--- 4 Months ---

Carolyn is now 4 months old! We continue to be amazed about how much we love this little girl. 

Here are some stats!

Weight and Height: 15 pounds (yes, I am 90th percentile for weight!) and 24.5 inches (mom and dad can't  believe that I have grown 5 whole inches since I was born)

Eating: I am feeding 5 times a day and Dr. McManus said that I should start trying out that rice cereal stuff next month.  She also told my mom it is time to get me a high chair so that I can sit with them at breakfast and lunch (I am in bed before they eat dinner) so that I can start figuring out what this whole meal thing is all about. 

Sleeping:  I go to bed between 6 and 6:30 because I just become what my parents call "grumpy-pants" and I just need to go to bed.  I love my bedtime routine because we do the four B's (bed, bottle, book, and bed) and then I get tucked in my sleep sack, then I talk to my lovie for a few minutes, and then I drift off to sleep for anywhere from 10-12 hours.  I still nap during the day but mom is trying to get me on a 9:30 and 1:00 nap schedule because that is what I will be doing when I start daycare part-time in August. 

Moving:  I am rolling over some and scooting around in my crib no big movements yet.  I do love to swing at my play-yard and Baby Einstein Activity Center and I also have started bringing lots of things to my mouth.  

Talking: I love making noises and talking. 

Sitting:  I am trying really hard to sit up on my own but just haven't built up enough muscles yet.  I also love to stand while supported.

Toys: They keep becoming more interesting! 


Flying: Doin' it for the first time tomorrow to go and see family in Arizona (pray for my parents!) 

Here are some pics of all I've been up to: 

I love to laugh! 

Hands in my mouth, hands in my mouth, I love hands in my mouth! 

So excited for my first boat ride!

Trying to protect myself from the sun! 

Hanging out with my bud! 

Snoozing in the shade 

Take that Baby Einstein Activity Center

So if you know me, you know that I am not that great at putting things together.

But I was determined to tackle this Baby Einstein Activity Center... 

So with some cheering on from Carolyn and some muscle and brain power I fought the good fight... and won... here is the journey... 

Carolyn is so excited she can barely wait until her new entertainment is ready! 

The puzzle pieces... 

Carolyn enjoying the front-row seat to the show.

We are getting closer... 

The finished product. 

Carolyn wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first... 

Then she discovered this and it entertained her for a good ten minutes (twice now)

She is still a little short so we had to improvise.

This is pretty cool she is thinking... as a side note, yes, she is wearing a onesie that says BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) 

When she got bored with it she went back to the tried and true favorite toy, her hands. 

Sorry the color on the video is all screwed up. 

~.~ Garden ~.~

I know most of my posts are about Carolyn but I have been waiting to blog about our outdoor project and now that we've completed most of it here I couldn't wait to blog about it.  Carolyn has been busy making sure it gets done while we nap, ok maybe it is the other way around but that would make her a pretty impressive 3 month old if she was able to do all of that.   If you had seen this house when we first bought it you would know that the outside received very little TLC. Jesse spent two days tearing out a 10 x 25 foot stretch of 8 foot high weeds (we have since grown a nice patch of grass in its place), we also dug out a ton of overgrown bushes with the help of my brother, my uncle, and my grandpa.  We have since planted iris and aloe plants (given to us by Dave & Cary Schwartz), lots of rose of Sharon (thanks to my dad), and a host of other plants (thanks to Lowes and Sullivans Hardware and Garden).  We also have built a garden that (except for last year- I was so sick during that first trimester that tending to the garden was just too much effort) has grown lots of good vegetables to eat. Here are some pictures and of course, I snuck one of Carolyn in too!

Flowers in the flower box that Jesse built last summer. 

Fresh herbs! 

More flowers...

The sign that my grandpa made for us before he died. 

Beautiful blooming iris flowers!

I have been wanting to plant some climbing flowers for two summers now and I finally bought some flowers to climb the two trellis's I bought.   The lady at Sullivan's promised me they would bloom all summer and smell beautiful so I am holding her to it! 

The first part of the garden-  hopefully we will get a few tubs of strawberries! 

Fresh lettuce and arugula

Some really hot peppers for Jesse... in his opinion, the hotter the better... 

We love fresh tomatoes right off the vine...

Some of the blooms from our clearance plants that we planted last fall...  

Jeffy was enjoying the scenery... 

Ferns where there is absolutely no sunshine! 

New plants in the front of the house... 

New landscaping by the front door. 

There used to be huge overgrown bushes all along here.  Now we have Rose of Sharon, Poor Henry, and Rhododendron plants.  

One of the rhododendron's didn't survive the winter, we need to find a replacement. 

The rose of sharon my grandpa gave us the fall before he died. 

Can't wait for the climbing plants to make their debut! 

Of course the one day that I really was counting on Carolyn taking a good long afternoon nap she refused to comply.  As a result, we improvised...  after fighting sleep for 45 minutes inside, one minute in the swing outside under the umbrella on the porch and she slept for 90 minutes...  

Publish Post

We just bought new granite countertops this weekend and Jesse started stripping our kitchen cabinets! We can't wait to showcase our finished project! 

Drum Roll Please ....

And we've got a rolling baby! 

Perfect lil' Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend started with a girls dinner out to La Hacienda with some great friends.  Jesse watched Carolyn so I could go and have some adult time with the girls.  Then Saturday morning we took a quick little trip the Farmer's Market.  It was the first of the season and Carolyn's first time going to the market.  Emily Button and I usually go every weekend we can during the summer all the way into November, so Carolyn better get used to going! :) 

 She looks a little nervous about her first adventure to the market! 

It started raining and so we had to improvise to keep Carolyn dry... 

Then I got to hang out with this little girl all the rest of the weekend! (and her dad too) 

Today we went to breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants and had an awesome omelette of spinach, sun-dried tomato pesto, mushroom, and parmesan cheese and way too many cups of coffee.  I love Cafe Patachou!  Then we got some awesome family time just hanging out all afternoon.

To be completely honest, I figured Jesse had forgotten about Mother's Day (birthdays, etc. usually aren't his forte)  but he didn't and surprised me with an awesome Edible Arrangements Bouquet! What a great husband! 

We finished the day with a walk, some grilling, a few beers and Carolyn's typical bedtime routine.  And Jeffy, my first "kid" was very excited to be included in all of the fun!  

Happy Mother's Day!