Gymnastics and Swimming

Cara always gets money from family for her birthday. I usually just deposit it into her account, but this year I decided to use that money to sign Cara up for a gymnastics (tumbling) class and a swimming class. There were only three girls in the tumbling class and they would not allow the parents inside to watch until the last day. Cara was somewhat of the class clown, but I think she did pretty good, and I know she enjoyed going every week.

 

The swimming class was a little different. We were required to stay in the pool area the whole time. As long as Cara was not sitting next to one particular child, she was mostly well behaved. The first day she told me she wanted goggles and a "helmet" (swimming cap). I did get her goggles eventually but those swimming caps can be a real pain.

 

 

The class was two days a week for 4 weeks, and we ended up missing half of the class (one because I forgot, one because Cara was sick, and then two because we were out of town for my aunt's funeral). I am hoping that what she did learn will at least start a foundation for her and my plan is to spend a lot of time in the pool with her this summer.

 

Trip to Atlanta

This year Cara's spring break from school was the same week as my off week. I thought that may never happen again. So, I decided to take Cara on a little mother daughter mini vacation. We decided to go to Atlanta because I was wanting to see Elinam too, I had not seen her in a few months.

 

One of Cara's favorite parts was staying in a hotel. The last morning when we woke up I told her we were going home and she said "No, I want to stay at the hotel." I think she liked that I let her stay up each night and watch movies, and she slept in the bed with me.

 

We were going to go to the aquarium in Atlanta but when I found out tickets were over $30 I decided to wait and go when she could maybe enjoy it more.

 

So we went to the children's museum around the corner instead.

 

Cara enjoyed playing there, and there were a lot of children for her to play with.

 

Of course we visited Elinam while we were there. Cara loved that part too.

 

I really had a nice time getting away with my little girl. It was a nice vacation to take with her before the baby is born. I tried to find fun things for her and I to do together and tried to let her have and do almost anything she wanted.

Cara's Birthday Party

Due to being sick and other life things, we ended up having Cara's party a few weeks after her birthday. It was just family who came but we still enjoyed celebrating such a darling girl.

 

I made Cara a birthday dress. It is one of the things that makes me feel like a good mom. One of the things that makes me feel like a bad mom is never taking enough pictures of anything.

 

She loves twirling when she wears dresses

 

After painting birdhouses, eating dinner, having cake and ice cream, we went to the playground behind our house. Owen enjoyed sliding and

 

Cara enjoyed swinging. It was a nice, quiet birthday. Next year I will take more pictures... maybe.

Cara turn's 3... and it's a girl!

Cara's birthday was on a Thursday this year. Her actual birthday was quite uneventful. I was still trying to recover from pneunomia, and had gotten really behind on everything. I was pretty much in survival mode. But, I still managed to make her a cute outfit and take a few pictures.

 

Cara helped me make brownies for her class. Too bad they didn't turn out and I ended up having to go buy some cupcakes that morning so she would have a treat for her friends at school.

 

Cara's birthday outfit she wore to school

 

I had my 20 week ultrasound the day before Cara's birthday and I really wanted to do a gender reveal cake but the bakery by us was moving and was closed that week. So, Cephas and I went ahead and found out during the ultrasound that the baby was a girl and then I made a cake to tell my family. I was going to do it on Cara's birthday at my mom's house. However, my parents couldn't wait, so I went ahead and told them. So, the cake was really only for my sister, and she already figured it was a girl. If you can't tell the icing it a light pink color.

 

Cara got a foot massage from Aunt Terre for her birthday... she is spoiling her much too young!

Snow day and how my husband proved me wrong

So, this is a wordy post, but I feel it necessary to tell the whole story.

We got 1 big snow this year. On the day of the snow I was at a baby shower and Cephas had Cara at my parent's house. My mom was out of town with my sister, so it was only the two men and Cara. It started snowing while I was at the baby shower and one of the women kept getting picture texts from her husband of their children playing in the snow. The kids were bundled up in coats, hats, and mittens. She commented at how he is such a great father.

During this whole time I felt so bad for Cara. I was thinking she would really love playing in the snow and how she wouldn't know what she was missing out on. I knew by the time I got home it would be dark and wasn't sure if the snow would last through the next day. I also was sad because I was sick (although I didn't know it at the time I had pneunomia) ad I knew I wouldn't be able to play much with her in the snow.

Well, when I got home I was so surprised. With the help of my dad, Cephas and Cara went sledding, had a snowball fight, and drank homemade hot chocolate all while I was at the shower. I was so happy to know Cara got to enjoy the snow, and thankful that my dad was there to show Cephas since he never got to play in snow when he was a kid. The only complaint I had was they didn't take any pictures, so I took some the next morning, before it all melted.

 

Cara's favorite part was eating the snow