Maryland

We are in Maryland for a couple of months while Eric does an OBGYN rotation here. We get to stay with Eric's family and Caitlyn is loving it. The pictures below pretty much capture how we spend our time these days.

We eat...a lot. Good thing I am still breastfeeding and am attempting to work out everyday. I was hoping to lose weight while I was here...looks like I will be lucky if I don't gain any. Anyway, Caitlyn is still not sure if she likes solids or not but on this night with squash on the menu she was pretty happy.

We play with cousins. Caitlyn is lucky to have so many cousins on both sides of the family so close to her age. Here she is playing with Julia June. Julia turns one this weekend and Caitlyn is almost 7 months.  I think Caitlyn might be a little bigger than JJ :)

And lastly, we play in the pool. It has been really hot the past two weeks...perfect pool weather. Caitlyn loves the water and apparently feels that swimsuits are optional. I apologize for the naked pics.

The Big 30

Last month I had one of those milestone birthdays...I turned 30. I am not a big birthday person and didn't think too much about it but now when people ask how old I am I cringe a little inside when I say "30". Anyway, luckily I married a younger man who helps me keep my youthful glow ;) The day before my birthday I celebrated my very first mother's day. I must admit, I really enjoyed it. We didn't really do anything special except for attend church like we do each Sunday but for some reason it felt nice to be acknowledged. I felt honored to be included in such an amazing group of woman.

Anyway, the next day we woke up and headed off to our favorite beach to celebrate my big day and relax. Eric didn't have to work so my gift from him was his presence :) The weather was amazing and we barely saw a soul. Before we left we headed over to the fishing pier and saw a ton of dolphins playing right below us. We went home and Eric made dinner while I baked myself some birthday chocolate chip cookies. It was so nice to receive birthday greetings from family and friends. It was really the perfect day.

The following morning Eric didn't have to go into work until the afternoon so we decided to have a post-birthday breakfast celebration. Eric played with Caitlyn while I whipped up the deliciousness you see below. I have to admit that I even impressed myself. It was all so good.

Baby Face

While I was home in Nebraska I came across some of my baby pictures. I used to think that Caitlyn looked exactly like her dad but now I can see a little bit of me in her.

 Me at 3 months

Me at 6 months

I still think she looks more like her dad and she definitely seems to have his personality. She is such a happy baby, laughs all the time and is already exhibiting a mischievous personality ;) Her dad is a "picaron" and she is a "picaroncita".

Cute Baby Eric



Happy May 2011!

Family Fun

We had such a great time visiting my family. Caitlyn absolutely loved meeting her aunts, uncles, cousins and great-grandparents. She got to celebrate a graduation, a wedding, two birthdays and Easter all crammed into her 4 day Utah trip. She did AMAZING on the flights. The flight to Denver was a morning flight and she was an absolute angel and didn't cry once. The flight home to Tampa was an evening flight and she did pretty well. She had a mini meltdown with about an hour left because she was tired and couldn't get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Luckily there was a couple sitting next to us that had a baby a week younger than Caitlyn that they had left home with her grandmother so they enjoyed every second of having Caitlyn next to them...even the meltdown :)

Besides meeting her family Caitlyn learned a lot of new things while she was in Nebraska and Utah.
* she learned she can sit in her carseat for longer than 30 minutes before needing out (comes in handy on 12 hour drives).
* she learned to eat her rice cereal a little bit better as long as Grandma Marshall is the one feeding her.
* she learned what snow was and what it means to be cold.
* she learned how fun Grandpa's cuckoo clock is.
* she learned to roll back over onto her back.
* she learned that sucking her toes is even more fun than sucking her thumbs.
* she learned when someone new picks her up and smiles at her to just go with it and smile back.
* she learned if she plays her cards just right she can get pretty much anything she wants from Grandma Marshall, including a suck of licorice.
* she learned what it means to be a princess.

 Grandma and Grandpa's backyard covered in snow. It was sunny and 80 degrees in Florida that day.

At Grandma and Grandpa's house finally able to wear her winter clothes.

 Cousin Bailey helping Caitlyn get ready in the morning...and yes she has started to lose all her hair.

 Princess Cait

Cousin Taft not excited about waking up to see Caitlyn in his crib.

Uncle Blair's graduation from Paramedic School.

Nothing's better than toes AND a thumb in the mouth.

Easter Morning

Watching cousins Cash and Taft play at Uncle Wayne and Aunt Abbey's house.