Cara Walking

The Trumpet Lesson

Daddy was playing the trumpet the other night and Cara decided she could play it too. After mimicking buzzing her lips like Daddy, he put the horn to her lips and she actually made a real sound come out of it. Never too early right?!

Visit to the Children's Museum

With Daddy being on summer break from teaching, it is fun to be able to go on family adventures! Our latest outing was to the Children's Museum. They have a play area designed for children under 5 with specific areas for children under 2. It was a great place to let Cara play. They have a water area which she enjoyed splashing her hands in, an area in which she can crawl around a little path, and Daddy let her go down a slide. The Children's museum also has a carousel. Cara was very excited at first, but got a little scared when it started moving. Daddy went on the first ride with her and Mommy on the second. I am sure when she is older it will be her favorite thing to do at the museum. We also visited the aquarium area. They had a couple of really bright fish in the aquarium that Cara loved to watch. What a great family fun day!

Indy Jazz Fest

Cara and Mommy enjoying some jazz tunes

Autographed CD cover by Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra performing onstage

Chick Corea and Bella Fleck

This past weekend we headed out to the Indy Jazz Fest. It was too hot to spend all day there but we were able to see Spyro Gyra on Saturday night, and even meet the band and get autographs after they performed. Scott spent all day Sunday at the jazz fest but Cara and I opted to only go see the 8pm peformance by Chick Corea and Bella Fleck. We had a great time and got to listen to some great musicians.

Happy Father's Day

Grandpa A and Cara

Grandpa F and Cara

Happy Father's Day to our fathers! We don't believe there are any two dads alive who were meant to be grandfathers more than ours. Both of them light up when they are in the presence of Cara! She is very lucky to have such special Grandpa's. Their unconditional love, caring, and sharing will be a special part of her life which we hope she will truly appreciate.

Cara has been wrapped around Scott's finger since the moment she was born. He is such a great father, a real hands on dadddy who will do anything for her (well, not always the dirtiest of diapers, haha). They get lots of special bonding time in the evening when I am at work. I hope they always have that great father-daughter bond.

I hope you enjoy your first Father's Day and the many more to come!!

First Trip to the Zoo

We enjoyed a beautiful sunny afternoon by taking Cara to the zoo for the first time. Grandpa F joined us for the fun outing. Unfortunately the line of sight for most animals at the zoo is much higher than Cara sits in her stroller, but she was just as happy watching the people and kids go by. We saw sharks, dolphins, giraffes, elephants, bears, lions, goats, and birds, oh my! After a hot stroll around the zoo it was time for a snack break, so Cara enjoyed sharing some of Mommy's shaved ice treat and some of Daddy's ice cream cone.

Cara's Newest Trick

Cara has discovered...the stairs! More importantly she has discovered she knows how to crawl up the stairs, one at a time, with such joy when she reaches the top. I am not a fan of baby gates, but perhaps now is about the time to invest.

Cara enjoyed her first official playdate the other day. My friend Milissa brought her two adorable daughters Nyla and Lyvia over to play with Cara. Cara squealed in delight at their arrival. She LOVES other kids, always trying to talk to them at the pool or at the store, so it was a special treat to have some come over to play with her. They were just in love with her pool of balls. It was fun having all 3 girls in there at once. There were balls flying everywhere. By the time I thought to run to grab the camera Cara had enough and was ready to get out, but I still got one quick picture. We are looking forward to lots more playdates with friends!

The whole house is my playground

Squeezing between the couch and the chair for a comfy place to hide

Exploring my way under the dining room table

Pulling myself on the "monkey bars" of the foyer table

Hanging on for dear life, notice Mommy holding the table so I don't pull it over on myself

Clearing off the lower shelves of the computer desk so I have room to sit

There, now I can sit on the shelf under the computer desk


I love to explore, it is great now that I can crawl everywhere. I find the best places to sit, even if I have to clear them off first. It is so great being independent. Mommy and Daddy can't keep their eyes off me at all these days because they know I will find another great hiding place. I love to pull myself to stand up anywhere and everywhere. It is neat learning how to walk by holding onto Mom or Dad's hands. If you haven't seen me in a while you will be surprised at how much more I can do now. It is great!

10 Months Old

10 month old photo with a boo-boo on my chin (fell on the corner of a basket, poor baby)

Look at me standing, I am getting really good at this

Mommy and Cara, after a great day of swimming and playing together

Done with the picture time and crawling away (not quite so sure about the feel of grass)

So many changes have happened in Cara's short 10 months of life. She is now crawling EVERYWHERE, pulling up to stand whenever she can, babbling away all the time, and wanting to eat whatever Mommy and Daddy are. She is adventurous (one can never really have a babyproof house until their baby shows them what they forgot to put up). She says dada, momma (rarely), cat, and ball. She has a fun personality and is truly one of the happiest babies I have ever seen.

We took these pictures on Friday evening after we got home from dinner and some shopping. It was just getting dark out so we used the flash on some and not on others.

Scott presenting awards to his graduating seniors

New dress

Wanted to share a funny story, although it was NOT funny at all at the time. This week we went to Scott's school for the Fine Arts Award night. I worked the night before, got up early to make a quadruple recipe of homemade mac-n-cheese (I am probably not allowed to attend a Rossville pitch-in without bringing this). Scott was home and a little after 4 mentioned that we needed to leave soon, WHAT?, I thought it didn't start until 7pm but it started at 6pm and I still hadn't showered and the baby was taking a nap. So after quick get ready time, off to school we went. Cara was fussy the whole way to school which is quite unusual behavior for her. Once we arrived at school, Scott got her out of her car seat to find that she had a massive explosion in her diaper, up her back, down her legs, etc. I am sure you get the picture. So after stripping her clothes, cleaning her off, and applying a new diaper I reveal to him that I have no other clothes for her. UGH! So off to the store Cara and I went (the closest store is about 15 minutes away). I was not thrilled at the prospect of carrying my apparent redneck-only wearing a diaper baby into the store to find something for her to wear. I was pretty dressed up (which for me these days means my hair is not in a ponytail, not wearing a baggy t-shirt and shorts, and I have makeup on). So hopefully people realize the tragedy of the situation and do not think I tote my baby around like this any given day. So with a new sundress on, we headed back to school, to find nothing left from the pitch-in (my crockpots had been wiped clean). Lesson learned to ALWAYS have a backup outfit because you just never know what my come up, or out :). At least Cara got a new outfit out of the situation, haha.