One Crazy Summer

OK I know, its been a while...we've been busy! This has been a summer full of firsts - our first family vacation, Caroline's first time on a plane, her first time in a pool, etc, etc. My camera is practically useless so many of the photos below are from my iPhone. Erik has some pics of the summer, but he'll be editing wedding photos until next July (kidding!) so I'm not gonna wait for his. I promise to update more often during the fall and winter. Things will be a bit more relaxed and I'll hopefully have more time - and hopefully a new camera!

Aside from many fun times Caroline has been growing and learning like crazy. She's on the verge of walking (she only tries when she wants to!) and she has TONS of words. She's a little parrot and repeats everything we say (or at least she tries to!). One of her favorite things to do is point and label things and people and animals too....Mama, Dada, Simon, Harvey, Hunter, Pep, Mimzy, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie, banana, ball, outside, baby, just to name a few. She also says, 'up', 'all done', 'hi', 'bye-bye', 'night-night' and a few others. Her new favorite trick is to shake her head no to refuse things...its still super cute but its starting to bother me when she refuses to give me kisses and hugs! She also LOVES to dance! We're just constantly amazed at what she can do! So without further ado, here are a few snapshots of our summer activities...enjoy!

Trip to Vermont

Sitting in her camping chair on the porch


Admiring the view with Daddy

Trip to Hilton Head, SC

Caroline was a doll on her first plane trip! On the way to South Carolina she slept on the first flight and socialized on the second. She had a little trouble on the way home - because it was bed time - but once she fell asleep she was fine. We'll definitely travel again!


Caroline and Daddy in Savannah, GA - we flew out of Savannah on the way home so we took a quick walk around the city before we left. It's so pretty there!

Lake Ossipee

Playing in the lake with Pep - it was FREEZING - but she loves the water!


Snoozing in the car on the way home - it was a long trip!

Linda's lake house

We visited Linda's lake house one weekend - the water was cold here too - notice the trademark "oooh" face (one of her favorites - mine too!)

Time at home
Caroline has taken to exploring the living room. She has so many toys but tends to like interesting things and carry them around with her while she plays.
First it was this little French book

See?

Seriously, she carried it everywhere!
Next it was this little foam hexagon....

See?

She even liked reading to it!
We've been to a few restaurants. Chili's was her favorite by far...she got to color...


I love crayons!
And doing what she does best....acting cute :)


So that just about sums up the past few months. Sorry I don't have more photos! Like I said, there are more to come in the fall - especially with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner!!

Take A Hike!

We took the long drive up to Mt. Washington yesterday for the 15th Annual Paul Perry Mount Washington Climb. This was Caroline's very first hike and we were all really excited - especially Great Auntie Carol and Pep :)

Caroline did pretty well in the hotel - you know how excited she gets about them :) She had a bit of trouble falling asleep and was up VERY early - but we had to be up anyway :) We met up with the group of about 60 hikers at 7:30 for the group photo and then we were off!

Caroline really enjoyed being in the back pack with daddy - she was looking at the trees and leaves, pointing at everyone and everything and of course she said hi to everyone who passed by! But that got old real fast - here she is 10 minutes into it....

We only hiked for a short while - we didn't plan to go to the summit this year - maybe in a couple years! - and then we headed back down. She slept the whole way down and woke up at the bottom, just in time for a snack :)

We've been hiking to honor my Uncle Paul's memory for 15 years. This hike means so much to the entire family. I'm proud to be able to share the experience with my little family - even if Caroline doesn't remember this year. My Uncle Paul was an amazing man who was very special to me. I know that if he were here with us today he would absolutely adore Caroline and she would love him as much as I did - and still do. And what makes the whole thing even better is that she now gets to wear the t-shirt that my Uncle Paul got for me when I was born...

Well, she's fast asleep in bed now - lucky girl - I've got laundry and unpacking to do! We're looking forward to next years hike already!

Summer Fun

Just thought I'd post a quick update on what we've been up to recently. The weather has warmed up nicely and the rain has finally stopped so it has allowed us to do lots of fun things OUTSIDE!!! We've been walking when we can. Caroline says hi to everyone, especially kids, and even guys mowing their lawns. It's pretty funny! We've also been able to use the pool! Caroline is such a water baby...we're looking forward to her first trip to the beach in August!

(sorry for the fuzzy parts of those photos - my camera is on its way out (again)....I need a new one...ahem...hint hint, Erik

In other news, Caroline had her one year check up last week. She weighs 20 lbs 0.8 oz and is 27 1/2 inches tall. She had a couple of shots as well as a few blood tests. They did the draw from her toe. Poor kid was miserable! But as usual she recovered quickly and was back to her busy, happy self. She has three teeth now and there are more on the way. She's a drooling machine and she is still chewing on EVERYTHING - including Mom and Dad. She has also learned to be very gentile with Simon and Harvey. They're pretty tolerant of her - when she's not chasing them around the coffee table! She pets them nicely and lays her head down on them and says "awwww" like this - its too cute :)

We've got some trips planned in the near future...we're climbing Mt. Washington next weekend, have Emma's birthday party the following weekend and we're off on vacation two weeks after that!! So there will be tons more pictures coming!

New Year, New Look

As you can see I've made some changes to the blog over the past few days. Felt like we needed an update. Plus I'm getting better at figuring out how to add and change things on my own! I have a couple posts in the works so keep checking in!

Birthday Blogging Blues...

For the past few days I've been trying to write the perfect birthday post. Its been difficult and I haven't been able to come up with anything that I love. However, Erik was able to successfully complete what I could not. So click here to read about our experiences this year...enjoy!

CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had a little birthday celebration yesterday. Grandparents and Aunties came down for pizza and cake. We had a blast! I didn't take ANY photos - Erik got a few but he's "working on them" so I had to steal one from Auntie Allie (she took tons!) I'm sure there will be more to come after Saturday!

Happy Birthday!

It is so hard to believe that our little ladybug is one year old tomorrow! This week has been incredibly hard for me. I've found myself constantly looking back at the year and I continue to be amazed at how much she's grown and how quickly it has gone by. As I sit here writing this I'm fighting back tears! All day I've been re-living the "labor day" - from first contractions, to driving to the hospital, and by now (8:30 PM) I was busy laboring away and most likely considering the epidural that I was absolutely sure I could do without! We'll be fast asleep tonight (I hope!) at the exact minute she was lifted into this world and we met for the first time. Although those first few days left us unsure as to what the future would hold, at the end of this first year we are thrilled with what an incredibly smart, funny, adorable little person we have on our hands. Happy Birthday Caroline! We love you so much!