Two Months with Caroline

 Found my hands!

 Still figuring this whole "smile" thing out

 Loooves to look out the window

Whuddup.

Happy two months sweet girl!  You are such a fun and happy baby.  We love to dress you up in cute, girly clothes...and you don't seem to mind too much.  All the kids at church adore you and you even smiled at some of them this week.  Sometimes I get sad when I think about how much you've already grown and how fast it's gone by, but I'm happy that you are a healthy, growing girl.  I love watching you learn to smile.  You sort of look confused, then happy, then confused again.  It makes me laugh.  When you are falling asleep you move your eyes back and forth like one of those kitty cat clocks.  That makes me laugh too.  We are so thankful for your sweet, joyful, and laid-back personality.

We love you so much,

Mama and Daddy

Caroline's first trip to Virginia

In February, Curt had a week off from classes so we decided to hop in the car and make the 12-hour drive down to Virginia to see our families.  Caroline loves the car and is a miracle baby, so she pretty much slept the entire time.  I think she cried one time for about 10 minutes and that was because she had a dirty diaper.  Like I said, miracle baby.

In the chaos of packing the 10 tons of crap you need for a baby, we forgot to pack our nice camera...so I apologize for all the cell phone pics.

 Snoozing!

On the way down we stopped for a night in New Jersey and got to stay with some of our favorite people, Mary and Doug Schnorr!  They are the most hospitable, welcoming, and generous couple and we LOVE staying with them.  Caroline was on her best behavior...until bedtime ;)  Thanks again, Mary and Doug!  We love you!

We went to Yorktown first.  Caroline got to meet her Grandpa Tom for the very first time, as well as her Great-grandma Lana and Great-grandpa Papa.

 Hanging out with Mimi and Grandpa T!

 She also got to meet her Aunt Caroline (her namesake) and cousin Theo for the first time.

 After Yorktown, we made our way to Richmond.  Caroline met her Richmond cousins, Ben and Mary Ellen, for the first time.

Ben was such a sweet big cousin and covered her up with her burp cloth  :) 

 Meeting her future boyfriends, Charlie and Jake.

Meeting the big big guy...Blaine!

 Hanging out with her cousins!

A concert, arranged by Ben. 

Mary Ellen's sweet birthday outfit...courtesy of her amazing Aunt Catherine and Uncle Curt ;)

Any time someone was holding Caroline, Mary Ellen did not want to miss out on the action.  She immediately crawled up into that person's lap and insisted that he/she hold her too.  Maybe somebody misses being the baby??

Caroline and Mary Ellen with Pop Pop

On our way back to MA, we stopped for a night in New Jersey again and this time Caroline got to meet her Aunt Susan.  Thanks again for having us for the night!

 Last, but not least, the fun didn't end when we got home.  Our dear friend Hanna came to visit for a few days.  She is one of our best friends from college and it was so great to have her up here to meet Caroline.  It also didn't hurt that she was super helpful and did our dishes every day!  What a friend!

One Month with Caroline

Learning to smile! 

 "Mom, I'm bored.."

"aaaaaand I'm done."

Dear Sweet Caroline,

You are already one month old!  I can't believe it.  This first month has been a blur.  You are such a joy to your daddy and me.  You are a happy baby who loves to sleep and be held.  You love to look at lights, especially natural light.  I like to think that this means you will love being outside (which I promise we will do often once it's not negative degrees outside).  You also love to lay on your activity mat and stare at your little "friends."  You are happy to stay like that for about 20 minutes.  It's amazing to me.  You sneeze all the time!  It's the cutest thing.  You usually sneeze about 3-4 times before you're all done.  I love it.  You are such a good sleeper too.  You can sleep anywhere and you do.  When Nana and Pop Pop were here we went out to eat three times and you slept through the entire meal every time.  You are a good eater too.  You are already getting faster and more efficient at nursing....but that makes me a little sad too because it means that I don't get to spend as much time with you and it also means you are growing up.  I wish I could freeze you as a little newborn baby.  You are so sweet and so loved!!

This month we went on a 14-hour road trip from Boston to Virginia and you slept almost the whole time.  You love riding in the car and can barely keep your eyes open once we get moving.  You got to meet so many people, including everyone in your extended family except Aunt Grace and Uncle Andrew....but you'll meet them soon...and your new cousin!

We are so blessed by you and thankful to God for giving us such a precious gift.  Your daddy and I tell each other every day that we have a perfect baby.  Of course, we know you're going to make mistakes at times...but to us,  you are perfect.  We love you so much!

Love,
Mama and Daddy