Mini Photo Shoot

I decided to take advantage of the good lighting in our bedroom this afternoon and shoot some pics of Caroline. They're pretty good, for an amateur!


I love her rosy cheeks and can't handle her sweet lips! I kiss them over and over again...




This one is my favorite even though it's a little blurry!



I love every inch!

The Pastry Garden @ Gordon Creek

We found this hidden gem in the heart of downtown Hattiesburg last week. I think it may just become a tradition for us! I love the fact that Dan has a flexible schedule at work now so he can pick me up for lunch every now and then. This is the first time since we've been married that we've been able to enjoy lunches together!



I really enjoy seeing him in the middle of the day... it is just the pick-me-up that I so often need! And it kinda feels like we're cheating in some way- going out to eat without a baby to tend to.

This restaurant used be called Gordon Creek Deli... anyway, the atmosphere is perfect. The walls are painted a pretty green color and they have a wonderful screened in patio to eat on when the weather is nice.

Wednesday their special is shrimp & grits! So southern!



They also have fantastic desserts! (Hence the name... pastry garden). And the best part? A cookie comes with your meal!

Homes of Hope for Children

Please go vote for this worthy cause! They are in 2nd place to win $250,000 to help complete their project.

http://www.hohfc.org/ (Click the big red box and read the instructions below. After you register for the first time you have to click vote again).

Visit w/ Wren & Allan

Today was a GREAT day! I'm blogging so frequently now I feel like this is a day-by-day journal. Anyway, it'll be good to have down the road. Caroline and I went to visit our friends Wren & Allan in Mobile. We went to a yummy Japanese restaurant and then to the mall. Allan ditched us when we went to the mall. What's wrong with him? :) Wren cut my hair and I must say, it looks FANTASTIC! It felt so good to get that weight off and get some style! I'll probably take a picture sometime this week.

Right before we left, they had her laughing. It was so adorable... and it was the first time I really heard her laugh like that! She laughed some more as Dan and I were telling her goodnight. It melts my heart!





I got home right before 8 and spent some time straightening the house and moving the rest of Caroline's stuff into her room. She is officially sleeping in her room now so the changing pad and clothes and everything is OUT of our bedroom. Our bedroom actually looks half decent now. No clutter- what a concept!

Here's a picture we took tonight:

(Carrie- Thanks for letting us borrow the PJs and the shoes she was wearing in the pictures from earlier today. I am in love with those shoes!)


I realize all the pictures are getting excessive, but I just cannot help it. I guess that's part of being a proud Mommy!


Well, I'm pretty sleepy so I'm going to go catch some shut eye now. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Duds outfits & Hubfest

I bought several cute things at Duds for doodlebugs earlier this week. I got about 7 things for under 30 bucks... not bad at all! Here are my favorites:



(Yes, I'm letting Caroline wear a bikini; it's cute now... not so much when she is 13.)


Then, today my mom & Gommy came so that we could go to Hubfest! Mom brought her dog so Shelby & Roscoe had a fun time running around in the back yard.


Caroline was all dressed up for her first festival (and her Hattiesburg premier). She was wearing her cousin Kate's bow & outfit. So, so cute!



Here are a couple of pics we took while at Hubfest.


Mom bought me an easter present too! I love it!


It was a fun time had by all. I think Caroline is upset that her Mamaleigh and Gommy left... she was super fussy for about an hour and a half. We just swaddled her and I think we're in the clear now. :) Tonight is a BIG milestone for us. Caroline will be spending her first night in her room! I can't believe she is going to be all the way across the house, but hopefully it will be fine. For the last few nights she has been going to bed at 7:30 in her room and we wake her up at 9:30 for her bottle and she sleeps in her pack 'n play next to my bed. Well, today I put the pack 'n play away so hopefully that will make me do this!

Tomorrow C & I are going to Mobile to visit Wren! She is a hairdresser and is going to cut my hair! I'm soooo ready- it takes forever to blow dry as long as it is now. Maybe I'll be a good blogger and take before and after pictures. Hope everyone is having a fun weekend!

Finally Friday!

This little girl....



is SO glad it's Friday! She gets to see her Mammaleigh, Gommy, and Wrenie this weekend! What a lucky girl!

these make me happy

My new life has me dreading every day that I come to work and have to leave my sweet smelling baby girl with people I don't really know that well (for 10 long hours).... BUT, thanks to God and my coworker Carol, these beautiful tulips brighten my entry and exit to work each day.



They make me feel like, somehow, it's all going to be alright... because at least it's spring. Isn't it crazy that flowers can do that to a person? ... I'm such a sap!

The Cutest Snorer Ever & American Idol Opinions

Yep, that's my girl! She is snoring almost as bad as I did in my 3rd trimester! I've never heard her snore like this before... but I must say, it is sooo cute! (Again, if anyone knows why youtube is cutting off the right side of my video, I would be very appreciative if you would share!)

Yesterday after I got off work Caroline and I took our first real stroll outside. Here are some pictures I took on my cell phone as we were walking.
Steps to a successful walk: 1. look cute 2. fuss 3. drool


On to American Idol. Who's watching it?
Oh my goodness... can I tell you how much I don't like Siobhan? PLEASE do not scream at me again! I didn't like it when Adam Lambert did it last year, and I don't like it when you do it either. Also, I know this is mean, but your mouth really annoys me for some reason.

I just love Michael Lynche. He seems like such a happy person and he is easy on the ears. =) Casey James has his moments, so I kinda like him too. I didn't love Crystal Bowersox at first because she does come off as somewhat arrogant, but I have to admit-- she was amazing last night and is pretty much better than everyone else. My money is on her (no surprise there).

Everyone else, you can go home... dawg.

Guess where I'm going!!

A few hints:

Starts with "Flo"...

ends with "rida"!!! (I know, I'm just hilarious)



I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! We're going towards the end of May with my Gommy, mom & step dad! This trip wouldn't have been possible on such a tight budget, but Gommy is very generously covering the cost of the condo to celebrate my mom's big birthday coming up in July! I'll be polite and let you wonder which birthday it is. =D

Anyway, I can't wait to go and to see little miss Caroline in a bathing suit! I realize she is too young to be out on the beach for extended periods of time if it is really hot... but how cute is this?!




Hopefully it will be warm enough... last May Dan and I went and it was cold the whole week (and we had a terrible hotel/room). It should be a lot of fun and the first of many family vacations as a family of 3!

Last Weekend & Next

This weekend was really good. Saturday was a day of recuperating after a long week. I pretty much sat on the couch with Caroline all day. It's funny how sleeping in until 9ish feels like sleeping in now, when a year ago 9:00 was relatively early! Saturday night Dan and I ate somewhere new (to us): The Magic Tomato. I ordered the Chicago Deep Dish pepperoni pizza and it was pretty fantastic. Afterwards, Caroline and I went to Target while Dan looked around Books a Million.

Sunday we got up and went to Temple Baptist. We still haven't found the best fit for us as far as church is concerned, so we're visiting a few places. It seems like the music portion is either a rock concert or super traditional. I'd love it if we could find something somewhere in the middle. After church we went to Cracker Barrel and then home. I had hoped to go buy some paint to redo my great-grandmother's mirror for Caroline's room, but it was just plain COLD outside so I asked Dan to take us home. For the rest of the afternoon I did laundry and straightened up the house. By 10:00 I was SICK AND TIRED of folding clothes! All in all, it was a good, balanced weekend of laziness and work.

Next weekend (yes it's Monday and I'm already wishing for next weekend) should be fun too! Saturday is Hubfest and it's supposed to be in the mid 70's so that should be a lot of fun! I also plan on visiting Duds for Doodlebugs sometime this week and maybe again on Saturday for their half priced sale. Hopefully I can find some good deals for Caroline!

Fill in the blank Friday

Lauren from 'the little things we do' is hosting fill in the blank Friday. I thought it was kinda cute and interesting so I decided to participate!



1. Today I am wearing black pants with a cute black & white polka dot top I recently got from Maurices with black wedge heels that I wear almost every day. (Side note: I just discovered Maurices a few weeks ago and I love it! They've got a lot of cute stuff!)


2. My favorite childhood food was nutty bars and my favorite food now depends on my mood. I love pizza and chocolate... and especially Japanese food! (I'm so thrilled that Hattiesburg has a good Japanese place to eat! I could not find a good place in Nashville... so strange!)


3. A day that I am too busy to cuddle, love on, and smell my sweet baby is a day that I am too busy.


4. The last movie I saw was Love Happens and the next movie I want to see is Dear John.

5. My favorite smell is Tyler Candle's Pineapple crush because it is FANTASTIC... seriously... so good.

6. A weird little quirk I have is I can't stand to see foot prints on my wood floor (especially after I've recently cleaned it) so I walk around on the sides of my feet to try to avoid leaving prints. I'm not sure why walking around in clean socks leaves prints on our floors, I guess maybe because the floors are so dark? When we first moved in I swept and mopped almost every day. Ah, the life of a woman before she has kids!

7. When I take personality quizzes they always say I'm extroverted and that's pretty much as true as it gets! I have had this really strong desire lately to have close friends. I hate that my best friends are scattered around so much and I wish I could create some strong links in Hattiesburg.

Well, I guess that's about it for today! 5 minutes until quitting time. WHOO!!!!!!

Caroline says:

Happy St. Patty's day!




I'm pretty sure I'll be looking at these pictures all day long!

Grateful...

Doesn't this just make your heart ache? Read the whole thing. Then, go hug your husband.

It really makes all those petty arguments disappear instantly, doesn't it? For me, it opens up a wound so intense and deep that it hurts to read this woman's words. It's like the time Dan and I were sitting in the movie "Stop Loss" and I was sobbing... uncontrollably... out loud. I was definitely doing the ugly cry.

Anyway, all this is to say, please pray for this momma & her family.

Have I lost my ever loving mind?!?

I think I might just be going insane. I was just sitting here at my desk, reading blogs about new babies (what else?) and I was struck by the irresistable urge to have ANOTHER baby! Y'all, Caroline is 9 weeks old and I'm already feeling this way! How crazy is that? I don't have this urge all the time, just when I read about or talk to pregnant women. It is such a blessing to be able to have babies! I just pray that God helps to shape us into the kind of parents that Caroline deserves.

My "plan" all along has been to wait until Caroline was old enough to go to school so that we wouldn't have to pay 2 daycare tuitions, but I really don't see how I'm going to hold off another 4 years! Dan makes jokes about us having irish twins all the time. Seriously though, we have to wait at least a year or two minimum. We don't wanna end up like the Duggars, do we? I absolutely love them, but I really don't want 19 kids! I think it's so funny to look back at my strong opinions or plans and see how much they've changed. You never know how you're going to handle something until you're actually going through it.

This post is starting to go all over the place, but oh well. We went to church Sunday for the first time since Caroline was born. Here is our little sweetie all dressed up!




We also purchased a fence for our backyard in the last week. Now we can let Shelby out and not have to worry about her running off or getting eaten by another dog. I'm not so sure she likes being left out there unsupervised...



And finally, here are some random pictures Dan took of Caroline and I tonight:




This weekend Dan and I are headed to Jackson to keep our niece and nephew while their parents take an anniversary trip out of town. I'm so excited and can't wait to take pictures of Kate, Bryce & Caroline! Maybe that will change my desire for another baby so soon! Ha!

The D Word....

Daycare..... ***Deep sigh.....

Monday was little bit's first day of "school" as Dan calls it. I'm really glad my mom & his mom took care of Caroline for a week and a half before we had to take her to daycare. I think it has made this experience quite a bit easier on me because I was already (somewhat) adjusted to not being around her during the day. It has been a little easier doing this in stages like that. The daycare we use has a webcam that you can watch for 20 bucks more a month. The picture isn't nearly as clear as I had hoped... I can't even tell if she is crying because it's so fuzzy. Really, the only way I can tell which one is mine is the color of the outfit I put on her that morning. This is what I spend much of my day at work looking at:



No, that isn't the dirt on your screen or your bad contact lenses... the picture is really that fuzzy. Oh well, it is better than nothing. At least I can see when she is being fed or held. She had a little bit of a diaper rash on Monday when I got her home. It could be just a coincidence, but that was her first time to have it so I made sure to take some cream for them to use and I also mentioned it (very politely) to them. It drives me crazy to see her scheduled feeding time come and go without her being fed... but I know when they have so many babies it is impossible to keep them all on the right schedule. I don't know how more controlling mom's handle it-- I'm pretty laid back and it really irks me! I know it probably sounds like I'm just full of complaints, but I really am happy with the daycare so far. I guess I should say, as happy as possible.

This morning the ladies who keep the nursery commented how much she sleeps. This girl can sleep. I mean, A LOT! I'm definitely not complaining, but yesterday she had to have slept 20 out of 24 hours of the day. I just hope nothing is wrong with her... I'm sure she is fine, but I'm definitely going to ask our pediatrician about it.

That's all for now! I'm off to go pick up my little snuggle bunny!