Halloween....

we went "trunk or treating" at church.....

caroline got to chow down on some tasty fall leaves......

and pose in her new Halloween tutu.....

What a blast! Holidays are especially fun now that we get to celebrate them with our sweet Caroline. We took her to our church's annual "Trunk or Treat" and after that, we went home and handed out candy to all of our festive trick-or-treaters.

Love,

The Nickels

Caroline's 1st Birthday

Her first birthday party went perfectly...we had a houseful of people on Saturday to help us celebrate. She wore her tutu and got lots of presents...and ate her cake, of course. We were all waiting for her to tear into it but she was very dainty about it and mainly just picked at it. So much for the "smash cake."

Baby Girl needs to slow down! She is growing up too fast, as it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. It has been the best year of our lives! Loving Caroline has made us richer in spirit and I can't wait to see what the rest of her years bring. I just hope they don't go by quite as fast as her first one has.....

Love,

The Nickels

Finally....

Beth, Jason & Caroline...8/15/09
"The Baby Ambassador", as our friend Joe Moske calls her and I think that's a pretty accurate title!

"Power to My People."

She has teeth! "Dos dientes" as Ana would say, on her bottom gums. At 10 1/2 months, her first tooth began to emerge...we thought they would never come. I was in no rush, considering the fact that we're still nursing. It's bittersweet, watching her grow from an infant into a toddler, as (I'm convinced she will also be walking soon) and soooo much fun watching her personality emerge a little more every day and seeing what a wonderful, funny person she's becoming. I still think she's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen and with each passing day she gets more beautiful.

My brother is here for awhile to stay with us. He's so gifted with Caroline & he has been a huge help to us. He is considering a move up here so we are going to keep our fingers crossed and say a prayer that a good job opp will come his way.

Here are a few pics from the Redbirds game we attended on Saturday night. Take care....

Love,

The Nickels

Vacation 2009

I've yet to kick the Post-Vacation Blues. After attending my cousin's wedding at Alcyone Plantation in South GA, we headed down to a place called Hammock Beach Resort--located just south of St. Augustine. We had a fun time laying on the beach, swimming in the pool, and floating down the lazy river. Quality time with the family was the best part though! Oh well, back to grind....Countdown to Vacation '10 starts now......


here's the family waiting for the rocket to take off from Kennedy Space Center. It got delayed that paticular night due to the weather but we did get to see it a few nights later.
the lazy river!! it was so fun.....

Caroline @ the beach.....

the Bishop family at Darren's wedding...

and finally...Lake Alcyone Plantation..one of the most beautiful properties in the South & the location of Darren's wedding.

Take Care!! We miss you & love you all!~

Love,

The Nickels

July Update

Well June came & went just as quickly as we knew it would. The weather was unbearably hot...we seemed to be experiencing July weather in June, which made us dread what the rest of the summer has in store. But a cold front moved through over the holiday weekend & has restored our hope!! Yesterday it was 81! What a relief!

We have almost finished painting. We only need to paint the trim on the windows and we will finally be finished. We were advised by some well-intentioned friends to hire this paticular project out ("you'll need to use the money you saved on marriage counseling") but I have to say, the whole experience has been rather "character-building" and the house looks AWESOME!! I painted the doors this weekend--Melaya Red--and what a difference that has made...I feel like I need to plant some more red flowers around the yard now to accent how pretty they are. We are also going to update the shutters this month & hopefully we'll get around to working on the shed some. Yardwork is pretty close to impossible at this point as Caroline doesn't find it too appealing. I usually drag her exersauser outside then while she's in it, I give her various pieces of fruit in her little mesh feeder, which will occuply her for 20mins or so. I've gotten pretty good at multi-tasking, needless to say.

In a few days we are flying down south to attend my cousin's wedding on Saturday & then following that, we are heading down to FL with my parents for Caroline's first beach trip & a much needed vacation for Jason & I. We are looking very forward to the sun, sand & QT w/ the Bishops!

After we get back, Barbie is coming in from CO for a week to visit so we are looking forward to that as well. We are so grateful that Caroline gets to see both of her 'abuelas' (as Ana calls them) this month...

Hope everyone is staying cool & enjoying the summer!~

Love,

The Nickels

Happy Father's Day...

Here is a picture from Jason's first Father's Day. Thank you for being such a great dad!! I am so grateful that our little girl has a dad that loves her so much!! We love you!~

Yum....Geraniums are good!!

Don't worry Grandmothers...we didn't let her chow on them for too long!!

Love,

The Nickels

June Update

Caroline loves her Papa!!

Caroline loves watermelon, just like her mommy!!

Caroline & her "aunt Shanna"

Well, blogging season has officially arrived! Paul & Barbie left for Colorado on Friday (which is always sad) & The Bishops stay so busy that it's hard to talk to them on a regular basis, so hopefully we can stay disciplined about posting updates this summer!

We have had a very busy month, as usual & we have a ton on the 'to-do list' for this summer.

Some of our summer projects:

--Paint the exterior of the house (!)...we are actually almost finished with this project. All we have left to do is paint the doors & one pair of shutters. and what a job that was!

--Re-landscape the flower bed in the front yard.

--Strip & re-paint the shed

--Stain the concrete on the side porch

--Stain the back deck

--Start composting!!

Working in the yard has become one of our favorite weekend pastimes but I must say, it's a challenge to do while you are holding a baby! LOL.

Other than that, we have been keeping busy with Jason's soccer games & work, of course.

Caroline & I visited Shanna this past weekend & had a great time getting out of Memphis for the weekend. Shanna got to practice some of her newfound cosmetology skills on my hair & Caroline & I got to swim & eat great seafood. Other than a snafu at the Mayberry Airport on Monday a.m. when I was traveling home, the trip went very smoothly.

Caroline is now crawling & pulling up like a pro. Where does the time go? She is growing so fast I can hardly keep up with her.

Here are a few pics from this past month that were taken with my new Nikon D60.

Love,

The Nickels

Mother's Day 2009

Well Mother's Day came & went and what an awesome day it was!! I feel so blessed to be the mother of the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful baby ever born!! We dedicated her at First Assembly that day & then had wine & brunch with Paul & Barbie at our favorite restaraunt, Paulette's in Midtown. Here are the pics..the bonnet is an heirloom given to Caroline by her Uncle Dave & Mary & cousins Libby & Anne...

Love,

The Nickels

Caroline's Christening

What a beautiful day! We held her christening at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Germantown, which is where Paul & Barbie attend. It was a small & private ceremony. The only people in attendance were Caroline's grandparents, Jean, Dot & Bill, Caroline's Godparents Anne & Lee Hage and Mary Helen & Grace. It was photographed by Brandie Delisi. It was a beautiful Saturday & we are so honored that Grandpa was able to christen her.

Later that evening, we all went to Paul & Barbie's for a Commissary bbq dinner. Thanks to all who were able to share in this very special day with us!

April 2009 Update

Above is Caroline and her great-grandfather with her two cousins, Mary Helen & Grace.

Caroline's great-great aunts, Sandra and Janice with their instruments. They are so talented!!

Caroline & her Nanny.

Wow!! I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged. I guess we've just been busy with 'life'. In the meantime, ALOT has happened...

--I turned 31 but as Shanna says you can't tell because everything I have has been lasered or injected..Haha.

--Caroline got to enjoy a weekend with her great-grandmother (my mom's mother) & 2 great-aunts & my mom when they came to visit my birthday weekend. We spent the weekend scouring junk sales & flea markets & music stores, which is a favorite pastime of the Sisters. In addition, we ate at the famed 'Rendevous' but my money is still on Central for the best bbq in Memphis.

--Caroline got christened by her great-grandfather (jason's paternal grandfather) when he came to visit this past month. What an honor!!

--Caroline got to meet her cousins Mary Helen & Grace when the Hage's came to visit the weekend of Caroline's christening. We spent the weekend eating great food prepared by Barbie & just visiting. We also went to the zoo on Sunday, which the kiddies & adults loved. More importantly though, Grandpa got to be with all 3 of his great-granddaughters at the same time.

--Caroline got to spend quality time with her Grandma Debra when she came in for a week & the spoiling ensued. She got to drink sweet tea (she is southern, after all) & got lots of new clothes & toys..all courtesy of Grandma Debra.

--and to top it all off, April was my biggest month ever at work, despite a slow start.

So needless to say, with all of the activity over the past month, we haven't even gotten around to planting yet, much less blogging. It's rained so much this spring, we are hoping for some pretty weather this weekend because this will be the first weekend that we will actually have a chance to work in the yard this year. In spite of the neglect, our roses look AWESOME. They are so full & pretty. Our irises are in full bloom right now as well.

RE: Caroline....as you can imagine, every day her personality blossoms more. She hasn't crawled yet & we aren't rushing it. In fact, Lorrie Fisk thinks she's going to skip it all together. She recently had her pictures made with Brandie Delisi out at Mike Miller's place (thanks Weston) and I think Brandie captured her personality beautifully. While he was here, Grandpa made the comment about how 'congenial' she is & I think he summed it up perfectly! despite the fact that she's teething.)

Anyway, here are a few pics...

Hope everyone is well!

Spring?

We loved the spring weather this past weekend...for once in her life, Caroline didn't have to be bundled up like a little tick! We have another cold snap coming through this week but hopefully after that, we can start planting!!

The Jogger

We still had some credit at Babies R Us so we got a jogger. With spring right around the corner, along with the time change, I have been itching to start running again. And Caroline seemed pretty excited about it as well...

Finally....

Caroline's nursery is complete. We updated the windows a few weeks ago and this past weekend, we scored a dollhouse for the empty corner in her nursery that's been driving me nuts.

Spring!

So we were unloading groceries this weekend and the dogs managed to escape thru the backdoor. I think they got the wrong idea about the truck doors being open. Jason & I thought they looked pretty pathetic, all loaded up with their frisbee...so being the suckers that we are, we took them out to Overton to enjoy the pretty spring weather.

Caroline is at such a wonderful stage..although I'm beginning to think each stage is going to be more wonderful than the last. She has recently discovered the dogs...she studies them very closely and squeals with delight when one them gets close to her. She seems to love doggy kisses as much as her mom does and it is so much fun watching their bond develop!

She is rolling over consistently now.

She has also mastered the art of scooting.

She is nursing exclusively although I am getting pressure from all fronts to start her on solids at 6 months. I am still rather skeptical about this & will follow my instincts on it.

She is still co-sleeping, which Jason loves. LOL.

She has a keen radar for waking up the minute I've managed to sneak out of the room she's asleep in.

Her eyes are still blue so maybe she will inherit atleast one of her mom's physical traits. :-p

Her favorite book is The Hungry Caterpillar.

She still comes with me to the office a few times a week...she's becoming so active now though that I don't know how much longer I'll be able to get away with it. On the days Ana keeps her, I miss her like crazy...I'm still in search that elusive "balance" that I've heard of but know very little about...

Here are the most recent pics we have.

Love,

The Nickels

Graceland

Shanna came into town last weekend and as usual, we had a great time with her. On Friday, Caroline got to experience her first marathon shopping day with me & her Aunt Shanna. We had Shanna begging for mercy by about 5 so we hit up PF Chang's and then went to Jason's first soccer game of the year. He's playing in a intermural league for the first time in 3 yrs so it was really fun watching him.

The next day, we went to Graceland!! It's was the first time visiting for me, Shanna & Caroline but Jason had been 2 previous times so you can imagine how excited he was. What a fun cultural experience! The decor was early-horrific but everything is so well-preserved. By far, my favorite part was getting to see Priscilla's wedding dress & Elvis's car collection. I've also always been really curious about the Jungle Room so I enjoyed that as well. I definetly think Graceland is something everyone should experience atleast once.

Caroline is still the sweetest, most beautiful baby that has ever been born. And the smartest, too. Let's not forget to add that to her resume.

Hope everyone is well!~

Love,

The Nickels

Latisse...Coming Soon

It has just hit the market & will be available next month!! I am beyond excited and cannot wait to try it. One of the reps that has been using it for around 6 wks said that her eyelashes get so long & thick that she has to pluck them to keep them manageable. Call me for details if you are interested...
Latisse.com

Caroline's 3-Month Update

It's official! She is the sweetest baby that's ever been born.

She weighed 12 lbs 14 oz at her last pedi appointment...that's still 50-75th percentile.

She loves her rattles, her Glo-Worm & being read to...but pretty much anything makes her smile. It's very rare that she cries over anything despite the fact that Dr. Ware thinks she is pre-teething.

She is still exclusively breastfed but I worry that my milk supply has taken a hit with this inner ear infection I've been battling. Maybe I'm just being paranoid though.

I'm still putting in long hours at the office but Caroline is able to spend a few hours a week up here with me so that helps with my angst over leaving her every day.

Here is the latest picture I have of her...it was taken this weekend. Hope everyone is well!~

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone is having a great New Year! We certainly are....

Caroline is growing by leaps & bounds. I don't think I've ever been as aware of how quickly the days go by until her arrival. She seems to change right before our eyes every day. She's learning some very important things right now. She seems to be so interested in faces--she's constantly touching mine. She'll alternate between feeling my nose or my hair or my lips. We have started reading to her daily which she seems to love. She lays in her boppy & just stares at the pictures in the books & watches us very intently as we read & turn the pages.

Everyone keeps telling me "just wait..parenthood gets so much better" but I honestly can't imagine any other stage being more fun than this. Watching her grow is so bittersweet....on one hand, it's so much fun watching her develop but on the other hand, they're only little for such a short while & I'm terrified that I'm going to miss it once it's over...

We're banking on 2009 being our best year ever!!

Love,

The Nickels