Caroline and Reagan: BFF!!!

The other day Caroline's little friend Reagan came over to play. She is 2 1/2 weeks younger than C, but I tell you she has got to be the smartest child in the world! I am amazed every week with how many words she can say and even phrases that she puts together. This sweet child is in love with the Hairspray movie and I think knows the movie by heart! Layla brought the movie over and the girls had so much fun playing and dancing! Friends are such a blessing.

Here they are swinging and having a ball! We didn't take pictures of them fighting over the baby swing! They are learning to share :)

Cute pictures

I didn't plan on putting them in matching red, white and blue outfits, but I thought it still deserved a picture!Most nights if Daniel isn't taking a nap, he gets "storytime", too. He loves it and really pays attention! Though Caroline doesn't seem to think it's so wonderful, considering that his arms are either in her face, pulling her hair, grabbie her blankie, etc.

Enjoying her new library book and her new Elmo potty seat (thanks to Drew!)....Of course she didn't do anything! If a child can tell you when she's pooped, does that mean that she's old enough to be potty trained???? haha If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them :)

Christmas in July

Saturday afternoon both kids were down for a nap, a rarity. Which means Patrick and I were cleaning house as fast as we could. The good thing about having your house on the market is that it forces you to keep your house clean :)

We heard a noise, and not knowing what it was but knowing it wasn't either of the kids, Patrick looked on the front porch. And there sat 2 HUGE boxes. We knew immediately what it was- a big, fat loot! Our best friends Doug and Jen who moved to Houston, mailed us probably every article of clothing (including 11 pairs of shoes and TONS of hats) that their son Drew has ever worn!!! Patrick and I went crazy and immediately opened them up and put them in nice little stacks based on the size. There were clothes from size newborn all the way to 2T. Patrick seriously wondered if they took the clothes off Drew's back! We were overwhelmed by their generosity and thoughtfulness. Daniel is set!

Later that night my parents came over for dinner and Pat grilled yummy pork chops, potatoes, corn, Texas toast...it was wonderful! Our friends gave us tons of bibs so I gave some to my mom to keep at their house. Having 3 granddaughters, she had all lil' girl bibs and I don't want JD to have a complex! ha

Here is Daniel showing off his dinosaur

roar for his Paw Paw!! He doesn't coo anymore, he ROARS!!!!!!!!! He must have learned that from big sis :)

Roaring again and getting some good belly time in.

Birthday Party

Last week we went to Caroline's first "real" birthday party for a friend! It was for Katie Jo and it was at Pump it up. Caroline had a blast! As you can tell, her daddy had a good time, too.

After playing so hard and sweating literally buckets, she got to eat some yummy pizza. Such a big girl!

Daniel was supposed to take a nap during the party, but he had way too much fun watching all the big kids play. He just smiled and laughed the whole time. It was so sweet. He loves watching his sissy do all the big things that he can't do just yet. This picture was taken right before he finally passed out. It takes a lot of energy to watch all those kids play so hard!

I hate blogspot.

Ok, so I SPECIFICALLY posted 12 updates to our blog in the order of: newest pictures - oldest, thinking that the most recent post always goes on top. So that when you read this long list of posts you could start at the top and work your way down to the last one which I wrote today, and it would sort of be in chronological order. AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

So, it would make more sense if you started at the last one that I posted today (but should be the first) entitled "ok, ok,..."

last update out of long list...

No pictures on this one, just a few updates on Patrick and Elizabeth in case you're interested. I know the real reason people look at blogs is to see pictures of the kids, right?



Patrick loves his new job and I am so happy for him. He actually looks forward going to work every day. He hasn't had that feeling in a long time.



I am now back at work working part-time (30 hrs) for probably 1 to 3 months, not really sure b/c it has never been approved, I'm just doing it until they tell me I can't! ha I have a couple of part-time possibilities on the horizon, for which I would greatly appreciate your prayers!!



We made an offer on a house in NLR last week, but it didn't work out. We went ahead and listed our house to see if we get any interest. We want to move to NLR to be closer to my family, my parents watch the kids and the commute gets old (and expensive) and we want to get our kids in a specific school zone. So if you know anyone who is interested in a house in WLR let me know! Patrick has worked so hard to get our house ready to sell and I am so proud of him!! Of course, he did have just a lil help from his handy ol' yardboy, aka Paw Paw :)



The kids are doing great. Ever since our vacation Daniel has not slept thru the night but maybe 3 times, and he was doing great before our vacation, so I don't understand. We're wondering if he's already starting to teethe b/c he's constantly sucking his hands, he's been more fussy, gassy, etc.



Caroline is going strong as ever, learning new words every day it seems. Right now her new word is share and she'll sign it, well, her version of the actual sign language for share. She has been waking up around 6 or 6:30 in the morning, which is ok with me on days that I work, but she hasn't exactly figured out my work schedule yet! haha



Anyways, sorry it's been so long since we've posted. To sum it up in a nutshell: we are blessed and God is so good to us. We will never be deserving of all His graciousness.

Day 4, last day

This is how we spent every morning of our trip: on the potty! Did she ever do anything? No, but she sure did enjoy reading all her books!

This day we drove up to Indianapolis and went to the Children's Museum. It was amazing! It is the largest in the world. They had a huge area that was for kids 5 and under, and Caroline had a blast!! It was a lot like The Wonder Place if ya'll have been there. Mama was happy b/c they had a special area for nursing mothers, complete with a curtain, rocking chair and even a little pillow. I'm telling you- this place rocked!

Riding the lion on the carousel:

For the last few weeks Caroline has been obsessed with lions! She'll say "mine" and with both hands make the scariest roar a little girl can make. It was precious! At dinner time when she won't stop doing it, we'll have to tell her that the lion went night night. So then she'll shh and say "nite nite?" And then a soft roar.

Caroline loved playing in the sand.

Look at that sweet booty! Ribbit. Ribbit.

Caroline loves "Jorge". (I actually have no idea how to spell all the sweet words she says. I just can't do it justice!)

Daniel had a good time at the museum, too.
It was finally time to come home, unfortunately. We had so much fun together. I love my family! Both kids did great sleeping at night, and did fantastic in the car considering how much we drove. Can't wait until next year's vacation. I'm thinking.......Destin??? Might need to check with Mimi and Paw Paw on that one!

Day 3

By the third day Patrick had gotten tired of driving so we let Caroline do some driving while mama pumped and daddy took a nap.

We made our way into Indiana to do some outlet shopping... some people just can’t keep up with the “Joneses”

Just in case you are wondering, no this is not at Churchill Downs, this was downtown. The family decided to go for a “Handsome Cab Ride” (ala – “Rusty” from Seinfeld) (If you can’t tell, Patrick is helping me with some of these comments!)

After the carriage ride downtown, we went to a beautiful area along the Ohio river called Waterfront Park.

Caroline loved walking through the grass. So much of the trip she was strapped into her car seat, but now she was finally FREE!

They had a wonderful playground area just perfect for Caroline’s age. I think in this picture she was telling the little girl, “No! No!”

The sun was setting and it was just beautiful. Daniel’s in the picture, too. You can see his toes.

We had a late-night swim at the hotel, but it was a quick one. Caroline didn’t care for it too much!

Day 2

We spent the night in Elizabethtown, KY. Here the kiddos are just chillin in the hotel room…

My lil’ slugger! We were going to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory this day, so I thought how appropriate, he can wear his “slugger” outfit. Of course he pooed all over it before we ever got there! Oh well, he had another cute baseball outfit to wear. . Funny story there…Daniel had not pooed in a few hours and we were on the guided tour in the factory when I heard him do his business. There’s no mistaking that sweet breastmilk poo smell or the warm sensation against your body. (I guess I should have mentioned first that I was carrying him in his snugli.) Well, a couple of minutes later I rubbed his oh so soft baby legs, and before I could even think about my reaction it was, “Wipe! Patrick, wipe!” At least we were at the back of the line and it was so noisy in the factory that I don’t think anyone noticed. So, apparently he was bound and determined to get some poo on both of his baseball outfits that day!

On the way to Louisville...

Only my husband has the nerve to walk up to the guard and ask the following questions: 1. Do ya’ll give tours? and 2. Do ya’ll give away any free samples? The guard did not laugh.

It was very cool to be this close to so much money, I must admit.

We went to the Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs. I must admit that I know absolutely nothing about horse racing or the significance of the Kentucky Derby, but I still found it very interesting and learned a lot. I’m a nerd, I know. But to me a vacation isn’t just lying on a beach, which can be nice, but to go to new places and learn new things. We love museums and history and all that kind of fun stuff! We’re wild people, I know.

Caroline in front of the wall of hats. It’s a tradition that women wear these crazy big hats to the KY Derby every year.

Caroline giving the horse a kiss.

Watching a race with daddy.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Caroline decided that she wanted to run in the fifth race of the day. We looked up and she had run out on the track….she came in fourth in the race, not bad for a 21 month old.

Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory

I thought this was neat. They had every baseball that each president from Roosevelt to Bush had thrown at a MLB game. They also had each of these president’s names on a jersey either red or blue, and the number of his presidency. What was amazing to me, was that Clinton had just dropped out of the race like 3 days before and they already had Obama’s jersey made.

Patrick and kids in front of the largest baseball in the world.

Look at those BIG blue eyes!

Caroline overlooking the Ohio river.

Our first family vacation of 4

We decided to take a little family vacation before I went back to work, since I have zero sick and annual leave left, we might as well since I won’t be taking off work anytime soon! We went to Kentucky for 3 days and Indiana for 1 day.

Day 1

Hodgenville, KY: birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. This is in front of the Lincoln statue and Lincoln museum.

Birthplace of Lincoln. Look at what a big boy Daniel is- riding forward!

Ah, how sweet…

1st Haircut

Caroline had her first haircut on June 28th. She just got a little trim off the back and it looked so much healthier and fuller. She didn’t really enjoy it, but I thought she still did great.

Here's a before picture:

and after picture.

Camping

Caroline is a camping girl! Last week my parents took their new trailer to Maumelle Park. They stayed Monday and Tuesday nights, which means when Patrick dropped the kids off on the way to work Tuesday morning he took them to Maumelle park. He said that Caroline was in awe and running all through the trailer!! They had fun camping, and my dad loaded them up in the double stroller and took them for a walk.

Patrick and I went to pick Daniel up after I got off work. We had hot dogs, they were yummy! Caroline stayed the night, along with her cousins Morgan and Madison. We thought that Daniel was a little too young to go camping. (Meaning, his mama isn't ready to be away from him for the night nor is his Paw Paw ready to get up in the middle of the night with him, as he is still not sleeping thru the night!)

Doesn't she look like she's having a blast?!The 4 Kennedy grandchildren