Fun at the Tiger Safari

Max and Caroline had a great time at the Oklahoma Tiger Safari this week. They got to pet all kinds of animals. They even had the chance to feed a tiger and ride on a turtle. They loved it!

Fun Days

This weekend was lots of fun! We had a wonderful day of playing with our sweet friend Riley at Unplugitz followed by a BBQ at a neighbors house. Here are a few pics of Caroline.

New Baby and Warm Play Days

The big news at our house these days is that Caroline is going to have a baby brother! I am about 5 months pregnant, and we just found out last week that the baby is a boy. James and I told Caroline that she was going to be a big sister earlier in the pregnancy, but the news seems to just now be sinking in. She is getting very excited about baby brother. One of my dear friends gave us this cute octopus as an "it's a boy" gift, and we went to the book store to pick out this big sister book for Caroline. She is very interested to know what her role as big sister will be. We can't wait to add to our sweet family.

The weather has been unusually warm this past week, so Caroline and I have taken advantage. We have played at the park or the zoo almost every day. Here are a few pictures and a video of our sweeet girl in action. We took advantage of the warm weather by planting our winter garden of spinach, edamame, and carrots. We will take a picture of our garden when the little sprouts pop out of the ground. Caroline loves growing her own garden, so I hope it does well. We can't wait for Spring to come and stay so we can have more of these great days outside.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation in Tennessee this year. Anne Braden, Max, Caroline and I drove to Tennessee mid-December and stayed through the new year. We had a great time. My favorite night of the trip was Christmas Eve. The kids got all dressed up for a special Christmas dinner, but rather than eating they spent most of their time crawling under the chair legs playing. After dinner we watched "The Grinch that Stole Christmas" and put out cookies and apples for Santa. After that we all went outside to listen for Santa and his reindeer. The kids were over the moon excited because we heard Santa's sleigh bells! We rushed to bed so that Santa would be sure to stop by our house. The next morning we woke up and it had snowed! My favorite memory from this Christmas is of Caroline looking out the window in our bedroom to watch the falling snow. She turned around with the biggest smile on her face and said "Merry Christmas Mommy. It's snowing!" That was the perfect start to my Christmas Day. We all went out to the living room to see what Santa had brought for Max and Caroline. Santa was very generous! Caroline got a baby doll (which was the one item she actually asked Santa for), a box of princess dress up clothes, a Dora couch, and a Barbie. I loved seeing how excited she was to received all the wonderful gifts.
A few days after Christmas James, Caroline and I headed to Alabama to meet some of our dearest friends from Virginia, the Terrells. Caroline and Sara Grace shared all of their firsts together when we lived in Virginia. They even spent their first Halloween and Valentine's Day together. They had not seen each other since our move to OK, so we were so excited for their reunion. They LOVED each other. Caroline had the best time playing with Sara Grace and her little sister Anna Kate. I think spending the day with the Terrells was one of Caroline's favorite holiday activities.
New Year's Eve was another great day for us. Caroline got to go on a family hayride around my parent's farm. She had the best time. She even got to drive the tractor with Mr. Paul! After dinner that evening Max and Caroline did sparklers. They went through two whole boxes and were asking for more. They had so much fun. We ended 2010 with a bang!