Beach Babes

In June (yes, I am still blogging about June...if I have any blog readers left, I am truly sorry! I just can't seem to keep up these days!)...anyway, in June, we went to the beach with my Dad, Amy and my sisters, Caroline and Merideth in Hilton Head, SC.   We had a wonderful time!  It was beautiful and so fun to be with family at the beach.  Kate loved the sand this year (last year she cried if she even looked at the sand) and baby Caroline got to put her feet in the ocean for the first time.

The water was warm, and Kate loved the starfish and sand dollars.  Caroline spent most of her time relaxing under an umbrella in the shade.

We hired a nanny service to watch the girls while we went out to dinner, but Kate vetoed having a nanny (she only likes for close family members to babysit her...we are going to have to work on this at some point), and so she ended up coming out to dinner with us most nights.  Kate was on her best behavior (because she wanted to go to dinner every night and not stay with a nanny (even though the nanny was VERY nice)).  Luckily, Caroline didn't mind having a nanny since she slept the whole time we were gone!:)  And wow, we had some amazing meals!

Thank you Dad and Amy for such a great trip!!

Building sandcastles is serious business

Robby and his sidekick

Kate loved the pool!

Aunt Caroline braved the water 

And showed Kate how to rock her shades...

These two are two peas in a pod

Kate loved practicing her kicks

Baby Caroline enjoyed the pool from her swing in the shade

Ahhh...this is the life!

Aunt Caroline, Kate, Amy and Merideth...so pretty!

Aunt Merideth's boyfriend, "Mr. Matt" helped entertain Kate.  What a trooper!  

Thank you, Matt and Merideth!

Ready for dinner!  No nanny for this munchkin!

Kate showing off a little dress that was her Mama's 

Posing for the camera

Loving on Aunt Caroline

Baby Emma got a new swing from Merideth and Matt.  Baby Emma NEEDED to bring her swing to the beach with her....obviously!;)

Baby Caroline also requested to have her swing down at the beach...can you imagine how many trips we had to take to lug all this stuff to and from the beach.  And yes, Robby is my hero!:)

Smiles for the camera

Showing off her sand dollar

First time her toes touched the water

Family picture

Granddaddy and Amy found a new friend

Snuggling Kate!

Two generations of sisters!  We big sisters love our Carolines!

Dad and his Carolina girls

Sister snuggles

Look alikes!

Precious girls!!

Another Tar Heel in the Family!!

In early June, my little sister, Caroline, graduated from high school.   And Caroline is going to UNC Chapel Hill in the fall, and I will finally have another Tar Heel in the family!!

I have been trying to convince (okay...brainwash) Caroline to go to Carolina for years.  After all, everyone looks better in Carolina Blue!;)

Now I will have to turn my brainwashing attention to Kate and baby Caroline... that may take some work since we live in WAHOO country...good thing I have lots of time!

Enjoy a few pictures from the weekend!

Caroline and Amy

Sisters!

Dad and Merideth (and yes,  Merideth really is the most photogenic person on the planet!:))

Granddaddy and Baby Caroline

Kate and Granddaddy

I love these two of Kate.  She was laughing at Aunt Merideth doing something crazy!

Aunt Caroline and our girls!

We love you, Aunt Caroline, and we are SO proud!

Backtracking: Asheville, NC

This blog post is WAY overdue (as in, we went to Asheville in May!), so without further ado....

Robby, Caroline and I travelled to Asheville at the end of May for my dear friend, Emily's wedding.  I was honored to be one of her bridesmaids, and we had a wonderful time celebrating Emily and her handsome groom, Dave!  We also loved seeing all of my college girls and their men!

Baby Caroline was three months old at the time, and this was her very first road trip!  For all of you who are worrying about Kate...she stayed in Charlottesville with her Gigi and had an absolute blast (thank you, Mom!!).

In addition to the wedding weekend festivities, Robby and I got to spend some time with my sister, Merideth, who lives in Asheville, and Robby's brother, Skip, who was spending the weekend about an hour away with one of our other favorite people, Anne Collier!  Skip, Anne Collier and Merideth joined us for a tour of the Biltmore Estate.   It was so wonderful to see them, and I had never been to the Biltmore, so that was a treat too!

We stayed with a family friend for our first few days in Asheville...check out the view from their breakfast table!
What a beautiful place!  

Baby Caroline meeting the Bride-to-be!

Getting ready for the wedding!

The happy couple

Baby Caroline and a few of my favorite Tar Heels at the reception!

THE BILTMORE!

Uncle Skip, Anne Collier and Baby Caroline
We loved seeing y'all!!

Aunt Merideth and Baby Caroline
LOVE those girls!

What a great weekend!  We are already planning our next trip back! :)

Caroline: Three and Four Month Updates

Whew!  We have had a crazy two months.  It has been filled with a lot of joy (we LOVE watching this little one grow and change and we are so thankful for her and her big sister) and a lot of worrying and fretting on my part (nothing new there...but over the last few months even I have set a personal record)!  

About two months ago, Caroline had a bloody stool and they continued daily for a few weeks....and it scared me half to death (picture lots of tears (mine not hers!), studying each and every single diaper this poor child had and showing them to anyone who would let me, frantically calling, emailing, texting everyone I know in the medical profession, and three trips to the doctor too...Okay, so I never claimed to be sane!;)  

Anyway, the consensus is that Caroline has allergic colitis, and that something in my diet (she is still nursing) is causing her to have an allergic reaction and have green, mucousy and sometimes bloody stools.   Since I couldn't pinpoint what is causing the reaction, I have had to cut out all potential allergens (dairy, eggs, fish, wheat, soy and nuts) from my diet.  It has certainly seemed to help Caroline (who is still having the problem some, but not nearly as frequently).  Once Caroline's little system settles down, I am hoping to add some things back in to my diet and figure out what is causing her issues.  Thankfully, Caroline's stomach does not seem to hurt her, and she is gaining weight (95th percentile) and growing well (THANK HEAVENS!).  The best news is that Caroline should grow out of the allergic colitis as she gets older!

Please pray for our little girl and her digestive system, and for her mama (who is eating a very strange diet and really misses bread and butter), and her dada (who is cooking for her mama...not an easy task when you have such limited ingredients), and her big sister (who is now obsessed with playing doctor and checking all of her doll babies for "bloody stoo"....poor sweet, Kate!)

More posts to come, but for now our baby girl at three and four months old!  We love you to the moon and back, Caroline!