Tebow Time!!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am tad obsessed with Tim Tebow. Ok, scratch that--I am very obsessed with him (but totally not in the creepy stalker way!). :-) When I heard he was coming to Jacksonville for a book signing, I wanted to know when and where because I was going to be there! On Sunday, Caroline and I headed to Books A Million at Jax Beach and lined up to buy the book and get a number for the signing today. We had to wait about an hour and a half outside (but in the shade--thank goodness!). Caroline should be used to waiting in line for him with me by now. I dragged her to the mall for a photo op when she was just 3 months old! If you missed that pic, you can check it out here.

Here are the coveted items of the day...


Caroline got a little bored while we were waiting, so she decided to write Tebow a little note. (Ok, so I really did write him a note and gave it to him. I know, I'm a dork. I'm fine with that. Who knows if he'll actually read it, but we'll see!)


She was pretty restless by the end so I wasn't able to snap any good pics while we were waiting--bummer!


Finally it was our turn! The nice man in front of us was kind enough to snap a picture for me. (Please excuse my large, white legs!)


Here is a very happy Dara not wanting to wash the hand he touched or put down the book he signed! :-)


My 2 prized possessions! One copy is mine, and I have big plans that I hope will come from the 2nd one. More on that later!

1st Haircut!

I finally broke down and did it...I took Caroline for her 1st haircut. It seemed like her hair was pretty long in the back all of a sudden. Long and many different lengths. You might even have called it mullet-like, and it needed to be fixed. A friend had recommended a place called Doodle Doo's, and I'm so glad I took her advice! It was such a fun experience that I wasn't too traumatized! :-) First, Caroline got to pick out a movie to watch. With a little help from Mama, she picked Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Then she got to sit in a cute boat chair while the stylist blew some bubbles for her.

(She looks so solemn because she was sleeping in the car.)


She did great and didn't move too much while she was cutting. She didn't really even cut that much, but it seems so much shorter to me!



And then she had her 1st manicure! As part of the cut, they painted her nails with clear sparkly polish. I was really surprised that Caroline let her do it!



She put Caroline's hair in cute pigtails, added flower clips, and sprinkled a little glitter on her head. :-)



Caroline got to choose a lollipop, and then it was over. No tears from either one of us! :-)



Oh, and I got a cute certificate and a lock of her hair to add to her baby book, too!

Sure do love a trip home!

Caroline and I spent this past week in MS. It was such a fun, busy visit! I really love getting to spend time with my family and see them enjoy Caroline (it's been a long time since we've had a baby in our family!). Caroline did great on the flight but was a little unsure about the people that were so excited to see her at the airport (my mom, dad, and sister), but she warmed up quickly. That day was spent putting the final touches on for the baby shower we were throwing for my niece, Meagan, who will become a mommy in July.

Enjoying her 1st cupcake from Ann Olivia's--yum yum!!


Hanging out with Grandaddy while we did baby shower stuff


The shower was a huge success! We had a great crowd, Meagan got a ton of cute stuff, and I was pretty happy with how my decorations turned out. I got them from a super cute Etsy shop that you can check out here.






On Monday, we rested up after our exciting day. We packed up and headed to Memphis on Tuesday for Meagan's 3D ultrasound. It was so amazing to see baby Thomas! Caroline sat in my lap looking at the screen and kept saying "baby"--so sweet! Our adventure on Wednesday led us to the zoo. We had an exciting, drama filled trip on the way there involving my sister's van breaking down, but we finally made it. The Memphis Zoo is awesome! I highly recommend visiting it, especially if you haven't been in forever like me. I really think Caroline would have crawled in there with the lions and leopards if we would have let her. She kept reaching for them and talking to them. It was so cute! She also decided she was too big for her stroller and walked most of the time. Lesson learned--if you want a baby to take the best nap ever, let her walk around in the heat for about 2 hours! :-)







On Thursday, my best friend (Amy) and her little boy (Charlie--who is about 6 weeks younger than Caroline) came to visit for a couple of days. We had a great time catching up, and the babies had a great time playing/fighting. Caroline got plenty of time to exercise her 2 new favorite words--"no" and "mine"! Amy and I also got a girl's night out with my sister, Roro, and niece, Erin. We enjoyed yummy Mexican food, margaritas, and a chick flick. Saturday was the A Fair, and we got to catch up with an old friend from high school, Beth, and meet her 2 little guys.







But I think Caroline's favorite part of the whole trip was hanging out with her Grandmama and Grandaddy. She loved going outside with them and checking out my mom's flowers and my dad's garden (Caroline discovered a new favorite snack--fresh, uncooked English peas!). She started calling them by name (and some of the rest of my family too) and gave lots of hugs and kisses. It really makes me wish we lived closer...maybe someday (hint hint, John!!). :-)

17 months

Caroline is such a fun and sweet little girl with so much spirit and personality. I am so lucky to be her mommy! Her tantrums aren't as frequent, but she has gotten time out and a couple of spankings for throwing dog food all over the floor. Overall, she's a good baby and is great at entertaining herself and us. Here are her monthly facts (well, what I can keep up with!):

*She still loves playing with her babies. At any given time, we have 3 or 4 babies sleeping on their tummies on a mat all covered up. She will also sit next to them and pat them on their backs (and sometimes not very gently!).

*She will sometimes say "s you" if you sneeze or "scuse you" if you burp.

*She's repeating more and more things. Which is great when it's "I love you"...not so great when it's "crap!".

*She can follow 2 step directions most of the time. A big deal when your mom is a speech therapist!

*She is still using her paci at nap and bed time. I think we're going to try and ditch it when we get back from our trip to Hernando--wish us luck.

*New body parts to show--arms, legs, tongue. She'll also point to parts on you or her baby too.

*She is not scared to tell you "no" when she doesn't want something.

*She lets me snuggle with her before bed now. We talk and sing--I love it!

*She's still not a big eater...unless it's bananas or yogurt. Or apparently Cool Ranch Doritos (a new favorite we discovered at the beach last weekend).

That's all I can think of for now. Hope you enjoy the new pictures! :-)

Easter (I know, I know...I'm always late!)

We had a really nice Easter this year! The Easter Bunny made a stop at our house and dropped off some nice loot for Miss Caroline.


It was driving her crazy that she could see it but couldn't get to it. :-)


She had the breakfast of champions--chocolate (see earlier post), and then we got ready for church. We haven't found a church home yet so we decided to visit Crossroads, the church I play softball with since they're such a great group of ladies. It was a really good sermon, and it was nice to go to a church where we actually know someone (our pew-mates, Melissa and Ed). Then we headed to Cracker Barrel for our annual Easter lunch--yum!!


When we got home, Caroline took a nice nap, and John and I watched a movie. To end the day, I "hid" some eggs in the yard for Caroline. She enjoyed hunting for them, but not as much as she did at daycare on Friday where she had a basket full of eggs!




Hope you all had a great day with your families! PS--A big thanks to Kerry who let us borrow Caroline's super cute Easter dress!