And I am back...

So it seems as though having a baby has limited my time for blogging. Alas, I am back for a short update and some pictures! Caroline is growing more and more every day. I swear her face keeps changing and the expressions she keeps coming up with are cracking me up. Once she finds her words I think Chris and I are really in for it!

These days she is trying to crawl, but mainly flips herself onto her back and inches along using her head and feet. She loves walking and standing and gets upset if you will not help her stand up and walking so she can get BoDuke!

We have been continually lame. In January, Caroline and I went to VA for two weeks and Chris came for a week. It was freezing and those of us that have adapted to FL weather were definitely not ready for it! I started back to work February 1st. It is okay, but sad not to be home with Caroline all the time. We hired Karla to come and keep Caroline company while I work, and that seems to be working out great. I love her and so does Caroline. Since then, work has been going well for both Chris and I. Chris is working hard at Nextera (formerly FPL Energy) and WGES continues to dominate and therefore so do I!

Caroline and I went to VA in March for a visit and work. My folks took care of Caroline for the week. Turns out that my dad was in his element taking care of the little miss. In the end I think everyone had fun.

Below are a few pictures from the past few months....my how times flies!

Caroline Marea McCarthy is here!

I am a little late in posting this, but oh well! Caroline came into this world on October 20th at 6:57 pm. She weighted 7lb 4 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. My water broke at 3:30 in the morning and we were off to the hospital a hour or so later. All the details in the middle are a bit fuzzy, but I know I could not have done any of it without Chris. He was wonderful through the entire thing and it was all worth it when we saw our little peanut.

We came home from the hospital on Wednesday October 22. It was hard to leave the little bubble that we had in the hospital but Nana and Grandpa were coming on Friday so it was necessary to get home and get ready for them to come! Since my folks have been here they have been a huge help---cleaning, cooking, fixing things for us....who knew there were so many things to clean or so much laundry to do. We have also had lots of visits from Hubba (Chris's mom) too.

Caroline is doing great. She was a bit jaundice when we left the hospital so we needed a biliblanket. We have been back and forth to the hospital and doctors office trying to get all of that situated, but it seems as though her levels are falling so that is good. She is still under the phototherapy lights, but we are hoping that soon she will get to be free!! Other than that she is doing great--gaining weight, kicking all around, and just making everyone around her smile.

Here are some pictures...more blogging and pictures to come later!!

Stay Tuned.....

We got to the hospital about 4:30 this morning. Nothing exciting to report as of yet, but we will let you know......

We now have an end point...

I went to the doctor today and sadly there was no progress from last week. Either that the doctor I saw last week was just more optimistic than the one I saw this week....hard to tell. At any rate, I am still 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced which as everyone points out to me means NOTHING!! The doctor wanted me to schedule an induction date so that there was an ending to all of this madness and to make sure that there would be room for me at the inn so to speak (space at the hospital). So, if Baby McCarthy does not get here by October 27th (the due date), I am scheduled to be induced on October 29th. Here's to hoping that she makes her debut before that---this weekend works for me if she is ready!

Only 2 Weeks Left....

Here is the updated picture....

Truth be told, I am about ready to be done with all of this.....now that we have the room all ready, carseat installed, and bags packed I think we are offically ready. That is until someone mentions something to me that I have completely forgotten....feel free to offer any suggestions!!

Other than the waiting game, we have not been up to much as of late. We continue to try to keep on top of all things house related: mulching, trimming trees, planting flowers the list is endless. Amazing how we lived a year at the rental house and never even thought about these things and in the 2+ months since we have moved in it is all we can talk about.

That is about it from sunny FL. We will keep everyone posted on the status of Baby McCarthy. And for the record, just because there is free shipping on Christmas stockings until October 16th, does not mean that you get the inside track on baby names (MOM!!). Talk to you all soon.....

3+ weeks left....

And the count down begins! Now that we have officially started October, we are in the month were I turn 30 and get to meet this new baby girl. The big question is, which will happen first? Any guesses??

September turned out to be a bit of a rough month for us. Both Chris's Nonna and my Grammie Jean passed away. Nonna was 96 and Grammie Jean was 99. Chris's family came in for the services for his Nonna. While it was nice to see everyone, we definitely wish it was under better circumstances. Grammie Jean passed away about a week later and unfortunately I was not able to make the service. Travelling from Jupiter, FL to Brownville, ME proved to be a bit more difficult than one might imagine. They will both be missed tremendously.

In happy news, some of my girlfriends here were generous enough to throw me a little baby shower about a week ago. We had a blast laughing at baby pictures of everyone and the girls trying to guess just how big around is the pregnant lady??? Turns out someone though I was bigger around than she was tall....interesting!! Thanks to all those girls who were there and thought of us. We were both touched by the thoughtfulness of the people we have met here. Here are some pictures of the fun party!

We will keep everyone posted on the latest baby events. It is hard to imagine that this is all going to be happening so soon....

5 Weeks Left....

Well, there are 5 weeks left now until my due date. The question now remains will she be early, on time, or late? Seems like a good opportunity for gambling!! I will need to put together a pool I think because everything is always more fun when there is gambling involved!

In other news, I won my first eBay auction! It was all very exciting. I won a peanut shell sling thing and not only got to use eBay but also PayPal. Granted I had to do it all from Chris's account, but it was a thrill. Now I am trying to figure out what else I can buy on eBay. Any suggestions?

We have a busy week ahead here in FL with family coming to town and a baby shower on Thursday night. We have also been working very hard at getting the house together before the baby comes. While we have been doing well to knock things off the list, we also seem to keep adding things to the list...oh well. I suppose once the baby comes, home tasks will take a backseat.