Her Name

Many of you have been asking how we chose Caroline's name and if it is a family name.

So, here is the background:

CAROLINE

John and I both loved the name Caroline - especially John. I am sure he is just a biased dad, but he has been saying all along "If it is a girl, Caroline is just the sweetest name ever." So, I think he was set on this all along. (: However, we actually had two girl names when we went to the hospital and we didn't name her until about an hour or so after she was born. And honestly when we first held her, the name just fit. Our other girl name didn't go with her at all. I know that sounds a little silly but we both saw a Caroline that morning. Turns out it is also a family name on John's side, but we didn't know that until later on.

PATTILLO

This one is for sure a family name. After John and I got engaged and we were making our guest list I was reading his list and saw his grandfather's middle name is Pattillo. I was shocked because it is such a rare name, BUT it also happened to be my grandfather's middle name. I know what you are thinking and don't worry - even though both grandfathers are from Atlanta, John and I are not related! My grandfather spelled it Patillo (pronounced the same way). We both loved the name and the uniqueness of it being a family name for both of our maternal grandfathers. So, we always knew we would use this somewhere. We decided to go with the two t's spelling because John's grandfather is still alive.

We feel it is a tribute to both of them though.

Hope everyone is enjoying this very rainy Tuesday! Caroline has slept the day away!

It's a GIRL!

Caroline Pattillo Phelps

October 19, 2009 at 4:23am

7 lbs 13oz and 20.7 inches

She is precious and we are in love with her!

(Here are some more pictures from this first week)

About to leave for the hospital Sunday night

Dr. Adams

First time to hold Caroline

Let The Waiting Begin

This weekend we headed up to a friend's farm with these fun people. We were so busy eating, watching football, and doing nothing that we forgot to take any pictures. But this picture below was taken when we all went last spring and the weather was about the same this time around. I love spending time with good friends and having no agenda.

Then Sunday, we drove a little more into North GA to meet baby Owen. Owen was born about a month ago but we have not had a chance to go see him. John and I absolutely adore big brother Hayden and have loved watching him grow up for the past the 3 and 1/2 years. These cute kiddos belong to our great friends Andrew and Stacey. We truly look up to them as parents and love being around their precious family as much as we can.

Now the waiting can begin. We really have nothing else planned and no where to be until our little one decides to arrive (even then we have no where to go)! The official due date is still two weeks away. We are both excited and ready for this season of slowing down a bit. I am not typically a patient person, but I am pretty content in this waiting period. Of course, we would be thrilled and ready if the baby came today, however, I am cherishing however many days we have left. Enjoying the moments of sleeping in on the weekends, running errands on my own time and not carrying a car seat, date nights, walks and lunches with girlfriends, and doing anything spontaneous just because we have the flexibility. I know all the changes in our everyday lives and schedules will be 100% worth it but I am soaking it up for now!

U2 + 9 months pregnant =

An absolutely priceless night! That is right, last night we went to the U2 concert. I know you people think I am some crazy, hippie concert goer seeing as I have now gone to Coldplay, Beyonce, and U2 with this baby in my tummy. Trust me, that is not a typical thing in a 9 month period for me. I have told you though, John and I are suckers for what we see as "once in a lifetime experiences!"

I think I was secretly hoping Bono would sing me right into labor. Oh well, only 3 more weeks and counting though!

Here are some moments we tried to capture last night:

The stage from up above

A little Bono up close

And even closer

With or Without You

Showers

Last weekend we had two baby showers. Both were very special and we felt so loved and blessed. That does not even seem like a good enough description of how we felt, really. I am not one who loves attention focused on me (especially in a larger group). I felt the same way for wedding showers 3 years ago. But as overwhelmed as I can feel by the attention, these showers were amazing reminders of the Lord's love and provision through friends and family.

Thank you to all who took part to make these events so special for us and baby Phelps!

On a more sunny note...

I guess it is officially fall now that the weather is cooler and it is October. And I am very glad it is! It seems the end of summer just quickly disappeared and I forgot to post some fun stuff over the last month.

At the end of August each year, our friends in Atlanta take a beach trip to Watercolor. This was the 3rd annual trip and we had 40 people this year! It is so much fun. Our friends, Rob and Rachel, (below) are amazing to put this whole thing together. It is quite a task to rent 5 houses, prepare for food, and coordinate other logistics for 40 and 3 babies this year, but they are awesome! We all gather in the morning after breakfast for a short time of sharing, spend the whole day on the beach, at the pool, etc and then we meet back up for a huge family style dinner each night. It sounds crazy and chaotic but everyone pitches in to help and we have a different dinner crew each night. We are truly blessed to have such amazing friends.

Unfortunately, I do not have the big group picture of everyone but here are a few I took from the week.

Rob & Rachel

Shrimp Boil Night!

So glad Cuz came this year!

Labor Day weekend we headed up to the lake with my family. We all live in 4 different cities and states, so we are usually only able to all be together for holidays but we are trying to plan one other time a year to all meet somewhere for a long weekend. This was a perfect weekend to do just that! My mom cooked amazing food, we kicked off the football season watching the Auburn game, spent long mornings outside talking on the porch, and of course we played on the lake. We were also able to have a little reunion on Saturday with all the Gaileys. Our families have been super close for almost 20 years now and as our families expand it is also hard to get everyone together. I wish we could have a weekend like this every month!

Amy (12 wks pregnant) Leigh (32 wks) Stacey (39 wks)

And lastly, also in September, we headed to an Auburn game with Christian and Linsey. I just had to go to one this season before the baby comes and it was a great one! My good friend, Anna, lives in my old house and so we tailgated there for most of the day. I am convinced (and probably biased) it is the best house in Auburn! I have so many wonderful memories there and so, of course, I loved every minute of sitting on the front porch swing tailgating with friends.

Before the game, we headed over to the library lawn to meet up with some other friends that I always love to see!

And just as we were heading to the stadium, a huge dark cloud came in and the bottom fell out! Luckily, we made it in the stadium and stayed dry out near the bathrooms and concessions. It was a terrible storm that delayed the game a little over an hour. Totally worth it though! Auburn had a great game and dominated W. Virginia. We finally got home about 4am, my feet were swollen and I was totally exhausted. I am so glad we went though. I love Auburn. It truly is the lovliest village on the plains!