Higgly Piggly

Thank you for all the kind words about our week of injuries! We're all fine--my back is doing better! I think I might have resurrected an old injury...capture the flag (in the rain w/ flour bombs) ring any bells?? :)

I don't have anything really interesting to blog about, but I thought I needed a cheery post so I thought I would just share some pics!

Daddy and Caroline playing....Daddy was home for lunch and took her out!


The ball is as big as she is!



This is a different day, but I love these shots of her with her shades on!



I absolutely love this shot of Daddy and his little girl!


Caroline picked these (with Daddy's help) for me and being the sappy Mommy I am, I had to take a picture!


Here's our dainty little girl after a dinner of Baked Spaghetti (with cauliflower puree!)...do you think she enjoyed it???


This is an old picture of our Family...it was back in September, the night before Caroline's surgery. Helena, the church Aaron's parents are members of, was having a Gospel Meeting that week and we went since we were in Birmingham for the surgery. Our good friend Magan took it---I'm so glad she did too! It's one of the last pics of Caroline with her paci---she couldn't have it for 2 weeks after her surgery so we decided that was it for the paci. I'm glad we have this shot!


I wish I had thought to take a picture of all the rain this weekend! We had 11 inches and as I'm typing right now I can hear rain starting again. There was a lot of flooding. Our neighborhood was one of the worst for flooding, but we live up on a hill so we were fine. Our good friends had to be "saved" from their home by the Fire Department. Thankfully their house didn't suffer damage, but their neighbor's (who is also his mother!) house did flood. She's not able to stay there right now. So, we had a wet weekend here and now looks like we'll be getting more rain this week! Rain likes this makes me think of God's promise in the rainbow. We serve a great God!

Painful Adventures

Well, we've had quite a week around here.

Monday was fairly normal, nothing out of the ordinary, just a Monday.

Tuesday began normally, but after Caroline's nap quickly turned into anything but normal. I was doing laundry and Caroline was playing in the hall. (We have a long hallway that connects to all the bedrooms and the kitchen. There is a door from the kitchen to the hallway, and obviously doors lead into all the bedrooms. I close off those doors and while I'm working in the laundry closet, Caroline likes to play in the hall.) I was using OxiClean to work on some set in stains and out of the corner of my eye I notice her bending down to pick up something from the floor. My mind worked quickly (thankfully) and I realized there was NOTHING on the floor when I started on the laundry...I grabbed her and sure enough, she had a small clump of OxiClean in her mouth, chewing away like it was candy. I don't know when I dropped it, but I did. The first thing I did was try and get it out of her mouth, and I did get some, but not all of it. The next thing I did was read the back of the container (I was practically hyperventilating) to see what the warning for ingestion was. It said to drink a full glass of water and seek medical attention immediately. I called Aaron and he decided to come home immediately. I didn't have poison control's number handy (it is now posted inside one of our kitchen cabinets) so I grabbed a bottle of water, plopped her on the counter, began giving her water to drink (she thought this was great, BTW) and then pulled the phone book out and called the ER. The lady there said to call poison control and gave me that number. I got poison control on the line and a really nice lady talked me through everything. Apparently, I was doing everything right. Aaron arrived home. (We're so lucky to live close to his office!) Until this he came in and hugged "his girls" as he calls us, I hadn't shed a tear, but now I was crying openly and breathing heavily. She was fine. She had no reaction at all and seemed to think all Mommy's excitement was fun and something to laugh about. She's a mess! Anyway, we made it through that...my constant prayers during the ordeal were answered right away and I am so thankful for that.

You would think that would be enough excitement for a mundane Tuesday, huh? Nah...when we have excitement, we like to go all out at our house. Later that afternoon Caroline and I were playing in the Grotto (aka..the den) and I went to the kitchen to grab something and lost my balance going up the stairs and tripped over her baby gate. I stumbled for a few seconds, trying to regain my balance, but I didn't. Instead I landed quite hard on the tile floor. I'm still shocked I didn't break my left elbow. Caroline came as quick as her little legs could make it up the stairs (that she's supposed to stay off of, BTW) and her eyes were huge and scared when she entered the kitchen. She cried out "Mama!" and ran over to me. I cuddled her and only afterward realized she said "Mama" and not "Ma" like she usually does. :) Anyway, the fall pulled something in my back and I'm still having trouble with it.

So, after that, I wish I could say that was all. But, no. Wednesday was a good day, I was limping around with my sore back, but all in all, a good day. Aaron even came home early so Caroline was excited to get to play with her daddy. As they were playing, I was in the kitchen getting supper ready, and I hear a big thud, followed by crying. Aaron is talking to her and then they're in the kitchen, and Caroline is screaming by this point. I look up and see the blood...she's fallen and busted her lip against the side of the couch. It looked like her tooth might be loose too, so I took her and headed to her room while Aaron got some ice in a wash cloth. After I examined her, I saw the blood was just from a cut lip, and her tooth was ok. She calmed down with some cuddling and her "Greenby" (her bear/blanket) and was fine. She enjoyed chewing on the ice through the wash cloth too. After a few minutes, she was fine. It did look like someone had punched her in the mouth though. Poor girl! Aaron was really torn up about it since they had been playing when she fell, but I assured him it wasn't his fault and this wouldn't be the last bloody injury she acquires.
The injured...


Aaron was more upset than she was...although, being silly here!


We're glad it's Friday and we're looking forward to a (hopefully!) less exciting weekend!

Beach Trip

We just got home last night from a long weekend in Destin. Aaron's company had a board meeting there on Friday and Saturday and families were invited so Caroline and I tagged along. It was a really wonderful weekend! We took Caroline out on the beach and she LOVED it! She would have run straight into the ocean if we would have let her. She loved the water (which was FRIGID by the way) and she also loved playing in the sand.





We had a beautiful view from our balcony.



Caroline loved the ocean and beach so much that she did go running full force at the CLOSED balcony window trying to get outside and she slammed right into the glass. She's a tough little cookie though..she whined for a minute and then took off running again. She's so funny!

While we were there I was able to get some shopping in--which I always love! The Carter's Outlet was having a big 50% off sale and I got a lot of great play clothes for this spring and summer for cheap. Awesome!

Well, I've got a ton of laundry and unpacking to do!

Weekend Fun

We had a good weekend. We just did chores around the house (Aaron is NOT happy that it's mowing season again!) and spent time as a family on Saturday. Saturday mornings I fix breakfast. It's actually more like a brunch, because we eat it late in the morning, but I love doing it and it's great to sit down and plan out the rest of our day and enjoy breakfast together. This past Saturday our menu was: sweet potato pancakes, eggs, and bacon with coffee and orange juice. Caroline ate 4 pancakes and several spoonfuls of scrambled eggs! She has developed a gargantuan appetite lately! Must be a growth spurt. I don't think you can really see it well in these pics, but she had egg all over her face for most of the meal.




On Saturday afternoon after Caroline got up from her nap we walked to the park. Please ignore my gross, super white legs...



We discovered that Caroline loves to play in the dirt.



She also really loves to play with the football---her daddy loves this orange and blue one.

I got the red outfit she had on Saturday at Kids Market for $1. Score!

On Sunday afternoon we had company over for Sunday lunch and had a good time. I love having Sunday lunch at home and wish we did it more often. It just makes the afternoon seem so much calmer. We enjoyed our weekend.

I've got a few things on eBay right now. We're gearing up for a yard sale in May and when we're cleaning out for that I always find things that I think will sell better on eBay. Most of the time, I'm right. Hopefully I'll get a few things sold and then I can list more as I find them!

I feel like this was a really boring post---sorry! Maybe I'll have something more interesting to post about later this week! Until then...have a good one!

Whew!

We've been really busy the last week and a half, but we've had so much fun! We're a little more tired than usual, but it was all worth it!

Aaron's sister, Karen, and her husband, Justin, came to visit two weekends ago. They were in our area for another reason but were able to stay over a Saturday night and it was really fun being with them!

I love this picture of Caroline and her Uncle Jud. He was so sweet and patient, letting her sit in his lap while he was on the computer. She really loves him, it's so sweet!

Caroline, playing "Where is Caroline" with Aunt KK. Oh, and the green blanket they're playing with is Aunt KK's Snuggie. (You know, one of those blankets from the infomercial. We teased her incessantly about it!)

We had a big consignment sale here in town last week called Kids Market. I know other cities in AL have the same sale, so you've probably heard of it. Anyway, I went the first night it was open to the public because I didn't contribute this year. I spent a decent amount of money, but I got all of Caroline's church dresses for spring and summer, a few play clothes, some dresses for fall, and a small play kitchen. I'd been wanting to get Caroline a little kitchen to keep in my kitchen and this one was a great buy and just the right size. It's really small, so it's perfect for Caroline right now. She LOVES it. It's definately her favorite toy. I figure since I now know she loves it, we might be willing to get her another, larger one, for Christmas one year. Anyway, here she is playing with it.




The kitchen came with a little play phone that rests in a cradle on the side if the refrigderator. Caroline has always loved phones. While she was playing with her kitchen, I walked out of the room to change some laundry and I could hear her in the kitchen. It sort of sounded like she was whining, so I came around the corner to peek at her and saw her.

Yes, she was talking on her phone. At one point she had her hand on her hip and then made a hand gesture. I suppose she's seen me doing something similar. :)

We had more company this past weekend. Aaron's cousin, Stephanie, her husband, Bryan, and their daughter, Annalise, came to see us. We had a BLAST! Caroline and Annalise are exactly the same age. They share a birthday. Caroline is about 14 hours older than Annalise. We are hoping they will be great friends. At Christmas we decided that we would all be "aunt" and "uncle" and hopefully raise them more like first cousins than second cousins. Caroline really took to her Uncle Bryan. She also loves her Uncle Jud, so we're a little concerend about her intrest in men. :) The girls had a ton of fun playing together. Here are some pics from our weekend.









For lunch on Saturday we took them to our local hot dog restaurant. Yes, you read that correctly. Hot Dog Restuarant. Aaron loves to take people there when they come to visit us for the first time, so true to form, we went. It's actually really good! Here we are at Honey's.



It was sad when they had to leave on Saturday afternoon, but we had such a fun time. We're really looking forward to making more family memories with them. We're hoping Steph and Annalise can come back this summer so us girls can hit the beach.

Then, something AMAZING happened on Sunday morning. It SNOWED! We couldn't believe it! It was the first time we've seen it snow since we moved here 4 years ago. You just don't see a lot of snow in the deep south. We tried to get a picture, but our camera battery was dead. :( It really did snow though!

Caroline is now the only child in her Bible Class. Slowly over the last year, others from her class have left for various reasons, so sadly, she's the only one. She has 2 kiddos that are about 1.5 years older than her at church, and two who are about a year younger than her. She'll probably end up being in class with the older two half the time, and the younger two half the time, but for now, she's the only one. Sunday morning her teacher wasn't going to be there so I took her in class and we had class together. She loves the flowers so I snapped a few pics of her with them. (We charged the camera battery and then brought it with us in case it snowed some more!)




And, finally, Aaron and I have been busy around the house the last few weeks. Aaron painted our guest bathroom, which was hideous before! Here are some before pics.




Here are some after pics.



He did a great job, huh? It's so wonderful to have a nice looking guest bathroom! I'm so thankful for such a handy husband.

I got some bread starter from a lady at church, so I've been making sourdough bread.

It's yummy and a great thing to take to others. Caroline and I are planning to take a loaf to our preacher and his family, who all have the flu. I'm not going in though...we love them, but don't want the flu!

Well...WHEW! I'm done!

(It keeps telling me there is an error when I try to check my spelling. Please overlook any words that aren't spelled correctly!)

Goings On

Another week gone by!

We've had a "normal" week around here, and not too much to really talk much about. I had my eyes checked on Thursday and discovered that I now need my glasses all the time. I'm very thankful that there are ways to improve my vision, but I'm disappointed that I have to wear them 24/7. I don't like the way they look on me. My doc said I was a good candidate for contacts, but I'm a little apprehensive about putting something in my eye. We'll see, I'm considering it.

Last Friday Opa (Aaron's dad) came through on his way home from Tampa. He brought Caroline some Valentine candy and little stuffed Woodstock.



She liked the chocolate, but I ended up eating it in the end. She gave Opa a real shock when he was offering her some of the chocolate and she dove right in with a big bite. He forgot she has teeth now! We all had a good laugh.

Aaron and I had a nice Valentines Day. I got him tickets to the Western Kentucky vs Troy basketball game. It was on Valentines Day and he went with some friends. He went to both schools (WKU for undergrad, Troy for graduate) but he's decided to cheer for WKU in basketball and Troy in football, when they play each other. I will ALWAYS be a Hilltopper, in case anyone was wondering. ;) He completely spoiled me this year, and I was shocked! He came home with a new bag for me and I love, love, love it!



While the bag is WONDERFUL and perfect for my needs, what I found truly romantic was that he remembered it at all. MONTHS ago I told him about the new pattern I liked and that this particular bag would be great because of the size, and he remembered! I don't think we discussed it again! This may not seem like a big deal, but Aaron willingly admits that his memory isn't the best, so I know he really thought about me when deciding to buy this. It's a great bag for toting around all of Caroline's essentials, as well as mine. I was tired of the big, bulky diaper bag, but my purses weren't quite large enough. Anyway, I don't have to be concerned about that anymore because my wonderful hubby got me the PERFECT bag!

Aaron is involved in a leadership program in our community. The group meets once a month and travels around the community, learning about the industries represented here. He had a meeting yesterday and after he got home, Caroline was very interested in his name tag. Just to be clear, she pulled it from his shirt, and she reapplied it to her head.




She walked around like that for about 15 minutes. Oh the joys of small things like name tags.

I want to take a moment to introduce y'all to my new best friend.



I've never been much of a cook, but in the last few years I've been trying to learn new recipes and get into the kitchen more. I love the book because hiding veggies in foods isn't just good for Caroline, but for Aaron and I as well. I've used her recipes but she's also inspired me to come up with some of my own. Last night, for example, we had baked spaghetti. This is one of Aaron's favorite meals, and Caroline and I enjoy it too. I decided to try my hand at hiding a veggie in one of my normal meals, so I poured some cauliflower puree in with the mixture and it worked out GREAT! You couldn't even taste the cauliflower and Aaron informed me he felt "deceived" but in a good way. I'm really enjoying the cookbook, and I highly recommend it. I also recommend continuing to offer veggies in their "normal" state because you never know when a child's tastes might change. Making veggies in several different ways can help you find the way your child likes it. This was how I discovered that Caroline likes broccoli in spaghetti sauce. It's quite tasty, and now I always include broccoli in my sauce and we all love it!

We're having more company this weekend. Aaron's sister, Karen, and her husband, Justin, are coming through on Saturday night. Aaron's parents are also planning to worship with us on Sunday. They will be on their way home from a funeral in Jacksonville. We're looking forward to time with family this weekend!

Enjoy your weekend!

A Week of Firsts

We've had a week of "firsts" around our house this week.

Sunday morning, fresh from a good night's sleep, Caroline came down with a stomach virus for the first time. She'd never thrown up before (other than baby spit-up) and she didn't like it too well. Sunday was a hard day for all of us. Then, on Monday we got to experience what it was like to be a family of three who ALL had a stomach virus. We holed up in our bed, Caroline in the middle, and only got up to get Pedialite/Sprite/Gatorade or because we were going to be sick. The first time we were all sick together---such family bonding!

On Wednesday Caroline wore her first skirt.



She's worn dresses a lot, but never a skirt and top. I thought she looked pretty cute!

Today was errand running day and it was going really great...until we went to Wal-Mart, which was the last stop on our long list of stops. As I was carrying Caroline in, I noticed her behind felt a little damp. Yes, she had a leaky diaper. Now, this wasn't the first time her diaper has ever leaked, but, this was the first time it's ever leaked away from home where I had to change her in a public bathroom. I made sure to really scrub her in the bath tonight!

Tonight was the first night we were really feeling back to normal so I celebrated by making homemade Macaroni and Cheese for the first time!



This isn't your normal, run of the mill Mac and Cheese. In the dish I included chopped organic cauliflower, onion, and I used whole wheat pasta. I know it's still not the healthiest side dish, but I felt better knowing it had extra fiber!

So, that's our week in a nutshell of "firsts". Hope y'all had a good one and enjoy the weekend! It's a long weekend! :)