Memorial weekend

We had a really great weekend hanging out with friends and family.  Friday night we had game night with the Koubas.  Chris won by $100 at one of our favorite games -Acquire. After the game Sara and I listened Ultimate 90's while Chris and Andrews went to Diary Queen for Blizzards.  You can't beat a DQ blizzard. We stayed up talking way to late but had a good glimpse of what summer has in store for us.

 Sunday Nana and Papaw came over.  Papaw helped Chris put more storage in the attic.  They also watched Caroline so we could have a date night. 

On Monday Chris smoked ribs.

The Koubas and Simpsons came over to join the festivities.  They brought over the Jalapeno poppers and Corn on the cob and Chris grilled them up. Sara won Caroline over by feeding her Chocolate Cookies and giving her a wagon ride.  That's all she wants is to have someone take her outside. Caroline shared all her toys and germs with Logan.  

"Here Logan this is how you work this toy"

"These are teacups"

"and this is how you drink from it"

what a great helper.

We had a great time with our friends.   Only one more week till summer is officially here!

This Little Piggy

 Caroline's little hairs are growing.  I was able to to put 2 little pigtails up.  She looked like a toddler instead of my baby.

2 minutes after this picture she was down for a long nap.  Look at those poor tired eyes.

Tonight Nana & Papaw came and watched Caroline while Chris took me to see The Great Gatsby. They had a great time!

The Dallas Zoo

This weekend we got to take Caroline to the Dallas zoo with our favorite family the Falcos.  Our kids had a blast!  It was so fun.   

Sam couldn't wait to ride the Camel.  He was so brave and jumped right on.   Gian rode behind him on the hump. 

Our kids checking out the baboons

 Sam looks like he is sharing a moment with the penguin.

Looking at the Cheetah.  

Caroline is staying hydrated in the only family picture we got all weekend.

There was a water fountain where tons of kids were playing barefoot.  Sam tore his shoes off and jumped in like an old pro.  Caroline followed his lead and splashed around.  She LOVED it!  

We got to see many amazing animals. The top 2 animals for Caroline:  

1.  giant koi pond. 

2.  penguins

 Saturday night went over to the Leidners

We got to meet Rhyan McCall Leidner. Amy had the magic touch and rocked her to sleep.  

Caroline and Christen

Ronnie & Chris holding their girls. It was so great to see them!

Sunday morning we got to play on Sam's swing set.  Sam is such a great sharer. We love the Falcos!! We are counting down our California adventure this summer.

On the ride home Caroline played with all the toys we brought.

15 month Well Check

Caroline's 15 month well check appointment was today.  There are 2 shots associated with the 15 month well check.  In Caroline's opinion that was 2 too many.

Before appointment

After appointment

She was really anxious being around the nurses and wouldn't sit still on the baby scale. So Caroline and I got to stand on the pediatric scale in the doctor's office and be weighed together.  Then Caroline was handed to daddy and I got to be weighed and they subtracted the difference.  She seemed ok with this as long as she didn't have to be put down. She got a sucker, an Arial Mermaid Sticker and a balloon animal dog for being so brave.  The sucker seemed to do the trick.

Her Stats:

Height 30 in (31%)

Weight 19.2 lbs (20%)

Just another typical Thursday in the Prather house. 

May Birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday to Nana, Papaw & Mimi who celebrate their birthdays in May! We were excited to have one party with the birthday people at Cagles tonight.

Caroline ate her weight in beans and cornbread.  I'm sure I will pay for that in the morning.  She also surprised us by eating a small bowl of pickles. As soon as she was done eating Nana took her around to see the dead animals on the wall.  Then Papaw took his turn & they walked around for awhile. 

When everyone was finished eating, Caroline gave them her gifts.  Instead of the usual traditional cake we ate our fill of appetizers- zingers {bacon wrapped jalapenos } & a fried sampler platter {including mushrooms, spear pickles, cheese sticks and more stuffed jalapenos} The ranch dressing was the icing to the fried smorgasbord. Very Tasty!   

We had a fun evening!

This was a picture from yesterday of Aunt Jacee & Caroline.  Just seconds after this picture was taken Caroline handed Jacee the small legos box to put on her head.  I wish I had a picture of that!

Mother's Day

This is my second Mother's day and what a special day it was! Caroline and daddy got me a black Kitchen Aide mixer and a 3 hour nap.  I have some great plans for the mixer. I need to start pinning bread recipes on Pinterest.

This is her "Look what I did" face.  She is very proud of herself. 

Sunday night we had a special life group with the whole family there. Michael Murry played a special rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Heather and Michael grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and all the families brought food that went with it.  Another mother's day gift was I didn't have to cook! It was the day that just kept giving.

Caroline showed off her talents by running around like a crazy person.  She was really excited when she got invited to play with Noah and his big boy legos. She picked up those tiny legos and handed them to Noah without putting them in her month.

I got to hold Graham "Mandy Leech's baby" for the first time. Mandy is Mina and Randy daughter.  They are amazing grandparents! Caroline was a little jealous when she realized what was going on.

and was glad to have me back all to herself. Here are a few mother's day gift Caroline made me!

What a great Mother's Day.  Now to brag on my mother for a little bit!

I pray I turn out just like her.  She makes parenting look so easy.  I felt like she was super mom growing up.

I was thinking about these 2 stories today for some reason:

1.  My mom HATES littering- her Girl Scout motto is "leave a place cleaner then you found it".  When I was 10 we were driving home from church. Dondi( then 8) rolled down the car window and threw all her Sunday school papers out the window and they blew all over North park in Hereford Tx.  My mom slammed on the brakes and  made Dondi chase after them.  She had to pick them all up.  Every time I think of littering I see Dondi in a dress running after Jesus and decide it's just easier to throw it in the trash.

2.  My mom would sing this song in the morning with so much enthusiasm-  

 it goes like this:

"Way up in the sky, the little birds fly.  While down in the nest, the little birds rest.  With a wing on the left and wing on the right, the little birds sleep all through the night.  Then up comes the sun.  The dew falls away.  Good morning, good morning the little birds say. "

I think of mom every morning when sing obnoxiously to Caroline.  She really likes this song.  Thanks to my mom I have about 100 more I have to teach her!