caroline's 3rd b'day in marietta

caroline's first trip to get her teeth cleaned..successful and holding her goody bag up!

caroline and mommy making her cake...well, caroline ate icing the whole time :)

the finished product

sarah and andrew enjoying dinner

abby, caroline and kaitlin

the grown up table

a little excited about her cake and everyone singing happy b'day

nice icing lipstick

let's open some presents people!

playing dress up

andrew and aunt lauren chilling out

blessed family

here are pixs from caroline's 3rd b'day family celebration in marietta. we had it at grammie and papa's house (we alternate every year between the grandparents) and this year was all about ladybugs in case you can't tell! all our immediate family was there, which ends up being a very full house. all of the kids had a blast eating, playing and helping caroline open presents. she enjoyed it so much and i have to say, i had the most fun watching her excitement. she loved everything. we had such an awesome time celebrating!

to our sweet caroline

3 years

2 years

14 months

2 days old

april 15 was your 3rd birthday and i cannot believe it, sweet girl! i will never forget the day you were born and our lives changed forever in a magical way. here are just a few things we love and cherish about you...

* your big beautiful blue eyes
* your belly laugh when you get really tickled
* your red, shriveled up left thumb that has comforted you since you were only a few months old
* the automatic tears that roll down your face the minute you have a valid reason to cry or more often, when you don't have a reason :)
* the way you love on everyone - you love to hug, kiss and caress any and everyone (this can throw complete strangers off guard a bit)
* how much you love your family and friends - you get so excited any time we make a trip home to georgia or when you play with friends in charleston
* how you say momma and daddy
* your stalling tactics at bedtime - reading books, praying
* your coordination - you fall down or run into things all the time
* your voice - you have always sounded like a little duck
* your speech/vocabulary - you talked early and say the craziest, most grown up things at times
* your expressions - your eyes get big and you speak volumes through them, kind of like momma daddy says :)
* your love of all things girly, pink and princess oriented - you always say your favorite color is pink (and red b/c it's momma's favorite)
* the way you cry when we come get you in the nursery at church or leaving a friend's house, etc. - you're the only kid that cries b/c you don't want us to come get you
* how excited you are about your baby sister/brother - you can't wait to give it your crib, toys and help momma feed and pray for the baby (this i'm sure will change when the baby actually comes out, but for now it's sweet and warms my heart)
* the way you make your daddy's heart melt - it only takes a sweet face or kind word from you
* how much you love being on the go - you ask mommy every night what we are doing the next day and get so excited
* your pretty dirty blonde hair with just a little bit of curl on the ends - it curls up really good in the charleston humidity
* how you wake up in the morning and yell "it IS daytime now mommy"
* your sweet spirit
* your already tender heart towards Jesus

you are our treasure and we can't imagine life without you. we pray daily that you will love and follow Jesus with a passionate heart all the days of your life and never know a day without Him. we love you more than words can ever express, sweet girl, and we always will!!

more family in charleston pictures

having fun with papa

she was totally into taking pictures

"let's hug" was the direction she gave papa and grammie for this shot

all the cousins eating dinner together

total exhaustion

having a blast at the beach despite the chilly water

the beach can wear a little guy out

andrew's having fun

caroline loving on andrew

brothers

sarah and andrew

here are some more pixs from my parents' visit to charleston and the time my sis and her kids spent with us. enjoy!!

the big 30!!

i know our heads are cut off, but had to get a width shot of the huge chocolate cake and caroline's awesome expression!

the best family shot and only one where caroline was smiling like a normal little girl

pre easter egg hunt

precious girl hunting eggs

she managed to get quite a few without any help at all

just a few of the easter egg hunting gang

25 weeks

i turned 30 on thursday and so far, 30 is good! doesn't feel any different to me :) my parents are in town and took me, john and caroline out to dinner friday night to a wonderful restaurant on james island. here a few pixs of our celebration, an easter egg hunt caroline had with a few friends on wednesday and a belly shot of me at 25 weeks...i'm 26 weeks today. it's flying by!!

late march in charleston

the man i love...

john - park city, utah

i felt compelled to write about the man i love...i am certain i am married to the most wonderful man in the world. there are so many things i respect and admire about him that it would take forever to write down, but here are a few...

* he loves me more than i imagined possible - from the moment he first told me he thought he was falling in love with me (back in 1994), i knew his heart was only for me
* he tells me daily how much he loves me and how beautiful i am to him - even when i'm preggo :)
* he consistently affirms my role as caroline's mother and always tells me what a great job i'm doing...it is very normal for him to tell me my "job" is much harder than his
* he is the most humble man i know - he's very uncomfortable being praised or complimented
* he is 100% committed to our marriage
* he loves me on the days i am extremely unlovable and there are lots of those
* he has worked very hard in school and residency to provide a stable future for our family
* he loves the outdoors and is literally like a child when it comes to the beauty of God's creation...can't tell you how many times he has told me to stop and take in a beautiful sunset or day, which i don't appreciate as much as him
* he's very athletic and is happiest doing something daring and physical
* he doesn't hide his emotions - he can get choked up with the best of them
* he loves our little girl with a fierce love
* he kisses me every morning before he leaves and tells me he loves me...EVERY single morning
* he works his tail off every day to serve and treat his patients and he is VERY good at it, which he would never tell you
* he is so intelligent
* he is funny
* he loves the unlovable - he's one of those people "outsiders" are drawn to b/c he accepts and loves everyone
* he is genuine and real, what you see is what you get
* he is NOT vain/materialistic...he could care less what he "has" or anyone else "has"
* he loves our families deeply
* he spent the entire weekend doing stuff for and with me around the house and didn't complain, he was joyful
* he loves Jesus with all his heart

i love you, baby and i thank the Lord every day for giving you to me!!

quote of the day

in the car after caroline had a snack of pickles...

caroline: mommy, what do you think the pickles are doing now?
mommy: i don't know. what do you think?
caroline: they're playing teapot and cooking! (she loves to have "tea" and "cook" in her kitchen)
mommy: oh, wow, that sounds neat.
caroline: the babies are cooking, the daddy is working and the mommy is cooking.

20 week ultrasound

leg and foot up over the head...impressive!!!

profile of face - looks like he/she is blowing a bubble

2 legs and feet getting ready to kick

arm and fist

foot

spine

arm over the face

2 fists

3d with 2 arms and umbilical cord on left

another 3d face shot

had our 20 week ultrasound today...the one where they check all the organs, brain, heart, bones, spine, etc for any problems. thankfully, everything looks perfect. our little one is quite flexible, too. almost the whole time, he/she had it's right leg up over the head touching the nose. it was hilarious!! we got to see the little mouth sucking and got some 3d shots, which were kind of creepy looking. my baby looks like a skinny old man right now :) well, he/she does only weigh 11 ounces. they could tell what it is, but of course, didn't share that info with us. above are just a few of the 65 pictures that were taken :)

i haven't gained any weight yet, which they weren't real happy about :( i was surprised since i've been eating lots better and throwing up less the last few weeks. so, they gave me the guilt trip and even had me talk to the nutritionist to see how we could intentionally add additional calories every day. the key is to snack, snack, snack and eat whatever comes my way...i'm happy to oblige!!! i'm getting a great start on that tonight when we go out to eat mexican with some friends. they said the baby is right on target for weight so he/she is fine, but they don't want me to get depleted nutritionally. i told them i knew very well how that feels from my last pregnancy and it's not fun!! so, i'm off to snack.....

caroline's quote of the day

(touching daddy's chest)

caroline: daddy has small ones!
daddy: yes...what does mommy have?
caroline: mommy has really big ones!

**haven't heard that much in my life so i'll take it :)

musings from a pregnant woman

caroline, 5 months old

i haven't uploaded pictures to my computer since christmas so i have nothing new to add photo wise to the blog. hence, the pix of caroline when she was 5 months old. i love this picture! it brings back so many memories. it also makes me so excited about the little one coming in july. i can't wait to see what he/she looks like. like me, like john...a combo this time. i've always wanted at least one brown eyed baby (love john's brown eyes)...will i get one? time will tell!

on a totally different note and definitely not as sweet, i have become a "throwing up" expert through the past 3 or so years. there are many tricks of the trade so i thought i'd share a few....you are warned, this could make you nauseous :)

* i make it to the toilet almost every single time, which is impressive considering how fast it can come on
* on the few occasions i haven't made it, i have successfully avoided soiling anything by throwing up in my hands and the grossest of all, in my mouth (happened this very morning...didn't want to get throw up on my new carpet in my closet)
* have thrown up successfully in the car in a very small cup and bowl. they both traveled with me everywhere for a while
* my daughter ignores me now when an episode hits...just asks if i feel better when i emerge from the bathroom
* no little remedies work for me....not saltine crackers, not bland food, not ginger, not ANYTHING! so, i just eat what i want, enjoy it and know it could come back up...green tea this am :)
* i have learned that i can still eat whatever i have thrown up...eventaully (not my actual throw up mind you, but the food itself in its original form)
* the following foods are really gross to throw up...tortilla chips. strawberries, anything with ginger, chick-fil-a salads, bacon, ramen noodles and many, many other things :)
* last, but not least, all the nausea and vomiting in the world could never possibly outweigh the joy, blessing and miracle of growing a human being created by our loving God in my tummy :)

update on the ring......

i found it!!! praise the Lord. i woke caroline up from her nap, threw her in the car and retraced all our steps. after searching several parking lots and stores and leaving my name and #, i was very discouraged. my face and eyes were red and teary. we got to our last stop, publix. i looked where we parked and didn't see anything. i started to head inside and literally looked down and saw it lying in a puddle. completely untouched. it was there for at least 3 + hours. how amazing is God!!!!???!!! at every store, caroline kept telling anyone she saw, "my mommy lost her ring" with a really sad face :) on the way home, she kept singing "we found mommy's ring, we found mommy's ring".

please pray!!!!

please, please pray!!! i realized a little while ago that my diamond wedding ring was not on my finger. my band is, but not my diamond. it gets loose when i'm cold and apparently it slipped off. the problem is i ran a bunch of errands earlier and it could be in 3 different stores, parking lots, etc...i am completely devastated and can't stop crying. i know it is a material possession and there are much bigger problems, but it means the world to me. please, please pray that it will turn up in our house, car or that someone who finds it elsewhere will be compelled to turn it in to one of the stores i was in today. thank you!

it's almost moving day

tomorrow is the big day! we will officially move into our new house. john and his parents have spent the last 2 days painting and making it our own. being pregnant allowed me to be exempt from that task. let me just say, i have a very red kitchen and i LOVE it :) i am trying to finish packing up our condo. whew, it is exhausting! but, we're almost there and i'm so excited. it is such a blessing to be moving into a home that i know will be ours for the next 3+ years...way longer than our last few stops. keep us in your prayers this weekend as we get everything moved and settled in. i'm sure i won't be blogging for a while, but when i come back, i'll have pixs :)

how amazing!

i've been laying here on the couch working and feeling my precious baby moving :) it really is the most amazing feeling. it seems a tad early to me, but i'm almost positive it is the baby and not weird tummy stuff. i believe i didn't feel caroline until maybe around 16 or 17 weeks. i remember being worried b/c other girls i knew who were pregnant and due around me were feeling their babies and i wasn't. anyway, i love it and it reassures me that this sweet boy or girl is growing big and strong. he or she should be because i've been craving nothing but really unhealthy and fattening foods. it is awesome to just eat whatever i feel like...last time, eating was something i dreamed about and tried to do, but wasn't very successful at all. please continue to keep this pregnancy in your prayers :)

moving is always interesting...

well, i should be posting about our move into our new house, but it didn't happen so i won't be able to today. our closing was postponed for the second time to this tuesday, january 16. it has been a stressful week, but i can honestly say i trust the Lord's perfect timing on this and it always works out. we will move in this weekend. it has been a learning experience and i'm thankful for that!
on a much happier note, john's parents brought our baby girl back to charleston late friday night. she had been in georgia all week with both of our families so we could pack and get ready for the move that didn't happen. i tell you what, i don't know what we would do without our families. we are so blessed! i don't say that lightly. we have so much love, support and encouragement from them. i went out to the car to get caroline when joyce and sonny got in town and i almost cried. i missed her soooo much. and, she looked like she had grown a foot. she wrapped her little arms around my neck and kept saying "mommy!" over and over. she couldn't stop putting her hands on my face and saying "mommy!". i didn't want to let go of her. joyce and sonny stayed in town and we got to relax and basically eat and do nothing productive, which was exactly what i needed after the past week. we went out to folly beach on saturday and enjoyed the beautiful weather, close to 80 degrees. caroline wanted so bad to swim in the ocean. she practically did considering she got completely wet anyway. she had grandad walking back and forth on the beach with her over and over. we ate wonderful food and had so much fun together.

here is caroline's quote of the day:
i put her pj's on tonight and she threw her arms out and said....
caroline: i'm so beautiful!
mommy: yes, you are, but you know why? because you're beautiful on the inside. your heart is beautiful.
caroline: my hands are pretty because Jesus made them.
mommy: that's right
caroline: and my tummy is beautiful because Jesus made it, too.

i couldn't have said it better myself :)

we're still here!

just wanted everyone to know we're here! we had a wonderful christmas and new year's with our families. we're packing up this week and moving into our new house this weekend so i won't be blogging until after all that gets done. pray for me! i've never had to pack up while pregnant and it's harder than i thought. i get tired and my back begins to hurt after a few boxes :) i'll be back next week with pictures/news from the holidays and our new house. back to packing....only about 50 more boxes to go!!!