7 Week Photos & Caroline's 1st Playtime with Cousin Gavin!

Caroline was 7 weeks old on Memorial Day! We are absolutely loving all her cute faces and her chubby belly. At 7 weeks she is grabbing our fingers and holding on. She likes her Daddy's fingers the best {but Mama's will do okay}. She is also starting to give little smiles in response to our voices. I am still waiting on the full face grin... its coming and it is going to make my heart melt and smile all at the same time. Caroline is wearing a mix of newborn and 3 month clothes now. In the past week she had her first road trip to North Carolina and South Carolina and got to see BOTH grandmas and her papa! She also wore her first pair of sandals {cute little ruffly things pictured above}. She also attended her first wedding and made it through half the ceremony before getting a little fussy. {In her defense it was super hot in the church and she was in columbia... i think she sensed that she was in a church full of Gamecock fans ;)... } This week, she also discovered a love for the vibrating bouncy seat! 

Man, this girl is C-U-T-E!!!!! 

Caroline had her first "play date" with cousin Gavin. This cute boy was in town when she was born, but that was not the time for the two to really get acquainted. He was surprisingly gentle with Miss C for being an 8 1/2 month old boy! He would just touch her with his finger, and once tried to lick her toes :) Gavin still likes to mock her noises and cries and it is the cutest thing ever! 

 LOVE this one of them looking at each other! Gavin is thinking "Come on, grow up! I have so much to teach you" and Caroline is thinking "Okay then, break me out of this seat, I'm ready to learn your moves!"

This is about the time that Gavin started bouncing her seat up and down and Caroline spit up all over everywhere and we decided enough with the photos... 

Caroline, I am loving week 7 with you! You are so much fun, and so darn adorable... Excited for all the adventures in store :) 

The Hawkins' First attempt at Gardening {veggie style!}

Jay and I have been talking about planting a garden for awhile now... we even mentioned when we were first looking at our house that it had a great back yard for a garden. I was a little skeptical if we would be able to make it happen this year with the arrival of Miss Caroline, but luckily we did manage to build some raised beds, and now we are off on the adventure of keeping everything alive {daily watering is time consuming!}

We planted Tomatoes, Squash, Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Cantaloupe, Cucumbers, Jalapenos, Cayenne Peppers, and a Blueberry Bush

So far, things are growing and getting bigger... so I am feeling confident that we will get atleast something. I'll let you know our progress later in the summer...

As for the rest of our yard, my sweet Mama has helped us plant a bunch of things and it is looking pretty good!

 Our Roses just starting to bloom

 Hydrangea bush that was an Easter / Welcome Baby Caroline gift from my mama

 My herb pots got a fresh, bright coat of paint. We planted parsley, basil, and rosemary {and I have added cilantro since taking this picture}. I had a great experience with my first herb garden, so I am hoping for lots of success again!

 Jay's favorite reading spot... looking forward to some summer evenings in the hammock :)

Mom helped us plant several annuals to help add color to the front beds... lucky for us, she is quite the gardener!

 We had lots of help from Miss B who has found her new favorite summer game: chasing the water spraying from the hose. I will have to get some action shots of her at some point. She is too funny!

 Caroline enjoyed an afternoon stroller nap - such a laid back, easy going baby. We are blessed!

We're headed down to South Carolina for a wedding to to visit family {Caroline's first road trip!}... Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend... and I hope our garden is alive when we return!

miss priss is 6 weeks old today!

Caroline celebrated her big 6 week milestone by sleeping 6 STRAIGHT HOURS last night! Can I get a Hallelujah!?! It was glorious to get that much sleep in a row... now if we can just keep up that pattern :) 

 I just LOVE naked babies... and lucky for me my sweet girl likes to be all natural with just a cute flower headband {its all about achieving the important necessities in life! ha!}

I laid her in her crib this morning for run grab my camera and I came back in the room to sweet baby talking. She was babbling away to her Bear and Baby Doll. If only I could understand her little thoughts and cute noises! 

I just LOVE this girl! There is simply nothing like falling in love with your sweet baby. Those chubby cheeks and little leg rolls make my heart smile :)

Our friends Cody and Nicole came to visit Caroline for the weekend and it was so great to see them! We had a fun visit full of bagels, a trip to the bookfair, grilling out, playing Bocce ball, and ice cream!

Can't wait to meet Baby Boy Simoneaux in September! 

Caroline's 5 week photo shoot

Our sweet girl was 5 weeks old on Monday and she is growing faster than I could have ever imagined! Grandma was in town on Monday so we did a little mini-photo shoot with her really nice camera and new lens...

 LOVE these sweet faces... this girl is already so full of personality!

 A little bit of a fussy face {and blurry!}... but Bella is being so sweet in the back ground looking in on her sister

 So serious!

 Our Clemson Girl!

 Caroline was telling Bella her own rendition of the Clemson cadence count :)

 sleepy girl by this point!

Caroline,

You had a check-up with the pediatrician at 5 weeks and you were weighing in at 10 lbs 8 oz! You go little chunky girl! Your legs have the cutest little rolls and I swear your cheeks only get more and more chubby each day. Precious! You are also 22 inches long! You are starting to fight sleep, and we are pretty confident it is because you are becoming more and more alert. There are too many interesting things to watch {such as the ceiling fan and the light coming in the window} that you don't want to close your eyes. Your pacifier is quickly becoming a good friend, but you don't want it all the time... and you spit it out as soon as your little tiny fussy fits are over. You still love, love, love riding in stroller and in the car, but your new favorite thing is to lay naked on your changing table. You kick your cute legs and make all kinds of noises. SO SWEET! Still liking to nap on your Boppy lounger, but it is starting to get a little small.. it will be a sad day for your Mama when you out grown that pillow. We love you dear girl and continue to feel blessed that you are ours to raise! Love, Mama

Photos from My First Mother's Day Weekend

We had such a great Mother's Day weekend. I was blessed enough to spend the weekend with Miss Caroline, My Mama, and My hubby. We made lots of yummy food, worked in the yard, planted our garden (more on that project later this week!), and spent time together.

Since Grandma was in town, she kept Caroline for us on Saturday night, and Jay and I had our first post-baby date night! My sweet husband made reservations at the Ivy Inn, a neat restaurant in Charlotteville, and then we walked around Charlottesville's Downtown Mall, AND got Ice Cream! Any date is about perfect if it involves ice cream :)

We were only gone about 4 hours and then it was time to get back to little miss... That was long enough for one night!

My sweet husband also gave me an adorable card "from Caroline" and a book of stories about Mothers & Daughters to read during our middle of the night nursing times, and this necklace with a J, K, and C.. I am in love with it! If you haven't seen Lisa Leonard's beautiful jewlery you need to check it out!

My sweet Mama also gave me a little suitcase monogramed with a C for all Miss Caroline's travels this summer. She is so thoughtful, that Mama of mine :)

Here are a few of our family photos on Mother's Day:

Love my two girls! 

It was pretty sunny out, but I love this photo of 3 generations! 

 Being Mama is SO stinkin' wonderful! 

Family Photo!

Caroline was studying her Grandma... We're both blessed to have her!

Hope y'all had a wonderful Mother's Day celebrating being a Mom or getting to love on your Mama!