Starlight Serenade

Rossville Jazz Orchestra

Vince, Charlotte and Grandpa entertaining Cara

Is she holding her hat on or covering her ears??? Holding her hat of course!

Saturday night was the Starlight Serenade at Scott's school. It was an outdoor concert performed by every choir and band from elementary through high school. We had great weather for an outdoor event. Grandma and Grandpa F were babysitting Vince and Charlotte, so they got to come too. We packed a picnic and enjoyed our front row parking lot view of the bands and choirs. All of the performers did a great job! We had a really fun evening!!

9 month pictures

I recently took Cara to get her 9 month pictures done at the Picture People. I couldn't post them because they were part of our Mother's Day presents to the grandmas.

The adorable dress she is wearing was made by my friend Milissa who started her own children's clothing line. She is a nurse who wants to stay home with her two little girls, so she is using her talents to design and sell clothes. I wasn't sure about a headband on Cara, but I think it came out pretty cute.

Happy Mother's Day....

...to Emily's grandmother (mother of 8, grandmother of 23, and great-grandmother to 37)

...to Scott's grandmother , Mother of 3, grandmother of 4, and greatgrandmother on one, (who lives in Florida and shares in Cara's life via the blog), we are looking forward to seeing her in July

...Grandma A, a Mother of 2 and Grandmother of 1

Celebrating Mother's day as a first time grandmother is very special to Grandma A. She was able to visit this week and spend some time with Cara. Some people are born to be grandmothers and she is one of them. Her love and devotion to Cara is unconditional, whether it is for babysitting, shopping for new Cara clothes, feeding, or cuddling, she is always available. Her family has always been her top priority, which is why she raised two wonderful loving children

...Grandma F, a Mother of 3, grandmother of 5, my Mom..

She is very lucky to have all of her children close by, so she can be a part of all the grandchildren's lives. Whether it is attending Dillon's baseball game, Vincent's graduation from preschool, babysitting for Charlotte, Oscar or Cara she is always ready and willing!

I have always had a very special relationship with my mom. I never imagined growing up that my mom would become my best friend, I didn't realize the ties between mother and daughter could extend to geniune friendship. I only hope for the same relationship with my daughter.

Being a Mom is a really hard job, I didn't realize how true a statement this was until I became a mother. The constant worry, dedication, unconditional love, and responsibility that a Mother goes through makes her deserving of one day devoted to her. In all those years that we struggled with infertility and our desire to be parents I knew one thing; God would not have given me such a desire to be a mother if I wasn't supposed to be one. Even as a little girl I knew I would be a Mother someday and just having my daughter in my life is enough of a gift to make this a wonderful Mother's day.

To all the Mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day. I hope you feel as blessed and loved on this Mother's Day as you deserve!!

Having a Fun Day

Mommy put in my brand new hair bow today, it works perfectly even with my "baby" fine hair

Cara is so excited to realize cousin Oscar came over to play

Oscar preferred to keep his distance today, he enjoyed Cara's toys, as long as she wasn't too close. He was a little overwhelmed by her enthusiasm and squealing.

We had unexpected visitors today with a visit from Oscar and Grandpa F. Grandpa F had the day off watching Cara today, so he jumped at the opportunity to babysit Oscar today. Oscar was not too sure what to make of crazy Cara. She was SUPER excited to have company, and it overwhelmed Oscar. He did enjoy getting to play with her toys though.

Cara was even more surprised when she woke up from her afternoon nap to find Grandma and Grandpa A had arrived for a visit. What a fun day!

9 Months Old

Cara playing in the family room, also known as Cara's toy room

Raspberries to the camera!

Babbling away as this picture was taken

Notice the drool running down my chin, those darn teeth make me a drool monster!

Cara is officially 9 months old as of Tuesday this week. Wow!!
She had her 9 month check up yesterday and she is perfect. She is meeting or exceeding all of her developmental milestones. She had to have a hemoglobin check which was done with a drop of blood from poke in her big toe. She did great and was "helping" the nurse by trying to hold everything for her. She is a chunky monkey, but that is okay by me, more of her to love!

She used to be so good for picture time, whenever I would break out the camera she would give me the perfect little smile. Now she has to ham it up for the camera! We get the funniest facial expressions. So these pictures are a perfect example of her playing it up for the camera!!

Update

What a busy weekend we had! I had State convention for Tri Kappa this weekend in Indianapolis. Tri Kappa is a statewide philanthropic sorority that I have been a member of since graduating high school. I took a few years off when I was in college and living away, but when we moved back to my hometown I became an active member again and have served as President of my local chapter for the past two years. We raise money for things like high school scholarships, Race for the Cure, Special Olympics, a local women's shelter, Riley camperships, etc.

On Saturday night I left the convention and headed home to meet Scott because we had a date to go to Prom! His students were very excited we went. It was fun to see them all dressed up! The above is a picture of Scott and I outside the building where Prom was held.

So of course, no one checks on our blog just to see a picture of Scott and I, so here are some pictures of Cara today! She is showing off her uppers gums, you can see her one tooth and the others on the way!

Check out my baby blue eyes in this picture!

You don't think Panther will mind sharing his treats with me do you Mommy?

Funny Faces by Cara

Cara is becoming so expressive with her face! It is so cute. Just recently she started wrinkling up her nose and pouting her lips and making the funniest faces.

Crawling; a work in progress

We are still working hard on crawling! She has managed how to make one crawl forward, but then falls. Pretty soon she will be crawling all over the place though. She is getting really good at scooting backward, or army crawling to get what she wants!

We are teething big time! She now has 3 teeth through the gums at the top, with one more coming any day. So she will have a total of 6 teeth very soon, all the more to help chew!

Race for the Cure

Along with about 39,000 other people, Mommy and Cara walked in the 5K Race for the Cure today on the Joggers for Jana team. Jana is a nurse that works with Mommy who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, so a bunch of nurses from work joined together for her team. It was PERFECT weather today, sunny and mid 60's during the event.

It was very emotional, especially at the beginning when the crowds of people were waiting to start. Every now and then you would see a participant wearing a pink shirt/hat signified that they were a breast cancer survivor. We were very proud to participate in this event! How many 8 month olds finish a 5K??

My heart goes out to all those affected by breast cancer!

First boo-boo

Cara vs. the ottoman! The ottoman won!

On Wednesday afternoon Cara was happily playing in the family room, rolling from toy to toy and having fun. She found the ottoman and thought it was neat to move it back and forth. Unfortunately she was holding it all the way back with her head right up against it, when Mommy saw what was happening and jumped to get Cara, it scared her and she let go, it swinging back and smashing into her face. Cara cried, Mommy cried! It was awful. Now she has a nice bruise on her left cheek and Mommy now the the ottoman immobile.

Happy Baby

Mommy was trying to take a picture of my newest tooth, but I just wanted to smile

Can't you hear me laughing in this picture!

I want to crawl forward so bad, but I keep just going backward!

Cara was being quite the ham last night after her bath, so I had to grab the camera and capture a couple of shots. The past couple of nights have been pretty rough on all of us due to teething. Her 3rd tooth has popped through the gums, and three more at top could pop through any day. She is normally a great sleeper, of course last week when Mommy was home 4 nights in a row she slept great every night, this week when Mommy has a rough work schedule, she has been up a lot for Daddy. Other than the rough sleep (or lack of) you wouldn't even know she was teething because she is such a happy camper during the day.

Hope these pictures make you smile!

High School Concert

Thursday night Mommy and Cara went to Daddy's school for the Spring Concert for the High School ensembles. We got to hear the incredible jazz band, concert band and choirs. Who knew it was a spring concert since it has been awful weather, freezing cold temps, and several attempts to snow in the past couple of days. Cara was very attentive to the jazz band (which was first), but got quite restless during the choirs. It was hot in the auditorium and she hates to be hot, so that didn't help. She was patient enough to make it through the high school concert band, even though it made a late night for her to be out. We both enjoyed the great concert.

Sending Hugs to Grandma

Cara is sending her giant smile across the miles to make Grandma smile! Hope you are starting to feel better and that you leg starts healing quickly! Cuddles and kisses from Cara XOXOXO

Happy 1st Birthday Oscar

Cara and Oscar playing in their birthday hats

Oscar tries to blow out his birthday candle, eventually Dillon has to help

The other kids anxiously awaited the cake cutting so they could have a piece, one of them wanted the bear, one wanted the balloon, but Charlotte wanted the #1 which is about half the cake

Oscar digs in!

One year ago I had the honor and priviledge of being present for the birth of my nephew Oscar. It was an awesome experience, especially since I was 6 months pregnant and Lisa made giving birth look so easy!

We celebrated his birthday on Easter sunday. I can't believe he is a year old already, the year has gone by too quickly!

Happy Birthday Oscar!!!

Easter Day

Sitting like a big girl in the lazy boy with my new bunny

Play time with Charlotte, Oscar and Grandpa

We had a nice visit on Easter at Grandma and Grandpa F's. Cara enjoyed playing with her cousins. Oscar gave Cara a big kiss when I put her down on the floor next to him. Oscar and Cara always wanted to play with the same thing at the same time though. Cara received a special keepsake Easter basket filled with little rubber duckies for the bathtub. She also received a bunny that sings and dances which she loves.

Following a yummy dinner and playtime we also celebrated Oscar's 1st birthday which is Wednesday. I will post pictures from that on Wednesday in honor of the birthday boy. Grandma F already updated her blog with pictures though if you want to check it out.