Aunt Ang, Uncle Alex and Aunt Court visit

Caroline's 4-month milestone was greeted by Aunt Ang, who flew in from Florida, and Uncle Alex and Aunt Court who drove six hours from Iowa City to play with her.

It was great to catch up and watch all the babies play together. Court and Alex brought their baby, Rico, a chihuahua, who played with Aslan and Venus all weekend. He was so well behaved! What a cutie!



And Aunt Ang was nice enough to watch Caroline on Friday while Mom went to work. She enlightened Caroline on what's new in heart health - sharing insight from her latest Cardiology rotation in Tampa. Maybe Caroline will want to be a heart doctor, too, someday?!

It's hard to believe I've known Ang and Court since elementary school. I remember when Angie came to Avon from Ohio. And I remember when I first started hanging out with Courtney at sports camp in 5th grade. No matter how much time passes between our visits, nothing changes...I know when we're old and gray we can still sit around and chat just like we did back in the day. Caroline is so blessed to have such wonderful people in her life. And Uncle Alex is an extra bonus! Can't wait until our next visit sometime in 2009. Just imagine how much Miss Caroline will grow between now and then...

Tourists in our own town

To commemorate our six-year wedding anniversary, 11-year dating anniversary and the 1-year conception anniversary for Caroline (wink, wink) we took Caroline to Nana and Poppy's and headed to a local bed and breakfast.

Betty Davis at the Yellow Rose Inn in downtown Indy was extremely hospitable. Full of beautiful antiques, the inn provides a getaway without getting too far away from home. We enjoyed riding bikes nearby, playing pool and rummikub in our suite, taking a private bath inside the suite, giving each other massages on the massage table, making a special toast while soaking in the hot tub on the roof...and much more...

We also took in the sites downtown by getting an apertif at Amici's, then dinner at Dunaway's. On Sunday we had lunch at the Eiteljorg Museum, which was delicious. The second night Caroline joined us. We ate pizza with Nana and Poppy, played pool and watched TV. It was great to do so much without driving very far!

Happy October!

October is a celebratory month for the Stanley family. We've enjoyed raking leaves, visiting the pumpkin patch, hanging out with friends and dressing up. Caroline dressed up as a penguin - to satisfy the running joke we had with Jason's Grandma that we were going to have penguins.

Jason and I were characters from our latest series of choice, "Heroes." I am the immortal cheerleader and he is the Asian who can bend time.




We went to a party while Caroline relaxed with her cousin Kaete. Thanks, Kaete, for making the first babysitting experience smooth!

Katie's Bachelorette

Before she became my sister-in-law, we celebrated Katie Swain's final single days before becoming Katie Sutton.

The evening began with tapas at Usual Suspects - where we enjoyed the world's cutest little male server, Karson, who has better hair than most women! (and totally knows how to rock a flat iron - go boyee!) Then we journeyed to Broad Ripple Tavern, where we served as cheerleaders to a couple random guys who had to borrow a quarter to play pool. From there, we took in a street concert by Hairbangers Ball. Below is video of us rocking out to Bon Jovi's "Shot through the Heart."
The evening ended at the Vogue where we shook our tailfeathers until the wee hours. Not bad for a 30-year-old mother of a 7-week-old!

Fun times with friends!

Rachel and Quinton visit

Check out Jason spinning Quinton in a cardboard box. (we have expensive toys here at the Stanley house! ha)

August was full of fun with friends at Brian and Kasey's wedding, Symphony on the Prairie and tubing on Sugar Creek!

Lake Wawasee Highlights

Aug. 8-17
Lake Wawasee

While we were at the lake, we visited with Jason's family. We finally met Emma, our new niece, Joe and Brooke's daughter who is exactly three weeks older than Caroline.





We enjoyed playing cornhole, cooking out, watching the Olympics...You can see a video here of Great Grandpa Troyer singing "Caroline, please be mine" while Great Grandma Troyer holds Caroline.













Not only did we visit with family, but we also caught up with our neighbors, the Hasbrooks, who were staying at the lake at the same time. Their daughter, Lily, is also about three weeks older than Caroline. In this picture to the right, she weighs about 13 lbs.



But Caroline isn't the only little pip-squeak anymore! Tim and Layla had their second baby, Anna, on July 24. She has a full head of red hair just like her mom, but her facial expressions look like her dad! Big brother Jack was really entertaining. You can tell he will be very protective of his little sister.






Anna Elaine, as she is named, is the 8th baby born this summer among our close friends and family. Six of the 8 are girls.

Grandma and Grandpa watched Caroline while we took in a movie, American Teen. It tracks the lives of four teenagers in Warsaw through their senior year. If you haven't seen it, you should go. It's different - I won't ruin it for you by tainting it with my views. But it was the darling of the Sundance Festival for a reason. For a documentary, it was put together in an entertaining, cinematic sequence.


Although the weather was a little chilly for for a few days, we still managed to get some time out on the boat. We also enjoyed two dinners at the Channel Marker with Caroline. She was so good, and slept the entire time. It was nice to be able to enjoy dinner at a restaurant again.













Heather and Ryan came to visit for a day, which was one of the sunniest days on the lake.

There also just happened to be a concert at the sandbar, so we were treated to the tunes of the band "Lake Trash" led by Rich Hardesty. It was interesting...check out Caroline dancing to the music...

Caroline: 2 mos old!

I can't believe it's been an entire month since the last blog! But then again, we have been busy living life!

Over the past month, we spent a week at Lake Wawasee with no Internet and limited TV - which was wonderful; visited with both sides of the family; Caroline enjoyed her first camping trip, symphony on the prairie and her first day at daycare as Mom assimilated back into the traditional workplace. But it's not all that traditional - in fact, it's pretty unique. Celeste started a new job at TriMedx, a faith-based, family-friendly healthcare services company that is growing. She also started classes again, so life is busy again, but very full and rich. It's never a dull moment at the Stanley house!

As you can see, Caroline is growing fast. She is about 11 lbs now, and very long. She's still working on holding her head up completely on her own, but she loves to straighten her legs and support her whole body when you hold her up. We wonder if that means she will walk sooner? She is very strong. Her teachers at daycare say she is their favorite, so she gets a lot of extra attention. She still loves music, and has begun to smile here and there, but it's not constant just yet. She coos sometimes, too, which is such a wonderful sound.

Caroline: 4 weeks old today!

Caroline gets her own "crib"

To commemorate being 4 weeks old, Caroline moved to her own room this week. Translation: Mom and Dad have enjoyed two nights of sleep, glorious sleep!!

We employed a dual-pronged strategy to achieve this newfound status:

1) swaddle with Kiddopotamus "straight jacket"

2) only feed breastmilk at night to avoid gas

The result: she slept through most of the night, waking only twice at 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. for feeding. To accommodate her aggressive appetite, we increased breastmilk intake from 2 oz. to 4 oz.

By sticking primarily to bottle feeding, we have been able to reduce feeding time from 45 minutes to an hour to less than 20 minutes. This allows us to get back to sleep much faster and feel more refreshed in the morning - and puts Caroline in much better spirits, too!

She seems to sleep better in her crib than she did in the portable bassinet in our room, which may be a contributing factor to her recent extended slumber.

Caroline also isn't so much of a bobblehead that she once was a few weeks ago. When propped up, she turns her head from side to side, taking in the entire view. While she stills sleeps a lot, she is very alert and attentive when awake.

Mary visits from California

Mary became a real, bonafide aunt last week when her niece, Presley Claire (photo below), was born July 24 weighing in at 6 lbs, measuring 20.5 inches. Aunt Mary came to town to meet Presley and Caroline.

Fun times at the pool

Caroline experienced her first pool party and her first day at the YMCA pool this week.

She is quite the water baby!

Aslan's encounter with a squirrel

With all the attention towards Caroline these days, it seems our feline friends have resorted to reaching out to others in the neighborhood for company. Poor Aslan and Venus. Maybe we'll have to devote a blog to them in the future.

Happy Feet

I haven't exactly brought sexy back yet,

but at least my feet aren't airbags with toes anymore!

(Photo on right: my feet 3 days post-delivery)

Pregnancy does quite a number on your anatomy. I think it was Nicole Richie who claimed after she delivered her baby (whatever its name is) that she felt like a superhero. Well, I most certainly don't feel like a superhero!

Yet I'm thankful that this bag of bones could produce and house something as beautiful as Caroline. Getting my six-pack back will definitely be a challenge, but that's OK. I think I've lost a bit of my narcissistic vanity. I'm simply grateful to be healthy to enjoy each day to its fullest with my wonderful husband and sweet daughter. Nothing else really matters, but it is nice to have happy feet again!

(Photo at right: my feet two weeks post-delivery)

Sweet 16...Days, That Is

Sweet Caroline is now officially 16 days old. Wow! Time flies. The past week went by really fast. Lots of visitors and lots of help from Nana and Poppy. You have been so great! Thank you! Our friends, family and neighbors have been so thoughtful bringing over meals and cleaning for us. The outpouring of love and support has been a God-send.

Caroline's future friend Lily who lives down the street even came to visit a couple times. Here are moms, Julia and I, with Lily (1 month old) and Caroline (2 weeks).

On Thursday, 9 days after Caroline was born, I had to work a client event. (I know, it sounds crazy, but it was just a simple 90-minute video shoot! No big deal!) But it hadn't been a full week since we left the hospital, so I couldn't drive myself. So Jason and Caroline tagged along and hung out in a private lounge on-site while I worked the shoot.

When the shoot wrapped, I called Jason, but he was frantic and had to let me go. What I found out when I retrieved them was Caroline had two diaper blowouts while I was gone, soiling two outfits, a receiving blanket and even peed on the carpet of the lounge before Dad could get a diaper on her! Apparently at the same time Jason's phone was ringing off the hook and Caroline was also screaming incessantly for about 20 minutes and he couldn't calm her down. All this on top of the fact that we didn't sleep well the night before...Poor Daddy...I took Caroline the rest of the night and let him wind down.

And since that night, Caroline has behaved so well! It's so strange that she would have such a wild experience when there is only one parent to handle it; compounded by the fact that she chose to act out while we weren't at home. Go figure! But Dad isn't jaded. He was such a trooper.

Now Caroline is pretty much sleeping through the night. She wakes for feedings and diaper changes at 1 a.m., 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. Not bad for only two weeks old.

Today we went to our first doctor's visit and everything checked out A-OK! In fact, she is starting to roll over and hold her head up on her own, which is way ahead of schedule. What is behind schedule is her umbilical cord falling off. Gross! Can't wait for that thing to drop off...Otherwise she is all good. She has almost reached her original birth weight again. She weighed in at 7 lbs. today.

We also got the hospital bill today. Good gravy, it costs a lot to have a kid! Original estimates for a normal, no-complications vaginal delivery is $12,000 just for the mother. Our bill for 4-day hospital stay and C-section for mother = $19,600. For Caroline, it's $5,060. Yep - that's nearly $25k and doesn't include the $3,000 of pre-natal OB/GYN visits. Thank God for insurance! We're still on the hook for 20%, but at least part of it is covered.

So, how are Mom & Dad? Well, let's start with Dad. Jason has a torn ACL (soccer injury from June). Since we didn't want him to be comatose or on crutches if the baby came early, we've been postponing it. Now we're thinking of scheduling it sometime in September. According to the docs and others who have had the surgery, you are out of commission for at least a week and the pain is pretty intense. You live in a chair and have to move the knee at least once per hour. Not much fun!

As for me, I am healing from the C-section, but learned quickly that I'm not ready to do any vigorous exercise. Typically with such a surgery you are precluded from picking up anything over 10 lbs, driving within the first two weeks, vacuuming and anything else mildly strenuous. I've been feeling pretty good and getting out and about - even working client events - which may have caused me to be a little overconfident. I attempted a cardio exercise on Monday, and was lifting Caroline up and down the stairs in our portable swing. This left me feeling very tender and weak Tuesday and Wednesday, so I've been taking it easy ever since. The good news is that I've lost 22 of the 37 lbs I gained during pregnancy. Only 15 lbs. more to lose!! Hopefully breastfeeding will keep burning the calories like it's supposed to! Unfortunately I still can't fit into my normal pre-pregnancy clothes, but that will come with time. I am determined...:-)

That's about all for now from the Stanleys. Back to cuddling with my cute little Caroline!

Caroline's First Week Out of the Womb

Caroline was surrounded by love in her first week out of the womb. Visitors from near and far came to the hospital and home to welcome her to the world.

The first night home was a little rough; she refused to nurse so we were forced to supplement with formula. Although it broke my heart to once again veer from my original plan, the kid had to eat!

By Saturday she was back on track breastfeeding again, but we still needed to supplement with formula part-time to keep her happy!

Here are ome highlights from her first week - from her first bath to her first walk in the neighborhood...