Birthday Celebrations + Ten Year Reunion

August is a huge birthday month! My father-in-law's birthday is August 23rd, followed by my mother's birthday on the 24th, and then mine on the 25th! It's always fun yet crazy busy trying to squeeze all the celebrations in.  A few of my closest girlfriends from college drove many miles to Mississippi the weekend before my birthday for a visit. They surprised me and decorated my house with all things birthday as well as showered me with yummy goodies and the sweetest presents! They have hearts of gold and I am so blessed to call them my friends. They loved on me and Caroline all weekend and it was so wonderful. It was the best weekend I have had in a really long time. Time spent with these girls always leaves me feeling refreshed. Thankful for them and our lasting friendship. 

After a delicious brunch at The Gathering.

Lindy looking all natural with a baby :) 

We celebrated my birthday dinner at Seafood Revolution. Quickly becoming my favorite restaurant in Jackson! 

Pajamas and waffles. Makes for a glorious Sunday morning. 

We celebrate Granmommy's birthday from Mississippi but made sure to send her sweet pics to let her know we were thinking of her! 

We went in for a weight check and I was so proud that we moved from the 10th percentile to the 25th percentile!! She weighed a whopping 14.6 pounds at 5 months and 3 weeks old :) And those eyes......oh my heart. 

The morning of my birthday I walked in Caroline's nursery to wake her up. This was the face that greeted me.  I stood there and stared for a few moments just thanking God for this blessing. I have never prayed for and longed for something so much. This birthday was by far the sweetest one yet and I will never take for granted a single day of my life and all the wonderful blessings He has given me.  

Sweetest cards and favorite candies from the hubs.

We passed through Birmingham on our way to the lake and grabbed lunch with my sister, baby Will, mom, grandmother, and Aunt Tracy.  Such a fun birthday lunch!! 

We headed to the lake on my birthday to spend a few days with Alan's family and celebrate Mr. Cease and my birthday. The weather was perfect. High 70s with a slight breeze and no humidity kind of perfect. Since we were there during the week it was extremely peaceful and quite. Much needed for this momma. We enjoyed every minute of it and, as usual, the time passed way to quickly. Relaxing and soaking up every moment with baby girl and Alan with this view was a pretty nice birthday gift. 

Emme spent "National Dog Day" at her heaven on earth. She was one happy pup.

Caroline was introduced to a hammock and was pretty fond of it.....

But not as fond as long boat rides that provided the perfect environment for naps.

Her face says it all. We love lake life! 

Cruisin' to dinner. I think Daddy has a new little co-captain.  She didn't move the entire ride. 

We wrapped up the week by celebrating birthdays at our favorite restaurant on the lake, Springhouse. Wonderful night with great family and friends! 

After we were all celebrated out from birthdays we headed to Arab for my ten year class reunion.   Ten years?!? Not quite sure how that happened but I enjoyed catching up with my former classmates. 

My bests! 

Arab High School Graduation Class of 2005 (about 1/4 of is anyway) 

Congrats to Aunt Tracy!

Aunt Tracy was inducted into the Walker County Hall of Fame a couple of weekends ago. This is such a huge honor and we are incredibly proud of her.  The ceremony was held in Jasper, AL and it was so interesting to see and listen to Tracy and the other inductees tell their personal story of how they earned such achievements.  Tracy was an outstanding athlete and coach.  She achieved many state championships throughout her years. I am so happy that she was recognized in such a big way for her honors. 

My mom's side of the family is quite large and it is so fun when we get together! This isn't even close to half of everyone but we loved visiting and celebrating with those who came.

After the induction ceremony we headed to Arab for a couple of days. Caroline went to her first Sunday morning church service at Arab First Baptist. She was on her best behavior until the pastor started his sermon. We made a quick exit and spent the rest of the service in the lobby :)  I love this sweet picture, mostly because she is wearing the dress that I smocked when Mary Catherine was pregnant with Anna Scott. So special to see my baby girl wearing it. 

After church we hit the pool and spent some quality time with the fam. I can't wait to watch all these sweet cousins grown up together! Fun times ahead. 

When Caroline isn't trying to pull on him or eat him, they are the best of friends. 

Happy FIVE Months!

We are just one month shy of your half birthday and I am *begging* for time to slow down. Each day you are discovering more about yourself and finding more things to do that makes us so proud of you. You only roll to your left side and you won't roll from your stomach to your back yet. You will sit a few seconds unassisted until you topple over and I can't help but laugh.  You love to reach for anything and everything and then bring the item directly to your mouth. You have recently shown interest in "Sophie the Giraffe" and you are quite fond of nibbling on her nose! You are becoming more and more dependent on your lovey and you put it over your face when you take naps. Your favorite cartoon is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I love to watch you smile and giggle when Mickey appears! You kick your legs when you are excited and you get teased so easily.  Your recent trick as of today is doing the "motorboat" with your mouth. You grin at yourself for doing it and you do it over and over (and over).  You love bath time and still hate when we put lotion on you.  You *attack* your bottles and continue spit up a gracious amount afterwards. Your sleeping a solid 12 hours in your crib every night with several cat naps during the day. You have the sweetest, most pleasant disposition. You light up every second of our day and we cannot get enough of your smiles and giggles! 

It has been one of the hottest summers in Mississippi and we have been trying to find ways to beat the heat! (Or maybe momma just wants an excuse to dress you in bonnets and bows. Girls are SO much fun.) 

Love our snuggle days together! So blessed to be able to stay home with you most of the week. 

Poor Sophie......She doesn't stand a chance. 

You have started  flipping your hands over and covering your eyes when you get sleepy. May be the cutest thing I've ever seen. You love our evening strolls when the temperature cools off just enough for us to go outside and not melt in misery. I will always remember these sweet walks together. 

 I'll wrap this post up with one of my favorite pics of our girl. This is her personality perfectly portrayed in a picture. Love it. Thank you Lord for this child. 

Four Month Snaps

A couple of weeks ago I decided to "play photographer" and get a few snaps of Caroline at four months old. We didn't get any four month photos with a professional photographer (saving that for six months) and I learned very quickly that I have neither the patience nor the skills to become a professional photographer. However, I did manage to get a few photos that were pretty sweet in between her "talking", kicking, eating her hands, and rolling over!  We were both dripping sweat by the end of the 10 minute photo shoot. We will definitely have her six month photos with a "real" photographer. Thank you GG for our adorable outfit!

I feel like she has already changed so much since these photos were taken.  Trying so very hard to savor each and every second of every single day! 

Summer Play Days

We have finally settled down for a few weeks and are enjoying some time at home! We have been gone so much this summer and while I have loved our visits with family it is so great to be home playing with my girl all day long! It is crazy how much she is growing and learning each new day. On July 9th just 6 days after her four month birthday she rolled over. Luckily, we were expecting it to happen any day now so we caught it on video! She was so proud of herself that she decided to roll over about 50 more times that day. Now every time I lay her on her back whether it be in her crib, on her rug, or on her activity mat, she immediately rolls over. So funny! She hasn't mastered rolling back from her stomach to her back but I'm sure she will figure it out real soon. She could stay in her jumper forever and loves to "talk" to her toys. This age is the sweetest.  I could sit all day watching her little mind work hard to figure something out. 

Here are a few pictures of our lazy play days at home. 

Caroline Cate LOVED hitting the summer sales! Already loves to shop with Momma. I have a sneaking suspicion that we are going to get in lots of trouble over the years. But I think this face will get us off the hook easily! 

We had a super fun play date with Dana's sweet twins, Eliza and Hughes! They are eight months old and so stinkin' cute. These faces crack me up. It was way past nap time and the delirium had set in.

We also enjoyed getting some fresh air outside while staying cool in this Mississippi heat. Momma got creative and bought a glorified bathtub pool. Baby girl loves it plus it is super easy to give the dog a bath in. Win-win :) I asked Alan if I was a redneck or a genius for buying a hot pink plastic pool, filling it up with water and putting our baby in it in our driveway. His response: A redneck genius. I'll take that as a compliment! 

I hope you are filling your summer days up with laugher, love and long naps. I know we are!