Happy Birthday Song

Caroline's First Birthday

The Birthday Girl!!

Enjoying her cupcake (she looks pretty clean here)

Caroline and Hannah

Caroline, Lily, and Jack playin' some tunes.

Opening presents...

So, Caroline turned ONE yesterday. I can't believe it's already been a year. Time has gone so fast. She is the sweetest little girl. She is always so happy and loves to dance, laugh, and smile. We are so thankful for the opportunity to be her parents. 

Things she currently loves: Mirrors, Jewelry (on other people), Dancing, Jack, Eating

Things she does not like: Naps and her carseat or any time of restraint (she's an active girl)

She's still not walking but she does cruise all over the place and crawls when she wants to get somewhere quickly. She's a climber and I am always finding her on the fireplace, train table, etc. She says 'hi' but that's really the only word I can understand at this point. We'll go to the doctor for her first year checkup next week so I'll have stats then.

My Family Loves to Dance

Caroline, along with the rest of my family, seems to enjoy dancing. 

Family Picture

Mazatlan

Jack did a great job of making friends despite the language barrier. 

Excited about the aquarium.

Being silly by the pool.

We had a great trip to Mazatlan the first part of August. My parents were originally supposed to go with us; however, because of my dad's health they weren't able to go. My mom really wanted to keep Caroline while we traveled so we sent her to Missouri before we headed to Mexico. We had a lot of fun on the beach and in the pool and we were able to spend some quality time with my sister and her boyfriend, Barrett. When we got back, Caroline was officially spoiled so we had a few days of 'Grandma Detox' to get through. :)

Spaghetti and Other Adventures

Making bug and 'Jack' cookies. Does this kid look like he could use more sugar?

Jack's really into building tall towers. But the best part is after it's done he wants to knock them down.

Caroline will not let you help her eat. She only wants grown up food and she only wants to feed herself. This was a result of her self-feeding spaghetti yesterday. It was messy but I think she liked it.

Trip to Pittsburgh

Crawling around the airport waiting for our flight.

Saying goodbye to Papa and Nana.

We visited Nathan's folks in Pittsburgh the first part of July. It was a nice break from the 100+ degree Texas temperatures. We went several places while we were in town but I think Jack's favorite spot was Idlewild. It's an amusement part designed for younger kids; however, he only wanted to ride the 'bigger' people rides. He loved the log ride and then we couldn't get him off the roller coaster. Who knew my cautious kid would have that much fun on a roller coaster?

Summer Fun

I have been so bad about updating the blog. Facebook has become so much easier I find it's difficult keeping up with both. We have had a busy summer. So far we've been to Memphis, Missouri, Pittsburgh, and Houston. We have one more trip scheduled for Mexico in two weeks. We are so excited. Caroline has done great traveling. Her plane trip to Pittsburgh was wonderful. She charmed the flight attendants and travelers sitting next to her and played with her brother and his toy cars for most of the flight. It's crazy to think in another month she will be a year old. She's standing up and cruising like crazy but not walking yet. She does love to climb up on tables, chairs and fireplaces. The girl is definately going to be active. Jack and I have had fun this summer, too. The pictures above show him practicing writing his letters in shaving cream. He does pretty well with the letters 'o', 'c', 'h' and 'j'. But the others are still pretty difficult. He's also started swimming lessons which is finally giving him some confidence in the water. His vocabulary is amazing and it has been fun to watch him test out new combinations of words (funny example: I'm going to kick you in the smell box). He has found an increased love of dance, probably due to the fact that we watch 'So You Think You Can Dance' together on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Both of them are doing great. It will be sad to see the summer come to an end.

Brothers and Sisters

Jack and Caroline have had a good time together this month. More and more I am seeing Jack making attempts to play with her. It's cute and encouraging. He's also great about sharing with her (note popsicle picture above). We currently have some friends who are expecting and when we asked Jack if he wanted them to have a boy or a girl he said "I just want them to have a baby who talks". So, I think he's ready for Caroline to be able to walk and talk. Hopefully it won't be much longer!

Memphis

We headed to Memphis this past weekend for a wedding and had a nice time catching up with Nathan's family. The kids were worn out when we came back home. Jack fell asleep on Sunday night at 5 p.m. and slept through the night. Entertaining everyone apparently wore him out. Caroline's first plane ride was a little rough, but she was also getting a top tooth while we were there (perfect timing). We survived and are now looking forward the trip #2 of the summer with my family.

Standing Tall

Caroline is pulling up. And now that's all she wants to do. She is a determined little girl and I predict that she will walk soon. I could be wrong but she seems pretty motivated to want to keep up with that older brother of hers. She's still army crawling everywhere but she definately moves quickly. I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up with both of them when she's finally completely mobile. Those days are quickly approaching!!

Two Little Monkeys

Jack loves to get in the crib with Caroline. 

Here we are getting ready to release our butterflies. We had 5 that flew off to find new homes.

Once they were gone Jack said he wanted more butterflies.

Caroline loves strawberries. Jack loves making up phone conversations. Both are witnessed on this video.

Zoo Members

We recently purchased season passes to the zoo. We love the zoo in our area and can't wait to spend some time there this summer. 

Enjoying Nature

Nathan was so excited to see a jalapeno growing in his garden.

Our butterfly larvae.

They all formed chrysalides in the cup.

The chrysalides in their new habitat.

We have been enjoying spring and time outdoors. Nathan has planted a garden this year and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of peppers, squash, tomatoes, cilantro, and pumpkins. Jack and I have been busy watching the life cycle of the Painted Lady butterflies we ordered. They are currently chrysalides and we are waiting for them to transform into butterflies. Should be any day now.

Army Crawl

Caroline is finally able to get around. She has been trying so hard for the past few weeks and did a really great job of moving backwards...which only frustrated her even more. She loves being able to move across the floor. I have realized, however, that it is harder to baby proof things with a three-year-old sibling leaving snacks and small toys everywhere.

Preparing for Easter

Caroline looks really fascinated with the egg decorating, doesn't she?

What a goofball. Notice the color stained hands...

Easter egg hunt. Jack missed the preschool hunt so he was up against the big kids. 

Caroline watching the egg hunt. It was windy and her mom is paranoid about ear infections so she had to wear her hat.

Oh my creative child!

Jack's First Soccer Game

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It was a big day last Saturday as Jack had his first soccer game. He did pretty well. They actually played games/drills for about forty minutes and then had a small game during the last twenty minutes. Jack did great until about the last ten minutes when I think he just was too tired. He had a lot of fun and didn't cry the whole time (like some kids)...so I was proud.

Passport Picture

Even though it's a passport picture, I thought it was too cute not to post. This summer we are going to Mexico with Grandma and Grandpa so we had to get Caroline's passport application turned in. We actually took the picture at home and then used a nifty online program www.epassportphoto.com to get it to the correct specifications. When we were finished we sent the file online to Walgreens where it was printed in less than an hour for only $0.19. I saved $8.00. I love technology!

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

Grandma and Grandpa came down for a visit a few weeks ago and unfortunately we didn't take many pictures. I think we were too busy outside enjoying the nice weather. 

Action Jackson