The Boardwalk

What to do on a cool, cloudy, sometimes rainy day? Nana and I decided to take the girls to the Boardwalk for a little shopping, a trolley ride, a carousel ride, and some ice cream. Sounds like a perfectly wonderful afternoon, doesn't it? First stop was the fountain where the girls threw all of the pennies (and nickels!) I had in my wallet into the fountain. Who exactly started this tradition of throwing money into fountains? Probably the inventor of the fountain! (I am going to look this up and get back to you on it.) I know that over the course of my lifetime I could have bought myself something really nice with all the change I have given small children to throw in a fountain!

So after throwing 42 cents of Caroline's college tuition into the fountain, we rode the trolley to the carousel. We had to walk around the entire carousel to find just the perfect animals to ride. Emma chose a pink horse and Caroline chose a fish. I am still amazed at how much children love a carousel. I just don't understand the excitement of moving up and down and going round and round (at a snail's pace!) but every kid I know loves it!

After the carousel ride, we had ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. I asked Caroline what flavor she wanted and she said "pink". I tried to explain to her that pink was not a flavor but she just didn't get it! She wanted pink no matter what flavor pink turned out to be.

We finished off the afternoon with a nap. The perfect cool, cloudy, sometimes rainy day!

Dress-Up

Since Caroline started in her new class at school in January, she has been very interested in dress-up. They have some dress-up clothes at school and lots of times when I pick her up she is in a princess dress. She also has been very interested in wearing her tutu around the house (and to Wal-Mart and to dinner and to the post office . . .) and has asked me several times for a ballerina suit. I finally found one small enough to fit her and she would wear it every day if I would let her. Her outfit of choice for most days would be her ballerina suit, a tutu, and ballerina shoes. I let her wear it around the house as much as possible and I must admit she looks pretty cute in it! Emma came over to play today and Caroline and Emma wanted to play dress-up. I searched (which actually means Bob searched) the basement storage for some dress-up clothes and found some for Emma, but Caroline wanted her usual get-up. When they came back upstairs they announced the princesses were coming - and here they are!
Emma kept trying to get closer to Caroline for the pictures (her mom taught her how to take a picture!) but Caroline kept bending away! So cute!

Daddy's New Golfing Buddy

Today Bob decided to take advantage of that golf membership, a beautiful spring day, and a girl who wanted to spend time with her daddy. Caroline was so excited to go golfing and had a great time. I bet he can't wait until she is old enough to carry his clubs! Here are some pictures he took on the golf course.
In the cart where she spent the first part of the afternoon.

Later she decided to get out of the cart and help Daddy.

Then she decided to get in on the action and putted a few.

And when all else fails, play defense!

"Dog-gone" happy to see you!

One of the couples that we met when we traveled to China have become great friends. I really wish we lived closer so that we could see each other more often (they might not wish the same thing!). They have 4 children (one of which came from the same orphanage as Caroline) and we just love their family. We have been to visit them a couple of times and this weekend they came to visit us. We always tell people if you want to get away from it all that is exactly where we live so come visit. We don't really have a lot to offer as far as a vacation destination (OK, we don't have anything to offer!) but they decided to come anyway. We had such a fun weekend, laughing, talking, watching the kids play together, enjoying the sunshine, and eating. I also discovered why Caroline keeps getting that note home from school that says she was "screaming at her friends". Whenever one of the other kids walked near her, touched something by her, or looked her direction, she screamed at them - she really needs a sibling! For the most part, the kids got along great (sorry about Caroline!) and everyone had a great weekend. So if you are looking to get away from it all - call us!






Here is the reason for the title of the post. I saw these puppy cookies and have been waiting for an excuse to make them. Caroline was so excited to make puppy cookies and she had so much fun helping! We made a basket of cookies with the tag to welcome our guests. I know I have way too much time on my hands!

LUCKY!

For St. Patrick's Day today, I made treats for Caroline's class and was so happy to do it. Somehow making shamrock shaped rice krispy treats, Magic Leprechaun Dust, and Shamrock halos brings me great joy! I know that this is not normal! When I started getting Caroline dressed for school this morning in her absolutely adorable St. Patrick's Day outfit, she quickly informed me that she didn't want to wear the green clothes because pink is her favorite color. I told her next week we would celebrate pink day and she could wear all the pink she wanted to, but today she was wearing green - she cried the whole time she was getting dressed! By the time we got to school she decided the green wasn't so bad after all because the skirt was twirly and she twirled the whole way down the hall. I love the pictures we took after school!

Today I am feeling especially lucky - I guess all the shamrocks, green, and leprechauns have helped! I know that I am lucky in so many ways. I know that lots of people are not as blessed as I am. I know that some people never win a raffle or door prize or contest and other people seem to always win. I know that life sometimes doesn't seem fair and it seems like other people are always getting all the breaks. I also know that I waited over 14 years for the greatest blessing in my life and I will never forget how LUCKY I really am. Sometimes the blessings just take a little longer for some people and I have learned that they are always worth the wait. So I really do know how lucky I am!

The Girl Loves a Birthday Party!

Today we were invited to celebrate Molli's 2nd birthday and Caroline couldn't wait to get there. She carried her present around for a couple of days and I had to rewrap it before the party! She loves talking about parties, going to parties, planning parties, and anything that has to do with a party. She has already decided what kind of birthday party she wants to have - pink Minnie Mouse - and her birthday is still 3 months away. Here is a picture of Caroline and the birthday girl.


I love this cake and I am trying to figure out how to make one like it for Caroline's birthday.


I wish I had brought my video camera to record Caroline singing "Happy Birthday" to Molli. She was loud, off-key, and not singing with the rest of the group - a girl after her daddy's heart (and voice!). Happy Birthday, Molli and thanks for inviting us to your party!

It all started with a phone call (and a grainy faxed, scanned picture)!

Two years ago today we got the phone call that changed our lives. We had waited 17 months since our log-in date to receive a referral and we couldn't believe it was finally here. (I can't imagine how the current families are waiting over 3 years!) I remember so well the phone call and how much I loved a baby in China that finally had a name, a place, a birthday, and a face - the most precious face I had ever seen! Happy Referral Day!

Here is the first picture we received of our sweet Caroline - it was taken in November 2006 when she was about 5 months old.


This picture was taken on March 5, 2008, one year later.


And these pictures were taken today, March 5, 2009.


I can't believe how much she has grown and changed. I sometimes wish for those baby days back and then I remember how much fun she is now. She keeps us laughing and wondering what she will do or say next. And to think that it all started with a phone call!

Oh, the things a Nana will do!

See this:


Nana drove 6 1/2 hours to bring this cookie cutter to AL. Or so she said. What she really drove to AL for was this:


Playing the fishing game with her granddaughter. Don't let her tell you it was for anything else!

Oh, and I did get to make some really cute cat in the hat cookies for Dr. Suess day. Thanks, Nana!

Finally a Blogger (or at least I hope so!)

I would like to think that I am really technically on top of things and in the know, but I have really wanted to have a blog for a long time and didn't even know how to start. I have been using Babyjellybeans as our primary website (and paying for it each month!) and it is not exactly blog friendly - I can't link to other people's blogs or have other blogs link to mine, so I thought I would go ahead and be a blogger. I guess I still need to read that "Blogger for Dummies" book, but at least this is a start. I am going to start working on moving some of my things from the other website onto this site and make this the primary site for "Sweet Caroline". It will probably take me a while to get everything set up just the way I want, so be patient and don't worry if things seem out of order or confusing for a while. While I am working on changing over, everything will still be on the babyjellybeans site. So welcome to our blog and glad to see you here.

I knew I could not have any entry without a picture of the sweet caroline, so here she is in all her Valentine's Day cuteness!