Saturday

Helloooooo, weekend! The picture above is so beautiful but makes me so sad. As I mentioned in my previous post, Kyle and I had big plans this morning. We spent the night with my parents last night with plans to get up at 5:30 am and go for a hot air balloon ride early this morning. Unfortunately, this particular day in August turned out to be very windy and our balloonist said that he had been doing this a very long time and it was not safe to go up with as much wind as there was this morning. However, another balloonist at the park loves to take risks so he got his up and going before we left. I snapped this pretty picture of his balloon on my phone. I really hope they landed safely but I am thankful that our guy chose to be safe. Bummer! 

Caroline rode with us to the park before we found out we weren't going up and took a pretty cute little nap in her jammies. 

Bath time at nana's house last night was super fun. She has this ring bath for us to try out on Caroline (apparently all of our bath things are blue-which doesn't really matter because they're so temporary) and of course she had a blast. She splished and splashed forever. 

These two are becoming the best of friends. Wherever Caroline is, Libby is usually right nearby. 

My most FAVORITE part of the week was our 6 month picture session on Tuesday with Sandy O'Dell. Caroline lasted for about 30 minutes and three outfit changes. I hadn't even planned of her lasting that long but she did great. These are a couple of our previews. 

On Thursday, Sandy asked if Caroline could pose for a sunflower shot that she could use to advertise for her sunflower mini session coming up. Of course I said yes (Caroline said yes as well) and we dressed her up and headed to Parches Cove. We followed Sandy and her daughter Emi to the sunflower field and had a blast shooting pictures. This is the picture she used for advertising and we fell in love with it. 

That's about it for today. We got home early this morning and have had a great lazy day at home. Now that it is raining, we might get a good nap in. I'm looking forward to going to church with my family tomorrow! 

XOXO- Laci

Tuesday

It's my off day and I am super happy about it! I woke up to Caroline just talking her little heart away and of course I just laid beside her and listened. Kyle was getting ready for work and she had to talk to him too and flash him some pretty sweet grins. After some coffee, a quick Wal-Mart trip for Dawn and new bottle brush, and dropping Libby off to the groomers we are back at home. I have had my quiet time and Caroline's going strong on her morning nap so I feel pretty refreshed! 

What's New This Week?

We have our 6 month pictures this afternoon and I am pretty excited about it! We will see how Caroline feels about it. I am banking on nana and some Disney junior via iPhone to get some good grins. Now to narrow down clothes! That's my task of the morning.

What Am I Looking Forward To?

Saturday morning Kyle and I are doing something pretty amazing and a definite bucket-list must. Some of my close friends know, but I think that I will keep it a surprise until I post again (or post pictures on social media because you know I will!)

September 2nd- DWTS Cast Reveal! Kyle and I loooooove some DWTS and can't wait to find out who the pros are being paired with! Kyle's favorite pros are Witney and Emma. While I love those two as well, my favorites are Derek, Mark, and Peta. I mean, this show gets me so excited. I can't dance to save my life but I get so into the ballroom dancing! 

The Walking Dead returns October 11th…I don't know who's more excited than us. Actually yes I do- our friend Ethan. Haha. We had TWD parties at Brooke & Ethan's last year every Sunday night after church…. this year might be a little different with Caro in the mix but we will manage! 

HALLOWEEN! The big question…what is Caroline going to be? The answer- probably a cute little girl dressed in Halloween clothes! We haven't decided if we are dressing up or not yet.


What Am I Dreading?

I don't really think I am dreading anything besides spending the night with my parents Friday night and waking up at 4:30 or 5 am. (Not the spending the night part, obviously.) 

Ohhhh yeah- one more. Christmas shopping. Literally, I. Hate. Christmas. Shopping. I am a true believer that Christmas is about family and Jesus, not about the hype of spending tons of money on gifts. I would rather just get gifts for the children in our family and focus on the fun, food, and family. I think I am going to try to shop for one person every few weeks from now on to minimize the stress in December.

What is God Showing Me?

This morning God spoke to me about being consistent in my prayers. Meaning that if I feel the need to pray for someone, not to just do it for a day or two. About a month ago I started praying for a specific person who I know doesn't believe in God. I also started praying for his family too. A week or so ago, I stopped. Because we just get busy like that….So when I was pulling out of Wal-Mart this morning, this person drove right by me. I was quickly reminded that God isn't finished there and that my prayers should continue.  

What has Caroline been up to this week?


Eating her baby food in style. Dressed in a Minnie bib and glasses, happy as can be. 

Strolling with daddy to Tractor Supply on Sunday so that she would take a nap. Daddy loves to stroll her and she loves to stroll, so this worked out perfectly. 

She got some strolling time with mama and Libby this week too. We even got to the pace of jogging and she sure did love the wind blowing on her!

These two= double trouble. And its going to get worse. 

That's it for my off-day post! We are going to start the process of getting everything ready for pictures! Wish us luck. :)

XOXO- Laci

Saturday

^^^ 

I need to repeat this prayer everyday! 

I'm soooo happy that the weekend got here! We have had a long few days since my last post on Wednesday. Caroline kicked off month six with a big ole bang.. keeping mama and daddy up two long nights in a row. Then Nana came to help out and she kept nana up last night. Whew. I said that if I posted about her sleeping something would happen and sure enough it did. Anyway, we went to my friend Haleigh's daughter Reagan's second birthday party today and it was so precious! Reagan had a Minnie Mouse party and she looked so sweet in her Minnie bubble and big bow. She was having a great time & made a special bond with Caroline. She was fascinated with her and wanted her to play with her so bad! I see these two being good friends in the future. Their mama's will have their hands full. 

Yesterday we had her six month check-up (time for your check up, time for your check up- we are officially Doc Mcstuffin lovers) and Caroline weighed 19 pounds and was 26 inches long. She got two shots and cried a little bit longer this time. I however, held it together and held her afterwards. Even though we medicated before and after every 4 hours she still spiked a temp last night and was extremely fussy for a while. It didn't make it any better when chef fireman daddy almost smoked the house down but thats a different story for a different day. 

Last weekend we celebrated my mom's birthday at Mater's. Mater's is our favorite family place to eat and Caroline loves the atmosphere. This was her third time going in six months. Kyle and I picked up the most delicious strawberry and cream cheese icing cake at Publix and it was to die for! Kyle decided to have "Happy Birthday Penny Renae" put on her cake since that's what he calls her. I wanted mom to have a great birthday since she does so much for us and I knew it would be most special to her spent with family. We sure did have fun! (Be prepared for picture overload)

We dressed up for church on Wednesday night since it was rainy and not eighty degrees. Then we ended up with our first stopped up runny nose from nursery germs and it's still stuffy today. I keep telling myself that she is eventually going to get sick being around other kids and she is going to have to be around other kids eventually so keep taking her. It's so hard, though! 

We visited the fire station after work where Caroline flirted with all of Kyle's co-workers and put on a little show. 

6 Months Old

Caroline Reese Page, 

I cannot believe that you are six months old. I remember sitting at home with you in February when we had just came home from the hospital and thinking that you were so tiny and so fragile. We could hold you in the crook of our arm and sleep with you for hours. I was so scared to take care of a tiny human being that depended on me for every ounce of life. I couldn't imagine a day when you would be a spunky, energetic, blue-eyed, smiling little sweetheart that everyone adored. But you are just that and we love every little piece of you. Happy half birthday little girl!

Love, Mama & Daddy 

~Six Months Old~

Caroline is officially half a year old and loving every minute of it. She is ALL personality and we think she is such a hoot. She smiles all the time at anyone and everyone. She is also a screamer. She screams a high pitch shrill when she is happy and it is pretty entertaining. She smiles after every sneeze and it makes me laugh. She loves to watch Mickey Mouse and Doc McStuffins. She can pitch a fit with the best of them and lets us know really quick what she is wanting. This week she started reaching for us and it makes our hearts melt. I feel like we have really hit our stride at month six and it just keeps getting easier. 

Eating

Caroline drinks five 5 ounce bottles daily. We decreased it from six ounces to five and add a little cereal with each bottle to decrease the spitting up. She spits up alot. She still loves sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash. She is not very fond of fruits unless they are mixed with her vegetables. 

Sleeping

I would rather not even go to the subject of sleeping for the fact that right after I type this we will have a horrible night. Please Lord help me out here! Okay-here it goes. For around a month now she has been sleeping a solid eight hours a night. Whaaaat?  I know. I don't even care that she is an early bird like me and wakes up at 5 every morning as long as we get 7-8 hours. She still sleeps bedside me in her co-sleeper and most mornings I have to pull her in bed with me around 4:30 because she is in such a light phase of sleep squirming around that she would wake up earlier if I didn't do something. Let me remind everyone here that this baby is still swaddled, which is our absolute saving grace. I am just so gloriously thankful for some sleep that I don't care how it happens. With that said, we do have some rough nights thrown in sometimes. But compared to two months ago? It's better and I am so thankful. Dear Jesus, I will never take sleep for granted again. Amen. 

Napping
Caroline still takes every nap in her swing. Yes, I am aware that she is six months old and her toes hang off the edge when she stretches out but it is what works for her. She loves that thing. I dread the upcoming weeks when we have to train her to nap in her crib and no turning back to the swing. (Any suggestions are welcome!) She takes around 5 naps a day and usually two of them are long. 

Teeth

We have no teeth yet! For a while we have been thinking one on the bottom right is going to pop through, but I suppose she is going to be a slow teether. I'm okay with that-teething is horrible!

Sickness

As I stated in previous blog posts, Caroline has had thrush now for 2 weeks. The first 3-4 days were awful, and now it is in small, sparse patches in her mouth.We are continuing her medicine 4 times a day and still boiling bottles/paci's/teething toys daily. It doesn't bother her much, thankfully.  

New Things
Caroline is sitting up pretty much by herself for around 15-20 seconds. I give her a week or two and she will have it down really good. She also rolls from one side of the living room to the other rather quickly. 

To sum it up, life with this girl is FUN! I'm so thankful God allowed me to be her mama and I pray every single night that she would walk in His ways! Happy 6 Months Caroline! We love you soooo much!

XOXO- Laci

Saturday 8/15/15

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. Jeremiah 17:9-10, NLT

Happy Saturday, friends!

Oddly enough, this is a strange enough Saturday for Kyle and I. We went last night to see Tim McGraw in concert and did not get in bed until one o'clock…. yes you read that correctly! Caroline stayed with my parents and my mother begged to me let her keep her today until we meet up with them this afternoon to eat for her birthday. So my mom has Caroline on her birthday and Kyle and I are at home alone on a Saturday. I have learned two things after last night. The concert was mostly wholesome and fun and we had a blast with our friends. There aren't many things, however that are going to keep me from my 9-10 pm bedtime after last night. Especially when I realized that no matter how late my body stays up, it will always wake up at 7am. 

Anyways, of course I am super thankful to my awesome mom for letting me have this time to catch up on laundry, dishes, cleaning, and working on a bookshelf for Caroline's room that we have been working on slowly for a while. I got two chapters of "The Best Yes" completed along with many chapters of "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom invested in. Let me just say, this book is phenomenal already. I have always found myself drawn to Holocaust/WWII books written from people who experienced it, but Corrie's relationship with God tied into this book and her unwavering faith in Him through some really scary times is such a great read for me or anyone! I am pretty sure these two books are going to be at the top of my book list! 

The scripture above is something I came across during my quiet time this morning. Although I consider myself to be very transparent with my life/struggles and what not, God has spoken to us this week about a particular issue I have began praying about for a few weeks now. He has placed a stirring desire in my heart, and I feel that it is a personal thing for now that God wants to work with Kyle and I both on. If I could seriously see what was down the road five years from now everything would be great but that is not how faith works. #christianstruggles #amiright

How sweet is my little girl sleeping on the way to nana's with Mickey and Minnie on each side? My heart melts each time I see this picture! Love my girl.

I didn't realize until looking at this picture of us right now how tired I always look, but I've decided to overlook it and enjoy the time we have together! It is truly a gift.

This girl! One of the sweetest souls you will encounter. Brooke has such a heart for Christ, a heart for serving others, and a heart for her family. Not to mention a heart for Tim McGraw, which is pretty much another reason I love her! ;)

And just for fun…. from a year ago….

 12 weeks pregnant…..with our "son"! What a funny thing to look back on.

 The clothes I bought our "baby boy"…that would soon go to my friend Jennifer for Parker!

It gets funnier.  The fabric for his curtains and bedding. 



How thankful I am for my sweet Caroline and the life we have with her now!


You guys, I cannot express how God has changed my life in a short matter of months. I went from having a baby, struggling with the shocking new life change, feeling hopeless, scared, and anxious every day to loving my life as a mother and seeking His will more than I ever have. Of course I am still the clumsy, goofy, crazy person I have always been, but I just see God at work so much in my life now that I have a family and a desire for Him! I hope you have a great Saturday! And the biggest HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom, our nana, my best friend! Love you mama!!!