A Day Of Firsts

Today has been quite hectic. I think we squeezed as much in as humanly possible--but we survived. :) Like the title says, it was a day of firsts.

Caitlin had her first volleyball game, and it was so much fun to watch! She absolutely loves playing, and she did a great job. Her team didn't win (very disappointing) but there's always tomorrow! Her team's name is the Volleygirls--appropriate I guess. A funny story from this: we were eating dinner and Caitlin pipes up, "Hey, did you hear what the other team's name was? It was the dodo birds! How stupid is that?!?!" I had to correct her. "Actually, Cait, the team's name was the Pink Panthers...but you can call them the dodo birds if it makes you feel better." Total misunderstanding on her part I'm sure. lol

John and Dad went on their first deer hunt of the season, and John got a deer! He was so excited---and I was very excited for him. They left at 4am, which if you ask me is way too early for ANYTHING..lol..but they had fun. I am definitely looking forward to eating the delicious jerky and jalepeno summer sausage that comes from this successful hunt. Hopefully no one is offended by the following picture. If so, all hate mail should be directed to John! HA!

And finally, Caroline had her first birthday pictures taken by Janice, a wonderful free-lance photographer whose husband works with John. She took Caroline's pictures when she was 3 days old, and they were terrific! It was fun to have her back to see how much Miss C has grown and changed. The funny thing was that Janice had a crazy time trying to get her to look at the camera and smile. Something about being told to sit down, hold this, wear this, look this direction, and pay attention was not what Caroline had in mind. However, the shoot went well and I can't wait to post the end results!

I hope all of you have a great rest of the weekend!

The Party

We ended up having Caroline's birthday party Sunday evening. I was gone Friday and Saturday to the Women Of Faith Conference in Oklahoma City (thanks to Keri & Teresa for inviting me!), so we had to wait until Sunday. We had a hamburger/hotdog cookout--mainly to have an excuse to have people over. :) We LOVE to have get-togethers, so it worked out perfectly. There really was no theme, but everything was decorated in hot pink & black, including the 3 tier cake. I made the cake with the help of my wonderful brother-in-law Nathan. He's the best cake saver on the planet! Ha! We had 6 families come over (15 kids in all!), including my parents and grandma. It was a TON of fun, and Caroline got some awesome gifts. Thank you to everyone who came over and made Caroline's 1st birthday party a complete success!
Caroline & Pappaw chillin' on the couch--check out her birthday rompers I made!
Misty and Phoenix playing with the farm set (p.s. we missed you Rob!)
Jill holding Mason and Keri holding Alexis
John doing his dork face, Steve, and Cameron--woulda been a GREAT pic--thanks honey! lol
Mimi w/Caroline, Caitlin, Jazmin, Cannon, Jacey, Christian, and Gracelyn eating out on the patio
John w/Tina & John Randall (p.s.-we missed you too, Randy!)
singing "Happy Birthday"
oh yeah--that's the way to do it!

One Year Checkup

Caroline went for her one year checkup this morning, and what Dr. Young told me was NO surprise: my child is tall and skinny. She weighs 19lbs 8oz (25%) and is 31 inches long (95%). Basically, she's healthy, happy, and right on schedule! :) The doctor said she'll be walking without any assistance very soon, which means I need to rethink the gate for the bottom of the stairs (basically, we need one-HA!).

The Big 1

It's official---Caroline Grace is 1 today!! I can't believe my baby is that old...really. They say time flies when you're having fun right?!? On each of my children, it has ZOOMED by. I know I can't make her stay little forever, but it would be nice! :)
*singing*
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday Caroline Sunshine....
Haaaappy biiiiiirthdaaaaay---tooooo---youuuuuu!!!

I love you baby girl! You have definitely brought sunshine to our home. I love to watch you play with Christian and "talk" to Caitlin. You are such a little scrapper when it comes to play-wrestling with them. You have wrapped your daddy around your finger, and you have made my heart so happy! I pray that you live a blessed and wonderful life!
We will be having a party in the near future, so watch for pics! :)

Fire Training And Costumes *Warning: Picture Heavy*

Yesterday was quite busy! John had live fire training out at the training tower, and he invited me, Christian, and Caroline to come watch for a while. We really couldn't see the fire because it was inside the building, but the smoke was impressive. Christian gave Caroline a talk on the way out there about how she had to stay in the car so she wouldn't burn herself. LOL Of course I had to take my camera. :)
Then, the kids put on their costumes and we visited Tina & Randy, Mom & Dad (who were sick and had to leave the candy outside--hope you 2 feel better soon!), Grandma Duke, and Plum Creek Fellowship Church where Jill & Keri attend. It was fun to see all of the cute costumes! Caitlin was a mouse, Christian was Buzz Lightyear, and Caroline was a big fat goldfish. Man, it was cold! We were only out for about an hour, but we still froze. Here are some pics from the day:

Lt. Haskell reporting for duty
An awesome father/son picture by the Pantex firetruck
Caroline couldn't quit staring at Daddy's gear long enough to look at the camera
Getting ready to go in--John is on the far right putting on his mask
Caitlin, Christian, Caroline, and John Hare (Tina's son--he was a tootsie roll)
Jill hanging with 2 mice and a goldfish
Buzz Lightyear hanging with John and Steve Crum
A sweet family picture
Jill & Alexis, Me & Caroline, and Keri & Mason-aren't their costumes cute?!?