Caroline's baptism

Catching up a little bit....

Caroline's baptism was a dual baptism - Caroline Marie and Allison Marie were baptized July 7 in the Log Chapel by Fr. Paul Kollman, with parents and godparents serving for one another!

 Miss Caroline was a sweetheart in her Daddy's baptismal gown

Welcome to the church baby girl :)

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Caroline at 4 Months

It's hard to believe 4 months have passed by so quickly!  Caroline is doing well and getting bigger and bigger.  We had her doctor's appointment this past week, and she's a bit of a bean pole at only 11 pounds 13 ounces, and 24 inches, but she's giggling like crazy and smiling almost all the time.    She loves riding like a big girl in her stroller - but tends to slump over hence the blankets.  She never much liked staying in the car seat, so it is nice that she can ride in the stroller, although she is doing much better in the car overall.  Gabe has been taking Caroline running in the evenings, which she seems to like until she falls asleep!

 She's always loved tummy time, and is inchworming a bit and rolling across the floor like crazy.  She can make it all the way across the room if you let her!  

Lately she found her lower lip, and has been sucking on that occasionally.  She sucks her fingers to calm herself all the time now - hurray for no more pacis! 

Henry and Caroline have a sweet bond between them, he loves snuggling her all the time, especially before nap.  Maggie likes lying next to Caroline but likes to have a little space.  

 Reaching for toys and getting them in her mouth 

 This third baby has spent lots of time in the carrier.  She does well, although is not quite tall enough to see out just yet, so she pokes her little head down to see what is going on.  And then falls asleep.  We've used it a lot with swim lessons and such.  

 Chewing on everything!

 Almost too big for the bouncy seat!

We can't believe how fast it is going and wish time would slow down a bit - anyone invented a slow down time machine yet?  We've been enjoying summer and up next is Caroline's baptism!

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strawberry picking!

 We woke up bright and early this morning, made the trip up to Michigan, and picked some strawberries!  The kids have been really excited about picking fruit this year...and have asked about what kinds of fruit they will be able to pick.  We really love it, so strawberries were our first stop.  

Maggie did a great job finding red ones, and she really had a blast.  "I see a red one, I see a red one!" 

"Look how full my basket is!"

 "I've got more" "No, I've got more"  It always has to be a contest 

 Caroline got some snuggle time and took a good nap in her carrier. 

 All while sporting cute strawberry pants!

 Henry was also really good at finding the strawberries that were perfectly red, making sure that no greens were picked, and deciding which ones were good to eat.  He filled his bucket many times.  

 Maggie got bored with filling her bucket and found quite a few that were good to eat.  Pretty sure she ate her weight in strawberries.  

 The final haul!  

We'll be making some jam, strawberry pie and some delicious other strawberry creations for the next couple of days.  Wish I could bottle up the smell as you walk into my kitchen, it is deliciously sweet!

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5 weeks!

Time is flying!  We've been busy and I've been trying to savor my tiny baby as she grows so fast.  Actually, all my tiny babies who are growing so fast.  

Here's Caroline at one month.  She's so little in that big chair! 

We've been playing with Pinterest ideas :)  Our little gift

 Sweet sleeping Caroline

 The kids really enjoyed giving Caroline a bath, once she decided that baths weren't simply a means to torture her.  We've had success with wrapping the baby in a towel for those first baths and it really helped Caroline too - by her second and third bath, she didn't really even cry a bit.  The kids liked washing her feet and legs, giving her toys and splashing a bit themselves, until their pants got wet - hence the no pants in this picture!  

 Caroline has been giving us so many smiles and coos!  She looked right at me and smiled (with focused eyes, not just sleepy eyes) at 2 and a half weeks.  I love this milestone, and it always brings tears to my eyes.  Just one of my favorites.  I was astonished as this was really early, and thought it might have been a fluke, but by three weeks she was just really beaming.  She really lights right up, and shows us a beautiful smile.  She has two faint dimples, and one is almost undetectable.  

We've been busy with Henry and Maggie too.  We've been trying to spend some alone time with them, and while Caroline and Maggie nap, Henry and I have been playing board games, practicing writing, art projects, activity books, and shaving cream!  We dyed some Easter eggs with shaving cream and also played in it.  This was a challenge for Henry as he still doesn't love to be messy, but he had fun with it once he went for it! 

 Maggie has been showing her nurturing side by playing with her babydolls a lot.  She likes to spread out a blanket and change her bunny's diaper, tuck them into bed, swaddle her dolls, and still loves to squeal over her real baby :)

 Caroline has been reaching for toys, and has been able to spend more time down playing, but she still prefers to be held of course.  

She's sleeping in her crib and full time in her swing at night, so we're able to get more rest, and she slept through the night last night - 11:30 - 6:30!  What a surprise - we hope it lasts, and even if it doesn't, Caroline  was waking up twice a night which wasn't too bad at all.

Caroline is definitely establishing more of a routine and is rocking to sleep, still having a tough time in the car seat but is such a sweetheart and such a great baby.  We just love her!

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like father like daughter

We used to think Henry looked a lot like Gabe.  Then along came Caroline.  This little girl looks a lot like her daddy as a baby.

Baby Gabe

Baby Caroline

Baby Gabe

Baby Caroline

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

We started our St. Patrick's Day celebration on Friday by making sugar cookies.  Henry did an awesome job figuring out what cookie cutters we needed to spell Happy St. Patrick's Day, and crossing off the letters once we used them.  Maggie had a lot of fun making this surprise for Daddy, and also playing in the flour!  

 Sunday morning the kids found some treats from the leprechaun, but no tricky little leprechaun in sight....

 Caroline had a really happy day and blessed us with lots of smiles!  She smiled at me at two weeks (focused eyes and everything, not just sleepy dreamy smiles) and today at three weeks she gave us lots of big smiles!  One of my favorite baby milestones, and pretty early too - the earliest of the three kids.  

And Happy Anniversary to my loving husband, wonderful father to our three beautiful kids, and my best friend.  We had some blue skies today just like the day of our wedding, even though it was significantly colder.  Brought back good memories.  This weekend we celebrated by watching a movie, snuggling on the couch, and later this week we will go out on a little six year date!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Happy Anniversary, Happy Life!

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Miss Maggie is Two

Happy Birthday Maggie Jane! 

 We've come a long way baby girl....

You're two now!

We love you and your sense of style...

your laugh and giggle,especially when you're being silly with your Henry, and how much you miss him when he goes to preschool

 your growing sense of independence

 your love of food and your unique way of eating it (silly,

snowy - yuck, Mommy could do without this love!,

 and sweet!)

And we love how tickled pink you are by your baby sister, and how you've embraced being a big sister so quickly, and how much you love Caroline.  

We know the past few weeks have brought on a lot of changes for you and our family, and you've handled them like a pro.   Your year of being one was wonderful, and it seems like you've been two for awhile now.  It's hard to believe that only a few months ago we were worrying about you walking and crawling and were going through physical therapy, and the year before that we were worrying about your growth in mommy's tummy and bringing home a healthy baby girl with no growth issues at all.   This coming year of being two will be challenging for you as we all adjust to our new family, but we know you will show us so many changes and love.  We love all the sentences you're sharing with us, watching you copy and learn from your big brother in everything he does, and your love of reading.  You woke up one day knowing how to do puzzles! You are adaptable, smart, determined, and as you told me in the car today, "big and strong."  Here's to you beautiful girl!

Happy Birthday Maggie-o

Love, Mommy, Daddy, Henry and Caroline 

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