Beautiful Arizona scenery

We ate breakfast at a golf course on the Indian Reservation that was absolutely beautiful! With the mountains and desert as our backdrop, we enjoyed a beautiful morning! The girls loved running around and Emma loved her "rocks"! This is right where my camera died, so you can really tell the difference in pictures. Although we took quite a few, we still never managed to get Caroline one of the famous Saguaro cactus pictures. I guess we will just have to go back!

Emma's BIG Rocks!

Playtime at the Fountain Park

Do I really have to wear this hat??

Well, since we weren't able to be by the pool most of the time, we spent quite a bit of our vacation at the park across the street. Emma loved feeding the ducks and asked every few minutes either "park?" or "big wa wa?" Right outside of my parents condo is a huge park that is in the center of the town. Every hour there is a fountain that goes off and is one of the largest in the country. The girls loved playing!! Along with the regular park type playgrounds, there was also a water park. It was too cold, but we still watched some other brave children run around in it. My Nikon camera ran out of battery (once again... I know!) in the middle of the trip. I did have my point and shoot camera, but the quality is just not the same! At least I had another one to document the rest of the vacation."Perhaps my prince will come!"

Swimming Time!

90 degrees and Sunny...

...or so we thought!!

The average temperature for Arizona right now is in the 90's, however 3 out of the 5 days we were there, they experienced a cold front and we saw temperatures in the mid 60's. We did manage to get a little bit of sun the Tuesday that we arrived and then things warmed up the last day that we were there. Unfortunately, Josh didn't come until late Wednesday. Despite the weather, we had a wonderful trip! Caroline was able to see so many family members and even meet Uncle Gary and Aunt Tammy! She loved being with Pop Pop and Grami and just squealed with delight every time she saw cousin Emma! She still just loves older kids and went after her every chance she got. Emma was such a gracious girl and shared all of her snacks and played with Caroline, even though she wasn't quite sure what this "little thing" was! Who can resisit taking pictures of such cute kids? I have quite a few so there will be several posts! :)

Fountain Hills, Arizona 2010

Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Green stayed an extra day in order to spend some time with Caroline. We had such a great time!

Great Grandpa reading her her favorite book!

Great Papa John and GiGi with their Grand and Great Grandkids

Caroline . Kacey. Emma

I just absolutely love this picture of the 3 girls. Caroline wanted to be big like the other 2 so badly! She tried to stand up on the bed over and over again and kept slipping down! Soon there won't be much of a difference between all of them!Girls wanting to be outside swimming!

Playing with blocks!

First time meeting Great Uncle Gary and Great Aunt Tammy!

Daddy Time

Spring is in the air!

What a wonderful weekend!! This was the first couple of days in a while where we really have not had a lot of things planned. Josh was able to spend some time hitting golf balls, I took my first sewing lesson, and Caroline got her second haircut!! We also had a chance to plant some new plants and add a little green to our backyard. It is exciting to see some of the plants we planted in years past return. Finally we have some progress! :)

On our way back from getting Caroline's hair cut, we found a great place to take bluebonnet pictures! Texas plants millions of these flowers all along their highways and you can see people stopped on the side of the road, all in hopes of getting that perfect annual bluebonnet picture! Thankfully we had our camera and this spot wasn't far from our house! Caroline was a little tired, but we managed to get several good shots!

It might have been warm enough to plant flowers, but the pool definitely isn't warm enough to go swimming! Josh just thought he'd test it out... I think we still have some time!

To top things off, the Macha's joined us for dinner Sunday night! We probably should have taken the pictures in the beginning, but it was so fun to have these girls together! The twins were hilarious and spent the evening running around in circles. Caroline LOVED it and wished she could walk so badly. Soon these three are going to be trouble!

N.I.N.E months!

What a devilish little grin!! I just love how this picture captures Caroline's attitude so well in this moment! It also shows off her new teeth!

I have to admit that I got a little teary eyed the other day when I realized that when I look at Caroline, I no longer see a baby... she is now a little girl!! A little girl complete with her own personality and unique characteristics. It seems as if she is learning new things every day now and more frequently! This little girl is determined! She has started pulling herself up from a sitting position to standing and has even taken a few steps while holding on to furniture. We bought her a walking toy that she can hold on to and Josh has been working with her to walk forward. She loves climbing up on people or on furniture. She is also now full out crawling on both knees! Now if I get up and walk into another room, I usually have a little follower behind me. Oh the joys of movement! :)

Another new thing is that Caroline's face completely lights up when other children walk into the room! We have gotten a little more involved in activities and playtimes and she has loved interacting with other kids!! It is really neat to see her get so excited!

We had our 9 month check up this morning at the doctor and got a great report! Caroline is doing well and is perfectly healthy! Unfortunately she was poked several times and was a little more apprehensive of everything that was going on around her. I'm pretty sure she knew what was going on and sure didn't like it!! However, she did so well and is such a big girl! Here is where she ranks:

weight: 17 lbs. 4.2 oz. (19th percentile)

height: 27.75 inches (51st percentile)

head circumference: 43 cm (19th percentile)

I feel like I need to start using the video camera for these shots! She's one wiggly worm!