Our Baby is ONE!

Our Sweet Caroline turned ONE on June 2nd! I cannot believe it...simply CANNOT. It seems like yesterday we found out she'd be coming a little earlier than we expected. She made her arrival on a Tuesday at 2:15pm. She was our smallest baby weighing in at 8lbs. 1oz. and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. Her Daddy, brothers, and I immediatley loved her...and everyone else followed suit. She had a rough first few days at home being plugged into the wall in my room wrapped in her bili light and having a mama with major headaches, but we got passed it! Her Papa Doc passed away 8 days after she was born, so she went with me and Eric and the boys to the funeral home for his visitation at 10 days old. It was her first major outing. It was also mine and Eric's 10th anniversary. Being her mommy for the past year has been more than I could have imagined. She has filled our lives with lots of love and laughter! She truly has completed our family.

On June 2nd, she celebrated with a party at her Mimi and Papa's house. They were going to be out of town for her birthday party, so Mimi decided to host one at her house. Mrs. Kathy Cubley made her cupcake cake, and Nan made her an outfit with a cupcake applique' to wear. Mimi also bought her a pink cupcake dress to wear! I decorated with pinks and green and made a banner to celebrate her big day! Her cousins on her Daddy's side all came to the party (the only ones missing were Dylan and Alex), so you know she had fun! She didn't care too much for her cake, but I bet that will change in time! She opened presents with her Daddy and loved her new toys. On Friday, June 4th, we had a party for her at our house. The theme was ladybugs! I used the same colors to decorate for that party. Nan made her a ladybug outfit (sew cute!) and her ladybug cake. It couldn't have been better. She had fun opening presents with Mama and making a mess on the floor with her cake! Enjoy the pics of our Sweet Caroline.

 Party set-up at Mimi and Papa's house

Birthday banner I copied from the web

Her cupcake cake and smash cake from Mrs. Kathy

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Mostly making a mess with her cake instead of eating it

Opening presents with Daddy...her brothers gave her the puppies, which she LOVED!

With Dr. Rao before her shots on June 3rd...she weighed 19lbs. 3 oz! We love Dr. Rao and Tara and Keisha!

Some of her birthday decor at home!

Birthday table

Her ladybug cake from Nan...the ladybug was her smash cake! SO CUTE!

The birthday girl with Nan and Grandad, looking at Uncle Will

One of her favorite faces...this girl cracks us up!

Opening presents with Mama

With Sara Beth Hart...she was just over 1 month!

With Aunt Kim and Emma Grace!

Playing with her kitchen from Emma Grace..she loves that thing! And so do her brothers...ha!

Daddy's girl!

Happenings of late

Caroline got an early birthday present from Memaw and Papaw so she could practice walking! The doll blows kisses and says, "I love you!"

Memaw and Papaw love this little girl! Memaw had a tiny birthday cake with one candle in it and we all sang "Happy Birthday." Caroline didn't mind her party hat at all. :)

John Collier got his Wolf neckerchief at his Crossover Ceremony at Garland Scout Ranch on Grandad's birthday, the 24th. The five of us went, along with Nan and Grandad, and Mimi and Papa. We are so proud of him!

He had earned STRAIGHT A'S all year long! We couldn't be prouder. We don't care what grades he makes, as long as he tries his best! He tested in to the Discoveries program for next year. It's an academic enrichment-type class that he will attend 2x/week for 45 minutes.

JC with Mrs. Duty...the BEST 1st grade teacher I know! She loves him, and he loves her. She'll also be Caden's 1st grade teacher. :)

Caden with Mrs. Lewis...the BEST Kindergarten teacher I know! She taught JC, too. She has been very patient and understanding with our middle child this year! :) Caden happens to love her a lot...and she loves the Wibbens!

Caden clowing on his "Kindergarten Play Day" the Tuesday before school got out on Thursday

Sweet Caroline with MeMaw and Paw Paw the Friday I got out of school for the year. She is wearing her cupcake dress (one of her cupcake ensembles!) to celebrate her upcoming birthday. She took donut holes for her bigger friends, and Paw Paw bought her cupcakes to share. MeMaw gave her hers without the icing on top! :)

Friday night, Lindz celebrated her 29th birthday with a semi-surprise party at Mimi's. Aren't my MIL and sisters-in-law beautiful?

This weekend was also special because Ryan and Kristin came in with Dylan and Alex. Saturday Kristen and I took the 4 boys to Stan and Lisa's to swim. They had a ball! L to R: Caden, John Collier, Alex, and Dylan

Mimi and Papa at Mudbug Madness...we went Saturday night to celebrate Eric's 34th birthday. The Erwins, Ryan, Kristin, their boys, Ragan, Sharon, Avery, Anderson, Mimi, Papa, and the 5 of us went. The guys said the bugs weren't all that great, but the kids had fun playing in the jumpy things. We stood around listening to the music and visiting til it was time to head home. Alex came to spend the night with our boys. They slept on beanbags in the toy room!

Papa and his "Baby Boy" :)

Caroline being entertained by Nicholas...he is the funniest little guy I know (and has dance moves that rival anyone I know)!

Kristin with Dylan and Alex...such sweet additions to our family!

The Boys

John Collier and Caden have been busy bees! They are both playing ball. Caden's team is the Rangers, and he is playing t-ball. John Collier is on the Red Sox team, and he is playing machine pitch. That is quite the adventure for a boy who has never played baseball before! He was going to play t-ball last year but broke his arm on the way to his very first practice, so...he is having fun and striving to be the best! Caden, of course, LOVES playing. He just wants there to be more action involving him! He'd field the ball on every play if the coach would let him. :) They both had Field Day on the 7th. Eric took the day off work (mostly becasue he thought there was going to be nachos, alas, there were none) and came out to support his boys. I had to work on a specific field, so he had the duty of switching between the other fields and taking turns watching both boys. They had a great time and checked out and went home with Eric after it was over and mowed the grass and took a nap! (I know that's a lot of "ands"-oh well!)

JC earned his Tiger Badge!

Caden's team

Lefty batter

Showing off his work displayed at ArtBreak...the boy loves to draw and is really good at it!

Making veggie creations at ArtBreak

His crazy hat...he worked for a while to get it just right :)

Crazy Hair Night at church...thanks to Christy for the colored spray :) Their Nashville shirts are souveniers from Mimi and Papa's trip days before the devastating floods there.

Roll that hoop, John Collier!

No hands! Go CayCay!

Chowing down in Mama's room before heading home! Gotta love Field Day food!

Hanging with Laura and Marcus at the Greek Festival at St. George...they had a ball! Caden was so sad when he lost his "eye" necklace, but his Greek flag and olive branch headwear consoled him. :) Caroline was clowning! This was the day before the Taylors left for Italy.

Eleven months!

Sweet Caroline is 11 months old (plus a couple weeks now :))! I simply cannot believe my baby will be ONE soon. She is a blessing beyond measure, just like her brothers. We know how fortunate we are to have children at all, let alone happy, healthy ones. My heart goes out to those who long for a child or have had to watch their children suffer and even die. My family is my world, next to my Savior. Eric and I both consider our entire families to be enormous blessings. We love to spend time with just the five of us, but we also love to be with our parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and out-laws! I hope my children will grow up with a strong sense of family- of where they came from-and will always realize the support system they have. We are so very blessed!

Here are some pics of our sweet girl around her 11 month milestone:

Sweet, smiley girl

With fave girl cousin, Anne Michele

Daddy stealing kisses!

At ArtBreak...big, blue eyes

One of her constantly-changing, silly faces...this girl has got some personality!

Sup?

With Cuz Clint at one of Caden's t-ball games...she wanted those glasses!

Belly sugar!

What's our girl up to at eleven months?

-She has 7 teeth (she got the last one the night she got grounded!).

-She will say, "Tweet, tweet!" for a bird or her green rubber ducky.

-She will make Indian noises by patting her mouth...Memaw taught her that trick!

-She is funny about the texture of some things...and does NOT like some representations of objects that don't look/feel like the real thing!

-No one makes her laugh like Caden...seriously!

-She still nurses in the morning, then goes back to sleep til time to go to MeMaw and PawPaw's.

-She gets a 7 ounce bottle and rice or oatmeal cereal for breakfast then takes an am nap.

-She sleeps well!:)

-She gets a veggie and another bottle at lunch, after which she naps again. Dinner is a meat and a fruit, followed by a bottle closer to bedtime.

-She is usually in bed around 7 and will sleep 12 hours most of the time.

-She is very mobile...crawling aroung and pulling up on the furniture, my pants leg, the bathtub, or whatever she can grab on to!

-She has not had separtaion anxiety yet...and I hope she doesn't. I hate leaving a crying baby!

-Her brothers and Daddy love her!

-Her Daddy can make her cry like no one else. It's really pitiful! She cries so hard, she starts snubbing and can't catch her breath. He's only done it a few times, and never on purpose. Something about her Daddy fussing at her just sends her over the edge! Maybe she's gonna be a Daddy's girl like her Mama! :)

-She is still a sweet, happy girl most of the time. We are so blessed!