Quick Update

I know you're going to be disappointed, but I don't have any pictures to share at the moment. Sorry - it's been a little hectic! We made it to my parent's at about 11:50pm on Wednesday night after about a 12 hour car trip that went very smoothly considering we had a 3 month old along. She was perfect! Then Christmas Eve friends & family came from far and near to meet little miss Caroline for the first time (my Mom commented it was like the Christ child was at our house...I think that was a bit much.).

We also got slammed with a blizzard that day, and it didn't stop snowing until yesterday!! Christmas day we were totally snowed in, and we could not have been happier. Dan had prayed for a White Christmas...suffice it to say God answers prayers :) My Aunt Linda & Uncle Alan were also able to join us for Christmas (for a little longer than they anticipated thanks to the snow storm), which only made Caroline's first Christmas that much better!

Saturday we celebrated out at my Grandparent's house and had a fabulous time. Caroline got to meet lots of great Aunts & Uncles, second cousins, etc., and I got to eat some of my Grandma's delicious cooking - does it get any better than that? Of course, my dad had to ferry us into town in his little pickup, the only 4WD vehicle we currently have, in order to make it out to Grandma & Grandpa's. He threw some blankets & pillows in the back and we crawled in a few at a time, then he'd make a trip into town and drop his load off with my Uncle Kirby who was waiting with a van to take us on out to Grandpa's. I think he made 3 trips total to get us all! Certainly a memorable voyage :)

I'll have pictures soon, but just wanted to get a quick post up in the meantime. Hope all of your Christmas celebrations were as wonderful as ours!

Travel tips, anyone?

We're leaving tomorrow for a rather long trek back to Missouri for Christmas. I'm SO excited to be home, but a little anxious about the typically 11+ hour car ride...and not sure exactly how far that 11 hours will be stretched with a 12 week old. We're planning to stop at least twice for an extended break to allow for feedings and some time to stretch, as well as other short stops for diaper changes, etc. I'm also hoping to pump and just give her a bottle at some point without having to stop. But it's really all guess work at this point.

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm guessing/hoping she'll sleep a lot of the time, but I'll also WANT to keep her awake at some points so she's not up all night once we do make it home. Any ideas on how to keep a sleepy baby awake in a warm, comfy seat while on the road (heck, I don't think I could keep myself awake under the same circumstances).

Just thought I'd throw the question out there to my faithful blog friends. You all have helped me so many times...what would I ever do without you?

Weekend at home

Sorry for the lag in blogging lately. I've just been rather uninspired to write...and behind. I thought I'd share a few pictures from the past week and a rare weekend at home with NO plans and plenty of time to just hang out. Dan & I enjoyed the time with each other & Caroline so much and can't WAIT to have lots more days like this with my family back in Missouri. Just a few more days!

I'll start with last Sunday - another game day for Caroline as she and daddy took in another win for the Colts. Dan requested that I take these pictures specifically for the blog in honor of the undefeated season thus far. So there you go Dan - Go Colts!

Touchdown!

Kelsey was here (only my family will get this picture - sorry).

Daddy's favorite time.

Quick story....we had a Christmas party on Thursday with our Community Group, and my day didn't go quite as planned. I fixed a couple different snacks for the evening, plus dinner for the next day. I thought I was doing great, started ahead of schedule and even had delusions of grandeur that I may be able to call the couple that was hosting and offer to come early and help set-up. That was somewhere early in the day. When Dan showed up at 6:00 to change and pick us up (the party started at 6:30), I was still sitting helplessly on the couch in my sweats, un-showered, and nursing Caroline who was still in her pj's. And my kitchen looked like this (better than I looked, however). And my very patient husband just laughed and asked what he could do to help. About 6:35 we were shockingly ready to run out the door when Dan picked Caroline up, looking adorable in her Christmas dress & tights, only to discovered we had yet another blow-out on our hands. I didn't get a picture of that mess, but needless to say we became even later. All in all, it was a fun party, we were all dressed and food was ready. As the Pioneer Woman always says, just keepin it real folks.

Friday night we had dinner and hung out with our great friends who just happen to live right next door. I love that. They have a 22 month old & this little dolly, who's just 4 weeks old. Caroline doesn't know it yet, but we're pretty sure they'll be best friends.

Our favorite present this Christmas!

Hey guys...don't forget about me here.

weeee!!!!!

That was fun stuff!

Doing a little Christmas baking with mom & dad.
Am I doin this right, mom? (*disclaimer for Aunt Kelsey - the mixer was off in this picture)
What are you lookin at?
Here daddy, I'll take care of the stirring.

I think I hear my hungry baby waking up...better run! As you can tell, the girl likes to eat :-)

new videos

New Caroline Pictures

My sister was able to come up for a short visit this weekend, which of course was wonderful and yielded some fabulous pictures of my baby girl. If you'd like to see a few, check them out on her blog.

The Pioneer Woman

Last night my good friend Hannah & I decided to brave the rainy weather for a chance to meet one of our favorite bloggers - The Pioneer Woman. For those of you who are not familiar, you should really check out her website - http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ - whenever you have a few spare minutes. Just be aware that those spare minutes could really turn into hours & days spent perusing her hilarious writings, beautiful photograghy, and scrumptious recipes. The recipes get me every time.

She has just released a new cookbook, which is what brought her to Nashville last night for a book signing. And I had to be there. And so did Caroline because PW loves babies. In fact, Caroline got her picture taken, so I'm curious to see if she winds up on the blog today. Unfortunately the line was a little longer than we had anticipated (okay, a LOT longer) and Caroline didn't quite make it - she fell fast asleep in the baby bjorn about 20 minutes before we finally got to the front of the line. Bummer.

Anyway, I know a few of you occassionally look at her blog so I thought you'd like to know I was one of the crazy people who waited several hours just to meet her and have her signature scrawled across my new cookbook. But it was worth it :)

(PW's friend Hyacinth & sister Betsy)

Please Help

I'll start this post with an illustrated story to give you a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

This past Thursday, Dad took Caroline & me to the Carter House and Museum in nearby Franklin, TN. On our way, we stopped at Arby's and I accidentally ordered FIVE roast beef sandwhiches (don't ask how...I'm still not sure). Then we found our way to the Carter House...and drove past it because Dad thought the battlefield was somewhere else (turns out it wasn't). Once back at the museum, we watched the standard documentary video, during which Caroline snuggled up with her Papa and fell asleep. Then we headed outside for a tour of the house & grounds. We had a fabulous tour guide and I really learned a lot, both about the Carter House as well as how to keep a hungry baby quite during a historical tour.

Then, THEN...we headed across town to a local bike shop my Dad wanted to check out. While driving, I started to notice a very distinct smell wafting from the back seat. THAT smell that every mother knows, so I knew I would need to change her once we got to the bike shop. When I got her out of her seat, I realized we had a problem. A blowout to be exact. And I was going into a bike shop to deal with it?! I entered the door and quickly scanned the room until I found a bench in the back that seemed like it would work. The sales clerk gave me a funny look, but I had no options at this point. I got situated and dealt with the problem as quickly as possible (which was not very quickly at all). At this point I realized that I just so happened to have my camera handy (and my sense of humor still intact), so I snapped a few shots knowing this would make good blog fodder at some point.

No big deal - just getting my diaper (and entire outfit) changed in a bike shop. Happens all the time.

What do you do with poopy clothes & diaper in a BIKE SHOP?? Thank goodness Columbia thought to include plastic bags that seal shut in their diaper bags.

Thanks Mommy - I feel so much better!

Then a quick photo-op with Papa since we were there:

Okay, so I share that story to get to my plea for help which actually has nothing to do with historical sites or bike shops. The reason I need your help has everything to do with poop. Caroline has had more blowouts this week than I know what to do with! (My definition of blowout: an explosive dirty pants that cannot be contained by a diaper and therefore requires a full wardrobe change if not a bath.) Let's count - once in a restaurant, once in a bike shop, once at Kohls (those 3 all actually took place in her carseat), a couple of times ON ME (literally), once in her bouncy seat. That's at least 6 times in less than a week, people!!

I'm getting a bit desperate. Is there anything at all I can do to prevent this? She's right between diaper sizes and I'm wondering if that possibly has something to do with it? I'm trying the next size up today, so we'll see. I'm also using Pampers because we've had even worse luck with Huggies, but I haven't tried any others. It seems to be less an issue of volume and more about the, umm, force behind it.

Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone?? While I can recognize the humor in this to a certain extent, I have so many poopy clothes to treat for stains (including my own) that I'm going to have to start using the bath tub! Please, if you have any ideas at all...please...pass them on. I will be forever indebted to you for your wisdom.

Sincerely,
Covered in Poop

I'm back!

Whew - what a week! It's been wonderful, but very busy. Dan's family arrived in town last Tuesday, we headed out to the cabin on Wednesday, came back Sunday evening, and they left Monday morning. Then Tuesday morning, my Dad was able to come for a few days and just headed back to Missouri this morning (after missing his flight last night...that's another story). It's been so good to have family around! Caroline has no idea how loved she really is.

I haven't had a chance to sort through my gobs of Thanksgiving pics, but we had a FABULOUS time. I really don't think it could have been any better - such a sweet sweet time with family and such a peaceful place. Here are a few pics to tide you over until I can do a bigger post with more pics:

4 Generations!

It's so hard to write the first post after a little break - I always feel like there's so much to catch up on, so instead I don't write anything. Now that I think about it, I do that with a lot of things...it's overwhelming when the WHOLE house needs cleaned, or ALL the laundry needs done, or the PILES of dishes are a bit out of control...and instead of just getting a little done I opt for putting it off and letting the problem get a little bigger. Brilliant, huh? I hate being a procrastinator. Perhaps I'll work on that problem tomorrow.

Anyway, I'll get to the bigger post about Thanksgiving soon. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the last few days. She had a pretty big time with her Papa Buddy! TWO battlefields/historic sites in just three days. She was obviously fascinated :-)

She also had her 2 month check-up and first round of shots on Monday. She is now 12lbs. 3 oz. and is in the 90th percentile for weight (yes, you read that correctly...feeding is going quite well, thank you for asking.) She's also 23" and in the 75th percentile for her height. At this point I think it's fair to say we have a very healthy, very chubby baby on our hands! Today I even got out the 3-6 month clothes as she's starting to outgrow some of her 0-3 month stuff already. That really made me kind of sad - I no longer have a newborn.

This is a really random post, I apologize. I had a great time with my Dad in town and hope to have a video for you sometime soon, as well. So much to stay tuned for, right?