Portraits

My latest assignment for my photography class is a window light portrait. Because this is photo I, we do not use the flash and only shoot in black and white. I had to take a picture inside next to a window to capture the portrait of a person. I've played around a little bit with Caroline and got some really cute pictures that I would say definitely capture her! She is such a ham! Some show the silliness of her teeth and in some, you can tell I was in front of the tv and she did not like that! Enjoy the sweet faces of my Caroline!

lions and tigers and bears... OH MY!!

We got a wonderful phone call on Friday from Josh!! He called us early and didn't have much to do at work. We had been talking about taking Caroline to the zoo for a while and he figured what better day to do it than that afternoon?! We picked him up at his office and headed to the Dallas Zoo with the wagon loaded. We have always heard how much better the Fort Worth zoo is, but we were really impressed! It was not crowded at all and we got to get up really close to the animals. And most important of all...

Caroline LOVED it!! You can even feed the giraffes!! And Josh touched one... however he did get a tad bit in trouble for that one! :) He was so excited with one right in front of him, he couldn't resist!

Are YOU ready for the weekend?!

WE SURE ARE!! :)

Enjoy!

my own little place

This chair is Caroline's favorite place to sit!! Grami bought this for her when she was here in May and Caroline always loves to curl up on it with her dolls or a good book! Sometimes it is a little frustrating when she can't quite carry everything she wants up onto the chair, but she tries and tries! I just love how grown up she feels when she is sitting in this chair!

And so it begins...

Who would have ever guessed that one day this sweet little innocent baby would grow up to tell me "NO"? Yesterday as I was feeding Caroline some chicken for lunch, she shook her head and clearly said no! Then she proceeded to push the chicken off of her highchair and refuse all else. She definitely is a girl of her own likes and opinions. She has always been a good eater and never really protested anything, but it looks as if she is now telling me what she wants! It really is amazing jut how much she understands and how many words she is trying to say. She says hi, bye, mama, dada, wa wa, I think she's said doggie, baby, and has now added "no" to the list. I just went through the pictures we took of her during her 1st month and I cannot believe how quickly this past year has gone and just how much she has changed. She has come quite a long way!! And if growing up means telling me no, then I guess I'll take it! She was pretty cute saying it and it is so nice to finally know what she wants... or doesn't in this case! :)

(Seeing this picture definitely makes me think I need another baby around!! Good thing my niece Ellie will be here in November!!)

Fish Baby!

We spent last weekend with NOTHING to do! It was so great to just be home as a family and relax. And we finally got to spend some quality time in the pool! Caroline really does not care if her face gets wet and she is hardly ever phased by getting splashed, so we decided to dunk her under the water to see how she would do! I can't say she loved it... but she did SO well going under!! It really was difficult for me to actually put her under water, but she's getting so big and it really is important for us to teach her about the water. We tried to capture the moment with some pictures. It really is so cute to see her little face pop up from the water!!

Austin for the 4th

We headed down to Austin for the weekend of the 4th. We finally got to spend a little more time than just a weekend with Josh's dad and Karla. This was probably our 4th time to visit and I can now say that I am beginning to know Austin a little more. It is such a BEAUTIFUL city and there is so much to do there! We had a great time visiting and driving around and just being together. They took us to dinner at the Oasis. This restaurant is high up on a hill overlooking lake Travis. The views were just beautiful!! The weather on Saturday was pretty rainy, but it cleared up that evening for a gorgeous sunset and perfect dinner backdrop.

You could see GORGEOUS homes all around! They all had amazing balconies and were nestled into the hill. What an amazing place!Karla and I decided we would take this one! :)On Sunday we got to see Joanna's college! She will start at Texas State in San Marcos, TX in August and below is her standing in front of her soon to be dorm. We drove around the campus and walked around the dorm where she will live. Although we might have embarrassed her a little, we had a great time and loved seeing the campus! Soon we will be visiting while she is a real college student!!

What a wonderful weekend!! This is the only picture we got that resembled Fourth of July in any way. What were we thinking?!! Trust me... we had 3 different red, white, and blue outfits!! I guess there's always next year! :)

12 MONTHS!!!

Okay, so really 12 months and a week or so, but we have been busy! :) Caroline is one active girl and always on the move. This little one has definitey changed from a newborn to an infant and now she is no doubt a toddler! She is walking just about everywhere and has a new found love for her stuffed animals and baby dolls. She hugs them so tightly and just lights up when she sees one. Her bunny is still her favorite and is a must when she's trying to sleep. I must admit that I kind of started to this habit and Josh is not too happy about it. But she squeals when she sees it and it is SO cute, you can't help but give it to her!! We went to the doctor on Tuesday and had her 12 month check up. She had to get 3 shots, but she was such a trooper and pretty tough. Here are her 1 year statistics:

weight: 18 lbs. 14 oz (14th percentile)

length: 29 3/4 inches (68th percentile)

head circumference: 43 1/2 cm (9th percentile)

She is all over the charts! And that little head is still staying little! She is in need of her 3rd haircut and still only has 3 teeth. Her top tooth has come in more and shines while standing all alone! Instead of the other front tooth coming in, it looks like the one next to that one is on its way. Look out for a gap on top in future pictures. What a silly little munchkin!

One girl on the move! This month's picture was not an easy one to get! I had to use some bribery and hold her down!Kisses for her baby!