Welcome Fall!

Last Saturday was the first day of the Mitchell Farms Pumpkin Patch in Collins! It was so much bigger and more fun than I expected!

Caroline is constantly in motion!

Which one shall I pick?!

This one?

Yep, just right!

There was even a (wheat?) maze!

Mostly, we just had fun being silly and walking around!

Mommy's favorite picture of the day:

What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?

If you read Kelly's Korner, then you may have read the post she linked to written by Shaun Groves.

It's just too good not to share.... it really makes clear something I've been trying to put into words for a long time. Take a moment to read it if you haven't!

In other (much less important) news, I'm looking forward to the next few weeks! I hope to take Caroline to the pumpkin patch in Collins this weekend! Next weekend we're going to Jackson to spend some time with family & go to the State Fair! I hope Caroline will enjoy the Carousel but she may just want to watch all the people and games. I hope the weather is nice. Last year when we went it was miserably hot!

I am loving the fact that Caroline is at an age right now where she is enjoying new things and learning something everywhere we go. I'm amazed how she remembers new words when I've only told them to her once! She is so happy and bright... what a blessing she is in my life!!

Praxis Update

So I took the Praxis I yesterday while we were in Jackson. I was pretty unsure about how I would do because I just haven't had the energy or time to practice as much as I'd like. Most of the test was multiple choice so I got the results for those sections right away. I PASSED reading and math!!!!! I was most worried about math so I was very pleased when I got my scores! I have to wait a week or so for the writing portion be graded, but I think I did fine.

Next up is the Praxis II; I'm not sure if I'll take it in January or March but I will need every possible extra minute to study for this one. I'm going to try and do math because I always enjoyed it in school... it's just so concrete and makes so much sense to me. This test has some trig & some calculus (I'm not sure how much) and I never even took calculus so I'm definitely going to have to learn quite a bit of new material. I just have to do my best and see how well I can do!

Teaching

After enjoying all summer home with Caroline I have finally accepted a job at a local elementary school as an assistant teacher. I am doing administrative work right now more than anything else. Eventually, I'm supposed to keep the kids that are being isolated for punishment. I should never have more than a few kids at one time. I'm praying that this job will give me a foot in the door to be a "real" teacher next year.

I'm hoping this is the right path for me. I've always moved between nursing, business, and teaching (unsure of which will be the best for my family & I). The longer I think about what I want to do when I grow up, the more I think teaching might be it for me. I've always enjoyed teaching informally to my peers in classes but for some reason, I've resisted the idea.

I have to take two Praxis tests to become certified to teach. My first test is scheduled for September 11th and is on reading, writing, and math. I think I'll do good in reading & writing without much study, but I definitely need to prepare for the math portion. I'm planning on taking the Praxis II in November and I think I'd like to teach math (7th-12th) so that's what I'll have to study really hard for. Finally, I'll apply to the MAPQT program for a 3 week certification program next June. Hopefully I'll be ready to teach by next August! It sort of feels like a pipe dream at this point, but I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and making steps toward the goal!

Caroline at 19 months

I have been SUCH a bad blogger lately. I hate that so much because I love going back and reading old posts to find out what I was doing a year or so ago!

So for now, an update on our little handful!

( Blurry cell phone picture from Cracker Barrel last weekend. YUM!)

Driving home from the pool (in our neighborhood).

Caroline is about 19 months old and I can't believe she is closer to being a two year old than a one year old! She is definitely a strong willed and very lovable toddler! She loves going on walks up and down our street and she is so independent! She also loves brushing her teeth! I have to keep the bathroom door closed or else she'd be carrying her toothbrush around all day.

She loves to look at picture books and she can name a lot of what she sees! She knows the moon and stars, can identify lots of animals and of course eyes, nose, fingers, toes etc. She says "fly" for butterfly, "B" for bird, and she knows all kind of animal sounds. My favorite sounds she makes is Raaawwrr for the bear. She even does her little hands up in the air like claws! : )

I took her to two movies recently and it went as well as can be expected. Our theater has $3 movies on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer with children's movies that have been released a while back so we took advantage of that with some of our friends and went! Caroline did better during the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie (her first movie ever!) and she did so-so in the Charlotte's web movie. In both movies we ended up leaving about half way through because she didn't have the attention span to sit through the whole thing.

Dan and I have always loved going out to eat but it is definitely becoming harder and harder with Caroline. Sometimes she goes and does SO well and then other times we take her and agree that we have to stop eating out with such a busy bee!
Caroline's favorite word right now is NO! I have been trying so hard to be very patient but firm in telling her it is not okay to tell mommy and daddy no, but she just keeps on saying it. She also went through a spell of hitting and I was so torn over the spanking decision. A big part of me feels like she is too young for that kind of punishment, but my instinct when she hits me in the face is to pop her leg to let her know how it feels!! I definitely don't want her to start hitting other children or animals.
 
Anyone have some really good recommendations for books on toddler discipline? She has several molars coming in so I'm wondering too if that doesn't have something to do with the behavior issues we're seeing. I'm sure its all normal for this age but we're working on shaping her into a sweet, respectful little girl!

Pitter Patter Art Giveaway

I came across this blog through a former coworker. She has some beautiful art and is doing a giveaway so I thought I'd participate! Go check it out!

Nothing much new is going on here. I'm enjoying these hot summer days with my sweet baby. I thought I would get bored staying at home all the time but I haven't at all! I do like having play dates and trips to the library to break up my day, but this is definitely the life! :) I've been cooking more, cleaning more, and most important of all, loving on my girl a LOT more!

I've had a couple of interviews recently and I'm hoping something will work out. I've just been praying that God will put me where He wants me. That's definitely the best place for me!

Stay at Home Mama

A few things have happened since my last post...

I graduated from Southern!

We had a perfect, amazing, relaxing trip to the beach! My mom and mother in law both kept Caroline and it was SO nice to take a little break from everything for a few days! We went to Destin and the water was absolutely beautiful.





Now that it's post-graduation, I'm back in the job hunting world. I'm enjoying all this extra time with my sweet girl and I hope she is too! It is giving me a taste of being a stay at home mama. Something I definitely hope to do one day! We are trying our hardest to stay at home and not spend money, but it's hard when you're used to breaking the boredom by doing a little shopping or going out to eat. I'm working on getting some play dates lined up so that should help.

We bought a little $8 pool from the dollar store and she enjoys putting her hands in it and occasionally standing and splashing with her feet. At least it keeps me cool while we play outside!

Here are some pics I took this afternoon. The only way to get her to smile when I'm trying to take a picture is to say, "I'm going to get you!!!"

Today after she woke up from her nap I told her "put your paci in your bed" and she did it! I was so amazed because I didn't know she knew what her bed was! Little ones definitely know more than we give them credit for!

How have you been enjoying your summer?

Lil' Syd Grows Up!

Caroline (Sydney is her first name in case you didn't get the title) is growing up so fast. I was just telling Dan the other day how they're only little babies for such a short period of time.
 She says a few words now including uh-oh, bah-bah for bye bye, of course mama and dada, daaaah for dog, and her most recent addition is shiii for outside. It's so cute to hear her learning to say these words!

She points to her belly button now (in addition to her head, ear, and foot). She loves Harry the Bunny on babyTV. She smiles so big every time he comes on and wears those big sunglasses. I actually find myself loving Harry the bunny, too. :)

If you sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" she will point to her head and toes and will clap to "If You're Happy and You Know it!" She is so much fun!

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago on Easter morning. I was really surprised at how well she did with finding the eggs and putting them in her basket (and eating jelly beans that got all over her dress!)

My smart girl

Video 37 a video by jhenry418 on Flickr.

Mama is loud and country sounding. Ignore that.

Superhero Birthday Party!

My nephew's 4th birthday party was today and it was so much fun! My sister in law is always so creative and does a great job with her kids' parties and this was no exception! Here are some pics from the day.

Such a handsome birthday boy!

To go with the superhero theme, the kids decorated felt capes & masks. Such a fun, cute idea!

Superhero Caroline!

cupcake face!

Happy birthday, sweet Bryce! We love you!

The Will of a Toddler

A couple of weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I'm going to be the recipient of a scholarship at USM. Today, I gave a short speech to the Business Advisory Counsel. I'm not an especially great or terrible speaker, but I think you can tell mid-speech that I'm nervous. Anyway, I was so relieved to get my little speech over with this afternoon and I think I did a pretty good job! I sat next to a director of their MBA program and it really got me thinking about the possibility of going to school online or maybe one night a week to get my masters. Definitely something to think about!

We went to eat at Chili's tonight and it was delicious! I was so surprised at how well Caroline acted during dinner. She has gotten to be quite a handful lately because she wants to eat from the minute we sit down to the minute we get up! I usually can't even take a bite of my food without her yelling. Well tonight this was not the case! She played with the kids menu and didn't yell for food once! I kind of struggle with whether or not I should let her get away with things right now. Part of me thinks she's too young to understand patience but the other part of me thinks that I need to teach her things now so she doesn't get used to being bad or demanding. Our other problem is standing up in chairs or the grocery cart. I guess we're getting to that age where you just have to not eat out as much & not take her shopping. : /    Thoughts? Should I be firm with her and let her pitch a fit in public or should I give in?

Speaking of shopping, look at these adorable sandals I got for Caroline! Yay for summer!

When I put the flower sandals on her feet to try out the size and took them off again she started crying. The girl likes her some shoes, ok!?

Photo Shoot!

My sister-in-law, Amy, took some beautiful pictures of Caroline last weekend while we were in town! I am in love!!! I think this calls for an updated header... HA!

We're babysitting my niece and nephew this weekend... I am so excited! They are almost 4 and 6. Any arts/crafts ideas y'all have for me to keep us all happy and entertained?

Lookie lookie!

I'm like a kid on Christmas morning! I messed up my blog a while back playing with the design and my header was off center forever. Anyway I was kind of stuck on fixing it because I also wanted an updated header (which I was clueless on how to do). I went to work yesterday googling how to make your own header and I actually did it! It isn't perfect but I'm so happy with my first attempt! I used these instructions. So helpful! Now maybe I can find some motivation to start blogging again!

This semester is already half way over. Last week was spring break and Caroline and I spent a few days in Jackson with my mom, Gommy, and a day with my sis-in-law, Amy. We went to the zoo and I loved it! Caroline watched the animals but still isn't quite old enough to be excited about them. I think my favorite part was seeing the giraffes. There was a daddy, momma, and a baby giraffe! Of course my animal-loving family had to feel bad for them and my Gommy was picking grass and throwing it to them behind the bars. I can totally see us getting kicked out of the zoo.

This week it's back to school and a new change for Caroline. She is headed back to daycare and I'm worried about how she will adjust. I know she will be fine and they will take good care of her, but it's a big change in her environment. She is getting to be such a big girl now. She started walking in her 12th month and has been running ever since. We love to take her outside to play now that it's warming up. It would be so nice to sit down while she plays, but she doesn't stay in one area and has no care for property lines so I have to chase her everywhere she goes.

She has become very "lovey" in the last couple of months! It absolutely melts my heart when she lays her head on my shoulder (and gives me the 'friend-pat'). She never used to do that! She is also a social butterfly! At a friend's birthday party a week or so ago she walked up to stranger after stranger wanting to be held. 

That's all for now. I'm going to take advantage of this quiet house and work on a paper for school. Let me know what you think of my header (only if you love it)!

A dog, a 1 year old, and a book

I am the worst when it comes to picking a title for each post... so, I give up and leave them blank sometimes. It's just that my posts are never really about one thing... just a mish mash of random things happening in my life at the moment. So here goes another titleless post!

Today we became the proud new parents of a beagle/hound mix. She will be an outside dog (which is very against my nature... I feel so bad for animals outside!) We picked her up from a shelter sitting outside of petsmart kind of spontaneously this afternoon. She is timid and so very sweet... we love her already. Her name is Retta (short for Loretta).

I finished reading The Help today and I LOVED it! Seriously, such a good book! I almost cried at the end. It was really interesting reading about Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's too. The author said at the end of the book, "Mississippi is like my mother. I am allowed to complain about her all I want, but God help the person who raises an ill word about her around me, unless she is their mother too." I cannot wait for the movie to come out... I think I read that it will come to theaters in August.

Caroline turned one last week and she is turning into a toddler before my eyes. We had a very small party at Aunt Amy's house.

Here's a pic of Caroline on her first day in the world

She still isn't walking yet but she will take a few steps here and there. The most she has taken at one time is about 6 or 7. I was certain she would walk while I was on break before I go back to school but she has proven me wrong, yet again. I've really gotten used to staying at home with her during this break. At first I thought, "man I'm not cut out for this stay at home mom business" but now I'm loving it and wishing I could stretch this time out. Maybe one day this will be a possibility for us. I've been cooking a lot more too! Nothing fancy though... things like chicken spaghetti, red beans and rice, and poppy seed chicken. Let me know if you have something easy that you love! I'm thinking next will be some kind of ranch chicken recipe. That sounds delicious!

Caroline's got muscles!!

Or tickets to the gun show, as her daddy would like to say!



Man, I love this baby!

Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is over, 2011 is almost here and we are a couple of weeks away from having a 1 year old! We had a very busy, happy Christmas this year with 4 family gatherings.

We spent Christmas Eve & Christmas morning at my Gommy's house. Every year she has a party... I can remember running around as a child between all the grown-ups. Her tree was pretty big this year and was as beautiful as always!

We even got to sing Christmas carols with two of the guests- my Gommy's cousin Stacy who is an singer/pianist on a cruise ship and another friend who sings opera. It was beautiful and so much fun! (And I really liked how the tree looks in this picture so I had to include it.)

Christmas morning we were up early after Caroline kept us up much of the night. She is usually such a good sleeper... but not Christmas Eve. She must have been waiting on Santa!

Santa definitely came! At Gommy's house and again at Nonnie's house that evening! Caroline didn't pay much attention to unwrapping her toys this year but we will definitely get lots of play time in now that we're home. I hope your Christmas was as blessed as our was.

I can't stop thinking about all the dogs outside with it being so cold tonight.

I'm a weirdo... I know. By the way, my dog Shelby (who is a sheltie) is having a terrible, awful, horrific time with allergies. We don't know what she is allergic to, but I've recently changed her to a allergy pet food and it hasn't helped. So far all the vet has done is give us steroids and we know this is not good for her long term. She itches like crazy and her skin gets so red and raw if I take her off the steroids. Have you had any experience with this? I feel so bad for her and I have a feeling we are going to end up spending lots of money before this is over with. It has been going on for about 6 months now. I think the next step is to take her to the coast to see a dog dermatologist.

Schoooools... out... for... the summah!!

Or winter... whatever...         

I made 5 A's and 2 B's! MUCH better than I expected! I had pretty much convinced myself a B is as good as its going to get with me being a mommy and a student at the same time. The semester really did go by quickly... I cannot wait to get next semester over with so I can start earning some moo-lah again!! I can't believe I'm actually going to graduate in 5 months!

I've been home with Caroline now for about a week and I really have been enjoying all this extra time with her and having a taste of stay-at-home-mommyhood. I have been getting a little bored/lonely/stir crazy from not leaving the house so I've started cleaning out our guest room (REALLY needs it) and I pretty much make it a point to leave the house every day even if its just to go to the dollar store. I haven't had a hard time coming up with errands to run. I finished Redeeming Love and I LOVED it! Now I'm looking for other good books to read and enjoy on my break! Pretty please leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite books are. I've already read the Twilight series (soooooooo good). I'll like pretty much any kind of book except westerns! Ha!

Here's a pic of what I caught Caroline doing yesterday

(I know... not the safest thing... I took them away right after I snapped a picture.)
She also screams bloody murder if I buckle her in her stroller or shopping cart while I'm in a store but stands up like a stunt devil if I don't buckle her in. Any tips there?

We saw Santa at the library a week or so ago... she hated him.

That's all for now! Let me know about some good book recommendations and if you have any advice on my little stunt devil!

1st tooth!

This was the last week of the regular semester and next week is finals! YIPPIE! I only have 2 exams and a presentation to give so I really feel like its almost over! My group turned in our business plan for Entrepreneurship Thursday and I felt the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders that afternoon when we turned it in. What a relief.

Today I had no school so I got to stay home and play with my sweet girl all day! I took advantage of the perfect weather and snapped some shots of her. I was trying to get a picture or two of her gracious may shoes but she wouldn't cooperate and I was lacking the talent and patience.

We enjoyed our day together. :) She has been a little bit cranky lately because she finally has a tooth! And I think another one is quickly coming in right beside it!

Can you see it!?

On a side note, does anyone know how to remove the template from my blog? It isn't an html code it's from the 'template designer' from blogger thing and I can't figure out how to remove it. Let me know if you have some advice!

I rented "Redeeming Love" from the library today so I think I'm going to start it tonight! I've heard from several people that it is really good! I have a terrible habit of starting books and not finishing them... hopefully that won't be the case this time. Goodnight!

This & That

Only about 3 1/2 more weeks left of the semester and it cannot come fast enough!! The stress I have gone through in the last few weeks is unlike anything I've ever been through... definitely not fun. Life is too short to be stressed like I have been. It makes me feel guilty because I know I haven't been enjoying my family like I should be. It really boils down to this entrepreneurship class that I loathe- I guess everyone has to go through one or two classes like this that really shouldn't be this difficult, but that are nonetheless. I know worrying about something does no good, but I can't flip that worry switch off for some reason. Our professor has required us to come up with a unique product (something that has not been done before) and "pretend" we're business owners and write a business plan around this company. She wants it to be as realistic as possible and she prefers it to be very science/technology oriented. This is not my forte. Anyway, I just can't wait for it to be over with. A celebration will definitely be in store December 9th!!

So what is little Caroline up to these days? I am realizing she is very strong willed and very independent! Most of the time she wants nothing to do with cuddling Momma... she wants to be down on the ground exploring the world! Then there are nights like tonight where she really doesn't want me to put her down. It's rare that she acts like that, so I eat it up! Lately I have only had a couple of hours a day with her and it doesn't feel like enough. This upcoming Christmas break is going to be FANTASTIC... I'll have like 5 weeks off with no work, no school... just me and Caroline doing whatever we please! I plan on organizing Caroline's closet and our guest room closet.

Have y'all started your Christmas shopping? What is on your wish list this year? I'm trying to think of things we need for the house... maybe some guest bedroom furniture? It is in need of some adult furniture... it looks like a college kid's room... it only has a couple of filing cabinets... a bed with no headboard/foot board and a cheap desk that I'm going to get rid of b/c it's huge and takes up too much space in that little room. I just can't decide if I should ask for a bedside table or a small desk for the room. The other thing that I would really love to get is a dresser for our bedroom. We need some drawer space desperately!

And because it's no fun to write a post with no pictures or video, here is a fun video Dan took of Caroline a couple weeks ago. For some reason she thinks its funny when I put my ponytail in her face... weird I know.

The cutest little fishy-face!

Here goes a not fun post.... we found out Tuesday that baby Henry had no heartbeat. I ordered a doppler and got it a little over a week ago. I knew it would be a little early to hear the heartbeat, but I heard Caroline's around 10 weeks (if I'm remembering correctly) so I hoped I would be able to do the same with this baby. I searched several times for the heartbeat over the last week and wasn't able to find anything. I really wasn't that worried but I made an appointment anyway just to be safe. Dan went with me and the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat with his doppler (no surprise there). He said since the baby is still so small, this is normal. He sent us to the sonogram lady and when she did the ultrasound I knew pretty quickly. The sad part was that you could see baby... but no flickering or beating heart. Baby measured about 8 weeks so I guess his or her heart stopped beating about 2 weeks ago.

Dan and I are handling it well, as we did with our first miscarriage... but it is still very sad. I've wondered a few times if we will see this baby and our first in heaven one day. It makes you wonder what the purpose is behind it all, but I know we just can't understand everything here on earth.

Caroline's New Tricks & A Big Surprise!

Caroline's babysitter, Brooke has been telling us that once she hit 9 months old she would start performing tricks... and she definitely has! In the last few weeks she will do "arms up!" and she'll wave bye bye. She'll also shake her head no whenever we tell her no.... but that definitely doesn't stop her from doing whatever it is we're telling her no to. I would love for her next "trick" to be blowing kisses or giving me sugar. She also can push a walker around... I'm sure walking alone is in the near future. She is so precious to us and keeps us busy, busy!

In other news, we found out several weeks ago that we're PREGNANT! AGAIN! It was a big surprise and I can't believe how easily I've come to accept the idea. I'm glad that our babies will be close in age (about 17 months apart), but I'm worried about how in the world we're going to be able to pay two daycare bills! We'll be paying over $1,000 a month in daycare alone. I will graduate in early May and I'm due May 29th. It's actually good timing because I'll be able to take a couple of months break in between graduation and starting a job. Maybe I will find an amazing dream job that will pay me bookoodles of money and only make me work like 25 hours a week. Wouldn't that be perfect!? ( ;

A Tour of Caroline's Nursery

I feel like I've seriously neglected my blog lately and I won't have any readers now... not that I had a ton of readers before, but at least I'll still have a little journal of our first born and what life was like in 2010!

I shared a picture of Caroline in her crib a while back & got comments about her nursery. I realized that I never gave an official tour of her nursery! The reason behind this is because I'm the ULTIMATE procrastinator... her room still is not complete. Really, the only big thing I'm lacking are her curtains. I have the fabric but I just have to get it sewn.

I'm not much of a decorator and my SIL helped me a lot... I'm really happy with how it turned out! Anyway, enough rambling! Here is the room I'm most proud of!

Birth announcement my grandmother cross-stitched. This hangs in the hall right outside Caroline's room

This canvas hung on our room in the hospital when Caroline was born. My sister in law did it for us.

This is what you see as you enter Caroline's room

I got the dresser from Walmart and I'm pleased with it for as affordable as it was. I really want/need a chest of drawers for more storage. The mirror above her changing pad was my great grandmothers. It was a goldish color and my husband spray painted it white. The branch with birds is a wall decal I bought off etsy! It was very easy to do!

My SIL also did these adorable appliques for us! LOVE them!

My mother in law bought the bedding and I love it!

My grandmother bought us the heart wreath and my mom bought Caroline the little shelf. I think they're precious! On the shelf are two of the remaining pieces of my Beatrix Potter collection.

(I had almost all of the figurines and books as a child but I broke them by climbing up on my shelves.

I was a good child, I promise.)

My mom painted these and applied the flower details. She did a great job!

 Of course I couldn't snap all these pictures without a few of my sweet girl! She turned 8 months old yesterday... so crazy!!!!

1st time in the rocker by herself! She thought it was so fun to rock!

This is her new favorite face. She does it all the time. We call it her old lady face.

Love this pic!

Alright, enough procrastinating, I'm off to write a mini-paper!