Eli, Cherie, and Caroline

I guess if you're not blogging, you must be out living your life. We've been doing just that. Lots of fun things have been going on. The biggest thing was Caroline and I went to Missouri to visit the Belchers. We had so much fun! Annie and I drove out with all the kids. The kids all did great and Caroline was amazing! She slept a lot in the car and only cried when she was hungry. We went to Omaha first and got to see my sister Ronda and her daughters. We got there in time for my niece Eden's birthday. She turned 12 and we got to have a birthday dinner for her. The next day we went to my parents house. We had a full house, but it was so much fun. We got to see my sister Alaina who lives in North Carolina and her two boys. They had not met Caroline yet. Caroline also got to see my brother, his wife, and their kids. We had a blast, but we really missed Eli. He couldn't get off of work to come with us. It was so hard to be away from him. He surprised me by switching work so he could pick us up at the airport. I was really surprised! Now we're home and are starting to get things ready to move. We're excited and nervous and ready! I've got to start packing, and we've narrowed down some apartments.

In other news, Caroline is no longer a tiny little baby! She is a big baby! She holds her head up really well, stands up and holds all her weight on her legs when you hold her hands, she smiles, talks, and almost laughs. She is a lot more vocal and kind of fussy. Not more fussy, really, but she wants to be more in control of her environment. She knows what she wants and if you don't do what she wants she lets you know. She's still a little sweetheart though. She wakes up smiling and happy. Her sleep is still pretty erratic. She usually sleeps three to five or six hours at a time. I know she could sleep longer if we let her cry a little bit more, but we're all in one room and Eli has to get up so early I don't want her to wake him up. And with all the traveling, and then the move, we're going to wait until we get to our new place to really address the sleep issue. It will be easier when we're settled and she has her own room. Well, that's about all. Here are some pictures!