Caroline

I have restarted and reworded this post so many times that I'm reminded of our carepages. The words never seem to be enough. I decided to take a trip down memory lane. Today our baby would be turning three years old. I'm officially declaring that the firsts were not the hardest. At least not for me. They've all been really hard but the more time goes by the longer it has been since I've gotten to hold her and to see her sweet face. Okay, enough boo hoos here goes.

I have so many distinct and great memories of Cincinnati. I loved our little house, minus the creepy basement, more than any home I've lived in. The house, yard and neighborhood were perfect for our little family. Caroline was born on August 30, 2004 at 2:30 in the afternoon. I was able to hold her for a few minutes before the NICU team wisked her away to the NICU. She looked so healthy when she was born with those cheeks that have graced all of my newborns!


The next five weeks of her life consisted of lots of ups and downs. They ended on an up note though because she was finally able to come home from the hospital!! The next seven weeks at home were the hardest but the absolute best time of my life. Life was a little bit of a blur with three kids under three and Caroline's feeding and medicine schedule. But we did it happily. I felt so complete with my whole family finally in one place. We spent almost all of our days at home because of our fear of germs. So we went on lots of long walks around the neighborhood and to and from Dallin's preschool. The months of October and November were great months to be home because the weather was so mild. We concluded our time at home with Caroline's blessing.


















I felt so thankful that we were able to reach this milestone in her life. It was such an incredible day with our whole family there.
The next three and a half months were divided between life at the hospital and life at home. Food was such a comfort and I remember well and love to this day Jimmy John's subs, skyline chili, montgomery inn bbq and sturkey's house salad dressing. When I would spend the week at home with the kids, I would spend their nap time in my bed with dorritos and caffeine free diet pepsi. So bring on the junk food and great memories of a life that is missed.
Thank goodness for temple covenants and for the hope of eternity together that the gospel brings. Thanks for taking that walk with me and for being the support that I need to put one foot in front of the other. We're planning on eating angel food cake and sending balloons up to her for her birthday. Now the kids are old enough to write messages on them and I love their perspective and the words that they have for her. This is also one of two times a year that I love to have fresh beautiful flowers on our table. Happy Birthday baby Caroline!