Daddy Day Care

My friend, Tressa, turned 30 today so we decided, along with our friend, Amy, to ask the dads to meet at Tressa's house at lunchtime and watch the babies while we went out to lunch. Mike had a 1:00 meeting, but was a good sport and went in early/rearranged his day so he could keep Caroline. As you can see, the little ones kept them busy.

I didn't mention that I handed Caroline over with an empty stomach, a full diaper, and still wearing her nightgown (although, it was the third nightgown of the morning).

Tressa's husband, Marty, with Will.

Amy's husband, Michael, with Bryce.

Mystery Gift--Was It From You?

We got the cutest gift (below) in the mail the day before Caroline was born, but there was no card or return address included. For some reason, I decided it was from my college roommate, Beth. Being Miss Manners, I promptly wrote her a thank you note and dropped it in the mail on the way to the hospital (those of you who are still waiting on thank you notes for gifts you gave us months ago will recognize the humor in that statement). When Beth came to visit Caroline a few days later, she told me that she had gotten the note and had no idea what I was thanking her for. Hee hee--not sure why I felt so sure it was from her. Did anyone send us this or have an idea who might have? I'd like to tell them how much I love it!

Blogging 'bout Baby

It seems that along with diapers, a car seat, and bigger pants for Mom, a baby blog is a must have when a little one arrives these days. I've had fun keeping up with the babes of those we love, local and long distance, through their blogs so I thought I'd do the same for Caroline's family and friends--especially since some are so far away.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to the last few weeks:

Making sure everything was ready to go in Caroline's room the night before she arrived. That smile is fake...I was one nervous mama...not exactly excited about the c-section scheduled for the next day. But I felt much better (below) after I got my epidural and realized it REALLY does take away all pain sensation (and the "pressure" everyone describes isn't really a tricky word for "pain" like I suspected):

Nothing was so sweet as that realization...until I saw this:

The most sweetness God has ever packed in to 5 pounds and 1 ounce!

We've since had lots of big moments and firsts like:

Coming home from the hosptial in the same dress and bonnet I wore home from the hospital when I was born. (I wonder if I looked like Martha Washington when I wore that bonnet too.) Cousins Katie, Julie and Jill wore the same dress.

Sleeping in the same bassinet that her dad slept in when he was a baby. Her Aunt Monica and cousins Harry, Tarrah, Andrew, Hailey, and Haiden also slept in it.

Caroline's first bath. Her face doesn't really do her hatred for bathtime justice. And this hasn't changed. I always thought I'd probably overbathe my baby because I'm a little germaphobic, but this little stinker (often literally) never gets more than 2-3 baths a week. It's just too sad to endure her misery.

This wasn't really a big moment, but I wanted to point out that, because Caroline was a mini-baby, she didn't fit into any of the clothes her closet is bursting with. She wore exclusively Northside t-shirts for the first two weeks of her life until I was finally able to get it together enough to leave the house and buy her some premie clothes.

And finally,

Caroline's first Easter dress and Easter basket. We can't say that she was exactly moved by her first Easter church service, but she got a good nap...and we are excited about teaching her why
Easter is so special when she's a little older.