11 Months Young!

My early birthday present from Gigi and Grandaddy . . . I love it!

Love reading my favorite book!

All Smiles!

How cute is this picture from 4th of July!? Thanks, Terri, for sending it!

Down on the Farm!

Caroline has been showing an interest in animals for a while. She loves our dogs and has so much fun chasing them around the house, but lately she has really been noticing/enjoying other animals in books and outside (birds, rabbits.) I thought it would be fun to take her to Deanna Rose- an adorable little farm/petting zoo in Kansas City. It has baby goats, cows, ponies, ducks, hayrides, fishing, etc. We only lasted about 45 minutes in the heat, and Caroline is a little young to really get the full experience of everything they had to offer. However, Caroline really enjoyed just getting to look at all the animals and got the giggles at almost all the new animals she saw. Here are a few pictures from our visit (ignore how sweaty we are!)

10 Months Young!

I know it's so cliche, but it is so bittersweet that we're so close to 1! Every stage seems to be my "favorite" and it is so fun to see Caroline learn new things constantly! I can't wait to see more of her personality come out . . .she really seems to have quite the sense of humor. At the same time, I can't help but be sad that my little baby will no longer be a baby before I know it!

New Stuff: Caroline finally cut her top middle teeth the other day. You can't see them in pictures yet, but I'm sure they'll be visible soon. Caroline is crawling everywhere FAST! She is able to climb the whole flight of stairs (we just need to teach her how to get down safely) and is pulling up to stand constantly. On the downside, we've had a few more bumps and bruises and even a bloody lip. So far she's proved pretty tough, and I think Mom has had a harder time with the spills than she has. Caroline is now clapping and trying to blow kisses. She loves to go up to her friends at daycare, the dogs and us and give hugs and kisses. Still a little cuttle bug. She continues to love food and has decided she is a big girl- pretty much all table food for her now. She can even feed herself with a fork/spoon (she is extremely motivated with anything dealing with eating!) Chris thinks she is saying "Nana" for "Mama" and I think I agree with him now. Her new thing is to call "Dada" and "Nana" over and over from her crib until someone gets her.

Starting to plan her 1st birthday . . . I just can't believe it!

4th of July at Lake Okoboji

We went for a long weekend to Chris's parents lake home at Lake Okoboji. It's an understatement to say it was a madhouse with 7 cousins under one roof, but we had fun! We were especially excited to see Chris's brother Johnnie's family (wife Holly and Keely-12, Kelsey-10 and Johnnie-6) from Arizona, we have missed them so much. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Not loving the lifejacket (but seemed to like the boat)

Sweet Cousins, Kelsey and Keely

Faking mean looks with Kelsey

A little "healthy competition" with cousin Maggie (23 months)

Merry-go-round at Arnold's Park

Train ride through the park

All the Walker cousins (and Aunt Courtney)

Speak no, see no, hear no . . .

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Fully Crawling!

Okay, she was starting to crawl on my last few posts, but the last two weeks she has taken off and into EVERYTHING. She is crawling fast and furious and pulls to stand. She is just beginning to cruise on furniture, but is still nervous about that. Here are a few videos. Ignore the quality it's hard to keep the flip cam still!

Crawling to the mirror to give herself kisses:


Laughing at her Mimi's dog Lilly:

9 month checkup and Happy Father's Day

Here's the stats from Caroline's 9 month check-up:

Height: 28 3/4"- 85th percentile
Weight: 19 lbs- 60th perncentile
Head: 17 1/2"- 65th percentile

Another exciting development, last week Caroline has decided to get up on hands and knees and attempt to crawl. She will go a few feet before falling back to her tummy and scooting, but she is definitely decided she wants to be on the move. She also started pulling to stand a lot more, although we have to be right behind her to make she she doesn't fall back.

Here are some pics Caroline did for her Poppy (Chris's dad), Grandaddy (my dad) and Chris for Father's Day. She loves them so much and is definitely Daddy's girl, we hope they know how much they mean to her and us!!

9 Months Young!

Our sweet girl is 9 months!  I feel like a broken record, but I just can't believe how fast she is growing.  She is still teething like crazy!  She has two bottom front teeth, and it looks like her top two are coming in any day!  She is really trying to move more and gets where she want to go by scooting right now.  She hasn't figured out the crawling thing quite yet, and I think she's starting to get a little more frustrated.  Now a lot of times I have to hide from her, because she cries/whines more when she sees me, but will try harder if she doesn't see mom or dad there for rescue.  She still LOVES to eat and since she's shown no signs of sensitivities we are trying tons of finger foods and table foods.  I still watch her pretty close though, she tends to shovel it all in at once and I have to be careful she doesn't choke.  Her favorite "words" right now are yayaya and dadada.  She will now look to correct things or touch them in a book when I say them (i.e. "Where's the dog?" or "Where's dada?")  Caroline loves to hide in a pillow/the floor and pops up laughing when we say "Where's Caroline?"  Her favorite toys are her xylaphone, bubbles and her baby (I think she started trying to give it kisses . . . either that or trying to bite her head because it feels good on her gums.)

We have her 9 month well check-up next week, so I'll update her stats soon.  I think she's definitely grown a lot since her last visit . . . she's starting to feel so heavy!

Playing at the fountain with Dada . . .this kid loves the water!

The pictures don't even do her eyelashes justice . . .I just love her baby blue eyes!

Busy May!

May has been busy with some weddings of dear friends and family!  The weekend of the 21st, Chris flew to his cousin's wedding in Washington, D.C. and had a great time with some of the Walker clan.  Caroline and I stayed back in KC, as I was a bridesmaid in a college friends wedding (thank God Gigi and G'Daddy were here to help me with Caroline!)

Next, Caroline, my mom and I flew to Florida so I could attend a friend's wedding in Naples.  It was a girls trip among my friends (as many husbands/boyfriends stayed back) and for my my mom, Caroline and I.  We relaxed by the pool, did some bargain shopping, and I had a great time at an incredible wedding!  Chris decided to spend Memorial Day weekend with his family at Lake Okoboji (he didn't want to use any PTO quite yet for the trip to Florida.)

Overall, the last few weeks have been so much fun, but definitely tiring.  We missed Chris on our two weekends apart in a row and our ready for some Daddy time!!  Caroline came down with something on our trip home, so I'm hoping she starts to feel better by the end of the week.  We are more than ready to relax at home this weekend. 

Bridesmaids for the Sierens/Schulze Wedding 5.21.11

Loving the pool!

The last time Caroline was my parents place in Florida (6 weeks

So much bigger at 8 months!

Love the flower towel Gigi keeps in Florida for me and my cousin, Ella!

At the Morrison/Atterbury wedding with my friend Michelle

Some of my favorite girlfriends and I on the beach after the wedding ceremony.