a day in the life: the big 5

Regarding my first memory of Cara, this picture says it all. Join me as I take you down memory lane of the days Chris and I became parents. We were pretty young when we had Cara, and although I had a niece whom I thought I handled great as a baby, I was clueless when it came to being a mom of a baby. Chris was right there with me. We were a pair of bewildered parents(arguably, this could still be the case). Two relevant, no three relevant memories come to mind. The instant Cara was born, our doctor handed her off to Chris. He literally said, "how do I hold her?". It hadn't occurred to me during the entire 9 months of pregnancy that my baby daddy didn't know how to hold a baby. I'd say I was scared, but instead I remained silent because honestly, I didn't know how to correctly hold an infant either. So the first minutes of her life, her parents didn't know how to hold her. We were off to a great start. Second memory worth mentioning was the second day when the nurse wheeled Cara in to our hospital room and left. She left and my baby was crying. Instead of I don't know, trying to figure out why she was crying, I pushed the nurse button. The nurse came back and I asked her why she thought my baby was crying. She asked "did you feed her?" to which I replied "huh?". Feed her! Oh yeah, I have to feed her!!! Don't worry, we learned how to feed her. My final memory is the night we brought her home. It was mid October and the temps in GA started to fall that night. Normally Chris and I would just get under a heavier blanket, but now we had a baby who was too precious to sleep in a cold house! So we turned on the heat, which happened to be the first time in a while it had been started. Suddenly we start smelling the VERY NORMAL smell the heater makes the first time it's turned on. Instead of using rational and conclusive thought, we started to convince ourselves it could be carbon monoxide. You know, the odorless gas. I am certain of my husband's intelligence and fairly certain of mine, but that night, neither of us were using our brains. We were using our "new parent" brains which led us to the front porch at 12 AM freezing (ironically what were trying to avoid) and dialing Paula's number in a panic. Being a seasoned pro, she talked some sense into us and we were able to survive the night. We needed some work, and we always will. For five years I have been a "mom" and I thank God every day for that title. I also thank Him for my family and friends who have been so incredibly valuable to me in this process. Chris and I have been so fortunate!! I can hardly believe it's been 5 years since I brought that smooshy, adorable little baby home as my child!

Fast forward to 10/11/12! Which, worth noting, is such a fun day to have a birthday. It has fallen on a Thursday, the day she was born, and also a school day, so I made treats to take her to school. I didn't catalog the process of making the treats, because I did it late last night, using every muscle in my body not to cough on them. I always get lovely sinus infections in October! But I did take pictures of the drop off and it was so fun! It was Cara's first birthday at "school" and my first time as a mom celebrating it that way. Normally, I have the girls home and they get extra treats and hugs, so naturally I was a little sad I had to share the day with school. But, it was totally worth it when I took the treats in and watched her get serenaded by all of her classmates and teachers.

Sam waiting for Cara's class to finish up centers. (I gave her a clue for her impending surprise tonight by putting her in Minnie Mouse, but she hasn't caught on..)