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Turkey Trot 2011

For the past 5 or so years, we've had the tradition of participating in the Chesterfield Turkey Trot.  Over time, our group has grown in numbers.  It was a beautiful morning for a run/walk...not too cold and not too hot!  (Last year, Caroline and I stayed home due to sleet and freezing rain.  Yuck!)  With being pregnant and pushing Caroline in the stroller, I definately did not set any personal records.  Oh well!  We had fun, and I got some exercise in before eating way too much later in the day.  Anyway, here's a big group photo, one with my parents and siblings/significant others, and one of the three four of us. 

Fall Fun

Joe and I were blessed to be a part of our friends, Anthony and Jody's, wedding on October 8th. It was a gorgeous day!  Here is a rare picture of the three of us.  Not very good of me, but oh well.  My sister and her boyfriend, Chris, came in town for the weekend.  They were a big help taking care of Caroline on Saturday since both Joe and I had wedding stuff going on.    

Caroline and Collin

Aunt Jenn and Caroline

 Caroline and daddy had fun making Halloween cookies to take to her class at school.  Joe claims he doesn't have a sweet tooth, but he did manage to eat several raw and baked cookies along the way.

Caroline anxiously watching the cookies bake.

 The weekend before Halloween we had fun carving pumpkins.  Caroline wasn't that big of a help, but the overall experience was a good one.  Maybe next year she'll be more into it.

Click Clack MOO...

Happy Halloween!  This year, at Joe's convinving, Caroline dressed as a cow for Halloween.  I was torn between a duck and a cow, but Joe insisted on the cow.  And why you might ask?  Take a look at the pictures below.  Joe's true Texas roots came out.  He finally had a reason to dress as a cowboy!

We went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, which was actually pretty fun.  Everyone on the main street had fires lit in their driveways and were just hanging out.  We didn't make it too far because Caroline was getting tired, but she seemed to enjoy herself.  What she really liked was putting candy into her pumpkin, which she was kind of possessive about :) 

18 Months!

The poor blog has been neglected for quite some time!  My goal this week is to catch up with all of the fall happenings, but we will see.  In the meantime, here is a brief post to hold you over (I'm talking to you, Mom!).

Caroline went to the doctor on 10/28 for her 18 month check-up.  Minus another runny nose, everything looked good.  She got two shots, one of which was her flu vaccine.  The older Caroline gets, the more she seems to hate the shots.  It didn't help that there was only one nurse to give them, so she had to have them one at a time, one in each leg...BOO! 

Weight: 25 lbs.  (60%....Guess all those cookies and cupcakes from MDO are catching up with her..ha!) 
Length: 33 in. (85%)
Head Circumference: 48.5 cm (93%...Still has a big ol' head.)

Her next well baby check-up won't be until next April when she turns 2 years old!  We are going to try our hardest to stay away all winter long:)

Pumpkin

Caroline is currently obsessed with pumpkins. We went to Thies Farm this weekend, and needless to say, she had a blast. Caroline is typically pretty shy when there are a lot of people around, so it was a huge surprise to Joe and I when she ventured through the hay maze on her own.

 Walking into the maze...

 and coming out the other side.

 Caroline was not camera friendly on this trip.

 Going down the slide with daddy.

 On top of the pirate's ship.

 Not sure how to get on the swing.

 Swinging in the big tire.

 Picture perfect.

 Entering the corn maze.  We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.

 Horse swing made from a tire.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Joe turned 29 today!  He is officially on his way to the big 3-0!!  At least this makes me feel young, as I still have a couple more years.  We went to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner and ran a few errands afterwards.  Pretty low key. 

Joe has been on a golf kick lately, so for his birthday gift Caroline and I got him a new set of clubs.  He also got a new golf bag, golf balls, a couple golf shirts, and some money, which he plans to use for new golf shoes.  Do we see a theme here?

I only had intentions of putting the first picture up, especially since Joe isn't even looking in the second one.  However, these last two pictures are funny to me because 1) Caroline is signing 'eat' and 'more' and 2) they show what a little piggie she truly is.  Yes, Joe did cave and let me try some cupcake right before bedtime.  How could he resist?!?

Eckert's Pick Your Own...

Apples!  Yum, yum!  Joe, Caroline, and I went apple picking this past Sunday at Eckert's Farm in Belleville, IL. This is the first time we've gone apple picking.  Last year we ran out of time.  It was a beautiful fall day, and Caroline really had a good time.  She was able to "ride" a John Deere bike, feed some animals, push around a shopping cart, and most importantly eat some delicious apples.  I plan on using a good portion of the apples to make a pie, but with work, school, and keeping up with a busy one year old, who knows when that will actually happen!

First Day of "School"

Caroline's started the Mother's Day Out program at Immanuel on Monday, August 22.  She will be going 5 days a week, which is very convenient for me.  It may be hard for me not to sneak down and see her during the day, but I guess that's one of the perks of having her at school with me:)

Overall, Caroline is loving school and doing great.  She has already come down with a cold during her first week of school .   That, in combination with teething, made for a couple of not so fun nights.  She is also working on learning to nap in a different environment.  Caroline has always been a good napper, but a very light sleeper.  Adjusting to napping with other kids in the room has been a definite challenge!

Our big girl on her first day of "school!"

Fun Facts!

For those of you who don't see Caroline on a daily basis, her are some fun facts to keep you up-to-date.

Caroline loves giving kisses to her puppy, Cooper, and occasionally to mom and dad as well.

As previously posted, she enjoys wearing necklaces and bracelets.  She is particularly fond of wearing Joe's running watch.  She would take it everywhere with her if she could, but she is smart enough to know that when she gets out of the car, the watch must stay.

Her vocabularly now consists of doggie, daddy, mama, ball, hi, eye, uh-oh, uppie (for wanting to be picked up or if she wants out).  I swear that she has recently said a version of 'no' and 'outside,' but we will have to see if it's consistent.

Caroline can point to her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and toes. 

Within the past couple of days, she has begun shaking her head no when she doesn't want something.

Caroline keeps us in check!  We close all of the bedroom and bathroom doors each morning.  After I close one door, Caroline will reach for the others, one by one, indicating that they need to be shut as well.  She does something similar when we turn the lamps on in the living room.  If we turn one on, she will run over and point to the other one for us. 

Sometimes she's a little strange.  Caroline has recently started standing on her tip-toes in the middle of walking for no apparent reason.  Maybe she's trying to strengthen those calves!

Sorry if this was boring to some, but it's fun for us to see how much Caroline is changing each day.  This is a way for us to remember these moments and milestones that we might have otherwise forgotten.  Thank you technology!

It's Peach Season

We went peach picking today at Eckert's in Belleville, IL.  This is also where we went last year for the first time (Look back to August 2010 post for a comparision!).  It was quite hot, as can be seen by the bead of sweat falling down the front of Caroline's face in the first photo.  The pictures don't do the heat justice.  Caroline was soaked from head to toe, and she wasn't even moving around that much.  We only lasted about 15 minutes in the orchard before heading back to cool off, but it ended up being plenty of time to find some delicious peaches.  

 

To beat the heat, we finished our trip up with a yummy peach concrete.  We will also be feasting on some peach cobbler tonight and in the coming days!

Testing Out My New Teeth

 

Caroline got her 7th tooth on 8/1/11.  One of her favorite and one of the only vegetables we can seem to get her to eat is corn on the cob.