Happy Birthday, America!

Happy Birthday, America…and thank you for the three day weekend with my family! Okay, so actually it is a 5 day weekend because I was put on standby today and tomorrow is my regular off day so its been extra good. Kyle is going to kill me for staying home so much but I'm pretty sure Caroline is loving it and I am too. She's only young once! And now I'm getting the stay at home mom fever. That's about all it will amount to because I've faced the fact that I have to work. 

In other news… we are officially entering the teething world. Which I joke doesn't really affect us much because Caroline is such an inconsistent sleeper. She started drooling constantly, has a clear runny nose at times, and is gnawing away at everything she can get hers hands on. Not to mention that she is SUPER irritable and fussy at bedtime… like had a complete meltdown last night and wouldn't take her bottle until she was almost asleep. I have two teething rings in the freezer marinating for her.. and Tylenol/Motrin on board. Anyways...I've got so many pictures that I am posting from earlier this week as well. 

First up… a visit with Granny Martin last Tuesday. This picture pretty much sums up where C gets her attitude from. 

Our new favorite thing to do is lay on this blanket in the nursery and roll around! She is so so close to rolling over. It is funny to watch her get the back leg ready to swing over and then get stuck with her face turned in face down. We have spent many hours playing with toys on this blanket and listening to music. (This blanket is super special to me… made by Mrs. Naomi Hilley, the sweetest lady from Antioch, our old church.) Notice the red cheeks where I wiped her face with a baby wipe…bad mama! 

Daddy picked out these sweet little house shoes at Generations in Guntersville when I was pregnant and we had just found out we were having a girl, not a boy.  They finally fit but she won't keep them on for a hot three seconds before they are in the floor. She sure does like to stare at them, though! This little chair is our favorite.. its how mama gets a lot done in the kitchen. 

Introducing our savior…the bouncer! She LOVES this…and usually watches MMCH in it for a good thirty minutes or longer. She is starting to bounce now but had no idea what to do with it the first day. We usually buy two of everything since she spends a lot of time at nana's house as well as our house so we found two bouncers from friends and bought for $25 a piece. Could this morning face get any sweeter?

One rainy day we hopped in the car to go pay the electric bill and came back and I got some good bible reading in. These are my favorite times! 

This was a very sweet morning. She had just woken up and loves to look at the ferns on the porch and touch them. It was raining so we sat on the porch and played with the ferns/listened to the rain for a while.

On the actual 4th of July I was on call for surgery, so we had a low-key day at home and went to Kyle's sisters later in the evening for a get-together. I was called in from around 9:30 to 1:00 and thankfully that was all for the day and night! We managed to get one halfway decent picture of us in our patriotic get-up, but she mostly stares at the ferns on the porch when we are outside. She loves them! 

This picture might be one of my favorites. She is so sweet and has a charming personality. I am going to try to find a baby picture of Uncle Andrew at four months old to compare… I swear those two are twins.

Cousin Addison playing with Caroline! She kept saying "baby, baby, baby" on repeat. 

We drove home Sunday morning since Kyle was working and went to church with my family. After church nana, pop, Toria, Caroline, and I ate some yummy Japanese and went to visit Uncle A at the Goosepond Planation golf course where he was working. C was in extra good spirits at lunch! 

 You know its a good nap when your paci falls out.

Then we played at nanas for a while before our afternoon nap. All smiles again! 

We drove home this morning and she was tuckered out from her fun weekend with family. 

But not too tired to watch some MMCH in her umbrella stroller! Which by the way has became a life-saver at home… I just push her wherever I'm going and she's happy. 

Before we end this post… let me re-cap on what was going on ONE year ago when we were fresh off finding out that I was pregnant! 

I never dreamed that this little tiny thing in my belly that was making me hurl everyday would be a four and half month old beautiful happy baby girl a year later! So crazy! Looking at this ultrasound picture and watching her asleep in the swing now just proves to me how sovereign God is… and how he provides and blesses us as he sees fit! Our lives are changed forever for the better because of this baby girl.