Hanging Out!

We are finally back in Austin. It's great to be home just plain relaxing, BUT we definitely miss our family and friends already!

Since we got back (Sunday afternoon), we have been doing lots of lounging. Caroline enjoys "hanging" out in her exersaucer...

and I do mean "hanging" literally, as her little toes just BARELY touch :)

She makes the most hilarious little squawking sounds while she spins around and plays with all the toys. She is definitely a big fan!

4 Months Old!

Caroline officially turned 4 months old on Sunday. She has grown and changed SO much in the past month. It's amazing!!!

• Caroline is sleeping through the night like a champ! YEA!!!!!
• She still eats and naps every 3 hours, but I think we'll be dropping a nap soon.
• I can't seem to keep her on her tummy at all. As soon as I put her down, she immediately rolls over...EVERY TIME! I have to prop her up on the Boppy so she's stuck :) Of course, she hates this.
• She sticks her tongue out all the time, and has started blowing bubbles...it's hilarious! She'll blow at you, and then laugh when you blow back at her, then she'll do it again. It's a really fun game :)
• She really loves toys now. And EVERYTHING goes in her mouth.
• I am sure now that she is working on one of her bottom teeth. I can see it in there! I got my first tooth around 4 months, so I guess she is going to follow in my footsteps? We'll see how long it takes to actually poke through...
• She is so curious. She wants to be sitting up and facing out at all times, so she can see what's going on.
• She is very SOCIAL! She loves to listen to people talk (especially male voices) and she loves to talk back.

This is such a fun age!!!

She fell asleep mid-roll. She was on her tummy, working on rolling over, which apparently wore her out, because she just gave up and passed out. (This was a couple of weeks ago, when it still took a bit of effort to roll.)

All bundled up on one of the first cold days in AustinThis is the day I knew we were officially done swaddling her...She completely busted out of her swaddle blanket, legs and all. And look how proud she is.
Playing with her feet...a favorite past time
She tried to put the teether in her mouth while sucking on her paci at the same time...She was quite confused by the outcome...
**Notice the drool ALL over her shirt. Geez...her parents should really changer her clothes more often.

Hi Guys!

Road Trip!

We took Caroline on her first out-of-state road trip to Oklahoma this weekend. She got to meet all of her Oklahoma City family! My grandparents, my Aunt Laurie, and my cousins, Emily and Allison.

"The kids" in the back seat for our road trip

Meeting her Great Grandpa Thornton for the first time!
with Great Grandma June
The cousins...Me, Caroline,Uncle Paul, Cousin Allison, and Cousin Emily

Thanks for a great visit!!!

Caroline's 1st Christmas!

Caroline's 1st Christmas was wonderful! What a joy it is to have a child around for Christmas...granted she doesn't get it yet, but it still brings an added sense of magic to the holidays. We celebrated THREE times...With my mom, with my dad, and with Jon's parents.

Round 1...Mimi and Papa Al's house

We spent the actual Christmas holiday itself with my family this year, since we were with the Erickson's for Thanksgiving. On Christmas Eve, we decided we'd try out the "Children's Service" at my parents church, thinking it would be much more baby-friendly. Well, it was interesting to say the least. They had all the kids helping to act out the nativity scene...complete with the traditional Christmas alligator...DON'T ASK! Needless to say, we will not be making that a tradition.

Caroline enjoying her first Christmas Eve service...

She crashed about halfway through :)

4 Generations...Caroline, Me, Mimi, and GGma

Opening her very first Christmas present on Christmas Eve...Christmas jammies to wear on Christmas on morning!!!

In my family, we have a tradition where we run down the stairs on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought us. This year, my mom said Santa was only visiting "the kids"...aka, Caroline and Uncle Paul. Here they are coming down the stairs together!

Caroline LOVED all the toys that Santa brought.

She loved playing with the tissue paper, of course.

All this unwrapping is hard work!

Round 2...Minnie and Papa's house

Next, we headed over to my dad and Sherri's house for lunch and more Christmas! Caroline slept through all the present opening this time, and I didn't get very many pictures... :(

Dozing off with MaMa (Sherri's mom)

My step-brother, Brian, showed off his photography skills and took pictures of the whole family...Here are a few I snapped with our camera.

All dolled up for family pics!

C with Minnie and Papa

It was WINDY!!!!!!
Round 3...Grammy and Grandpa's house

On Saturday, we spent the day with Jon's family. We made it over there in time for YUMMY egg casserole for breakfast and spent the day hanging out with everyone!

Grammy and Caroline

Caroline riding on her snail rocker!!! So cute!

Jon with his namesake...his Uncle Jon!

The girls (Brittany, Elizabeth, and I) sporting our scarves from Jericho (Thanks, Nina!!)

Whew!! Caroline is one blessed little lady, that's for sure!

Sitting with Santa!

Caroline did great when we made our trip to see Santa! She isn't really old enough to know the difference :) We haven't yet reached the "stranger danger" phase, so she was happy to be sitting on Santa's lap, while Santa's helper jingled bells in her face.

Here we are waiting in line...

Here's one Jon snapped with our camera...I think she was enamoured with the little elf helper.

And the official picture...Smiling with her hands behind her head (a favorite pose of hers:))

Caroline told Santa everything that was on her Christmas wish list, and I am sure he will deliver...She has been a very good girl this year :)

Christmas Daycation

Our Christmas Vacation started off with a little "Day"cation for Jon and I...

My mom flew down Sunday afternoon to watch Caroline, and Jon and I headed out.

First stop...Sunday night, we attended Jon's office Christmas party, which was VERY nice. Yummy food, yummy drinks, and lots of fun!

Next stop, we headed downtown where we spent the night at a HOTEL! We slept without interruption in a dark and quiet hotel room...total heaven!

Then, Monday morning, we slept in (til about 8:00 am:)) and headed out for massages and lunch at the Four Seasons...so lovely :) Seriously, the pampering was much needed and very much enjoyed!!

After our mini daycation, we went home, loaded up the car, and drove to Dallas! It was the perfect way to start celebrating Christmas 2008!!!

Ferberization....Complete.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little baby named Caroline. Her parents loved and took good care of her, and she rewarded them by being a wonderful sleeper! From the time she was 2 weeks old, she would only wake up once a night to eat....aaaahhhh. Then, as she grew big and strong she started sleeping through the whole night!! (10:30-7) She did this every night for almost 2 weeks straight!!! Wow, Caroline's mommy and daddy were so happy.

Then, an evil monster called "The Growth Spurt" appeared, immediately followed by it's even more evil cousin called "The Cold". Caroline started to wake up EVERY HOUR at night, crying for her paci or coughing. Mommy and Daddy were SO SAD. But then, "The Growth Spurt" and "The Cold" left...yea!!! However, Caroline didn't go back to her sweet, all-night-sleeping self....She kept waking, and waking, and waking...ugh!

Mommy and Daddy decided to take action....Ferberization was in full effect. Ferberization is what we call Dr. Ferber's method for helping babies sleep through the night. It's basically a way to let them "cry it out". Here's how is works in a nut shell...Once they go down for bed, they stay down for bed. If they fuss, you let them do so for 5 minutes. Then you go back into the room, comfort them (without picking them up), and leave again. The crying continues, you wait 10 minutes this time, then repeat. Add 5 minutes of "wait time" each time you go in.

We decided to give it a try. Going to sleep on her own wasn't really a problem for Caroline, it was the staying asleep part that posed a bit of a challenge. When she woke up and realized her paci had fallen out, she would cry until we went in and gave it back to her. So we decided to Ferberize her without using the paci to comfort her. I was super nervous, because I have heard that the first night can be brutal...it's hard to listen to them cry! But, I just kept telling myself it was worth it.

We began the process on Sunday night, and I am happy to report that it was not NEARLY as bad as I thought it would be! Sunday and Monday night she woke up twice in the middle of the night (around 12:00 am and 3:00 am). She started to fuss, and I waited 5 minutes then went to comfort her. I left and began my 10 minute waiting period, but she fell asleep before the 10 minutes was up! Tuesday and Wednesday night she woke up once (around 4:00am), but again I only had to go in and comfort her once each time. Thursday night, she woke around 4:00 again. She fussed for less than 5 minutes and went back to sleep without me going in there at all. Then last night, she slept all the way through!!! I heard her talking to herself at about 5:00am, but she didn't cry, just chatted a bit and went back to sleep. I guess she was giving herself a little pep talk. :)

YEA!!!!!! Hopefully, this will continue when we head up to Dallas next week :) Uninterrupted sleep is the greatest Christmas gift she could possibly give us!!!

4 month check up...a little early

Today we had our 4 month check up! Since we'll be in Dallas when Caroline officially turns 4 months (Dec. 28th), we had our check up a little early. It went really well, she is healthy and growing just as she should be, so that is always great to hear!

Here are her current stats:

Weight: 14 lbs. 8 oz. (80th %tile)

Height: 24 in. (50th %tile)

Head: 43.5 (97th %tile)

Miss C also got another round of shots :( Only 2 this time, and she was a CHAMP! As soon we we set her on the table, she started fussing...maybe she remembered the torture from last time ;) Luckily, Daddy was there to provide plenty of comic relief, so by the time the nurse came in with the shots, Caroline was nice and calm. She only cried a little this time...not NEARLY as much as last time! Whew!

Now, I am enjoying the side effects of our shots...a sweet, sleepy, cuddly little pumpkin who is napping on mommy as we speak...aaaahhh. Nothing could be better on a cloudy, crummy day...snuggling with my little love bug on the couch :)

Tagged

Ginny tagged me (and everyone else who reads her blog!) to tell a few things about myself.

Here goes...

8 TV shows I watch:
1. Brothers and Sisters
2. Eli Stone
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. American Idol (can't wait for it to start again in January!)
6. The Office
7. Law and Order SVU (the new ones, because I have seen all the reruns...awesome, I know.)
8. 20/20, Dateline, and/or 48 Hours Mystery...I love the true crime stories (much to Jon's dismay)

8 Restaurants I love:
1. Jason's Deli (obvious)
2. Elsi's Cafe (our fave breakfast spot, although Kerbey Lane is up there, too.)
3. George's (in Waco, of course)
4. Musashino (sushi in Austin)
5. Outback (my family's favorite)
6. Chick Fil A
7. Any place Mexican (don't really have a favorite)
8. Chili's

8 things that happened today:
1. Fed Caroline
2. Played with Caroline
3. Went to Target
4. Ate lunch with Jon
5. Mailed our Christmas cards
6. Shipped a Christmas package to Kansas City
7. Went to Old Navy
8. Made dinner for Jon (this is rare, as he usually does the cooking!)

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. CHRISTMAS!!!! Especially since it's Caroline's first :)
2. My mom flying down to babysit Caroline for a night while Jon and I go to his work Christmas party, spend the night at a hotel, then get massages the next day...a mini vacation!!!
3. Spending 2 whole weeks in Dallas with family and friends.
4. Watching all the bowl games, especially the National Championship...should be a good one!
5. Continuing to watch Caroline grow and change
6. Uninterrupted sleep
7. Going shopping with my mom over the holidays
8. Spending lots of time with Jon and Caroline

8 things on my wish list:
1. New clothes
2. A house
3. Health and happiness for Caroline
4. A beach vacation with Jon
5. New jobs for those who are looking
6. Joyous pregnancies and healthy babies for those who are expecting
7. Safe travels over the holidays
8. Baylor Football in a bowl next year!!!!!! :)

I am going to take my cue from Ginny and tag anyone and everyone who reads my blog. I would love to know how all of you would answer these!!!! If your name is over there to the right (or even if it's not), consider yourselves tagged!!!!

Done, Done, and DONE!!!!

With Christmas shopping that is...If you know me well, you know this is a Christmas miracle in itself. I am typically running around until the very last minute buying gifts. It's not that I don't get started in time, it's just that it takes me a long time to find all the perfect gifts for those I love :) Anyway, this year I actually started my shopping BEFORE Thanksgiving for the first time ever. I highly recommend it. It sure did take some of the pressure off! The best part is, not only am I finished shopping, but everything is wrapped!!! Can you believe it? I usually procrastinate my wrapping until Christmas Eve, but not this year! I wanted to have everything wrapped and ready to go before we leave Austin. That way, when we get to Dallas we can relax a little :) (ha,ha, ha...if you know my mom, you know that we'll have plenty of Christmas activities to keep us busy!)

We don't have room for a big tree, so this is our little 4 footer. Notice that it has no ornaments on it...I kind of lost my decorating steam after I put it up. BUT, At least it has presents and lights (pre-lit of course...otherwise, trust me, there would be no lights either) :)