymnast one day... The class ends with a bubble machine blowing bubbles all around and the teacher gives each little gymnast a stamp on their hand at the end of class...a Mickey Mouse stamp at that. Caroline was AMAZED! She just kept looking at her hand and showing it off. Unfortunately, the stamp washed off in the bath that night, but if you ask her about her Mickey stamp, she will still point to her hand, as if it was still there. SO CUTE!!! I've posted a couple of pics from her class below so you can see our little gymnast in action.

And lastly...

Caroline's NEW playroom!! Yes, we are finally done...well we do still have a few little things to do. We still have to hang curtains, hang the alphabet letters around the room and a couple of odds and end things to do, but all in all we are done. When Caroline first saw her room, it was priceless! It was if to say, "Is this ALL for me?" Seeing all of her toys in one room makes you realize that she is definitely a lucky little girl to have all of these things...we are so grateful and I know she is too! We are enjoying playing in her NEW room each day...many, many, new adventures and happenings. Thanks Daddy for your hard work...we LOVE it!!

Here's a few happenings and highlights from Caroline's NEW playroom so far...

*She LOVES to read!! It's a good thing b/c she has SO MANY books...but we need a lot of books...especially pop-up books, since we have managed to rip out a few things...we haven't mastered that concept yet...we're working on it! We have a special designated corner for reading...she even sits in her little play chair by herself pretending to read...it is SO CUTE!!

**She discovered her own "play" diaper bag for her baby. It has been in the toy box in her room. She has just recently taken interest in it. She even got the pretend baby bottle out of the bag the other day and pretended to feed her baby...what a nice Mommy!! How smart is she!! ;~)

***My favorite has been JUST WATCHING her play. Going from playing with her "Little People" (which is probably her favorite of all toys), to reading in her chair, to seeing all of her many expressions and actions: swaying from side to side or marching in place to music, giving kisses and hugs to me and all her toys, waving hello and bye bye while holding Mommy's cell phone (yes, I know she is not suppose to have this but we like to pretend to be like Mommy sometimes).

****And last but not least, we are learning to try and clean up our toys as we go...or at least before we leave our toy room. She is becoming a good little helper! We are also practicing using the words thank you, your welcome and love you. These are just a few. Caroline makes sure to tell all of her toy friends bye-bye as we leave her room...I love it!! ;~)

So, I think that gets us caught up on all or most of our happenings this past month. As I mentioned earlier, we had our biggest snow so far this season on March 2nd. We all had a fun time playing out back in the snow...Caroline "our snow princess", Mommy, Daddy, and we can't forget Mattie...had lots of fun throwing snow balls, tasting the snow (yuck) and watching our doggie Mattie run circles in the backyard. Once inside we were all in need of a good nap!

Check out more pics of our little snow angel in the next BLOG post of pics. Now...we will get ready to lose an hour of sleep this weekend as we spring forward with our clocks...spring time here we come! FINALLY!!! Hope you enjoy these pics of our Sweet Caroline...Can you believe it...in only 2 months our little baby will be 18 months old...a year and a half...I can't believe it...where did my little infant go...toddler years are half over...then a pre-schooler...WOW!! So much more to come...I can't wait!

Ohhhh....I forgot one of the most important happenings...Caroline is sleeping ALL NIGHT in her crib...shhhh...we don't want to jinx it. Yes, can you believe it 10 hours of sleep in her own crib. She usually falls asleep by 8:45pm at the latest and wakes up around 645am. I would love to be able to say that we didn't have to purchase something to make this happen BUT we did. I think I had tried everything, except a sound machine. I knew I had to give it a try in order to say that I had exhausted all options, so I headed to Target to make the purchase. It is just a simple GRACO sound machine set on the "white noise" setting with nightlight built in...AMAZING!! IT WORKS!! Finally...I will have to say that I do miss snuggling with her at night...but getting a good night sleep is much needed these days...keeping up with our little toddler requires LOTS of FUN ENERGY!! Now we have to hope that "springing forward" this weekend will not throw us a curve ball. Please PRAY!

Love, Caroline's Mommy

Grandma and Caroline having fun swinging at the park.

Caroline and Grandad swinging at the park.

Caroline having fun with Grandma and Grandad at the park.

What is this???

Caroline relaxing in the grass.

Caroline is checking out her surroundings.

Caroline and Mommy watching the other kids play.

Look at me...all this open space to run...I LOVE IT!

Caroline's new favorite thing to do...SWING!!

SLIDING...yeah...catch me Daddy!

Caroline says, "Happy Valentine's Day Mattie!"

Caroline hugging all of her Valentine's Day stuffed animals.

Look at me...I'm a little gymnast! GOLD MEDAL FOR SURE!!

OOHHH...BUBBLES...FUN!!

Caroline's New Play Room.

Caroline is excited about her new room!!

Caroline relaxing on her own...BIG COMFY COUCH!!

Our Little Snow Princess

Caroline's First Snow!! As you can tell by the look on her face, she wasn't sure what this white stuff was!?!

Let me set up the story...the details leading up to going out to play in the snow. This may help you understand that our little miss smiley Caroline was not doing too much smiling in these pics.

I decided to wait until around 4pm to try and take her out, knowing it was close to a quick afternoon nap time, which already put us at a disadvantage, but I didn't want her to miss experiencing her first real snow. So, we proceeded to get dressed in her many layers of clothing. First, a t-shirt onesie, next a turtleneck onesie, then a fleece pullover with a hat, jeans, socks, snowsuit overalls, and snow jacket. When it was time to complete her outfit with her matching snow boots, Caroline was not having it! The left foot went into the boot, no problem, but that stubborn right foot wouldn't go. I tried several times and the more I tried, the more frustrated WE BOTH got. So, I did what was best at that time and conceded and put on her tennis shoes and decided that we would only go out for a quick (probably 5 minutes, literally) play in the snow. All of that preparation for five minutes but the pictures and Caroline's reaction, oh and Mattie's too, was priceless.

I hope you enjoy the pics of our "Snow Princess" Miss Caroline.
Stay Warm!

Love,
Mommy to a Snow Princess

What is that???

And What am I wearing???

Our Snow Princess...Miss Caroline.

Snow Princess - Miss Caroline and Mommy

Mattie giving her favorite playmate a kiss.

Caroline Visits Cartoon Cuts...

for her FIRST BIG GIRL haircut!! She even has the First Haircut Certificate and locks of hair to prove it! Into the baby book it will go for her to see years from now. It's hard to believe that she will be 15 months old on February 8! I know I have said it many times before but time IS really flying by.

She is our sweet toddling Caroline...our girly girl. Each day is new and exciting for her and for me! From her sweet words (Oh Wow!, What is that?) to her sweet smiles and big hugs, tickling laughs, and her snuggle bug ways. She is WONDERFUL! Each day I see her growing into a little girl that is strong willed, of course, yet sweet as can be...especially when she gives you her sweet smile with her 7 teeth, oh actually 8, with one of her molars coming in...that's not much fun for her, or actually for any of us!

Oh, I forgot to mention how smart she is of course!! She can show you her nose, eyes, ears, mouth, head, toes...were working on the rest.

We love our Caroline and love each and every new adventure. Even though these FIRSTS have come and gone (and I am SAD) I am even more PROUD AND EXCITED to have such a wonderful daughter to love!

Hope you enjoy the pics of Caroline and her very 1st haircut...I love having these memories and thanks for sharing these memories with us!

Happy 2009 Everyone...may it be a year of FIRSTS for EVERYONE!

The BEFORE shot of Caroline.

Mommy is telling the stylist what she wants cut.

Caroline is looking in the mirror trying to figure out what is going on. Well, either that or at the cartoons that were playing on the TV...hence the name, Cartoon Cuts! ;~)

The AFTER shot of Caroline.

Another AFTER shot of Caroline...she looks like she's saying, What??

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!!