Caroline's Newborn Pictures

Caroline's newborn pictures were taken less than 24 hours of us bringing her home from the hospital.  And since we were surprised with her early arrival, I felt (and my house was) more of a hot mess than usual.  But thankfully, our photographer was very laid back and had the rare gift of putting me at ease.  With a two year old who wanted no part of this photo shoot, sleep deprived parents who had not yet adjusted, and a newborn who wanted to eat every 30 minutes, somehow Katie Bower was able to capture our new family of four in ways that I will treasure forever. To say that Katie is patient AND talented is the understatement of the year.  Here are some of my favorites.   

Elizabeth ran away from us almost immediately.  So we took that opportunity to take some pictures of us with just Caroline.  I didn't think about doing this before, but I'm so glad it worked out that way.

Since Elizabeth refused to sit still with Caroline, Katie captured Elizabeth in her constant state of motion.  I love these pictures.  It's exactly who my child is... energetic, playful, and a complete handful!

We spent the next 4 hours (didn't I say she was patient!) inside taking pictures of this beauty.

I was in awe watching Katie work her magic to get Caroline in these positions.  I think she may be the baby whisperer!

This is the one I put on the front of her birth announcement.

I love seeing how small she was in her daddy's hands.

Elizabeth wore this same gown in her newborn pictures.

Sweet hands.

Precious feet.

And because I like to compare, here is more proof that my girls will never be able to deny one another as sisters.  The first one is Caroline taken by Katie Bower and the second one is Elizabeth taken by Katy Southern.  It's my favorite one from Elizabeth's newborn pictures (who were taken by my incredibly talented friend).

Caroline Lawson Kelly

Elizabeth Joy Kelly

Beat the Heat

It's been H-O-T around here so we've been doing what we can to stay cool.  If it was up to Elizabeth we'd be at the pool all day, every day.  But the covered area with fans can only keep Caroline cool for so long.  So we have to come up with other ways to spend our time.

One of Elizabeth's favorite places is Little Bears Indoor Playground.  The only part she's not fond of is the blow up bouncy.  But with Kathryn in the lead, she finally went inside it and down the slide.  They did this over and over for about an hour.

Snack Time

Last weekend we took a family trip to the outlet mall where Elizabeth found this airplane to ride inside the food court.  Even though it's an outdoor mall, the air conditioning relieved us every time we went inside a store.

 This little girl was a doll baby the whole time.

We decided that it wasn't a good idea for Elizabeth to go inside Bath and Body Works.  She's kind of obsessed with soap and washing her hands, so we knew keeping those hands to herself inside that store would be impossible. So we sent daddy inside to get what I needed while us three girls waited outside.  I couldn't help but snap a picture of her because she was sitting so sweetly on this bench.  (Sitting still in one place for any period of time is a rare occasion these days.)  Of course as soon as I got my camera out she looked at me like "Really Mom?!"  I took it anyway:)

Swim Lessons

Below is a video of Elizabeth swimming with her puddle jumper on. She is completely independent when she is wearing it.  She loves to jump in and can even swim to the steps by herself.  It has made the pool so much fun for us.  In fact, she asks to go every day.  I think we've created a pool monster!

Because she was doing so well, we decided it was time for swim lessons.  I love the security of the floaties, but there's nothing better than actually having the ability to swim.  We are water people, so it is essential that this little girl knows how to keep herself above water.

Of course, she had to have the necessary equipment... goggles.

Megan is her instructor and has already taught her to kick, blow bubbles with her face in the water, and use her "ice cream cones" (hands) while swimming.

She doesn't always love the lessons.  She'd much rather put on her swimmies and jump in by herself.  So Megan lets her jump in to her (without floats) and kick her way to the top.

I really love watching my girl learn new things.  She makes me so proud!

"That's What I Love about Sundays"

Almost every Sunday at some point, Bert will bust out singing Craig Morgan's song "That's What I Love about Sundays"  We love Sundays.  Our ideal Sunday is church in the morning, then a lazy afternoon.  No schedule.  No worries.  Just pure enjoyment!  Today was that kind of Sunday!

Thankful for the Big and Little Things

Today I am feeling so very thankful.  Not that I don't usually, but yesterday and today that feeling has overwhelmed me with joy.  

Yesterday we took Caroline to Scottish Rite for a hip ultrasound.  Because she was breached, there was a possibility that she could have hip displacement meaning she would have to have a pretty intensive cast for a while.  Thankfully, she was cleared!  

As we entered the Radiology waiting room I was quickly reminded of the last time we were there with Elizabeth.  It was much scarier that time because E was going in for a scan of her brain and had to be sedated.  I felt immediate relief that the procedure C was about to go through was nothing like that.  And even if the results weren't good, it wouldn't be life threatening.  When I saw the kids that were obviously there for more serious conditions, I again felt so grateful for two healthy children.  

Then last night, Bert rushed home from work so I could go to my girls' Summer Supper Club.  Taking care of both girls can be challenging, but trying to put Elizabeth to bed while Caroline demands to be held is near impossible.  But he did it!  I am so thankful that he understands the importance of this mama getting out of the house to fellowship with her girlfriends once a week.  Parenting truly is a team sport and I am thankful for my teammate!

And finally, I am thankful that this sweet girl slept for 7 straight hours last night!  She went down at 11:00 and didn't stir until 6:00.  I can't tell you how refreshed I felt this morning... Now that's something to be thankful for!!  

Birthday Party and Church

This past weekend we took both girls to Calvin's (one of Bert's college friend's son) 5-year-old birthday party.  Elizabeth was a little shy at first.  I think it was because all the kids were a couple years older than her.  But she soon warmed up and enjoyed playing with the "big kids".  Here she is waiting eagerly for the cake.  

She loves singing the Happy Birthday song and probably sang it louder than any other kid.  It was really sweet.

She was exhausted after the party.  Even after a long nap, she had a hard time getting going again.  She wakes up so slowly.  Just like her mama!

That night I had to take a picture of my two clean babies all ready for bed.  Caroline wasn't so happy.  I think her sissy might hug on her a little too much:))

Sunday was our first time back to church.  Caroline was 6 weeks old.  I have actually been ready to go back for a couple of weeks now, but getting our morning routine down has been a challenge.  This was the first weekend that the stars aligned and we got out of the house in time.  That's pretty sad since church doesn't start until 11:00!

This little girl was super excited to see all of her church friends again.  I don't think she realized how much she missed them!

iPhone Photos

I transfered all the photos from my phone to my computer today, and decided to upload some of them here as well.  So here is a random post of iphone pictures.

Elizabeth and Kathryn after a long day at the zoo.

Eating dinner with Melissa.

My sleeping beauty.

The next picture is pretty random.  I was at dinner with my SGA kids celebrating the end of the year.  It was just Texas Roadhouse, but it was my first dinner completely kid-free and my first meal to eat un-interupted because there were no kiddos!!  I wanted to treasure this meal!  But of course I hurried home to my babies because I missed them even more than I enjoyed this steak.

One of Elizabeth's many haircuts.

Grocery shopping with Meyers (who she misses deeply).

Eating at Steak-n-Shake.

Sharing a milk shake with mommy.

Riding to the pool.  This was the first time I braved it solo!

At the ball park watching daddy play softball.  This girl has the life!

Elizabeth and Kathryn enjoying a snack at the pool.