Happy 30th Birthday, Alan!

We have had a couple of BIG events the past few weeks. Alan turned 30 on March 1st and sweet Caroline turned ONE on March 4th! It was a little hectic but so much fun celebrating these two. We kicked off Alan's birthday celebrations at Brio with my family.  Good food, good company and a cake. What more could you wish for? 

On Alan's actual birthday we went to our favorite restaurant in Jackson, Amerigos, where we have celebrated many big events in our lives while living here.  It was a special night with just the three of us. 

I think that the pictures above are so sweet! We celebrated our third wedding anniversary at Amerigos when Caroline was just six weeks old. We both got a picture that night holding her. Fast forward eleven months later and here we are with her again! Can't believe how much she has grown. Love our sweet girl. 

After dinner Caroline gave her daddy his 30th birthday gift. She worked very hard on it and was quite proud of her art work. 

 We are "hooked" on Daddy! Love those precious footprint fishy. 

We celebrated one last time with Alan's family at a local Italian restaurant in Birmingham. We actually went out on the night of Caroline's birthday and she put on a big show. She was WILD! She must have known it was her birthday and was acting out because we weren't celebrating her. Ha! 

Happy 30th Birthday, Alan Tyler Cease! You are loved by so many and I couldn't ask for someone better to do life with. You are my favorite and always will be. I love you! 

My Little Valentine

 Caroline's first Valentine's Day was full of LOVE.  

Daddy was off of work and so we got to have a family play day together! It was such a special treat. A basket full of treats, homemade breakfast by Daddy and a trip to the park were highlights of the day! Oh, and the day before Valentine's Day Caroline took five steps :) I didn't know whether to cry or smile. So I did both! 

Nakey baby snuggles are the best 

Such a ham. I'm sure I am getting a lecture about something.... 

Mommy got some extra lovin' on Valentine's too. And a super sweet date night was the perfect ending to the sweetest day. 

My little Valentine, oh how I love you! 

xoxo 

Happy ELEVEN Months!

 

I'm not sure that I am ready for next month. This first year has somehow come and gone in a flash and left me in a puddle of tears! But oh what precious memories we have made.  I've heard that it only keeps getting better so I'll wipe my weeping eyes and look forward to all the fun times ahead. 

You've been a busy little girl this past month learning new tricks every day. You have become quite vocal. Looks like you are going to be a talker like your momma! Your vocabulary consists of the following words: momma, dada, bye-bye, e-i-e-i-o, haaaay!!, no no, go go, and uh-oh.  We we tell you to "love the baby" you say "ooooooo" and lean your head on the baby. Sweetest thing ever. You are standing without support for 10-15 seconds and have taken one step a couple of times. You're so close  to taking off walking but crawling is easier and quicker so that works for now.  You are cutting THREE teeth, front top two and bottom left so you haven't been feeling 100% lately, understandably so.  Your favorite food is fruit, esp bananas but you will eat just about anything. I usually give you about 30 minutes to eat and you are usually STILL eating when time is up. Little piggy. Your hair is still blonde and straight. I don't see any curls yet, but I would be surprised if they don't show up soon seeing that mama and dada both have natural curly hair.  Your personality is developing into such sweet little girl. You are so pleasant, hardly ever cry, play well by yourself, and you've become super cuddly. I am LOVING it :) 

Here are some pics of what we have been up too lately! 

Snuggles with Emme 

Celebrating Grandaddy's 60th Birthday 

Learning where my bottles are and crawling to them letting me know it's time to eat.

Doctor visits 

Playing with toys

Lounging in my "chair"

Trips to the park to see the ducks with Dada

Celebrating Aunt Cac's birthday 

Playing with my cousins

Standing up all by myself 

Being a doll baby every single day! 

We'll be back, but for now we've got a 1st birthday party to plan!!!!! 

Boy oh BOY!

Caroline can hardly contain her excitement that she is going to be a big SISTER in July.  We are overjoyed by this sweet little bundle that will bring all things blue. Sometimes the most unexpected surprises are the best ones :)  I found out that a baby was on the way in November and surprised Alan with the big news when he got home from work that night. He has always wanted our children to be very close in age so he was super pumped about the new addition. I on the other hand, was excited but still trying to sort through how it was all going to work with having TWO babies under TWO for EIGHT months.  Ahhh!!!  While it is overwhelming to think about, I know how much love and joy these two precious babies will bring us (and how much help I will have, thank you LORD for Grandmothers).  God's blessings are abundant and we are so grateful to become a family of four. This was sitting on Alan's nightstand when he walked in from work......

We did genetic testing and so we were able to find out the gender super early! I just knew it was another girl from the moment I found out so hearing "it's a boy" put me into total shock! I am so ready to add this little boy to our family and can't wait for all new BOY experiences. He will be so loved by his "big" sister and he and Will will only by one year apart. It will be so fun watching these babies grow up together. 

Caroline has been practicing her big sister skills and I must say, she is getting pretty good at it. She will be changing diapers and feeding the baby bottles in no time. I am so happy for her to have a built in play mate. I pray these two will be the best of friends! 

See you in July, my sweet boy. Until then I will dream of our first snuggles and seeing your precious face. 

Happy TEN Months!

Ten months! Ten balloons! And two more months until you are one. Crazy! On your ten month "birthday" you finally put your first word with its meaning. Daddy was studying in his office with the glass doors closed and you crawled over to them, hit on the doors and said "dada." It was precious. You were so proud of yourself so you continued to do it several times throughout the day! A couple days later, you started coming up to me and pulling on my legs saying "mamamama." And my heart melted. You are waving and saying bye-bye when you are in the mode and you continue to be as busy as ever! You play very well by yourself with your toys and love eating new foods each day.  You are crawling faster than I can walk and walking behind your walker. You are a bundle of fun and keep us laughing.  One of the things we laugh most about is when we take you out to restaurants you turn around in your highchair and stare at everyone eating the entire meal.  We always apologize for you and everyone excuses you because you are so cute! 

Now these next two months can slow way down because saying I have a ONE year old is going to break my heart! 

Caroline's First Christmas - 2015

We had an eventful Christmas with tons of fun packed in. It was spent with family and friends and we loved every minute of it (except the car rides, those were not so fun at times).

We kicked off Christmas week by meeting Santa. It went exactly as I planned it would. Caroline cried screamed, Anna Scott talked to him like an angel convincing him that she had been a good girl this year, and Will sat there content and smiling per usual.  It was entertaining to say the least and we all got a good laugh watching the interaction.

After meeting Santa we traveled on to Gatlinburg, TN to spend three nights in a cozy cabin nestled in the woods with my family.  My grandmother gifted this trip to everyone for Christmas and it was wonderful! Everyone was under the same roof for three days straight.  We had a ball eating, playing games, laughing, and watching the babies play.  The cabin was filled with fun activities including a swimming pool, movie theatre, and game room.  We hinted to GG that we hoped this became a Christmas tradition. Hopefully she picked up on our {not so subtle} hints. I didn't take many pictures while we were there and I really don't regret it.  I tried to focus on being present with the family and not obsessing over taking pictures and videos of everything.  I have all the memories in my mind that will last a lifetime. 

We had much more success with statue Santa than we did with the real Santa.

Thanks to GG, Aunt Sandra, and Granny the rest of us got to enjoy a night out at The Peddler kid free.  Delicious!

 On our way back to Birmingham we stopped and visited Alan's Grandmother in Knoxville, TN.  She cooked us a yummy meal and I am so glad that Caroline got to visit with her! We don't get to see her often so it was a special treat to see her this Christmas season. 

Next stop, Birmingham! We were with Alan's parents for Christmas eve and Christmas morning. It was so special to continue their Christmas traditions with Caroline.  She made everything so much brighter.  

 She was such a big helper making white trash with Lollie and Dada.   

Miracle on 34th street was a favorite holiday movie this year. 

 We enjoyed a delicious Christmas Eve dinner at Grill 29 with the Cease crew.  This baby girl was on her best behavior! She skipped her afternoon nap and I was very fearful of what was to come at dinner once she got sleepy. She must have known that Santa was coming the next morning because she couldn't have acted better. I was a proud momma! 

After dinner we changed into our pjs and left cookies for Santa under the tree.  

And woke up on Christmas morning with more presents than we knew what to do with!!! Santa (aka Lollie and Poppy) sure do know how to spoil us.  (Yes she is sitting in the dog bed. We couldn't keep her out of it.) 

After a very overwhelmingly wonderful Christmas morning we were on the road again to Arab to spend Christmas evening with my family. These three nuggets make my heart so full it could explode!! 

 I have to give the "most entertaining present" award to my mom and dad. They got Caroline a very tacky  ball pit that she would not stay out of!! Now it has become a fashion statement in my living room. Thanks Granmommy :)  It was a hit! 

Even though Caroline is only nine months old, it was still such a joy seeing the joy of Christmas through her eyes.  I cannot wait until she gets old enough for us to teach her the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate the birth of our Savior together as a family during the Christmas season.  She is our most precious gift and we thank the Lord for her every day!