Oh no... THE BIG 3-0!!

We survived the snow, made it back to Texas and have now taken down all Christmas decorations, however we had such a wonderful holiday! Caroline did so well for her first Christmas season and had so much fun visiting with family. We have been so busy lately that so much has gone on without writing. The first thing we did was celebrate Josh turning 30!! Yep, he is now officially out of his 20's! Caroline and I picked him up from work on Friday the 18th and had a little scavenger hunt planned. We went and looked at Christmas lights in Highland Park, had him open his presents and then wound up at Blue Fish (our favorite restaurant) where he thought we were having dinner. Caroline did her part on getting a little fussy (all planned of course!) and it caused us to take some time to change and feed her. We then got to the restaurant and I told him that I had already picked up the food and it was waiting at home. We arrived at our house a little later and all of our friends were waiting to SURPRISE him! They did such a great job keeping it a secret! We spent the night reminiscing about Josh's younger years and all celebrating Josh! And of course... we had Blue Fish! I forgot my camera and then couldn't find it for most of the night, but we did manage to get a couple good shots of the night!

SNOW SNOW everywhere!!

So, wouldn't you know that it would snow 10 inches in Colorado the first day we are here?! Our original flight was canceled, but Josh did a wonderful job negotiating and managed to get us a flight on American at the same time! We headed to the airport at 5am and made it to Colorado about 7:30am! So far everything has been great and we've had a wonderful time spending with family. Here are some pictures so far! Caroline is having a wonderful time with her cousin!

Who would have thought to wear shoes with socks?

Santa... again!

What a treat to get to see Santa again! Josh's office hosted a Christmas party for all of the children of the firm and of course Caroline didn't miss a chance to get her list in to Santa. We had wonderful treats, sang Christmas carols, visited with friends, and best of all Josh got to show off his newest addition yet again! It is such a joy to share these times with Caroline and really relive the joy of the season through a child's eyes.

Pictures from our Santa photo shoot

We had such a wonderful time at BluDoor studios getting these pictures taken! And Caroline is such a natural in front of the camera.

Go Daddy Go!!

Well, Josh has yet another race under his belt! He ran in the White Rock Marathon Relay with a team from Munsch Hardt and did SO well! This year he ran the first leg which consisted of 6 miles and lots of hills! All of this he ran in 45 minutes!!! Caroline and I drove him down there at 6:45am and got him started! After that we drove to the hand-off point and picked him up! He did such a great job and it is so neat that Caroline got to experience it with him! Great Job Munsch Hardt! The whole team came in 2nd in the corporate division. Way to go!!

Bright and early and all smiles! Must be our child...

A GREAT dad that even shares his medals!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

with hopes that St. Nicolas would soon be there.

It's Christmas time! What a wonderful time of year. This year Josh insisted that we get a real tree, so we loaded up the car and picked out the perfect one on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was quite a challenge to stuff it in the car and drive home with the back open, but luckily we didn't have far to go. Then while I was pretty tired and worn out, Josh pulled out all of the decorations and did such a great job putting them up around the house. We decided this year not only to have 1 tree, but why not have 3?

The real tree is next to our staircase and has all of our sentimental ornaments in which Josh and I collected while growing up.
We decided that Caroline needed a tree just her size! I had quite a few ornaments left over from Pier 1 Kids that were all bright pink, turquoise and lime green. Perfect for her room! She loves seeing the lights at night!
The third tree was somewhat of an afterthought, but I decided that we had an extra fake tree in the attic, so why not put it up! We have this one set up in our room and decorated with "pretty" ornaments.
We have already gotten all of our red out and Caroline has been sporting Christmas outfits for the last week! What a wonderful time of year!

one...two...three...four... FIVE MONTHS!!

5 months old and SO much personality! Caroline is really beginning to become her own person. She knows what she wants, what she doesn't, and does everything possible to make that known! She is starting to dislike her carseat and no longer falls alseep on every car ride. She loves rolling over and will always do this to chase Beca! Just seeing her sister lights up her face and gives her something to grab! Beca thinks this is funny for a little while and then runs before she gets her hair pulled! We cannot believe that 5 months have already gone by! Thanksgiving snuck up on me and now Christmas is not that far away. The weather has started to get colder and our Christmas decorations are up... it's coming whether I like it or not! Before I have a chance to blink, it is going to be 2010! What happened to '09?

First Thanksgiving with a trip to Newton

We were able to spend Thanksgiving in east Texas this year and take Caroline to visit Josh's side of the family. She met so many great uncles and aunts and cousins!! We had the big Thanksgiving day celebration at Nanny's and nothing was spared! The meal was delicious and Josh spent most of the day playing football with the kids. Caroline did so well! She is definitely growing up and her own personality is starting to show through! She laughed and giggled the whole time and definitely didn't mind all of the attention! We ended the night with the annual game of spoons! After many bruises and old stories told, Josh ended up the winner... but just wait until next year!


Thank you all for such a wonderful holiday! It is so great to be welcomed in to a loving family!

Rah Rah TCU!!

TCU - 55 Utah-28

Last weekend we headed to Fort Worth for the big TCU/Utah game! ESPN College Gameday started the morning and got people pumped up. We got to the school about 2pm and the parking lots were already full! Purple was out in full force and school spirit definitely showed! There was record attendance at the game with more than 50,000 people piling into the stadium. We all went to tailgate with friends and then Josh went into the game while Caroline and I watched it on tv. The Frogs did great and we're looking forward to 2 more wins... and possibly a BCS BOWL GAME!!

We had a great time walking around campus, visiting the bookstore, and showing Caroline where we went to school! We just might have a future horned frog in our hands!!Not only was this a big game, but it was also the Breast Cancer survivor game! We had a chance to celebrate with Grandmother Suzanne and other survivors. What a great day!!

First tastes...

We gave Caroline rice cereal for the first time last weekend! With having nothing but milk for the first 4 months, she wasn't quite sure what to think! She didn't quite get the concept of the spoon and wasn't sure she liked the texture. In the end, it was her bib that tasted the best! We got some pretty cute progressive pictures of the whole ordeal!

our little giggler!

Caroline has started laughing!! That continuous smile has now turned into giggles! Here we are entertaining Caroline at her doctor's appointment right before her shots.

4 Months Old

Caroline is now 4 months old! She is growing so much and has learned so many new things! She has started laughing, tightly grabbing on to things, putting everything in her mouth, and really reacts to people's voices and songs. It's so amazing to see how she changes every single day! She can now put take her pacifier out of her mouth and then focuses intently on getting it back in. She hasn't quite learned how to let go, but understands just where she wants it! But the best thing definitely has to be her morning smiles! These can make any day brighter... whether we've had sleep or not! We had our doctor's appointment yesterday and although she had to have her shots, she did so well and only cried a little bit. Here is where she ranks:

weight: 14 lbs, 10.6 oz (68th percentile)
length: 24.5 in. (54th percentile)
head circumference: 40 cm (20th percentile)

here comes a poodle!!

What an eventful weekend for such a little girl! We celebrated Halloween by going over to Caroline's cousins' house and getting to see everyone in their costumes. They had quite a few friends over and it was fun for her to get to hang out with the bigger kids. Everyone looked great and Aunt Julie had great snacks and orange margaritas for everyone! Josh, as the Dog Catcher, took Caroline to her first house for some candy. The night ended early and we were home by 7:30, but we all had a great time. We had a very worn out little girl!!