Sweet Caroline...Ba, Ba, Ba...Good Times Never Seemed So Good...Or Tiring!

 Waiting for Caroline to arrive! 

Hahaha- Chris says, "I already have a headache!"

 Nana and Papa

Aunt Jen and Uncle Scott

 Avery, Mimi, and Caroline

Getting ready to leave the hospital

 

Mimi and Caroline

Grandpa Tommy and Caroline

 First bath- finally!! :) She LOVED it- not a peep! Avery used to scream through hers, so we would wrap her in a towel and then get her wet, so she wouldn't be cold...looks like this little chicky may not need us to do that! 

Well, our family is complete with the arrival of Caroline on April 19th, 2013.  She arrived in a very calm fashion, waking me up around 3:00 with contractions that weren't too crazy...by the time I woke Chris up at 4:00 though, those suckers were coming every 2-3 minutes...poor guy was a little flustered driving to Christ hospital in a thunderstorm and missed the exit, by that time I was having visions of giving birth in our Honda CR-V.  But, we made it to the hospital just in time for me to get an epidural (almost too late!) and little girl calmed down. She was born at 10:04- she gave one little "waaaa" when she arrived, then quieted right down and smiled when they laid her on my chest (seriously!).

Caroline Claudia (her middle name is for Chris's mother, by the way -both of our girls are named after their strong grandmothers! :) is very calm in general, although she has her moments at night...we had totally blocked the new parent experience from our memories, so those sleepless nights are proving to be a killer! But she's healthy and we are so blessed, so we will take those sleepless nights for sure! :)

Big sister Avery is adjusting, although I know I will never be able to let my guard down- Ave thinks Caroline is one of her dolls, and tries vigorously to tickle her, pick her up, or get THIS CLOSE to her face at every opportunity.  She's such a smart cookie though, so I know in time our constant reminders will sink in (here's hoping).

Our families have been such a help- Mimi and Grandpa Tommy taking care of Ave while we were in the hospital, Nana and Papa taking Ave at night when we came home- just amazing- we are so, so lucky in so many ways.  Love our new little girl so much!

New Rooms for Avery and Caroline :)

 Avery's new room- it used to be our office (walls were dark brown and covered with framed Army items).

 Ave's "Princess and the Pea" bed- this sucker is high! They must be making mattresses extra high these days- she needs a stool to get up there! 

This girl loves her books!  

 After making Ave's curtains, I had all of these leftover buttons, so I made an A from them- in my mind it's very crafty- hahaha! 

 Thanks Mom for your help with the curtains!

Little "Dreamcatcher" 

 Caroline's Room- Looks very familiar if you've seen pictures of Avery's old room- haha! Poor little Caroline:).

 When we moved in, a little baby boy had lived in this room- we couldn't bear to paint over the murals on the walls, just too precious- there are butterflies, bumblebees, and dragonflies painted all over the room.

 I totally did the same button art in Caroline's room- I bet this craft is on Pinterest somewhere (that's pretty confident of me to think that! :)

 Thanks Gayle M. for making the adorable memory can for Miss Caroline- so cute! 

These rooms have been finished for a while- Avery's been in her room for months- but honestly, neither one has been clean enough to take pictures until today- ha! I thought I'd post them since they will never be that clean again. :) 

Happy Easter!

 Decorating eggs with a significant splatter to the shirt! :)

 That silly bunny hid Ave's basket in Mimi and Grandpa Tommy's closet! 

 The Easter Bunny brought Avery a racetrack/car set! Looks like the Easter Bunny shares our enthusiasm for helping Avery branch out beyond Disney Princesses:).

 Posing at church.

 Opening Easter baskets at Nana's!

 Ave helping Mommy decorate homemade carrot cake cupcakes! Even did the cream cheese frosting from scratch- pretty impressive I'd say for a nine-month pregnant lady! 

 Ave and Daddy under our egg tree. 

With the ground too muddy, we had an indoor egg hunt at Aunt Nancy's! 

What a lovely Easter! We spent the day with family, at Nana's for lunch and then Aunt Nancy's for dinner.  Avery enjoyed eating as much sugar as possible and running like a wild woman through Aunt Nancy's house:).  We ended the day talking with Mimi and Grandpa Tommy, who sent Ave a wonderful Easter present in addition to a package from Hawaii they sent yesterday, full of stuffed versions of Hawaii's famous wildlife- so sweet! It was a super day! 

Snow Day in March!

  

Snow day today! On March 6th! Avery and I ventured out into the snow (well, Avery frolicked in the snow, and I walked carefully around trying not to fall on my super pregnant booty!)...the picture on the bottom is a SNOW MOUSE (apparently)- something that was very clear in Avery's mind, but did not quite turn out the way she had envisioned- ha ha! It has little ears, a tail, and Craisin eyes and a nose. But hey, I'll take a snow mouse over building a full-size snowman! :)

Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt and Song :)

Avery's Daddy was in Long Island for Valentine's Day, so he left a scavenger hunt for her to follow. Despite the fact that it was on multiple floors, and I was huffing and puffing to keep up with her, she LOVED it! She also learned a cute song at preschool that she wanted to perform:).