Happy Birthday Caroline!

Caroline turned 1 today!! I think Annalee was more excited about her birthday than she was. I have to say...by far her favorite presents were the boxes that the presents arrived in...I love watching these two play together.

She has had MANY accomplishments during her first year of life. But...one of my favorites has been her ability to learn (finally after lots of injuries) how to go down stairs backwards, safely. This skill has prevented heart failure...which is where I thought I was headed.
Caroline's first birthday was a family celebration with some Hello Kitty flair. I made her a Hummingbird layer cake and we ate pizza...

I think she loved all the special attention...especially the random, frequent singing, all for her...all day long!

Annalee said a sweet prayer for Caroline before dinner.

Happy First Birthday Caroline!! You have been a joy...so much fun to love...

Catching Up

I have no excuses for the lack of posts during the past 6 months...other than taking care of my 2 year old, 1 year old, and spending my 3rd trimester of my 3rd pregnancy during the hottest summer of Austin, Texas history. Needless to say...I'm just happy to still be here.

So...catching up is going to take me a little while. I'll start with my favorite holiday and maybe back track a little after that! We spent the 4th of July with my family in Round Top, Texas. Honestly, I don't remember much...I remember it was fun, hot, nostalgic, hot, and hot. Round Top in my opinion is one of the best places in Texas to celebrate the nation's birthday. Clint, Heather and Betsy came in from Arizona and spent the week celebrating with us.

Annalee has 3 favorite things to do at Round Top...in no particular order: (1) Getting a ride on the buckboard (reflected above), (2) getting a ride on Pop's tractor and (3) jumping on the trampoline in the upstairs playroom. Since the buckboard was all gussied up, I figured out of the three...it had the most picture framable potential!

Betsy jumped on with her to complete the perfect photo op!


At the very beginning of the week we all headed to Schulenburg, Texas to visit Great-Grandmother Jean. It was a very special visit for many reasons. It was the last time most of us got to see her. She passed away shortly after the visit. Grandmother Jean was an incredible example of independence, work ethic, passion for learning, and style. We will all miss her very much.

Betsy is such a good little caretaker. Her little cousins have so much fun learning from her.
Here is a quick shot of Caroline....

All the grandgirls with their Pop!
Loving on Grandmother Jean.
Betsy and Annalee spent lots of time in the costume chest putting on beautiful dresses...
Possibly one of the biggest events in Round Top is the 4th of July parade. Despite the heat, the parade was a huge success.


Heather and Annalee watching the parade go by....

One of my college friends Beth came with her family to the parade...she's darling and is an Anesthesiologist...I'm banking on her being available at the birth of this third little girl!
Heather, Betsy and Clint "baking" at the parade.
Caroline was so hot...random people kept dousing her head with water.

You can come to this parade every year...and watch people ride Texas Longhorns. Every year...I am just as amazed as the first....

Grandmother Norma (Gigi) worked with Betsy on Dominoes.


Annalee, Betsy and Caroline tried to stay cool in the pool...but Caroline is not a huge fan of swimming...I think the spontaneous splashing annoys her.
4th of July 2011 was a HUGE success. We love making memories at The Farm on Round Top.

The best part was being together...

Snow Day!!

We woke up last Friday to a beautiful sight. Austin was covered in a blanket of snow! I tried to show Annalee the snow through the window all morning...but did not really catch on till we bundled her up and took her outside and let the neighborhood kids properly introduce her to all the fun that was in store!

Annalee woke up VERY early...so she was extra tired in all of these shots. She woke up so early...that Blake was ready for lunch at 9:00AM.
All bundled up and ready for outside!
She was not too sure at first...spent most of her time watching all the big kids.

Our favorite neighbors are a family of 4 girls. They really were the best examples of how to love the snow.




This is Annalee's friend Abby. She comes over on Wednesdays to play with Annalee and Caroline. HUGE help to me.
This is the famous father of 4 chicas.


Abby took Annalee sledding. She was really scared at first...but ended up LOVING it.






What a fun day! As much as we loved the batch of white stuff...I was glad to see it melt away in a little stream down the street. Ready for Spring now!!!