First Beach Day!!

Here are some pictures from our first adventure to the beach. She loved it- we knew she would. I will say it is tough to take a little tot to the beach on your own, but with a swarm of family around, it seems a lot easier! We learned a few beach lessons- lots of sunscreen, lots of bottled water to wash off passy's and mouths with, sand can get EVERYWHERE and it will all be ok, dogs on the beach steal the show every time! I must say I was a bit paranoid when she was near the water but that probably stems from my own fear of the ocean! Daddy is dreaming of the day when Caroline will be big enough to go and jump/ride the waves with him and uncle Ben. We would probably get the record for the "whitest" family on the beach that day- we haven't seen sun in forever! But, as long as everyone had their sunglasses on, they were safe from our radiating white glow. :)

Niki has a lot more pictures from our vacation that I will try to get sometime soon. Until then, enjoy these pictures of our sweet little beach babe! Building Sandcastles with Papa Ron
First taste of sand- yuck!! But she would try it again later on in the week...several times!

Hmmm...this sand feels so good on my skin! Natural exfoliate!

Caroline meets little 3 month old Colton James- we'll call him cousin- but he is Brad's cousin's little boy. Precious!! He experienced the beach in his sleep.

She loved the water but was a little bit skittish- she wanted to be by our side or in our arms.

Beach Baby!

Videos- pictures to come soon :)

We are back from our fabulous week of vacation in Hilton Head. It was a little bittersweet to leave but I know we will enjoy getting back into the "routine" and hopefully find a "normal" pretty soon.

Caroline did better than we could have imagined on this trip. No outbursts on the airplane rides, she allowed us to have dinner out at noisy restaurants each night (she ENJOYED her food as well), she played in the pool, at the beach, and relaxed inside when it got too hot. She was perfect!! I am so blessed to have such a sweet, loving little girl. She enjoyed getting to love on the Hobbs side of the family and she was giving kisses and sugar away right and left!! I enjoyed some time "off" while helping hands took care of her. It was wonderful.

As most of you know our little Caroline made some major milestones while we were away. She is walking!!! She is talking (da da da, ga ga ga, pa pa pa, and jibber jabber of the like)!!! She has waved bye bye a few times, and she can go and get you a few of the toys that we ask for- duck, book, baby, etc. It's amazing to see her growing and blossoming into a toddler right before our very eyes!

Pictures of Lovebug

We are leaving early tomorrow morning for the beach. Before I leave for the week I wanted to share a few precious pictures of our sweet girl. These were taken by our friend Niki while we were in Milledgeville a few weeks ago! I will resume blogging next week when we return!!

The Blog is back!

I admit I have been a delinquent blogger for the past few weeks. We have had a lot going on and the picture taking and fun has been minimal. I hope to have a fresh start now though- we are finally settled into our new house and looking forward to finding a "normal" routine. We love our house- it's old and has a few things we would love to fix, but it's a rental which has been so nice. No stress when it comes to broken dishwashers, etc. After moving all of our things into this house, we would love to stay here the duration of our residency, but right now we have only committed to a 2 year lease. We'll see. Moving isn't fun!!! Boxes are unpacked and things are livable, but decorating and perfecting each room is going to take time- and seems to take the back burner to sweet Caroline, spending time with Daddy, and sleeping! One day...hopefully sometime before the year is over we may finally have a real home! Pictures and video of the house to come...I still have to move a few more stacks of clutter before I will advertise the house to the world! :)
-Family Update-
Considering Caroline....
Sweet baby girl is almost 10 months old (on Saturday!!). She is going 90 to nothing and doesn't skip a beat! She is almost walking- taking a few steps here and there as long as she is holding something in her hands. She thinks she's walking though- she will take off if she is holding your hands and walking. No more holding, or stroller rides...this girl has gotta use her feet! She is loving the new adventure and I can only imagine the places those little sweet feet will take us! She is babbling a lot more- but still no mama or dada. She is still exploring different sounds and faces. She has recently started the most precious little "grin" that she uses ALL day long to win our hearts! She grins as big as she can and shows those dimples to almost anyone or anything that walks by...especially puppies. She likes to flirt with daddy, flashing that sweet smile at him while he's working or reading to see if she can catch his eye. She definitely does. She loves to read books, play with blocks, and throw clean clothes on the floor after they have been folded. She likes to eat bananas, chicken, and anything else for that matter. We are having fun exploring and tasting new foods now that her little chompers and belly are ready for it. She has been dealing a little bit with some serious mommy-separation anxiety. I am up for ANY ADVICE or info concerning this! She wants her mommy all the time- no matter what is going on or where I am, Caroline is right there- on top of me! Daddy is great and all, but no substitution for mommy, at least right now. I keep telling Brad that one day those tables will probably turn and my heart will break, but right now I'm dying for her to just spend some ALONE time with anyone else besides me! Don't get me wrong, I love having her with me every minute of the day- but I want to be able to cook a meal in the kitchen and not have her on my toes or in the living room pitching a fit bc she wants to be with me. She has also been waking up at night- just wanting to be held/comforted. This is all typical...and by the book. But it's tough! I don't want her to be sad and think mommy isn't around at night- but mommy is sleeping!! :) Hopefully this to will pass.
All in all she is amazing as usual- growing like crazy and quickly approaching her 1st birthday!! We can't believe it!! We have already started the plans for a birthday party at Aunt Cara's house on November 21st- so mark your calendars!

Blossoming Baby...
We are so excited to announce that we are having another precious little GIRL!!! We had an ultrasound on Monday and got to see our sweet little girl playing inside my belly. I am still consistently amazed and taken aback by the miracle of life and how my sweet little one is doing inside. We got to see her wave, and kick, and breath...it takes my breath away every time we get an ultrasound. I think I have felt her kick a few times...2nd time around I know what I'm looking for. I'm 16 weeks today. We go back on Oct. 8th for another big ultrasound to measure her, etc. I will be about 20 weeks then. Oh yeah...and we have a name for her already. :) Caroline Grace will have a little sister named Emily Anne. We can't wait and have already started talking to sweet Emily...Daddy even bought both his girls a stuffed animal at the hospital gift shop the other day! He chose them based on their personalities- one was "more Caroline" and one was "more Emily." We are both very excited!!

Busy Brad...
Brad is enjoying this month's rotation in anesthesiology. He has NO CALL and NO WEEKENDS...which is amazing!!! He is staying busy though through the week getting to intubate and watch a lot of surgeries- he has had the opportunity to join the actual ENT residents in the afternoons to get in on their surgeries. He loves it and enjoys each day. It's funny how a "good" rotation can make the world seem like such a brighter place!! He likes having a yard to take care of again, a grill that we can use, and a neighborhood to take Caroline for walks in. He is such an amazing husband and I must admit- tears start to leak out of me when I think about how awesome of a daddy he is going to be for our 2 little girls. His heart is already so smitten with them both! I thank God everyday for such a provider, a hard worker, a sweet friend, and a generous daddy that I have in Brad. I am so blessed.

We are still in the process of visiting churches! We went to one last week- The Church at Rock Creek and really enjoyed it. I guess we are going to take the plunge when we get back from vacation and try to get connected. I'm craving a women's bible study, I know Caroline would love interaction with some other kids, and Brad and I both would love the fellowship of getting involved in a "life group" with other couples in our same shoes.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N HERE WE COME!!!
We leave on Saturday to go to Hilton Head, SC for a week of relaxing at the pool and beach!! We are going with Brad's family and are all staying in a house together, like old times!! Ben and Sarah will be joining us for as much of the week as they can, and Niki, Nana, and Papa Ron will be there the whole time. We have gone to HH a few times and absolutely LOVE it! It will be especially nice in September with no crowds and cooler weather. We are pumped to get to spend a week with no stress, no work for Brad, no worries!! It's been AWHILE since we've had a fun trip- so we can't wait! We are flying out of LR at 7:30 Saturday morning. I am sure we will have some fun pictures from that trip.

Ok- my fingers are tired, and I can imagine your eyes are tired if you have read all of this! Catching up is always hard to do...but I promise to do better! If it weren't for our obsession with watching Season 5 of the TV show 24 every night I would be doing much better...but right now after the baby is in bed, it's Brad, me and Jack Bauer- saving the world. :0)