Catching Up

The other morning I was combing Cara's hair and decided to see if it would all fit into one pony tail. Here are a few pictures, it is pretty cute!

She is looking at herself in the mirror in the back of the curio cabinet

Now she is watching pictures of herself in the digital frame, but I was trying to capture a side view

Now a big cheese for the camera

On Monday night our sorority Tri Kappa went caroling at a local nursing home. Cara did a good job of walking around and looking cute, which pleased the older crowd. After caroling we stopped in the lobby to try to get a picture with Grandma F, but Cara was not really in a good picture mood.

We then went to a fellow Tri Kappa's home for a Christmas party and Cara was delighted to examine her Dicken's village. Cara was naming the figurines and made everyone come look at it with her. It was so cute.

Last Saturday was the St Vincent Christmas Gala at the downtown Marriott. After getting all gussied up, we enjoyed dinner, dancing, and spending an evening with friends.

Here is the peds gang, all dressed up and having a fun night!

Santa 2008

On Thursday when Cara and I were downtown, we were browsing through a department store and there was a big display of Disney princess toys which Cara wanted one of each. So I told her we would just need to go tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas, to which she replied "let's go tell him, where's Santa?".

So on Friday night we headed to the mall to look for Santa. Cara was not quite sure about talking to Santa on this day, apparently she forgot her enthusiasm from the day before. So I printed off a picture of her sitting with Santa last year as a reminder and to show her it was not so bad. So she carried the picture into the mall and right up to Santa. There was no line!!

I had originally planned on dressing her in a cute Christmas dress, but I was afraid making too big a deal would just make it a big disappointment. So I decided to make it casual and see how it turned out. She did great considering she is only two. She carried her picture and showed Santa and he got out a marker and autographed it for her. Then we placed her on his lap and eventually got her to stop looking completely scared and fearful and got a cute picture.


She even gave Santa a hug to say thank you!!

Way to go Cara!!!!!!!!!!

Whiskers on kittens...these are a few of our favorite things

Today Cara and I headed over to my friend Dendra's to see her new house and also her new kittens. These kittens are specially bred to be hypoallergenic since her husband is allergic. I was surprised how furry these little guys are, I guess I was expecting them to be VERY short haired since they are hypoallergenic. The kittens were very understanding of Cara and she did very well handling them.


Here they are resting in a chair together
Here she is carrying Cream Puff around, he is not quite thrilled, but tolerated it

Cocoa is snuggling in her lap. Cocoa is quite a bit smaller even though the kittens have the same birthday

Cara posing with this cute candy cane. After playtime with the kittens we all headed out to lunch to celebrate Dendra's birthday!

On Thursday Cara and I went to the Artsgarden downtown to watch Daddy's jazz band perform some Christmas tunes

Then we headed up to Rossville HS to watch the choirs in the annual Christmas concert. Cara enjoyed the music just like we thought she would. We had a really long day but Cara did really well and even took her nap in the car.

The Christmas spirit is alive and well in our house and our lives. Tonight we went to the mall to see Santa because she wanted to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Will get to that post tomorrow....

Fun Weekend Part 2

Finally getting back to finish my weekend posts! Saturday was my niece Charlotte's 5th birthday! So we all went out to eat and then back to her house for cake and presents!

For her birthday Charlotte got an American Girl doll, here they are in matching dresses!

She also got matching nightgowns for her and her doll

Then on Sunday we woke up to find the first snow of the season! So after breakfast we headed outside to check it out. It was perfect snowball snow!

Cara was helping Daddy shovel the driveway (with a rake and a shovel)! She loved the snow and we are really looking forward to a big snow when we can build a snowman!

Fun Weekend part 1

We had so much fun this weekend it has to be broken into at least a couple of different posts, way too many pictures for just one.

Mommy and Cara watching Daddy put the angel on the top (we were smarter this year and put the angel on first so the ornaments didn't get knocked off).

This Mickey Mouse ornament plays music which intrigued Cara

Grandma A helped open ornament boxes and passed them to Cara to put on the tree

Hanging ornaments on the tree

Random close up (seriously when did she lose the baby look??)


Laughing with Grandpa A

Cara LOVES the tree all decorated

Ta Da!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

Cara hosting a tea party with Grandma and Grandpa A, Grandpa F, and Oscar (he turned his back when this picture was taken)

Oscar and Cara thought they needed to brush their teeth (before eating I might add)

Playing on the kids size folding chairs

The three of us

Cara enjoying a Thanksgiving cupcake

And now feeding Mommy pumpkin pie

Grandma and Grandpa F hosted a wonderful Thanksgiving Day feast this year. Grandma and Grandpa A joined in on the fun, as well as Michael, Lisa, Dillon, Oscar and Great Grandma E. Cara and Oscar had so much fun spending the day together! The adults enjoyed watching the football games, playing cards, and eating of course!

We have so much to be thankful this year! We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in the morning and was reminded of the old days watching it while growing up, and it made me so thankful for our daughter and being able to share this tradition with her. She is the light of our lives and has added so much to our family. We thank God for giving us all that we have, especially her. We are thankful for such warm, generous, and caring families. We are thankful for our good health and for two great careers that we both love. We are grateful and thankful for these things everyday, but it is nice to have a special day to remind ourselves how lucky we are!!

Panther Update

Panther (photo taken 11-21-08) seems to be doing a little better. He still acts very tired and just lays around (more than usual for a cat :) ) but is eating and drinking better. He is on antibiotics twice a day and we hope as they continue he continues to act more like himself. He has dropped a bit of weight, but he had plenty to spare so it seems to be okay!!

Yesterday we put up our tree, we don't have it decorated yet but Cara is in LOVE with it, we are so excited about Christmas this year since we get to experience it throuh the eyes of a 2 year old!

Prayers for Panther

Although Panther went down the priority scale when we had Cara, he is still our beloved cat. Today we had to take him to the animal hospital because he is very sick! He had a fever, wasn't eating, drinking, or using the bathroom. He is spending the night and getting hydrated and started on antibiotics. We will have to wait and see if he perks up with the fluids and antibiotics and hope he recovers quickly! If you pray please think of our dear cat and wish him a speedy recovery!!

New shirt and book

I saw this t-shirt when I was shopping last week and "had" to get it! No matter which Grandpa is with her at the moment, he is definitely the hero. Whether fixing her toys, playing with her, or spoiling her like crazy, this shirt says it all! So I thought I would get her dressed this morning before I headed to bed (I worked last night) and knew she should wear this shirt since Grandpa F is with her today.

She wouldn't cooperate the best this morning to get a picture of her wearing it!!

Last night Daddy gave her a new book, a Castle book. We were originally going to wait and give it to her for Christmas but we decided she would be getting so much else she might as well enjoy the book now.

Here she is studying the back of the cover

And voila... it pops open to reveal a 3-D castle

A view from the front! It also came with paper doll cut-outs of the princesses and princes and Cara has been excited to play with it since it was opened. This morning she told me that her and Daddy went to the bookstore and she got a new book and couldn't wait to show it to me!

One Nice Thing About This Colder Weather...

...is that Cara gets to show off her new dress coat and hat! How adorable is this little ensemble! Today was a perfect day to wear it, dressed up and it was cold and drizzling outside!

Adorable! And she LOVES the hat! As soon as the coat is on she demands that the hat go on to!!

November Park Fun

Isn't it fun to get in at least one more trip to the park in November, didn't even need jackets!


yeah, Cara loves slides

Grandpa giving her a hand to walk up the wall

Swinging in a tire

Laughing at Daddy

Going side by side down the slide with Grandma

Now it's Grandpa's turn

A future gymnast? working hard on the balance beam here

Mommy saved Cara from the tunnel

We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday afternoon at a park when we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa A. After looking at our pictures it was apparent that Grandpa was on "protect Cara" duty. I am not sure which of them had more fun. I remember sitting at a park in September with a jacket on so it is hard to believe it is this warm in November, but we will take it! The dreary winter months will be here before we know it and we will be aching to just be able to play outside without getting frostbite.