June so far

We're only 11 days into the month of June and we've been very busy! In no particular order...

Kevin and I celebrated 9 years of marriage.


The girls grew some.


Kevin was awarded a scholarship for "exemplary academic and clinical competence in radiology residency". His superiors made it clear that Kevin is a great guy to work with. Can I just say that my husband is awesome?


We went to the Children's Museum with some very good friends.



We had a going away party for the same very good friends (and us).


Helen grew some more.


Oh yeah...and we're getting ready for moving day! More events to come...

Tink

Caroline loves coloring and Tinkerbell, so this book from Aunt Suzi was a huge hit!

2 months old

Goodness gracious... Where did 2 months go? It's so hard to believe this little smiling beauty is growing up so quickly!

We had her checkup and little Helen is still our little peanut. She's 9 pounds, 4 ounces (25%) and 22.25 inches long (50%). She got her immunizations and was still smiley, even though she felt bad the rest of the day.

Memorial Day 2009

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Get your own

Memorial Day was a great family time for us. We spent the morning relaxing and having an impromptu photo session on the porch. That afternoon we spent some time at our friends' farm. We had fried catfish. Caroline rode a horse for the first time. She loved it! The little girls got to feed the chickens and the horses. It was so much fun! We're so blessed to have friends who share their lives with us!

Downtown adventures

We had quite a busy weekend! Saturday we got up and decided to head downtown to the Farmer's Market. And once you're downtown, it's just sensible to make a day of it! So we wandered past all the vendors at the market and then hopped on the trolley. Caroline loved the "pond". Then we had a bite to eat at The Flying Fish. Caroline insisted on fried shrimp. Then she refused to eat it. If she didn't look so much like me, I'd swear she wasn't mine based on that little incident. We walked across the street to see what the ducks at the Peabody were up to and checked out their new palace on the rooftop. Then we headed back to Midtown for a restful afternoon.

Memorial day pictures and Helen's 2-month stats coming soon!

Baptism

Helen was baptized last weekend. It was a very special day. We felt so blessed and honored to have so many family members and friends celebrating with us. In the words of our pastor, the fact that our home was filled with people who love us is a symbol of how much we are loved by our Father. How humbling! Our daily prayer is that Caroline and Helen would know and love our redeemer Jesus Christ all the days of their lives.

²⁴To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
-Jude 1:24-25

After everything got quiet Sunday night, I lamented that I couldn't remember everything that was said and prayed for Helen Sunday morning. I was wishing we had videoed the baptism. And I consoled myself by remembering what I could remember. Well, Tuesday I got a CD in the mail from church. It was an audio recording of Helen's baptism! I was so happy! God provides... Now if we can just find some copies of the bulletin! :-)

Helen's dress is 60 years old this year. It was made by my great-grandmother Zimmerman for my Aunt Suzi's baptism. It's been worn by my mother, me, Erin, Caroline, and now Helen. It is a treasured family heirloom! I made Caroline's dress. It was my first heirloom-style dress. I drew a sketch of what I wanted the dress to look like and then picked out all the lace. I pieced together the lace on the yoke with my machine and hand-stitched the lace around the sleeves and neck. It was a very fun process and I know I will be making another one.

Caroline goes to the dentist

Today was Caroline's first trip to the dentist. We've been talking about this day for weeks and she was so excited to have Leslie and Dr. Edwards look at her teeth. She let Leslie count her teeth (20), brush her teeth with chocolate chip cookie dough toothpaste, and floss her teeth. It was a great checkup and I am very proud of her!

Merry sunshines

Caroline entertained Helen while I made breakfast this morning. She is the best big sister. I didn't realize how sweet these pictures were until I uploaded them. I see the beginnings of a beautiful relationship between these two. I'm feeling very humbled today. God has blessed me more than I ever deserved and I'm thankful beyond words.

Is that a hint of a smile I see?

This is Caroline singing a little good morning song to Helen that Erin and I heard every morning from our mom. And I'm sure she heard it every morning from her mom. Now I'm passing it on to my girls...

Pink

We love pink around here!


Favorite Caroline quote so far: "Helen REE-nay, I cannot hear the TV over your crying!"

How Helen spent her 1-month birthday

Can you guess who's not really dozing?

Picnic

Caroline gets a little prize every week if she does some daily jobs to help Mommy and Daddy out. This week her reward was a picnic.

It was Helen's first picnic, so Caroline showed her how we do it.

PB&J is always a crowd-pleaser.

Helen really enjoyed the fresh air!

Swings

Helen has a swing...

...and Caroline has one, too!

Adorable

Holding Helen

She does a great job...

And Helen loves it!

Helen loves to be all curled up. It is absolutely impossible to resist snuggling with this...

Prayers

One of the greatest joys as a parent (in my opinion) is watching Caroline discover God. For a long time we've been singing this prayer she learned at school:

God, our Father,
God, our Father,
Once again
Once again
We would like to thank you.
We would like to thank you.
Amen.
Amen.
(sung to tune of Frere Jacques)

And just lately she started saying her own prayers. They are the sweetest, most sincere prayers. They remind me to be thankful for the tiniest, littlest things. Most of the time they go something like this:

God, thank you for our baby named Helen. God, thank you for a smelly old dog named Tigger. God, thank you for everything. Lord, thank you for God. God, thank you for our parents and Maddie and Katie. Thank you for our food. God, thank you for everything. Amen.

I only hope my prayers sound just as sweet to God's ears.

He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress,
and for his children it will be a refuge.
-Proverbs 14:26

Easter 2009

It was a great weekend here at the Garrett house. We had special visitors - my family and Kevin's sister all spent some time with us. Caroline had the best time with her cousins, her aunts, and her Mimi. We all had fun together!

We made it to church. I really missed singing in the choir. But on the other hand, it was really nice to enjoy listening to the beautiful music. Helen slept blissfully through the whole service. Big sister actually sat through the whole service, too. We were impressed.

Helen wore the daygown I made. I say prayers over every dress or appliqued tee-shirt or daygown I make. So it was really special for me to see Helen in her gown. God has been so faithful to the four of us.

I hope each of you had a blessed Easter weekend!

Garden girl

Don't you love her hat and gloves? She was a huge help to Daddy!

Easter project

Caroline's class at school is having an Easter party and egg hunt. She has to bring 15 eggs with candy inside. So I counted out 15 eggs and let her handle the rest. The power to delegate is something I take very seriously. She did a great job!


And my favorite picture of the little peanut so far... She's such a darling!

Ring sling

I made this for Helen before she was born. Having 2 free hands is key when caring for a preschooler and a baby. It was very easy to sew. I read several tutorials and then kind of did my own thing. I used 2-yards each of coordinating fabrics and 2 rings (Sling Rings). I wish I had used about 3 yards because my "tails" are a little short. But I figure in a couple months Helen will be busy looking around and I will be using the front carrier and the hip hammock.

Today we used the sling to go for a quick walk around the block. Caroline pushed her babies (yes, 2 of them - plus a panda and a duck) in her stroller and Helen was content to peek out of her snug little ride. I can actually see myself going to the grocery store with both kids using the sling. OK - maybe I'm a step ahead of myself...

This girl's got skills

Kevin and Caroline were playing with the Aquadoodle tonight. Kevin spelled "Helen" for her and she wrote every letter herself - without help! Wow... We are so proud! (Don't you love her dirty face from dinner?)