Caroline's First Christmas

Whew! We made it through Caroline's first holiday season! I don't count New Years Eve for her since she goes to bed at 7pm and thus won't be enjoying any New Years festivities.
We spent Christmas in Nashville this year, with the Hepper clan. It was another packed house at Grandma and Grandpa Hepper's: Paul, me, and Caroline, Aunt Erin, Uncle Tate and Aunt Donna and great Grandpa Hepper and great Grandma Hepper . Also in attendance were the family dogs: Isabel, Frances, Lily, and Bailey. We enjoyed many nights of delicious food (mmm...peanut butter balls), good conversation and laughs ("Someone stole my shirt and pants!!"), and lots of Christmas cheer.
Caroline had a blast unwrapping her first Christmas gifts. Some of her booty includes a toy train from Marmee and Grampy, a Leap Frog Musical table from Grandma and Grandpa Hepper, and lots of adorable clothes (yay for the Lily Pulitzer dress Aunt Donna and Uncle Tate gave!).
Caroline had an especially good time during our Nashville visit. This was a really big week for her. Not only was she constantly surrounded by adoring fans who thought everything she did was spectacular, but she also made some really cool developmental leaps. Before we left Charlottesville, she had been army crawling for a few weeks, but she was generally slow and inefficient. Within days of arriving in Nashville, our little Sugarboo started cruising around at lightning speed, using a technique that involved some all fours crawling, some army crawling, and some "worm." Now she's a (speedy)lady on the move, with places to go and people to see. Look out world!
She also started going from lying down to sitting position. This development happened so fast, I'm not even sure when it occurred! When did our little bambina become such a "big" girl??
The only members of the Hepper household that maybe didn't have such a good time were the dogs. Poor Bailey was a little overwhelmed when not one, not two, but three dogs arrived to share her house. Isabel and Frances were on their worst behavior. Frances barked constantly at seemingly everything: a person walking outside, a car driving by, the other three dogs, or sometimes just the voices we think she hears in her head. Isabel was stand-offish, preferring to avoid the other dogs with the exception of a few times when she tangled with Bailey and the time when she nearly took poor Lily's head off for no reason. Lily was the best behaved of the bunch, although she did leave quite a few "presents" around the house for us to find. I'm sure Bailey is relieved to have her house back to normal.
All in all, Caroline's first Christmas was fantastic. We had a great time in Nashville visiting with the fam, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone again in January for Caroline's baptism.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the week.

Caroline and her adoring Grandparents.


Checking out the Christmas tree with Aunt Erin.


Caroline and Mommy in front of the Christmas tree before going to church.


Caroline unwrapping her musical table.


Caroline and her new choo choo train.


Caroline on the move!


Caroline on Daddy's shoulders, heading upstairs for a nap.

Charlottesville's "Holiday Punch"

On Friday, Charlottesville was hit by a doozy of a winter storm. Quickly named the "Holiday Punch" by the local news, the storm dumped about 20 inches of snow on our fair city over a period of a day and a half. Thank goodness we decided to end our Richmond trip early on Friday morning and head back home.
We got to Charlottesville around 5:00pm, when the snow was really starting to come down. I knew we were getting short on coffee creamer and Paul wanted bacon, so he dropped me off at the shady Food Lion by our house while he went to go pick up the dogs from the kennel. I walked into the Food Lion and immediately knew it was a mistake. There were people EVERYWHERE!! Everyone was pushing cartfuls of what he or she deemed as "necessities." Now, I can't knock other people's choices since I was there for bacon and coffee creamer (I can't live without coffee creamer though!), but I was amazed at what people thought was worth a dangerous drive through the snow.
I saw one woman with at least 20 boxes of Totino's pizza rolls, another woman with about 4 40's of beer and one box of wine, a guy with a HUGE piece of meat and nothing else, and a woman with 3 jars of oysters. With my creamer and bacon in hand, I quickly headed toward the front of the store to check out. On my way, I narrowly avoided being hit by a shopping cart with an elderly lady at it's helm. The woman behind me wasn't so lucky and nearly fell over when the surprisingly spry octogenarian jacked her in the back with her cart. You would think the old woman would apologize for nearly running down the other customer, but instead she shouted "I know you better watch where you're goin'!! Thinking that this situation was not going to end well, I quickly hurried away, leaving the two woman to battle it out on their own.
I finally made it out of the Food Lion 30 minutes later, after selecting the worst possible check out line to stand in (someone was trying to pay with a food stamp check that apparently was no good). The roads were in really bad shape, but Paul expertly drove us home.
For the last two days, we've watched incredible amounts of snow fall, endured 12 hours without electricity, watched idiotic people unsuccessfully attempt to drive on the snow covered roads, and spent a lot of time shoveling snow of our steps. Here's a handy winter tip: if you don't have a snow shovel, a spatula and a cookie sheet both serve as nice substitutes.
We're hoping that a snow plow will come and clear our parking lot and roads tomorrow, but if not I have enough coffee creamer and bacon to last us at least 3 more days.

A Variety of Pics

I have a few pictures that don't have much in common so my post will be short. I'm sure that appeals to many of you out there :)

Caroline in her "spaceship"


Caroline testing out her "all fours" crawling


Caroline eating the map of Richmond - we just spent a couple days there house hunting


The Charlottesville "Christmas Punch" of 2009 - 20+ inches of snow!!

New Moves

Here's a video of Caroline showing off her new moves: army crawling. She's been doing it for about 2 weeks now and she's getting better every day. Go Caroline!

Holiday Happenings!

As Christmas approaches, there are lots of things going on around the Hepper household! We'll be in Nashville for Christmas this year, but I wanted to get the Christmas spirit going at our house too, so we've been listening to Christmas carols, decorating and we've gotten a tree. Caroline's first Christmas tree isn't the most grand tree you've ever seen, but it was all we had the space for. I'm also a little concerned as to how long the tree has been out of the ground. It looked all fresh and springy when it was at the lot, but as soon as we got it home, it started dropping needles like nobody's business and hasn't stopped since. At this rate, it will be a twig with ornaments by the time Christmas rolls around! It's a good thing I've got an excellent vacuum on hand to suck up all the stray needles. I've been using it so much (even MORE than usual, if those who know me can imagine) that Caroline doesn't even bat an eye anymore when I zoom by her with my trusty Shark.
Last week we went to the Darden Cold Call so Caroline could get her picture taken with Santa. I was worried she would burst into tears when placed in Santa's lap, but she was just fine. She didn't smile, but she didn't cry either, so it's a win in my book :)
Today we're baking Marmee's famous angel cookies for a cookie swap party tomorrow and this weekend we're getting together for our 2nd annual Darden Christmas bash. It should be lots of fun.
In other news, a few days before turning 6 months old, Caroline started to army crawl! It's very exciting to see her look of determination as she pulls herself toward something she wants. Sadly, it's often one of the dogs that she wants and the girls are way too fast and smart to stay put until Caroline gets to them! We also had to lower her crib matress because our crafty little girl has made several escape attempts lately. I'll post a video of her new moves later this week.
Here are some pictures: Caroline with the Darden Santa, her first Christmas tree, and Caroline checking out her "Baby's First Noel" ornament.

Caroline and Frances

Check out this video of Caroline laughing at Frances. It starts a bit slow, but is really cute at the end.

Thanksgiving with the DeNiros

WARNING: This is another long post, but it's my only one this week.
It was a wonderful Thanksgiving with the DeNiro family this year! Paul, Caroline, and I enjoyed several days of quality time with Grampy and Marmee, Uncle Michael, Aunt Allison and Uncle Billy, and cousins Landon and Sophia. Also present were the family dogs: Hayley, Isabel, and Frances. It made for a very full house up at Big Canoe, but everything went swimmingly. We even managed to assemble for a whole family picture: a rare event in the DeNiro household.
As I looked at the different takes of the family portrait on Uncle Billy's camera, I got to thinking about each family member, his or her different personality, and how we all come together on the holidays. I realized that everyone plays a role during these occasions and it amused me to explore them in my mind. Here's my take on each family member and his or her role whenever we get together...
Grampy: Aside from being our lovable and adored "Grampy", Dad has one of the most important roles when the family comes to town. He goes from being the CPO at Haverty's to the CSO, the "Chief Sanitation Officer". While fulfilling this role, one will see Grampy making multiple trips from the pint sized waste basket my parents use as an excuse for a kitchen trash can to the large trash can outdoors. As CSO, my Dad's job is to take out the trash as many as 10 times a day. My Dad takes this job seriously, and allows no one to remove trash without his consent. As the CSO, Grampy's job is also to provide each family member with enough hand sanitizer to drown a horse as well as enough toilet paper to tepee the entire neighborhood. Another important role Grampy fulfills when family comes to town is "Chief Valet Attendant", or CVA. No matter where you park, you can rest assured that it is not a satisfactory spot in Grampy's mind. You won't have been in the door for 10 minutes before Grampy will glance out the front window and then casually ask for your keys. Before you know it, your car will have been whipped out of it's spot and moved to a more "suitable" location. Don't get too comfy with this spot though. Grampy is a restless parking attendant, and he will surely find a better spot within a few hours. It is best just to leave your keys with Grampy until you leave town.
Marmee: Mom's job is head chef and CHO, or "Chief Happiness Officer." It is her job to provide enough home cooked food to feed a small country and also to ensure that everyone in the family is at the peak of happiness at all times. This is not an easy task, as one might imagine. Marmee does a great job of dispensing toys, help, and old family heirlooms in an effort to keep everyone content. She does it all with a smile on her face.
Her food is quite delicious too. This year's Thanksgiving dinner was the best we've ever had! Providing such wonderful meals is not an easy task because Marmee has an unfortunate repertoire of kitchen utensils. Her knives are so dull they can't cut butter, her vegetable peeler is circa 1700s (and has the rust to prove it), and her pantry is rife with dangerous foods (see my role below). I think we all know what Marmee will be getting in her stocking this year: kitchen supplies!
Aunt Allison: My sister has the job of being the house stylist. She can be counted upon to advise each family member how to dress for any occasion. She is especially good at dressing Caroline and Sophia so they look as adorable as can be. Another role Allison fills is Assistant Chef. She does this job wonderfully and has been known to cook a gourmet meal for 8 using a chicken, some rice, a few other ingredients, and the amazingly ancient kitchen utensils my mom adores.
Uncle Billy: My brother-in-law's main role is to provide comic relief when things get tense between family members. Whether it be to show a funny YouTube video such as "Spiders on Drugs", (look it up, it's hilarious) or to crack a joke or two, Uncle Billy can be counted on to dispel any tense moments that may occur. He is also our family photographer. Billy is quite talented, and we all have him to thank for our Christmas cards this year.
Uncle Michael: My brother fills multiple roles. He is our resident scholar, our mysterious brooding sibling, and our house babysitter. Michael surprises us all, going from being immersed in his German translation one minute to playing Star Wars on the floor with Landon in the next minute. I might also add that he is quite the fashion forward dresser :)
Uncle Paul: Paul is the house taste tester. No one worries about Paul being on a diet or being sheepish about eating too much. Just turn the oven on and Paul will come running to find out what delectable food will be coming out of Marmee's kitchen next. Uncle Paul is also our Chief Technology Officer. He can be counted on for wireless internet access, DVD assistance, and anything else that requires more than a pair of AA batteries.
Landon, Caroline and Sophia: The cousins only job is to look adorable and make us laugh. They fulfill these roles marvelously.
Aunt La: Aside from being the family member who cries first and most often whenever we get together, my other job is crucial, in my opinion. My parents are known to hoard amazing amounts of expired food. During each visit, I take it upon myself to rescue the family from certain botulism poisoning by cleaning out the pantry and the refrigerator. This is no small task. No matter how often I visit, there always seems to be a jar of mayonnaise from 1985 ("But I just used that yesterday!" says Mom)lurking in the back of the fridge or a dinged and rusted can of green beans that expired 3 years ago hiding out in the cupboards. My job is a thankless one, but someone has to do it.
I'll leave you now with a few pictures: Sophia and Caroline, all dolled up in their Thanksgiving dresses,and Caroline with Daddy and Mommy.