Feast for a King

On Sunday the Prather clan packed up and made the short hour drive to Denver City to celebrate Chris's birthday.   Nana, Mimi & Papaw made all Chris's favorite foods.  For lunch we were greeted with 2 racks of ribs Ricky smoked that morning. Mimi made the corn salad (Stephanie's recipe) & Nana made potatoes in the crock pot.

Caroline helped daddy open presents.  That tissue paper was delicious as she wanted to taste all she was given.  Kelley got Chris some pepper spray so he can defend away anymore criminals trying to cut through his office (more on that later).

He looks like a natural. Chris and his dad share many things in common- one thing is they like to do shoot.

Caroline was being somewhat of a stinker yesterday.  She took a short nap (15 mins) and was not acting like herself. Finally at bed time she let Nana rock her to sleep. She slept really good last night.

For dinner Nana made Chris's favorite Chicken Fried Steak, real gravy & mashed potatoes. I call it real gravy because Beverly & Mimi can both make it from scratch- not from a McCormick pack like yours truly makes it. 

Ricky grilled rats & we topped it off with a cookie cake. We hung out & watched the Olympics all day.  That's what Chris said he wanted for his birthday. It was a really fun day.

Quick note: My dad made this for Chris's birthday. He has one on his fence in Andrews but it turned so amazing Chris wants to display it in his office.

Steam Roller

 Caroline rolled over Wednesday night!  It was a private showing because Chris was in the other room. I cheered her to victory.  She looked a little stunned but smiled at her accomplishment. She wouldn't do it again for her daddy that night.

Thursday morning I got it on video.  She tucked her arm under and rolled several times for me.  Then Lolly came and brought her a little tea party table on her way home from Stratford.  Caroline decided to show her new trick and flipped right over.  We both applauded her.  Chris was smoking ribs right outside the door, heard the commotion, came inside and missed a live showing again!

Right before everyone came over to eat dinner she decided it was time for her daddy to see her in action. 

Chris smoked ribs and we made homemade Grape nut ice cream.  Sara made her delicious sweet potatoes.  Pip hung out on the black swivel chair.  She is always afraid she is going to miss something. Chris had a great birthday.

Nap Nanny No More

For the first 3 weeks of Caroline's life she was sleeping horribly in her bassinet.  This means Chris and I were also not sleeping. I was reading anything I could get my hands on trying different techniques each night to help her sleep.

 I was randomly in Kids Space using a gift card when I overheard a lady talking about how great her two month old son was sleeping in his nap nanny.  She said it was the best investment she made for her son. I used the gift card to buy one and that night Caroline slept wonderfully!

It has an incline and the cover is soft & removable. We haven't had any problems sleeping since she started using it. All summer long instead of traveling with a pack-n-play we took our trusted nap nanny along and she slept good everywhere we went.

Caroline is starting to roll and pull herself up so we decided it is time to graduate from the nap nanny to her crib. I keep having this recurring dream that she is five years old and still needs to be strapped in with her legs hanging way over the side.

 Last night we took the nap nanny out and were prepared for anything.  She kept the same sleeping schedule!  I was so excited.  Chris feed her at 2:00 am & put her right back in bed.   She talked to herself for 15 minutes and went back to sleep. She was up at 6:00am and was ready to start the day like normal.

We will see tonight but I hope she can continue to sleep good without it.

Lil' Good Neighbor

Daddy was really busy yesterday so Caroline and I brought him lunch. She likes going up there because Chris's team shows her lots of attention.  

She would probably sell lots of insurance if she worked there everyday but I'm sure the employee handbook specifically says "no sleeping on the job" so that automatically takes her out. 

We are both Chris's biggest fan and were glad to see him for little while during the day.

Stretching Her Legs

"What I have feet?!?"

Caroline found her toes in the last two days. She is pumped to show you her new trick. She has been showing off all day.  Every chance she gets she is performing this yoga pose.

All stretched out and ready to work out

I only have one more week left until I have to go back to work & I am enjoying EVERY minute.

Slumber Party with Her Grandparents

Chris won a trip to JW Marriot in San Antonio, Tx.  Beverly and my mom offered to watch Caroline so Chris and I could go away for the weekend.  It was my first night away from her and I was nervous as to how I would feel. I was actually able to relax knowing that she was in such good hands. 

Jacee came over with Lolly & Papaw, Mimi, & Aunt Kelley helped Nana.

It turns 80 mph down I 10. I felt like we were doing something illegal 

Chris had a meeting Friday morning & I'm a little embarrassed to say I slept in until 1:00pm. It was awesome!!  This particular Marriot is known for golfing, swimming & the spa.  Chris and I didn't do any of those things but we did utilize their amazing walking trail.  Both nights we walked & talked- this was one of my favorite parts of the trips.  Chris also took me out to eat for our 6th year anniversary.

One thing I did ask was to please send pictures & updates of Caroline to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Aunt Jacee took these pictures and sent them to me. My mom called this her spaceship. She is not quite big enough to touch the bottom but she still likes to go for a ride.

My mom tried to take a picture of her asleep but it made the "click" sound and startled her. She abandon the photo op because she didn't want to wake her up.

Nana took this picture when she woke up. Caroline is such a morning person. Papaw took her for walks & said she really enjoyed being outside.

Pip is obviously helping eat the peas.

I got this picture this morning and it made me want to rush home.  I had this irrational fear that my baby would have forgotten about me after only 2 days.  Thank goodness I was wrong!  She was very happy to see both her mom and dad.  I really appreciate the time away but I am SO happy to be home.

5 Months Already?!?

Caroline is 5 months old today.  Wow, I feel like I just got used to saying "Oh, she is 4 months old."

 A couple of things I want to remember:

She is in size 2 diapers

Wearing 3-6 or 6 month clothes

In the morning she is eating a vegetable & at night she is eating oatmeal. It is backwards I will admit but I want to make sure the vegetables don't make her sick. Also who doesn't like breakfast for dinner?

Tolerates is the best way to describe how she feels about vegetables.  She will eat most of the portion I give her but she would rather have her bottle. 

Sleeping schedule:  

8:00 pm- bedtime

2:00 am- wakes up for a quick bottle goes right back to sleep

7:00 am ish is up & ready to play

10:00 am ish naps until 12:00 pm

1:30/2:00 to 3:30/4:00 pm nap {this is usually the one I join her}

Then one more before bed for about 30 mins

She naps with a blanket over her face.  The blankets are the lightweight ones Mimi made her.

She is an outdoors girl.  The positive thing about her need to be outside is I have met all of neighbors. There is a little girl named Piper that lives down the street born a month apart from Caroline.

Swimming & bath time are fun. In the bath she splashes and kicks like crazy

Since last month she has really turned up the volume.  She "talks" all the time.

She hasn't rolled over, she pulls up to her side but hasn't made the commitment to be on her tummy

When she is awake she likes to be sitting up in the bumbo, baby Einstein, in a lap or propped up with pillows. 

When she is fussy I put her in the baby bjorn and walk her around.  This is almost always in the evenings.  I would say she is defiantly a morning person.

Over all she is a happy, easy going baby.  Her sweet personality is starting to come out. 

Falco Fun

This weekend the Prathers and the Falcos had a staycation in Dallas.  We had so much fun staying up late, eating good, watching movies, swimming & just hanging out.

I mustache you a question

 I had never been to the Dallas aquarium.  I thought it was only going to be fish but there were tons of crazy animals.  Sam & Caroline were free. They had a great time looking at everything.  Caroline particularly liked the bright lights and her hands I guess that is why they don't make you pay for babies. It was really humid in the rain forest section. Gian had to help fan a women that passed out in front of us

Sam was really entertaining.  He was hilarious to watch & was constantly making us laugh.  He is such a sweet boy.

 Eating breakfast 

Sam called Chris -fis fis. I don't know were he got "Chris Chris" but it was cute.

We went swimming at the Falco's neighborhood pool. We walked the half mile which made the water feel great. After 4:00pm the baby pool was shaded.   I let Caroline float on her back and walk on the bottom.  She liked it. We were going to go swimming with Brooke, Cade & Madden but it rained on Saturday so we just had a play date.

Amy helped me with a project.  Stephanie gave Caroline this really cute sleep sack.  She has since grown out of it but I wanted to do something special with it.  Amy sewed it into a pillow.  I LOVE IT!  It fits perfectly on her chair as a accent pillow.  

We had a great time and I can't wait to see them again!!

4th in the Texas Panhandle

Happy 4th from the Prather family!  We spent the 3rd & 4th with my grandparents in Stratford. As soon as we got there we went over to my uncle Chris and Aunt Ronna's house for ribs and hamburgers.  Caroline got really fussy at the beginning of dinner as soon as she ate and had a snooze she was much happier.

 4 generations

Ready to celebrate!

 On Wednesday we went over to my grandmary's house & we found a couple of gems while we were there. My mom and Jacee tried on some high fashion wigs. Jacee looks like she is trying out for an 80's band. We found a huge box of photos.  There were all our old Christmas cards, christenings, family photos, and tons of pictures of my mom with her siblings.

The little girl on the left is my mom

Starting from left: Karen & Andy, my grandmother's mom "Baba", Carrie, Chris, Diann, My mom, My dad and Grandmary.

We ate a potluck lunch & then My parents and Jacee entered the golf tournament.  Caroline isn't quite ready to swing a 9 iron so we went swimming in the baby pool.  She is a little fish for sure. We had a great time for sure.