Caroline Grace {5 Months Old}

Caroline Grace,

We’ve been squeezing you extra tight ever since the scare you gave us earlier this month. The tears have freely flowed these past few weeks as I rock you to sleep in the quiet darkness, savoring those snuggles, holding your little hand and praising Jesus for sending His angels to watch over and protect you. We can’t imagine our life without you. You’ve been prayed for so much and we are so very thankful for all of the support we’ve received.

Watching you learn new things continues to bring us so much joy. You are very observant, love to “talk” and are happiest when we’re wearing you out and about. You love to be around people and they love to be around you too!

You’ve (finally) settled into your daycare routine and love your teachers, the exersaucer, buggy rides, napping and rolling around with the other babies. The best part of my day is scooping you up, hearing about your day and bringing you home to play with your daddy and me.

Your sweet smile. Your adorable giggles. Your twinkly eyes. Your rolly thighs. We love everything about you. Caroline, you are our greatest blessing and our love for you knows no bounds. Happy 5 months, sweet girl!

Love,

Mommy

Five Month Highlights:

You are the oldest in your class by a month yet are still the tiniest – only 12.5 pounds!
You roll around so much these days that you even won a “world’s best infant flipper” award at daycare.
You are sleeping pretty good now. On a good day we’ll put you down around 7:00 – 7:30 pm and you’ll sleep until 6 am’ish. We let you watch a teeny bit of cartoons in our bed while we get ready in the mornings and you love Max & Ruby. {I know, no screens until age 2. Don’t judge.}
You’re eating oatmeal in between 6 ounces of formula during the day.
You battled your first diaper rash. It was so nasty that we had to take you to the doctor to get prescription cream to clear it and give you baking soda sitz baths every night for a week. Through this experience we learned about the wonderful {super thick} diaper rash cream, Triple Paste! We also learned your sensitive bottom is not okay with switching from Pampers Swaddlers to Huggies Snugglers! Nope, never again!
You love to suck on your fingers and have even started favoring your thumb which is super adorable.
We took you to one of our favorite places for my birthday weekend – the mountains! You did great and were so much easier to travel with than we had anticipated.

At 27 weeks pregnant I began praying specifically for your sleep safety. Chills run down my spine when I go back and visit the post where I asked God to protect you from SIDS. God answers prayers, darling. Don’t be afraid to pray boldly and specifically. No request is too small.

Prayer for Caroline (2/4/14):

Dear Lord, You
gave us sleep as a time for rest and renewal. You showed us by example
when You created the world and took the seventh day to rest. Lord,
please help me, tonight and from this time forward, to get a deep and
rejuvenating sleep. If I wake up in the middle of the night, please help
me to go right back to sleep. Lord, please also help Caroline to
develop good sleep patterns from the very beginning. I pray for safety
while she sleeps. Protect her from SIDS or any other harm. Let your
angels watch over her all through the night – and the daytime too. Bless
her whether in her crib or by my side, or in the car seat. Anywhere she
sleeps, make it relaxing and peaceful. Lord, You promise us in Isaiah
26:3 to keep our minds in perfect peace and trust You. Help me keep my
focus and trust in You and cast out all fears. I choose peace of mind. I
choose to trust in You because I know you love Caroline and I with an
everlasting love. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.