Caroline's 1-year checkup

Caroline had her one year checkup this morning after we dropped off Emma Grace at school.

Waiting on the doctor means going through the diaper bag. Of course.



The doctor said she is growing perfectly, incredibly healthy, and we couldn't feel more blessed!

She had her finger pricked within the first 10 minutes of being there and that threw off the rest of the visit. She was mad that the nurse put a bandaid on her finger (didn't settle down until she finally got it off), mad that the doctor had the nerve to listen to her heart and look in her ears, and you can imagine her thoughts on 4 shots to the leg! Poor baby, I would have cried about it too. Maybe not at the same volume though.

Sad about her finger. Which was just the calm before the storm.


Caroline's stats:
Weight: 22 pounds (80%)
Length: 30 inches (75%)
Head: 18.5 inches (95%)

Emma Grace at 1 year:
Head: 18.5 in (92%)
Height: 30 in (75%)
Weight: 22 lbs 9 oz (75%)

With the exception of 9 ounces, they are the exact same! I still don't understand how the percentiles can vary so much, but oh well.

We are thankful for another healthy baby with a little tiny cold being the worst thing she's ever had in her lifetime!

Caroline

This child? She's teaching me everything I thought I already knew about parenting. One mini- heart attack at a time.

Home Tour: The Bonus Room

We have a bonus room over our garage.  I love having this extra room.  It carries a few purposes for us: toy room, man cave, and office.

I've done very little decorating in this room.  It stays a mess most days thanks to the girls.  And it's also Jereme's man cave, so I'm ok letting him figure out what we wants (See?  He can't say he never has any say when it comes to decorating!).

View of the right side of the room:

View of the left side of the room:

The sofa is a pull out that the previous owners asked if we wanted (they are a nice, normal family who happen to go to the same church we have visited...so not creepy) which we were really excited to get.  I got a cheap cover for it that can take the beating this sofa will get.  We have our competing blankets on each end and a framed ASU poster from one of their championship games.

This is the view looking back towards the hall.  The little door to the right goes to an attic space.  I LOVE being able to access storage myself without waiting for Jereme's help.

This little nook to the left of the door houses the computer (it's really Jereme's...I only use my laptop) and a framed collage from a NASCAR race Jereme went to in college.  He had connections that got him on pit row and he got to see a lot of drivers, so it was a pretty neat experience for him.

 And straight back is were the toys are housed.  Usually they are all over the floor, but this was just after I picked up.  The sad part?  I have a huge box of toys that I haven't unpacked yet that's still sitting in the garage AND Caroline just got more toys for her birthday.  I guess I'll have to start hanging them from the ceiling.

Home Tour: The Guest Bathroom

Our guest bathroom is downstairs between our formal living room and the family room.  It's also under the staircase, which explains the slanted ceilings.

I had a hard time getting the lighting right, and I'm still not thrilled with the pictures, but you get the idea.  The previous owners painted it red and we're leaving it as is for the time being.

 Above the toilet is a Meredith College picture, and then across from that is my Johnson Hall portrait I painted a few years ago.  It's hard to see in these pictures, but the colors really go well together.

At some point, I'd like to update the fixtures and lights in here, but they are perfectly fine for now.

Go Wolfpack!

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity go to to the NC State/Florida State game.  I so miss having season tickets, but we keep up our standing with the Wolfpack Club, so hopefully one day we can get tickets again!  (Yes, my tarheel husband gives more to the Wolfpack than the tarheels...he claims his money gets him farther with State athletics, which is probably true).

Dee Dee kept the girls for us so we could spend the afternoon and evening in Raleigh.  We left the girls looking like this:

How could the Wolfpack let us down with such cute cheerleaders on their side?

It was a Wolfpack miracle.  My husband wore red.  Never mind the sin that was going on underneath.

We had fun tailgating!  Sure makes me miss those days!

It was a heck-of-a game.  State beat Florida State in the final seconds.  So many fans who had already left started running back in at the end.  It was the second time I got to see State beat Florida State and it was so exciting!

Here we are after the game with my cousin, Mary Katherine, who let us use her tickets.  Thanks, MK!

Caroline's 1st birthday party

We had Caroline's birthday party on Saturday.  Given the time of year, I embraced all things fall and went with a pumpkin theme.  Everything was decked out in orange and green and we had an abundance of pumpkins!  Honestly, it was probably my favorite party yet.  It wasn't as big as Emma Grace's first party which had nearly 60 people (we had 25 maybe?), but I LOVED the theme, the weather, and the fact that it was the first party we've had in our home (and lots of people got to see our home for the first time!).  I was so pleased with how it all turned out.

I made this sign and put it near the front door to greet our guests to the Stout Farm and Pumpkin Patch!

I made this big pumpkin and put it in our foyer.

Our family room mantle was decorated, too!  

I made a paper banner that said "Happy Birthday."

My mom made the orange balloon wreath as she has done for Emma Grace's parties.  

 

I set up a table on our back deck for the kids to decorate little craft pumpkins.  They could choose between letters, paint, markers, eyes, glitter, etc.

The food was set up in the dining room.  I used a large pumpkin with fruit kabobs as the centerpiece.  We also had shot glasses of dip with carrots and cucumbers, pinwheels, ham biscuits, Chickfila chicken nuggets, mac and cheese bites, a pumpkin-shaped cheese ball, a pumpkin filled with dip, and salami rolls!  For the table cloth, I used an orange base with a burlap piece on top.

I also made little mandarin oranges cups into pumpkins for the kids.

I'm a big fan of a candy bar.  It's practical (goodie bags for the guests) and it's also an easy way to add color and incorporate a theme.  The candy was all orange and green.  This was also in the dining room on my buffet.  

These lollipops went in a small stack of hay to keep with the farm theme.

These bags were used for the candy bar.

The dessert was kept on the kitchen bar.

We used Maxie B's, our favorite bakery, for Caroline's birthday cake.

I made Caroline's smash cake myself, and it actually matched the big cake pretty well.  Instead of candles, her cake was topped with her monogram (which is huge, but future cakes will be bigger, so we will grow into it).

I also made a few cupcakes for the kids along with cupcake toppers.

The drink were on our kitchen table.  We had Sundrop and Fanta (green and orange cans) as well as bottled water (I took off the bottle labels and replaced it with candy corn duct tape) for the adults.  The kids had pumpkin cups with apple juice.

Again, I used an orange table cloth followed by burlap.  I painted a canvas with a big pumpkin that said "Happy Birthday, Caroline!" and hung pumpkin paper lanterns above the window.

Also in the kitchen was the sweet birthday girl's highchair, decorated for the party with balloons and a banner.

Jereme set up cornhole outside with our State/Carolina boards.  The men loved it.

I didn't take hardly any pictures during the party.  I was just enjoying myself too much I guess!  Here's what I did take.

After everyone had their fill of food, it was time for cake!  I was sure Caroline would dive right in, but she was so delicate for the longest time!  She wanted to pick off each individual dot of orange and green.  Before long though, she really got into it and loved squishing it in her hands.

Probably one of my favorite pictures.  Does this not look like fun?

After all of our guests left, Caroline went down for a late nap.  When she woke up, her Daddy helped her open presents.  

Um, yes, that is a Bailey box.  For a one year old.  Insane, right?  I had nothing to do with it.  Jereme's rule: their first set of pearls comes from him, their first Bailey box comes from him.  So he killed two birds with Caroline.  Now, when we ever let her pierce her ears, she'll have these pearls ready to go that her Daddy gave her on her first birthday.

And after that, we called it a day!  Like I said, it really was my favorite party to date.  I loved celebrating Caroline with our friends and family in our new home.  Emma Grace, despite my worries that she would be jealous, was so sweet to Caroline.  I think she was genuinely excited for her.  And she was so sweet with the gifts, too.  She brought each present to Caroline and helped her open them.  It probably doesn't hurt that she knows she'll get to play with them, too!

Sweet Caroline, you are so loved and we had the best time celebrating you!  Happy Birthday, baby girl!