Sweet Caroline

I have been waiting to write this post because I wanted to make it special. It may not be the longest posts or full of hundreds of words but my hope is that it will at least capture the extent as to how we feel.

As I said in my "family is a gift" post, I have alot of cousins. 30 first cousins to be exact (many 2nd and 3rd also). 11 of these first cousins are under 13. We see some alot more than others but we still love them all the same. It's fun because I'm an only child so these kids look up to me and listen to me and its nice. We LOVE hanging out with them. Each one is unique in their own way. This is the only time we get to bring out our kid side, and Brian has NO problem doing that. Brian is probably more playful sometimes than I am! 

While this is wonderful though we wanted more. We don't  have kids and aren't ready anytime soon but we wanted a child we could take places on our own, be responsible for at times, not feel bad for saying "no" and everything else that comes with having a child. Brian's sister and her hubby were the perfect choice for this, of course. They got married in 2010 and were talking about having kids but said they weren't ready and once they were more ready they'd think about it. We were all secretly waiting for the day that phone call came. Months went by and it didn't so we all kind of stopped thinking about it. But in April of 2011, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, Brian and I got the call we were hoping for: sister was pregnant! It was the greatest feeling and we couldn't wait to share the next 9 months with her! :)

9 months later, this little bundle of joy came into our lives

This is Caroline, and she is wonderful!!! She's now 1 year and a few months, which is crazy. The time seriously went by way too fast but its been fun. She's such a fun, sweet, playful little girl. Brian and I not only get the pleasure of being her uncle and aunt but we are also her godparents. That was a BIG deal, for me at least. Brian and his sister don't have godparents which is perfectly fine but I do. Every child, and big child, in my family have a godmother and godfather  Secretly through the whole time sister was pregnant, I was thinking "who are the godparents going to be?" I sure thought they would be two of her friends or people from her hubby's side. Back in April of 2012, Caroline was going to get baptized. Brian and I had just been there in January so Brian's job and money wouldn't hear of it for this time.We were upset just because it was an important day. A few days later Brian was taking to his sissy and she mentioned that we were the godparents, it was the greatest feeling! For my family, a godparent means alot and since I don't have brothers or sisters to pick me for the role, this meant the world to me.

The one thing that stinks about the situation is that my sister in law/brother in law and Caroline live down South. We dont get to see them alot. I've been dating Brian for 4 years and have only seen them 10 times, only for a week at a time. We've only got to see Caroline 3 times last year also. Its really hard especially when there's a new milestone that she does and we cant see it. Brian's sister is great and posts so much on Facebook so that we're able to see what she's doing. Last year we got to Skype alot which was better than nothing too!! We went to see her when she was a month and a half and that was wonderful. It was nice to be able to see her when she was that little because we were able to form bonds with. It definitely showed that she remembered in the summer when we saw her again! We had the pleasure also of going down for her birthday party. We couldn't be there for her actual birthday but the party and that time was good enough. This time we got to actually go places with her and see her active and play. Even without being with her all the time, she has been the greatest joy in our lives. We're blessed to be her aunt and uncle and godparents and we have no idea what we'd do without her.

I'd also just like to comment that she has a way better fashion style then me! And some of the outfits I even bought myself!!!

Now for the overload of cuteness (not in any particular order)

This next and last picture my mom and I made ourselves. her room is adorable but I wanted to get the letters just because they're cute. We didn't want to do the traditional just painting of them so we decided to decorate them. Not my greatest job but we did the best we could :)