Spring and Summer 2013

Hello Friends and Family!  It has been waaaaaayyyy too long since I last blogged.  The last time I blogged Caroline had just turned one.  Now she is over a year and a half! We have a full fledged toddler on our hands.  Here is what we have be up to the past few months.  Ignore the inncorrect picture labels.  I had already uploaded and organized all the photos on this post when I realized they were labeled wrong.

APRIL 2013
Caroline had her first birthday party a week after she turned one.  We had a great time! We also celebrated Emily Day by going to the Hospital to deliver more blankets.  We had a picnic at the park, and just relaxed and hung out as a family.  It was perfect.  One of the other highlights of the month was going to see my Grandma in Ohio.  She had only met Caroline once (when she was 6 months old) and I really wanted her to see Caroline walking around. 

Let me play!

MAY 2013

The highlight of May was when Caroline and I spent a week in North Carolina after Phil's mom had foot surgery.  We had a great time visiting with family, taking care of "Yaya", and entertaining Yaya.  

Reading with Yaya and Gran Dan

Train with Papa!

Huffy face!  Well at least Grandma and Mama are doing it.

Just hanging out with her heart surgeon :)
What a change 1 year later

Loves her bear

Uh-oh

 JUNE 2013
In June Phil and I went away to Charleston, SC for a four day weekend while Phil's parents watched Caroline.  It was so great to getaway.  In June Caroline took swim classes!  She screamed during the whole first class but did better the other classes.  She loves the water, just not being held in it.  She is miss independent and wants to explore on her own.  

Loves her girlfriends

Bye-Bye!

 JULY 2013
July was a big month for us.  We spent the Fourth of July at Colonial Beach with Phil's family like we do every year which was fabulous.  Our Godson Hudson was Baptized in mid-July in a lovely ceremony.  It was also 1 YEAR since Caroline had heart surgery!  We took heart shaped cookies and a handmade heart thank you card to her pediatrician, cardiologist, my OB/GYN, and St. Mary's Hospital Pediatric Unit to commemorate the day.  

The big highlight though was our week long trip to the midwest.  Right after Hudson's baptism party we left for Louisville, KY (8+ hrs away).  We spent the night with Phil's sister and went with her to church and brunch the next day.  

That afternoon we drove 2 hours north to my Aunt and Uncles for a family get together.  Most of my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins were there.  I was so excited for them to see Caroline again because they hadn't seen her since last fall.  My grandpa was excited to have both of his great-grandchildren there (my cousin Melanie has a son who is 8 weeks younger than Caroline).  We stayed in Indianapolis from Sunday until Wednesday afternoon.  Caroline and Will got to become great friends (see photos and video below).  We took the kids to the zoo, the children's museum, and just hung out at our Aunt's house.  It was perfect.  The kids (and us!) had soooo much fun.  I just wish we all lived closer together. 

 On Wednesday afternoon we drove down to Clarksville, TN (5hrs away) to WELCOME MY BROTHER HOME FROM AFGHANISTAN!!!!! We are all very proud of his service but extremely relieved that he is finally HOME.  

We stayed in Clarksville until Saturday.  Then we drove 7+ hours to Winston-Salem, NC to stay with Phil's parents on the way home.  Caroline and I decided last minute to to stay the whole next week in Winston because we were supposed to be back there the following weekend anyway for a get together with most of Phil's family.  So She and I stayed while Phil went home to work.  We spent the week hanging out with Phil's cousin's kids and his parents.  It was so much fun!  At the end of the week we had a big get together at Lake Norman with Phil's family.  That Sunday we finished off our 2,000+ mile trip by heading home.  

All the driving was totally worth it because we got to see so much family.  My biggest piece of advice for others traveling by car with a toddler....stop at a mall for dinner.  There is so much for them to see, there is usually a play place, food courts don't care that you have a toddler that has been in the car for hours, and it doesn't matter what the weather is like.  

HATING the life jacket

Auntie Amy!

Cleaning the kitchen

She decided that she need to wear all these bows :)

1 YEAR POST-OP!

Cousin Will!

Auntie Cammie and Unkie Matt!
WELCOME HOME UNKIE MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AUGUST 2013

I turned 30 in August!  I had a dinner party with some close friends the weekend before my birthday.  Honestly it was one of the best birthdays I've had as an adult.  At the end of the month Caroline and I spent a week with my brother and his fiance at our parent's home while Matthew was on Army leave.  Then Matthew, Cammie, Mom, Dad, Phil, Caroline, and I went to Stonewall Jackson Lodge in WV.  We had a great time kayaking, hiking, biking, swimming, and playing mini golf.  

So proud of herself sitting in a big kid chair.

Someone figured out how to turn on the music and change the station.  Her favorite...Latin music!

First time going down a slide all on her own!

My 30th bday!

 

Stonewall Jackson lodge with Unkie Matt and Auntie Cammie

First canoe ride!

 

Onto Fall!

-Megan

Slide on her Own

Mid August

16.5 months

Dada Upstairs

Someone loves her Daddy.

15.5 Months

Cooking with Mama

For the one year anniversary of Caroline's heart surgery we made cookies and brought them to the hospital, her pediatrician, her cardiologist, and my OB.  She LOVED helping me make them!

15.5 months old

Playing in the Kitchen

Video is from mid July.

15.5 months old

First Birthday Party

Did anyone wonder what I was going to do with all those weekly and monthly photos that I took of Caroline?  Well we used them to decorate for her first birthday party!  Check it out!

Decorate a drum or make a drum shaker!

Monthly photos hanging from the mantle and Shutterfly books from her first year on the coffee table.

The party favors were custom CDs and a copy of one of Caroline's favorite books, Pete the Cat.

CD cover

Activities:  Make an egg shaker, Decorate a drum

All the food was based on Caroline's favorite foods.

We decorated the kitchen with all of the weekly photos.

CAKE!!!

"Let me down so I can party!"

Happy First Birthday to the sweetest little girl ever :)

-Megan

Celebrating Emily Day

Dear Emily,

Thank you for helping Mommy and Daddy love one another more each and every day.
Thank you for giving Mommy and Daddy courage during tough times.
Thank you for helping us to appreciate each and every moment we have with one another and with Caroline.
Thank you for helping us grow in our faith.
Thank you for making us to be better people.
Thank you for helping us to not worry about the small stuff and to keep it all in perspective.
Thank you for making us closer to our parents and for helping us to appreciate them more.
Thank you for the relationships that we have gained because of you.
Thank you for being a part of who we are.
Thank you for being our daughter in Heaven.

We love you Emily.  Thank you for being a part of our lives.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

I can't believe it has been two years since I delivered Emily.  This year is SO much different than last year.  We are in a much better place. I am in a much better place.  Last year Caroline was a week and a half old,  my hormones were going nuts, and I was trying to figure out how to feed Caroline.  Last year I was crying every day all day for a couple of days leading up to Emily Day.  Last year I was a mess.  This year...this year I am filled with joy.  Do I still miss her?  Yes.  I always will.  But now, two years out, all I can see is the good.  The wonderful blessing that Emily was/is in our lives.

This year and every year we will spend Emily Day focusing on each other.  I told Phil that I want it to be a day that he takes off from work and our kids don't go to school.  A day where we spend the day together appreciating the fact that we are together.  Even if we spend all day watching movies and playing board games I don't care.  It doesn't have to be a big outing.  It just has to be together.  There are holidays all year long celebrating specific people, events, beliefs.  Most are family oriented but there is always something  you have to do/accomplish.  On Emily Day the only thing we have to do is be together.  How beautiful of a holiday is that?  A day when you appreciate your loved ones.  For that is what has ruled my life more than anything since losing Emily.  I try to appreciate each and every moment I have with my friends and family.  That is how I want to spend April 11th every year, appreciating my loved ones.

So in honor of Emily Day please join us in celebrating family.  When your child is screaming because you took away their toy because you may shoot something if you hear that song one more time, breathe deep and appreciate the fact that they are able to scream and learn and express their emotions.  When your spouse doesn't pick up their plate after dinner, pick it up for them and remember the time that they did that for you.  Lastly, just tell your loved ones you love them and give them a hug and a kiss.  For if you ask anyone who has lost a loved one, the one thing they will tell you is they wish they could hug them, kiss them, and tell them they love them just one more time.

Love,

Megan

ps Plus I'm planning on eating chocolate cake because Emily Day is a great excuse to eat chocolate cake.