Daddy love

Carly has Casey wrapped around her little finger, and Casey has Carly wrapped around his finger! Carly loves her dad so much. She gets so excited when he gets home from work and her eyes follow him everywhere he goes around the apartment until he'll come and pick her up. She's also known to grab Casey's nose and face trying to pull him in closer to her. A couple days ago she scratched Casey's nose pretty bad because she grabbed it with a death grip and wanted to suck on it (as seen in the 2nd pic). I love my little family!

Introducing...

OUR NEW CAR!!!! Last week we finally buckled down and bought another car. It's so nice to have a car that Carly's car seat fits in! It's also great to have two cars and not worry about Casey getting a ride to and from work. However, today I realized that I really miss driving Casey to work in the morning. It was nice to get time to talk to him in the morning!

I miss driving the Corolla too... I know I'll be able to drive it whenever I want but at the same time I feel like I have two kids now and the older kid is feeling left out. Casey and I have so many memories of driving together in the Corolla, and I don't feel that nostalgia when I'm driving the Accord. I'm sure we'll have a lot of memories in the Accord soon enough, but in the meantime I just hope the Corolla doesn't start acting up from the lack of familial attention.

Rice cereal

4 months old!

Time has flown by the past couple of months. I can't believe Carly is 4 months old. To celebrate we got her a high chair because she loves sitting up and being apart of what's going on. I love the high chair we got. It's so fancy. Carly couldn't stop staring at the pattern when we put her in it for the first time. Hopefully it isn't too distracting for her! I've been so excited to give her rice cereal - mostly to see her reaction. I've been waiting for the right time to do it, but I think we'll start tomorrow. I'll make sure to post some pictures!

Carly is still in the 95th percentile in height, but she has dropped to the 67th percentile in weight. She weighs 14 lbs 5 oz now. Her best improvement this past month has been her sleeping. She's been sleeping better and better each week. Last Tuesday she slept 10.5 hours straight (I kept waking up every hour to make sure she was alright). She usually wakes up just one time to eat in the 12 hours she sleeps. She's been sleeping in her crib since our trip to Utah, and we've all been loving it! It was a pretty easy transition for her and we haven't had to let her cry-it-out at all. She knows when it's time for bed and when I put her in her crib she settles down, pulls her silky blanket up next to her face and falls asleep. She's such a good mannered, happy baby - as long as she isn't tired!

I've been loving this stage that Carly is at right now. I especially love that she can now entertain herself! She loves playing in her exersaucer, and I love being able to get things done while she's playing. It's nice how easily she's entertained too... you can tell by the pictures that she loves staring at that toy on the high chair tray. I'm so excited to see all the fun new things this next month will bring!

To move, or not to move

Our contract is up at the end of May and I've been looking at new apartments. Casey doesn't really want to move because it's a big hassle to move all of our junk, but I've convinced him to at least look at some new apartments with me. Lately I've been thinking about the pros and cons of our abode here at St. James and recently the cons have outweighed the pros. This is due mostly to the fact that I sit at our apartment all day long and now I want to sit somewhere new. We've realized that we could pay $100 less a month for a bigger, nicer apartment that's a bit farther away from Milwaukee. We'd still be in the Lake Michigan ward which is a must and we'd be in a better area. Sounds awesome, right?

...Now I'm just wondering if I really want to pack up all our stuff and move. Next year I'll probably still be sitting in this exact spot wondering that same thing.

Utah!

It was so nice to go visit my family last week. It was a much needed vacation. I loved how Utah felt so warm, compared to Milwaukee weather, and I didn't have to wear my coat the entire time. I was so nervous to fly by myself with Carly but everything went perfectly and on three out of four of the legs I even got a whole row to myself! Luckily Carly slept for most of flying time too! I think packing really light made traveling with her a lot easier. I spent most of my time during the day hanging out with my sister Brooke. It was so fun to be able to talk and hang out with her and her kids. I wish I lived closer to family!

We got to visit my mom at her school and take fun shopping trips with her. It was so fun to be able to sit and chat with her. My mom is amazing!


It took a couple of days for Carly to warm up to family, but when she finally did she loved to cuddle and play with them. Carly with my dad:

Carly loved hanging out with Grandma Kathie!

My sister Kristen had a c-section the day that I left! I was so sad that I didn't get to see her twins! She was practicing holding Sadie (6 months) and Carly.

Hanging out