Life, Life, Life!

Life is...wonderful, exhausting, fantastic, difficult, and ever changing. Caroline isn't that much older than Landon, but I definitely forgot that once a routine is established and things get going good...BOOM! Something else changes and everything is haphazard again. I love my husband and the life we've built together. I love our children. In our wedding vows we promised to love one another, in fortune and trial, and to always walk a Godly path. I just recently watched our video and was reminded of what we vowed in front of our Lord. I cried and was awestruck at how this life is trying and tiring, but we are keeping those promises daily, even when times are tough. Seasons of life can be hard and we're in a hard season right now. Rewarding, but hard.



We've been busy, as always, but enjoying life as much as we can. Our sweet baby boy is a crier. Bless his heart, sometimes I have done everything in my power to help him and he still cries. For a long time, most days felt like bad days, but things are looking up. I am prayerful that he will continue to cry less and smile more. He won't be a baby forever, and I try and remind myself that I will miss the baby stage.



Caroline is growing and changing everyday. She's become a huge help around the house. She loves "5 minute pickup." I play the song of her choice and we spend 5 minutes picking up toys, plates, trash...anything in our main living area that doesn't belong. She will sing and work. It's enjoyable and then I have a clean space during nap time, which I appreciate so much!



We went up to Aunt KK and Uncle Judd's house 2 months ago (which is where all the pics are coming from...sorry they're so old!) and met up with Opa, Oma, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Stephanie, and Annalise at a pumpkin patch. The girls had a blast.











I have no pictures from Thanksgiving, other that one Aaron's cousin took. It's a good one though...if I do say so myself!



Have a great weekend!

The Zoo

While we were in St. Louis, we also made a trip to the zoo. Caroline had never been before and I knew she would love it because she really likes to look at animals. She's not much of an animal lover...she's still afraid of dogs and cats, but she enjoys looking at them. So, the zoo was perfect for her!



Uncle Micah and Isaiah riding the carousel...Uncle Micah rode an animal, but I think technically he wasn't supposed to. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.



I stood beside Caroline, and she loved it. She is really into riding Carousels...we cannot go to the mall without riding. I guess I could say no, but we're rarely there so I always let her.



Can't remember the exact name of this "monkey" but she adored standing there looking at him. He was right there too, had it not been for the glass she could have plopped on his lap.



If I'm remembering correctly, they weren't actually looking at an animal, but I love this shot. I think it's adorable.



According to Caroline, this is Aubie.



Caroline thought the Ostrich was absolutely hilarious. She just giggled and laughed at it. She said we were "so silly" because we told her it was a bird. We stood here for a long time too, while a bathroom break was going on. Aaron stated he was pretty sure the Ostrich could jump that fence if he got a running start. I moved Caroline at that point.



Another one of my favorites.





Aren't they precious?

The Magic House

We visited my brother and his family a few weeks ago in St. Louis. It was a long drive with two young children, but overall, everything went fine. We had a few mishaps here and an accident there, but we had a good time. I enjoy riding in the car with my family, assuming no one is screaming, because we talk and sing and it's just a good time to be together without a lot of other distractions. We did take a dvd player for Caroline, but I made a point not to have it on all the time. When it was on though, Aaron and I were able to talk to each other, laugh together, and think about things going on in our life. Our entire relationship we've talked out problems and made plans while riding in the car. I remember driving home from Birmingham 2 weeks before our wedding and we talked and talked about the day we would marry and all that lay in store over the next fortnight. We worked out some issues surrounding the day and our excitement grew. I remember similar conversations when I was pregnant with each of our children. The car is a haven of communication for us.

I will no inundate you with pictures from the trip!



We went to a children's museum called The Magic House. Caroline loved it and could have stayed and played all day. They had this vine that went downstairs and the children could climb it instead of walking down the stairs. Caroline enjoyed it at first, but began to freak out when she realized we wanted her to go all the way down. She came out and walked down with Aaron. :)



Uncle Micah spent a lot of time with Caroline...I'm not sure what they're doing here...I was off sitting down at the restaurant feeding Landon.



I was still gone at this point, but I think you put the balls in this and they are blown out and it makes wind. Maybe? Either way, I remember them saying Caroline loved it!









Aaron and Caroline enjoyed the "Oval Office". It was a room, shaped like an oval, that had replicas of the President's desk and podium. When you were at the podium, you were also on camera, and could see yourself on a TV as if you were giving the State of the Union. Caroline sat and talked on the phone for a long time. Along the walls were pictures of all the Presidents and questions about them. It was a neat room.





You could catch a fish and then let it go and watch it swim back to the pond. Caroline really enjoyed this. You can see her green fish swimming back.





This exhibit was scooping out ice cream. Caroline and Isaiah played here for a long time.



They also had a hospital nursery with real looking dolls that weighed about 8lbs. You could give the baby a bath, rock, feed...it was neat. Caroline had great time with this!

It was such a fun day! I didn't get a shot of all of us together, (our camera battery was dying...) but we really enjoyed the Magic House!