Family Vacation - June 2009

Whoa! I just realized I'm getting ahead of myself here! I've gotta add photos of our first family vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee!
The Wallace clan (well, all except Kinsey - she had to work) drove down to Tennessee the first week of June. We stayed in a cozy log cabin tucked away in the Smokey Mountains. What beautiful country! A lot different than the acres of corn fields that you see in Indiana, that's for sure! Here are some moments we captured on camera!

This one is a classic - Caroline was standing up, playing at her musical table. She fell backwards and of course I caught her. She thought this was pretty fun, so she stood up once again, this time, looking back at me with a mischeivious grin and a twinkle in her eye, and purposefully fell backwards again! We did this many times during our stay in TN. I'm sure many moms will shake their finger at me for playing this game, but what can you do....
Just take in the sheer joy in this child's face as she is falling backwards.
PS: She has forgotten this trick - thank goodness!

This is another fun memory....it rained one afternoon, and Grammy held Caroline out to touch the rain. She loved it!!

Yes, we saw lots of black bears while we were there! Here's one that crossed our path as we were hiking up to Laurel Falls. There were actually 3 in this group - a mama bear and 2 cubs. Very cute! Caroline had fun waving "hi" to the bears! Grammy and Grandpa couldn't resist buying her a black bear stuffed animal before we left the Smokies!


We all hiked the Appalachian Trail one day - well, about 3 miles of it anyway! It was rugged and rocky...and lots of fun!

Wild turkey crossing!

Three men and a baby :P

In the Smokies!

A trip to the zoo

Last week, we took Caroline to the Indianapolis Zoo. She LOVED it! She's been an animal lover since she was a wee little baby (she adores our 2 cats). She especially loved the fish and penguins swimming in the water. I'm pretty sure she wanted to jump right in there with them! We also saw elephants, tigers, rhinos, giraffes, and monkeys. Andy and I got to touch a shark - it was so cool! Luckily, these were dog sharks - not great whites or anything. There's not a chance that I would ever touch one of those! We took Caroline to the petting zoo and she got to pet a billy goat! At first, she was not so sure about it, then after touching the fur, (it must have reminded her of Oreo and Sadie), she thought it was pretty great!

Caroline wore her elephant suit for the occasion - thanks Aunt Heather!

Daddy and his little girl!

Happy baby :)

Petting the goat!

Family photo

The dog shark that Andy and I touched!

Time for an update

Long time no post! I think it's time for an update on little Miss Caroline. She is growing up TOO fast! It's just so fun to see how much she changes week by week...sometimes even day by day! As of last Sunday, she is officially 8 months old!
One of the most AWESOME things she is doing right now is headbanging to music that she hears! It can be anything...daddy playing the guitar (or trying to anyways :) LOL), one of her musical toys, the radio, etc. I've got a small video clip, however, I was the cinematographer and it's not a very good clip, but it'll do!

(**clip coming soon!**)

Caroline has had a very healthy start to her little life, but she finally succumbed to her first illness last week - a left ear infection. After running a fever for a day, I took her to see her ped and we started antibiotics right away. Now, she is doing great and almost back to her little self again! Here she is on the day we went to see the doctor...



Just this past weekend, Caroline learned how to clap her hands and now she does it all the time! It's great! We play patty-cake a lot these days!

(**clip coming soon!**)

Now that warm weather is here, we just had to get her in the pool! We bought a baby pool over the weekend and she had a blast splashing in the water! Check out the pics!





Gotta run for now...I'll attach the video clips soon! A baby is waking up from her afternoon nap!

It's about time....

Well, again, I'm a bit behind on my blogging. Aunt Heidi - this is for you! :) Thanks for making sure I keep updating it!

Caroline is more fun now than ever before! She's quite active these days....she is rolling over and spinning in circles all over the floor. It won't be long and she'll be crawling. She's a busy little bee. She is constantly reaching for everything she can get her little paws on and then immediately putting it in her mouth. We lovingly call her "octopus hands" because of that. She is a drooling machine - that explains the 2 teeth she has (both on bottom).

Last week, I started her on baby food. She was definitely letting me know that she was ready. She would try to reach for our food constantly. She was also wanting to nurse about every 2 hours....i was having trouble keeping up with her demands. We started off with applesauce and now we have tried sweet potatoes, bananas, and rice cereal. She likes eating at the table with us. I think it makes her feel like a big girl. I can't believe that 6 months has flown by already. I love each and every day with her....

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy:




















Cleaning out my kitchen cabinet!
















Caroline after a delicious meal of sweet potatoes at Grammy and Grandpa Wallace's house! Mmmm mmm good!

















Caroline and Truett Weber (I babysit for him once a week)





















Caroline loves her walker!















We think she's part puppy... she carries things in her mouth like this often. Silly girl!

Caroline's new noise!

Caroline loves to make those razzing noises! It makes us laugh every time she does it!
Check out the video....

Sitting pretty!

More cutsie pictures!

Loves Big Bird's beak!

Uncle Todd got Caroline a Big Bird for Christmas. Push a button on his left wing and it sings the Sesame Street theme song. Caroline is more interested in his beak!!

The biting biscuit!!!

Caroline is trying new things these days...the latest - a biting biscuit!

This is how we started....





















This is what we looked like after we were finished....

Facebooking....

Here's Caroline updating her Facebook page one Saturday morning... :)

It's been a long time....

I know it has been way too long since the last time I posted anything. Here are a few updates....

Caroline has found her feet! She tries to put them in her mouth. She has succeeded a time or two.

Family Picture

Another first....

This week, I introduced Caroline to apple juice! The jury is still out.....she's not sure what to think of it. Here are a few pics. Check out the funny faces!

The Bumbo Chair!

Well, thanks to the Russell family, Caroline has a Bumbo chair - and she LOVES it!

Adam, Tiffany, and Brendan - We enjoyed your visit last weekend. Let's not let it be 2 years before we see you again! :)

Caroline is still all about sucking her thumb...so much so that she's nearly given up the pacifier! Andy took this picture of her the other day. Notice how she holds the thumb sucking hand (usually right) with her other hand! She is not about to let her thumb get away!

Not just another pretty face!

First Haircut!

Thursday, January 8th was another first in Caroline's life. Her first haircut! She was growing "wings" behind her ears. It was pretty cute for a while, but then it was just getting out of control! So, daddy got the clippers out and now they're gone!




















Oh, and the poor girl is losing her hair all the way around the middle! As her Uncle Todd calls it...she has "old man hair"!

Thumbs up!

Caroline is up to something new these days....thumb-sucking!

Christmas 2008

It was an extra special Christmas this year! Caroline looked so cute dressed as Santa's little helper!
















Santa brought Caroline a jumper....




















Oreo and Sadie were also glad that Santa stopped by.....
















By the time we got to Grammy and Grandpa Wallace's house, Caroline spent her time napping while we opened presents!