Monkey

Caroline is starting to learn things more and more quickly. One of her newest baby signs is "monkey". Look closely - about 10 seconds into the video she places her left hand on her chest. That's her version of monkey. Well, she actually puts both hands on her chest, but she wasn't about to drop her milk just to entertain Mommy

It's a napkin - no, it's a dress!

I got a special treat this weekend. My dear sweet awesome husband watched Caroline almost all day on Saturday and let me play with 2 very good friends. We did yoga in the morning, had lunch together, then went shopping at the Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma Outlets. I could spend all day in those stores! I was drooling over over the delicious selection of napkins that Williams-Sonoma had on sale and wondering what I could make out of them. So after talking strategy with my friends, I decided I would try to make a dress for Caroline. A quick Google search yielded a tutorial and I whipped this out in about an hour.



It's pretty much a mumu, but we live in Midtown and people probably expect to see both of us in mumus at the grocery store. It was fun (and easy) to make and will be a cute little summer play dress for Caroline. And, hey, after she finishes her chicken nuggets, we can just wipe her off with her dress!

The zoo

Look!

Baby giraffe - so cute! (But not as cute as our baby!)

Caroline loved the bird house.

This bird was absolutely beautiful! (We already forgot what it was called...)

{...sigh...}

Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy... Sweet... Subtle... Refreshing... This is now one of my favorites.

I stumbled on this really interesting website: Library Thing. If you amass and love books like we do, this is a pretty neat online book catalog. Check it out.

And, lastly, a photo of my two very favorite people...

Evening entertainment

Birthday fun

Click on the picture to see the whole album...

First Birthday

Happy Birthday, Caroline!

Sweet girl,
We love you so so so much! This has been the best year of our lives. We go to bed each night thinking, "This was the greatest day yet. How can tomorrow be any better?" And, somehow, it always is. We love watching you grow and learn and explore. We have so much to look forward to! Thank you for making us parents!
Hugs and kisses, Mama and Dada

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

My new happy place

This used to be my old spot for sewing, pleating, crafting, gluing, etc. - a TV tray and the dining room table. Pretty sad.

So here it is - my new creative corner! It's upstairs, out of the way. My dear husband put the shelves up. We found the adjustable folding table at SAM's (thanks for the tip, Mom!). I put a baker's rack up there to catch some spill-over. I still have some work to do. I'm a project-a-holic and have a ton of "stuff" to organize and put in the storage bins. I am so excited to have a place to create! And I'm sure Kevin is glad that the crafts won't be encroaching our dining space any longer. It's not as fancy as some of the spaces I've seen out there on the internet. But it works for me!

I finished this dress before I moved upstairs, but this is the latest smocked dress for Caroline. It's unfinished in this picture, but you get the idea. So sweet... I've started her Easter dress in my new happy place.

And because no post is complete without pictures of our little sweetie...

Walking