Our Bug's Life

The Best Gifts

2011-04-04T22:05:00.000-04:00

Today is my birthday and it was by all accounts just a normal day, but all day long I was reminded of how extremely blessed I am...

blessed with an amazing husband who cares for me more than I could ever have dreamed,

blessed with the sweetest daughter who constantly brightens my days,

blessed with a precious new life whose heartbeat I got to hear today beating strong,

and blessed with family and friends who care enough to take the time to wish me well and remind me of their love.

When it comes to to birthday wishes, I really couldn't ask for anything more...well, maybe a yummy monster cookie to share with my little Bug would be nice!

Thanks everyone for the birthday love!

17 Weeks

2011-03-27T14:30:00.000-04:00

I'm 17 weeks!

I'm so happy to say I'm feeling SO much better now! I know some women are nauseous throughout their pregnancy, but I'm so thankful mine seems to disappear right around the middle of the 15th week!

Here is a picture of my belly then and now! We were on our babymoon in Florida when I was 15 weeks with Carys, which explains why I would be wearing a tank top in March! I feel so much bigger this time around, but it's probably just because my belly popped out a little sooner. Looking at these photos there isn't really much of a difference.

One bummer is that I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes again. I was devastated when I found out I had it with Carys, but I knew my chances were pretty high that I would have it again this pregnancy, so it wasn't much of a shock. Because I had it before, they tested me early. Anyone who has failed the 1 hour test and had to go through the 3 hour test knows that it's no picnic, but can I just say that it's practically torture when they make you take it while you are still experiencing morning sickness! I couldn't eat anything all morning, so I arrived at the office already feeling horrible and things just got worse from there. About half-way through the test, I got sick and apparently getting sick during your test is an automatic fail. My doctor did say that I could take the test again in a few weeks, if I wanted to be sure, but there was no way I wanted to go through that again! So, it's back to eating a reduced carbohydrate diet and testing my sugar 4x's a day. Thankfully with Carys, I was able to control my blood sugar with just diet and exercise, and so far just watching what I eat has been working this time too.

A lot of blogs I read do weekly pregnancy highlights. I know myself better than to think that I will keep up with this every week, but I figured I would try to do it a few times during this pregnancy because I know I will appreciate being able to look back on it someday. Also, it's fun to compare this pregnancy to my pregnancy with Carys since I didn't blog back then!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 17 Weeks

Size of baby: About 5 ounces and 5 inches long, around the size of a baked potato

Maternity Clothes: Yes please! I've been wearing maternity jeans and pants for awhile. Also wearing my regular pants with a Belly band. I can still wear most of my normal tops though.

Gender: Don't know yet!

Movement: Last week I started feeling little wiggles, and now it's pretty regular when I am sitting still or laying down.

What I miss: Treats - Ice Cream and Pizza mostly!

Cravings: Mostly Carbs and Peanut Butter, but with my diet that's gotten a little tricky! I started buying mini bagels, and I love those with cream cheese or with hot ham & cheese.

Symptoms: Just some belly aches and pressure from growing. It feels more intense this time around and I have to be extra careful when I roll over, cough or sneeze!

Best Moment this week: Feeling the baby start to move - such an amazing feeling!

And of course, I can't do a blog post without some pics of Big Sister

This is usually what I get when I ask her to smile!

Blast off!

We've started talking to Carys about me having a baby and her being a big sister. The other day we were looking at a magazine together and there was a picture of a pregnant woman. I told Carys that she had a baby in her belly, just like Mommy. She looked at the picture, looked at my belly, and then lifted my shirt to check it out! It was so cute, and I am constantly amazed at how much she understands. So, I had to explain that the baby is inside Mommy's belly and she won't be able to see him/her for awhile!

She's all Country

2011-03-19T13:45:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, the weather warmed up quite a bit and Carys was antsy to get outside. When Scott opened our back door to take the garbage out, Carys ran out onto the deck and then refused to come in! Scott, not minding a little outside time himself, decided that the melting snow was perfect packing for a snowman, so the two of them went to work.

I passed out our snowman kit and also offered to get them some socks and shoes, but apparently they were already too busy to be bothered!

And the finished product! I love these two crazy, barefoot bumpkins!

(Disclaimer: No toes were frostbitten during the making of this snowman.)

Gymnastics

2011-03-18T15:17:00.000-04:00

Carys started a gymnastics class in January and it has been so much fun. She loves it and I can already see a vast improvement in her motor skills since we started. Her "coach" is also the owner of the gym and you can tell that she loves teaching Carys's age group. She does such a fantastic job!

Chasing her around wears me out, but even on the days I wasn't feeling well I was still excited to take her because she just has so much fun! I was a little disappointed that we had to miss a class when we took our trip out west. Thankfully we were able to make up that session up during the weekend class, and that meant Scott was able to go with us! They had a different instructor for this class, so Carys was a little leery at first. He was really great with the kids and did some of the same routines, so she warmed up in no time. Another bonus...since I didn't have to chase her I was able to snap some pictures!

So, here's our little gymnast hard at work!

Using her muscles!

Next time I'm going to have to try to get a video of her 'jumping' on the trampoline - it's hilarious!

Trip Out West

2011-03-16T23:38:00.000-04:00

In February, we flew out to Lake Havasu City, AZ to visit with Scott's parents. They spend the winter there and it is absolutely beautiful. The last time we went I was about 5 months pregnant with Carys. This time we had Carys and I was pregnant with baby #2 - it's amazing how quickly things change!

The one part of the trip we weren't looking forward to was the 4+ hour flight to get there. I had Carys's bag stuffed with snacks, toys, and books to help keep her entertained. We also loaded up the ipod with episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and that turned out to be the biggest hit. This girl loves Mickey!

Making herself comfortable!

We figured flying was a good reason to make an exception to our bedtime only paci rule, and I'm sure the surrounding passengers appreciated it!

It was a good thing that we were prepared for the flight, because by the time we landed I think we had pulled out every trick we had, but thankfully we managed to arrive meltdown free! Once we got there, we had a nice, relaxing week. Unlike previous trips, we didn't really have too many plans other than to spend as much time as possible outside soaking up the sun, so that's what we did.

Carys loved running around the back yard and her favorite part was looking down at the three dogs running around in yard below. She learned how to say "hi" while we were there and she would yell "hi" and then "mu-wah" to blow them a kiss. The poor dogs weren't sure what to do, so they just barked at her non-stop!

The weather was so nice, that we went downtown everyday to walk along the water and play in the park. Of course Carys loved every minute!

Another part Carys didn't mind was the non-stop attention from Papa and Meme. This girl loves her grandparents!

Carys discovered her shadow, so Meme showed her how to make her shadow dance!

Midweek Scott and I were able to sneak away for an overnight date night. We decided that we loved being in Havasu, so we just stayed in town and booked a room down by the water. It was so nice to be able to go out to lunch, take our time eating, and really have a chance to talk. After lunch, we took an extra long walk, got some ice cream, stopped at a brewery, and then headed back to the room for a nap. We had planned on going out for dinner too, but I wasn't feeling that great, so Scott picked up some takeout and we watched a movie. It was a really low-key night, but it just felt great to reconnect and spend time with just the two of us.

The beautiful view from our room

The rest of the week, was pretty much the same - more sunshine, parks and walking! After all the snow we had been having back home - it was exactly what we needed!

Thanks Papa and Meme for a beautiful week - we love you!

Hibernating...

2011-03-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

First off, thanks for all the kind words about baby #2. We are so thrilled! I am due September 3rd, so that puts me in my 15th week. This is exciting to me for two reasons:

1. We are out of the scary first trimester

2. This is the magic week that my ~~morning~~ all-day sickness went away when I was pregnant with Carys (fingers crossed)!

So, the last couple of months we have had tons of snow! That combined with non-stop dry heaves and feeling like I need as much sleep as a newborn meant that I haven't felt like doing much, so with the exception of a few activities here and there, Carys and I have been making like the bears and hibernating! We did find ways to pass the time though...

Like trying new hair do's, piggy tails!

Pretending the sun was shining,

Baking cupcakes, yum!

Getting excited about a new dishwasher, or at least the giant box it came in!

Bringing some snow inside to play!

Coloring with our friends Minnie Mouse and Baby,

Trying on Daddy's shoes,

Having a tea party with more friends,

and modeling our new backpack!

And if you are wondering how much snow is a lot - check out these pictures...

Poor Scott had to do SO much shoveling and snowblowing, and was running out of places to put it! Carys loved it though. She loves to be outside and the cold doesn't seem to bother her one bit. She definitely has Yooper blood! In fact, we took her to the park one weekend. We brought her sled to pull her around, but she was fascinated with trying to walk in the snow and wanted nothing to do with the sled.

We also went snowshoeing another weekend. Unfortunately, that didn't last too longer because a blizzard started as soon as we got out of the car. The snow was coming down so fast and thick it was hard to see. We did manage to hike out to the lake and back, but that was it. Both times - I ended up pulling the plug because I was getting cold and both times Carys had a meltdown when we put her back in the car!

I promise - Carys was having fun!

So that about sums up the last couple of months. Carys started taking gymnastics, so we have been doing that once a week. It's exhausting chasing her around, but she loves it, so that makes it totally worth it! Also we did manage to get unburied and escape the snow for a week. We headed out to sunny Arizona to visit Scott's parents, so stay tuned... I'll be posting those pics soon!

Happy News!

2011-03-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's been forever since I've blogged, but before I catch up on the last couple of months activities, I have a little announcement. Carys goes by many nicknames in our house, in fact even though we love her name - we rarely call her by it! Usually you'll hear us saying....

Bug,

Buggers,

Bugsy,

Monkey,

Monk,

Punky,

and the list goes on, but lately there is one nickname that I have been so excited to call her......

SISSY!

Yep, as in Big Sister!!! Our sweet baby Bug is going to be a Big Sister and we couldn't be more excited!

2010 Flashback

2011-02-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

January

Carys tried her first food - avocado - and loved it! We also took a little trip to see Nicholas and his mom and dad. The kids loved checking each out!

February

We had a special visit from Grandma Alice. She came for the weekend and then stayed a few extra days to watch Carys while Mom and Dad were at work. She loved playing with Grandma all day!

March

Carys took her first plane ride and was so good! We went to St. Augustine, FL for a short getaway. It was cold, but we still had fun!

April

We celebrated Carys's first Easter and she loved emptying out her Easter basket!

May

May was a busy month. We took two trips to MI, one to celebrate our friend Nick's first birthday and a second to ride in the Zoo-de-Mack! Carys did great in her first bike ride! Unfortunately the month ended with a sick baby and even a trip to the ER, but thankfully everything was fine and Carys was back to her sweet self in no time!

June

June marked the beginning of a very exciting and busy summer for us. Carys decided to heck with crawling and was cruising all over the place. We took a fun trip back home to the UP for Scott's family reunion. I loved meeting so many extended family members, including some fun cousins that came all the way up from Texas! Also, June marked the end of an era for me. I said goodbye to my paying job and became a full-time stay-at-home mom. I can't say that every day has been easy, but it is by far the best job I've ever had and I'm still so thankful that I get to do this!

July

In July we loaded up the truck (and van, and car, and Uhaul, and another truck) and moved to ~~Beverly~~ home to Michigan! Also, Carys took her first solo steps on the 4th of July, and even Uncle Hoon was here to witness it! In the midst of packing though, we were able to squeeze in some super fun trips to the beach and the zoo.

August

This was probably the best month of the year. We took what is now our favorite family trip to Bar Harbor, Maine and celebrated Carys's first birthday. Also, Carys officially began walking while we were in Maine - we have soo many great memories from this month!

September

We spent a lot of time outside this month with many trips to the park, downtown, and of course the apple orchard. Carys also started swim lessons and we joined a fun, new playgroup!

October

More fall fun this month with a special trip back to the farm with the Quads, pumpkin picking and of course, trick-or-treating!

November

The beginning of the month we headed north to watch Scott and Uncle Hoon compete in the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race, which I just realized I never blogged about. Then of course there's Thanksgiving - yum! Always the highlight of every November - I love Thanksgiving. We had so much to be thankful for this year, and I loved being able to celebrate in our home with our family!

December

We had so much fun this year celebrating this Christmas with Carys - it was pure joy to watch her get excited and now I can't wait for next year!

I do realize that it is February of 2011 already, but I had started this post in the beginning of January and just never finished it! It was fun to look back and see how small Carys was at the beginning of last year, and how many fun memories we made. I'm also very thankful that I have this blog (even though I've been a slacker lately) because it is so much fun to have these special moments documented. I already love looking back at older posts and I'm sure it will be even more special as Carys gets older!

Up North

2011-01-16T22:37:00.000-05:00

We stayed up north for a week after Christmas, but in my last post I only made it through the first couple of days. After the fun of opening all our presents, we spent the rest of the week doing a lot of eating and relaxing! It was a nice break for all of us.

The weather was a little crazy - cold, then warm with rain, then back to cold. When it wasn't raining, we managed to squeeze in some time in the snow. Grandma and Grandpa bought Carys this sled and she had fun getting pulled around the block!

This girl loves the snow!

Of course, there was more playtime with Grandma!

We all were able to get out and do some snowshoeing out at Uncle Rich's. We weren't sure how Carys was going to like being bundled up in the backpack, but she loved it! (don't let the face below fool you, she always gets serious when we really want her to smile!)

After snowshoeing, we had fun hanging out with Uncle Rich for a bit, but before we went inside Carys had to check out the decorations at Grandma Bernie's next door!

She loved these guys. She would walk up to them and laugh and wave.

Then we got inside and she discovered even more fun stuff! Auntie Beth had so many Christmas "friends" for Carys to see that she wasn't sure where to go first, but this moose definitely ended up being her favorite! It was so funny to watch her carry him around. She would grunt and groan every time she tried to lift him, but still insisted on carrying him all over!

The three of us at the bar getting some snacks!

After snack time, Daddy and Uncle Hoon showed Carys how to bust a move!

She had fun dancing with Daddy, but when he put her down of course she had to show them her own moves! She loves to dance!

After hanging out for a few days, Scott and I had plans to get away and have some time to ourselves. When the morning came for us to leave though, we were both a wreck. It's not that we had a problem leaving her with Grandpa and Grandma, we knew she would be in great hands with them, but we just didn't like the feeling of leaving her behind. It was my first time spending the night away from her (Daddy has been on a few business trips without us). I'm not gonna lie I was pretty excited about the opportunity to actually sleep in, but it still felt SO wrong to leave my baby. It sounds really silly now, but it was hard!

So, after finding the courage to leave, we headed up to Marquette. We arrived at the Landmark Inn a little too early to check in, so we had lunch in their Northland Pub. It was so nice to have time to talk and eat without interruptions, and it didn't take us long to relax and really start enjoying each other's company. We definitely needed the time away and I know it was good for Carys to have some quality time with her grandparents.

After lunch we checked in and found out we were staying in....

How appropriate!

The Inn was so charming, and it was cool to stay in a beautiful, historic building. After getting settled we took off to walk around downtown to do some shopping and exploring. Marquette is such a beautiful city - I love it! They have lots of cool little shops and restaurants, and a huge bookstore where of course we picked up a fun little present for our bug. After exploring, we headed back to our room. I took a little nap while Scott went to work out, which was perfect for both of us! When Scott got back we were getting ready for dinner, and I got some texts from Grandpa letting us knowing that Carys was having fun. I think he wanted to make sure we were too and knew that would help! For dinner, I wanted to go back to the Casa Calabria. We had eaten there a few years ago and I'll never forget the garlic bread. It is amazing! Seriously, when you pick up a piece it is dripping with the most amazing garlic butter I've ever tasted. It really is a good thing that this restaurant is about 500 miles away from home, or else I could really be in some serious trouble!

After dinner, we took our dessert to go and headed back to our room. We called it a night pretty early and just as I expected, sleeping in was amazing! We were laughing at how old we must be getting when the best part of our vacation is sleeping! ha! We stopped to get breakfast at the Sweet Water Cafe. It was really busy so the service was a little slow. We agreed it was a good thing we didn't have Carys with us - she never would have lasted! When the food finally arrived though, it was worth the wait...so good! After all that food, we decided we needed to get out and get some exercise, so we headed to Presque Isle to do some snow shoeing. It felt good to be outside and like always, Lake Superior was beautiful.

It was probably about 40 degrees out and had actually been raining off and on, but we were still shocked when we saw two guys kayaking in the frigid water! That would be a little too crazy for me!

After snowshoeing, we were anxious to hit the road and get back to see Carys. She had had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa and when we walked in she walked us right over to her toys and started playing like we never left! Then we rang in the New Year with Grandma and Grandpa...well, we all said Happy New Year to each other a few hours early and then went to bed, so nothing too exciting there! After that, it was time to head home. We had a really great time, and it was a much needed get away for us after the crazy hours Scott had worked over the holidays. We were bummed that we didn't get to see more of Scott's extended family, but hopefully we'll see everyone when we head up again this summer!

Christmas: Part Deux

2011-01-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is a recap of the rest of our Christmas holiday. I thought it would be a good idea to get moving on it since it is a new year already!

Thursday night we celebrated Christmas with my dad. Before he came over, Carys got this crazy burst of energy and was running around the house with her cupcakes and cracking us up. We tried to snap a few pictures with her in the kitchen, but she wasn't really interested.

When my dad arrived, we had a very nice dinner and then opened presents. Carys got this sweet, little rocker from my dad and she loves it!

It was a pretty low-key evening. It was nice to just spend time with my dad, and after Carys went to bed he was able to stay and chat for awhile. We called it a night pretty early though. Scott had worked all day on Wednesday and then got called back in and ended up working all night, so needless to say, he was ready to get some sleep!

Friday morning, Scott made us breakfast and then had to head into work. Carys and I had fun playing with her new toys for most of the day while we waited for Aunt Lynnette to arrive from Nashville!

She loves throwing all her toys in the laundry basket and then hopping in herself!

Finally, Aunt Nettie arrived and Carys had so much fun entertaining both of us. Unfortunately, most of the pictures we took that night were on Lynnette's camera, so I only have a couple.

Showing Aunt Nettie the Christmas tree,

cleaning up the house,

chilling on the couch,

"calling" Daddy!

Scott got home in time to help put Carys in bed and then the three of us had dinner and had fun catching up with Lynnette. Then Lynnette ran out to see some friends, while Scott and I got to work wrapping presents and getting everything ready for Santa's visit!

Christmas Morning!

Almost all of these presents, had Carys's name on them - apparently someone thought she had been a very, very good girl this year!

We decided to stay home and celebrate Christmas together as a family and we had such a great day! We were so excited for Carys to get up that morning and open her presents. She loved unwrapping everything, but then she immediately wanted to open the box and play with whatever was inside. Needless to say, it took most of the day to finally open all of her presents!

After getting about halfway through the presents, we took a break for breakfast. Scott made an awesome egg scramble and we had cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon rolls were always a tradition with my family, and I've decided we need to keep it going! We just had the tube kind this year, but I'm thinking next year I'll get a little more fancy and try my luck with the Pioneer Woman's recipe, since they are supposed to be the best!

After breakfast, we opened more presents. We spent most of the day playing with Carys and packing for our trip up north. For dinner, Scott and I broke out my new cookware and made my MIL's Swedish meatballs. They were SOO good and Carys loved them!

Then we just chilled together for the night. It was so fun to watch Carys enjoy all of her new toys. One thing's for sure, we are both blessed with families that love this little girl and have no problem spoiling her!

Scott had to work again on Sunday, but the plan was to leave around noon to head up north. Unfortunately, Scott got stuck at work and we weren't able to leave until Monday, so Carys and I spent the day cleaning.

She loves to help vacuum

and mop!

On Monday, we hit the road at 4 AM hoping Carys would sleep most of the way. Thankfully our plan worked, and we made it to the bridge in record time! We were heading up to spend the week with Scott's family and they were anxious for us to get there!

Of course, there was a whole new round of presents to open, so we spent Monday and Tuesday just hanging out, opening presents and playing. Carys had a blast and she was in her glory with the non-stop attention from Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Hoon!

We had such a wonderful Christmas, and it was so fun to watch Carys really enjoy it this year!

We are SO thankful to both of our families for helping to make it so memorable and for spoiling our sweet girl with so many wonderful gifts!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T23:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2010-12-22T23:38:00.000-05:00

We had our first family Christmas tonight and it was such a fun day! Before everyone arrived I asked Carys to help me clean. Her version of cleaning involves making a giant mess and then putting two things away. Baby steps...that's better than nothing, right!

And yes, I put her in this crazy outfit - I pulled out everything she has that is Christmas-y and put it all on! Next year, I may need to step it up a little in the holiday apparel department.

My sister, nephews and mom all came over early in the day, so we could hang out while the guys were working, and we quickly got to work ourselves making some sweet treats.

Of course, lots of silliness ensued, but eventually we managed to assemble something that resembled the cute, tiny village on the box. I can't say that every house had the correct number of walls (and one may be missing a roof, that we decided would be the open air theater), but in the end we were pretty proud of our sweet little village! Oh, and in case you are wondering, "Yes, it's all eat-able" at least according to Tyler.

The tall white one is the theater - the entire left side is ~~missing~~ open.

And no cookie village is complete without a tall glass of milk to wash it all down, so Travis and Tyler are wondering....

Got Milk?

Unfortunately, Carys missed the crazy, cookie village party because she was napping. Probably a good thing though because we would have been missing a lot more of our "materials" if she was around. I swear the only candy that child has had is a dum-dum sucker, but somehow she has learned to quickly identify all varieties, and is not happy (to say the least) when she's told she can't have any!

She was super happy to wake up and see that her cousins were still here though - she loves playing with them!

She was also really excited to see that there were quite a few more presents under the tree.

Shortly after her nap, Daddy, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Dave, Great Grandma and Bumpa arrived and we had dinner and opened presents.

Visiting with Great Grandma

Trying to steal the candy canes off the top of the boys' gift.

Opening her first present

The family representing the "D"

Lovely pot holder Uncle Kevin!

Boys with Bumpa

And last, but not least, our elusive family photo.

We had a great day, it was so fun to hang out with my family and it's even better to watch Carys playing so hard and having such a good time. I'm looking forward to every moment of this season, and so very thankful that the Reason for this magical Christmas time has so greatly blessed our family.

Wishing you the JOY and PEACE of the season that only comes from HIM!

Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

Today we went to cut down our Christmas tree and it was a winter wonderland outside! I was ready to get our tree in November, but Scott has been working a lot of hours, so we wanted to wait until he had some time off. I was so excited to wake up this morning and see snow! It was a perfect day to hunt for our tree!

First I have to show you what Carys looked like this morning. Scott got her dressed and then she wanted her mittens and boots on, so she was running around the house looking crazy! She's been wanting to wear these boots ever since we brought them home. Auntie Jenn, mom of our favorite quads, passed them along to us. They are a little big, but Carys loves them!

We all got bundled up for the cold, and headed out to the farm. Carys is not looking too happy here because Dad went outside without her!

We were excited to get Carys outside when we got to the tree farm. She hasn't played in the snow yet, but we were pretty sure she was going to love it...and she did! They had sleds to help you drag your tree back, so we grabbed one, put Carys in and told her to hang on!

Not sure at first...

but I think she liked it!

Dad even let Mom climb in and he took us both for a ride!

After sledding through the trees, we found one we liked and stopped to let Scott cut it down. Carys did pretty good walking in the snow, as long as she stayed on our sled trail. It got a little too tricky for her when she veered off and tried to break trail!

I gave her a snowball and of course she had to taste it, yummy!

Scott didn't waste much time - he cut this down before we could yell "timber"!

Eating more snow...

Our master tree chopper!

After we got our tree bundled, we loaded up and headed home. The snow had been coming down pretty good, so Scott started shoveling and of course, Carys wanted to stay outside and play too!

She was having a blast, but the snow was pretty wet, so her hands were soaked. I decided it was time to head inside before she got too cold, and she was not happy about this idea. I think she would have played out there all afternoon!

After we got inside, we got down to business decorating the tree. Carys loved checking out the lights, and I so wish I would have gotten a picture of her face when we first plugged them in...it was pure joy! She helped pull out all of the ornament boxes and stayed so busy getting them ready for me to hang on the tree.

(notice she has her boots back on!)

Today was one of the reasons I so love this season. We got outside in the beautiful, white, fluffy snow, listened to Christmas music while we decorated the tree, and had a great time together as a family. And now we are going to curl up in the glow of the lights with the whole house smelling like fresh pine, and watch a movie - pretty much a perfect day in my book!

16 Months

2010-12-11T00:17:00.000-05:00

Our baby is 16 months old and here's what she's been up to...

Learned to climb up on the couch
Is trying to climb on just about everything else. Anything left on the floor is fair game for use as a footstool!
Loves hugs and kisses, and is an equal opportunity kisser. If she gives me a kiss, she'll look around the house for Daddy and make sure she gives him one too!
She does NOT like for Scott and me to hug or kiss without her getting in there too! If we hug, she'll beg to be picked up and hugged too!
We do a group hug every night before bed and then she waves good-bye to Daddy, I sing her Jesus Loves Me, and then lay her down for the night.
She sleeps with her baby doll and polka dot blanket. Some nights we have to search the house for her baby. Thanks to Grandma Alice - she's a really good hider!
She's a great eater still and I can't think of anything that she has absolutely refused to eat.
She has started making all these funny faces and when I ask her to do something she doesn't want to or she doesn't like something, she squints her eyes, wrinkles her nose and purses her lips - it's pretty hilarious, so I have to try really hard not to laugh.
She's not shy and loves to wave at everyone - except for when we ask her to wave then she doesn't want to.
She's not a great shopper. She wants to get down and run or she starts fussing and is really loud! Suckers usually make her a better shopper, so I now travel with suckers.
She takes one nap a day, usually from 11 am - 1 pm. I jinxed myself a couple of months ago when I blogged that she was still taking 2 naps - she pretty much dropped the 2nd one the next day!
She is sleeping well at night, but lately has decided to keep getting up earlier and earlier, so that's our latest challenge.
When I pick her up in the morning, she pulls out her pacifier, says "Dada", and points to her door.
She's not happy when she checks the house and he's already left for work (I wouldn't be surprised if this is why she keeps getting up earlier!)
We only give her a pacifier to sleep and sometimes for long car rides. Most of the time she doesn't mind handing it to me to put it away. I think it may be more of a habit for us then her.
In the car, she doesn't want to listen to anything except her Veggie Tales CD. We have listened to this CD at least 136 times, but she still loves it.
"Dada" is her most frequent word, sometimes she says "Mumma" and "uh oh" (if that's a word), and I also think that she's said "all done" a few times.
She learned how to open her closet door and loves to bring me her shoes to put on. She wears about 3-4 different pairs a day and has started insisting on wearing certain ones. She wore her black patent dress shoes with her sweatpants to swim class the other day. I'm picking my battles! ha!
She loves to "help" and will dust, put her clothes away, and sweep. She'll also help pick up if we sing the "Clean up" song.
She likes to try to do the motions for Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (she usually only gets head, toes and nose) and Itsy Bitsy Spider (this one she holds her hands together until Itsy is washed out - she likes to do out!)

That's about all I can think of for now - she does so much everyday and we have so much fun with her. She is such a sweet little girl! Here's a few pictures of her in action...

Coloring with her new crayons

Helping mom make mini pizzas!

"Helping" with the laundry

And finally - her teeth! Here they are! I think she's working on some more, but for now it's just these two.

Festival of Trees

2010-12-05T20:10:00.000-05:00

Our weekend was pretty chill, Scott had to work, so we stuck close to home. We did get out yesterday to go out to eat and run some errands. Today we did some Christmas shopping and then decided to stop at the Festival of Trees to check it out. Carys loved looking at all the lights and watching the figure skaters. She also meet Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph - both were walking around saying "Hi" to all the kids. Then we stopped to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. Santa even brought Donder and Blitzen with him, so we were able to meet them too! I forgot my camera, but snapped a couple of pictures on my phone.

Here's Blitzen, or maybe Donder?

This was the third time Carys saw Santa this year. She isn't scared to go up and say hello, but she had absolutely no interest in sitting on his lap and gets a little nervous anytime we get too close!

I'm sure I look super happy because I was trying to convince Carys that it was okay to sit!

That was about it for our weekend - thankfully Scott didn't have to work too much, so we still had time to have some fun!

Butterfly Kisses

2010-12-04T20:26:00.000-05:00

We went out to eat and ran some errands today, and on the way home Carys was in the backseat just squealing and laughing. I turned around to see what she was up to and and she was sticking her fingers in front of her eyes and every time her eyelashes brushed her fingers she started laughing. I swear, she never stops cracking us up.

Thankful

2010-11-29T16:18:00.000-05:00

I love Thanksgiving and we had a really, great weekend this year. Scott unfortunately had to work Thursday & Friday, and Carys was sick for the first half of the week, but thankfully she felt better on Thursday and Scott was still able to make it to both of our Thanksgiving dinners! I cooked my first, full turkey dinner this year, and I can honestly say that it was pretty good and I had a lot of fun doing it! Our schedule was a little crazy. We went to my mom's house in the early afternoon for our first dinner, and then my sister's family and my brother all came back with us to our house to have dinner with my dad and grandma. It was a whirlwind day, but it was great spending it with family! Carys had a blast playing with my nephews and by the end of the night, she had warmed up enough that she was entertaining all of us with her dance moves! ha!

Tyler and Carys at Grandma Judy's

Carys LOVED playing with Aunt Lisa!

Me and my handsome bro!

Carys with the teddy bear purse that was mine when I was her age!

My first turkey! (full disclosure - it was dry. I overcooked it, but not bad for a 1st attempt!)

All the fixins'!

I made the Pioneer Women's Soul Sweet Taters (except I did half marshmallows, half pecan topping) and used her mashed potato recipe. I made Grandma Alice's recipe for stuffing and followed her instructions on making gravy. I also made Scott a pecan pie - his special request. I was a little stressed trying to figure out how to make dinner when we weren't even going to be home for part of the day, but I made all the sides the day before and that was definitely the way to go. The turkey cooked faster than I expected, so by the time we got back from my mom's it was already over temperature, but at least I'll know not to make the same mistake next year! Overall, with the exception of Scott working most of the day and the turkey, everything turned out great.

I have so much to be thankful for everyday, but in the spirit of the season I'd thought I'd share some of the things I'm most thankful for...

like these two...

spending all my time with this one,

and the little things that remind me how sweet this time of our lives is, like...

shoes in the dishwasher,

Little People in my boots,

and watching the joy of discovering cool, new things like a flashlight!

Hope your Thanksgiving was full of love and good food!

Swim Date

2010-11-19T10:29:00.001-05:00

Scott has been working a lot of hours lately. That combined with a trip out of town meant that he hasn't had much time to spend with Carys lately, so we were super excited when he called yesterday to say his schedule was clear for a few hours and he was going to meet us at swim class!

She had so much fun swimming with both her mommy and daddy! Carys is in the middle of her second round of classes and is doing so well. I almost didn't sign up for this session, but I'm glad we did. She loves the water, and even though we had a rocky start to her lessons, she's really improved and now loves to go. Most weeks I have a hard time getting her out of the pool!

Her instructor is so sweet and has an awesome camera/video recorder that is completely waterproof. She took some pictures during our last couple of lessons and was kind enough to send them to me. The two pictures above are from the one and only time she wore water wings. She actually wanted them on! Before that and since then - she screams whenever they get close to her!

15 Months

2010-11-19T10:27:00.000-05:00

This post is a little over due, but at the beginning of this month Carys was 15 months old. I really can't believe how quickly time is going by - I know I say that every month, but it's so true!

Yesterday we had her 15 month check up and I can say one thing for sure. When Carys doesn't like something she is not afraid to let the whole world know, or at least the entire Dr.'s office. She was fine playing with the toys in the waiting room, but as soon as we walked into the exam room - she took one look at the table and the meltdown began. The poor girl trying to take her measurements had to get help from another girl in the office and between the three of us we were able to get the job done. Poor Carys, I even asked for her sucker early to try to help her calm down, but nothing worked. She screamed and clung to me and pointed to the door. She wanted out! Thankfully everyone was really sensitive, and helped us get everything done as quickly as possible! Then as soon as we left she was a happy camper again! Before we left I heard the doctor say (it was pretty difficult to have a conversation with all the screaming) that she was growing and developing just fine and she was in the 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height. He did confirm again that she's a little chunky, but nothing we have to worry about. I did let him know that she is a great eater - I really can't think of anything that she's absolutely refused to eat and we've tried a lot of different things. She's like her Momma - loves food!

She looked like such a big girl in her jeans, just laying there 'reading' a book!

Carys is really amazing us with how much she understands. She still isn't saying much (her only words are Mumma, Dada and Ah-dah (which still has multiple meanings)), but she knows SO much. She still loves to read and in every book we have (and we have a LOT) she can point out most of the objects in the pictures when asked. She knows the signs for milk, eat, more, hot, bath and monkey (ha!) and also can point to most of her body parts. She also can point out people in the room if you ask, Where's Grandma? Where's Daddy? Where's Nick? etc.

A couple other things to share... last month Carys experienced a few firsts! (in no particular order)

She had her first Sonic apple juice slush! I'm addicted to Sonic diet vanilla cokes, but unfortunately since we moved the nearest Sonic is about 45 minutes away. It is right next to Costco though, so at least we can get a treat once a month after our Costco trip! It also comes in handy as a great distraction while I unload the car!

Another BIG first... was this girl finally has some teeth!!!!

As you can see I wasn't too successful in getting a shot of them, but her two, front, bottom teeth came in at right about the same time. I could see them, but couldn't feel them. Then the Monday before Halloween she took a drink out of my water glass and I heard them! I think more are on their way because she still chews on everything (mostly her hands) and has been a little whiny. She did really good eating pretty much anything without them, but we are glad they are finally coming out! Just one more thing though that's reminding me she's no longer our little baby - those adorable gummy smiles are grown up now too!

She got her first ice cream cone after we visited the pumpkin patch.

It wasn't just any ice cream either - it was a chocolate custard cone from Jimmy's! So yummy!

She was all business, and polished off her kiddie cone so fast! Of course, she didn't want to stop eating to smile for the camera, so you'll just have to trust me that she loved it!

Another thing she started this past month was walking backwards. She loves to run around the house after her bath and one night she just turned around and walked backwards into her room. She had a look on her face that was hilarious - it pretty much said..."Whoa, check me out - I am so cool!" She was definitely proud of herself and while I was cracking up laughing at her, Scott was panicking that she was going to run into something! She did pretty good avoiding the walls though, and we all spent the night laughing as she would run around, and then suddenly spin and moonwalk! We did get a video, but of course she always gets shy when we whip that out, so it's not the best one of her performances that night. I would upload it anyway, but I can't find my cord. Sorry!

So that's about it for the highlights of the past month. Carys is really such a joy to be around and everyday I'm so thankful that God blessed our lives with her. Sure, we have our moments - she's definitely learning to be more 'outspoken' about getting her way and we are feeling a little challenged entering this new phase of having to start disciplining her (which thankfully is rare at this point), but really she is so sweet and fun and we love her more than we ever thought possible!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

Halloween Weekend

2010-11-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

We had a really fun weekend. Grandma and Grandpa V. decided to come down for a visit. We haven't seen them since the Bug's birthday party, so even though we are getting together with them next weekend - they were free and decided to head down. I think they were having some serious Carys withdrawals! We had a great time visiting and I know Carys was loving all the extra attention.

Carys was a butterfly for Halloween and she loved wearing her costume! I decided to do a trial run a few weeks ago to make sure it fit. Well, she liked it so much she ended up running all over the house playing in it!

Showing off her "muscles"

So, I was hopeful that once Halloween arrived we'd have no problem getting her dressed up. I put on her shirt and tights, but we were just hanging out for awhile and I didn't want to put her in her full costume and have her get hot. She saw her hat though and wanted it on, so Dad helped her with that. Then she got to work inspecting the candy for the trick-or-treaters. She was really interested in the bubble gum, she kept digging for those and pulling them out.

Our trick-or-treating traffic started to pick up and Grandma Judy had arrived to help pass out candy with Grandma Alice and Grandpa Tom, so we decided it was time to get our Bug suited up and head out to let her try some trick-or-treating. By this time she had taken her hat off, but Dad had her dressed with the rest of her costume. We started looking for her hat, so we could leave and it was no where to be found. I didn't want to leave without it, so we started tearing apart the house trying to find it. Oh - and let me just say that Grandma Alice was playing a lot of new games with Carys this weekend. One of them of course being hide and seek. Carys had been hiding her toys for Grandma to find, so with that new "trick" we were realizing that this hat could be anywhere! So, we had five adults, in a not very large house, checking every nook and cranny. We even ran downstairs to check the laundry chute (twice) and still no hat. Then, don't ask me how she thought to look, but Grandma Judy decided to check Carys! Scott was holding her and she reached inside her little butterfly outfit and pulled out an antennae, and said, "what's this?" At this point (way more excited than I should be) I yelled, "That's it, That's it!!" I have no idea how it got in there. Scott doesn't remember seeing the hat around when he got her dressed, so it could have already been in there or maybe she stuffed it in - who knows! I do know that this really isn't the most exciting story, but if you could have seen the insanity of every one of us on a mission to try and chase down this stinkin hat - it was really quite comical!

So here we are - finally ready to take Carys out for her first time trick-or-treating.

We weren't sure how she would do and had planned to only hit one or two of our neighbor's houses and then head home. We were surprised though because she loved it! She wanted to hold her bag and walked right up to every door! We ended up hitting about 10-15 houses, and got lots of compliments on our adorable, little bug!

When we finally made it back to our house, Carys walked up to her Grandmas got some candy from both of them, and then turned around and started walking away toward the next house! Apparently, she wasn't quite ready to be done! It was pretty chilly though, so we decided it was best to call it a night. Plus, we had a nice dinner of chili and cornbread waiting and it was time to eat!

We had a great time. I loved seeing all the costumes and I think my favorite was a little Christmas tree complete with real ornaments and lights - I totally want to copy that idea. We also got a ton of trick-or-treaters! At the beginning of the night, Scott and Grandpa were giving me a hard time about all the candy I bought, thinking we would have a lot left over, but we ran out of candy and ended up passing out all of Carys's. Sorry Bug - it's all yours next year!

Little of This, Little of That

2010-10-27T22:25:00.001-04:00

I was going through my pictures this month and noticed that I missed a few that I wanted to blog about, so this post is going to be a mish-mash of some of the things we've had happening over the last few weeks.

I know I already shared the pics I took on our date with the Quads to the pumpkin patch, but Auntie Jenn took some pictures too, and they were just too cute not to share!

The gang, just missing the Daddies!

Cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Oh and just a quick flashback, this was Carys last year on her very first trip to the pumpkin patch.

Our sweet, tiny, little bug!

So happy to be a family of three!

Back to present day, we've had a couple of playdates with Carys's friend Nick and these two have a lot of fun together. Actually getting a good picture of the two of them together though - is not fun.

They either refuse to look at the camera,

or when Nick decides to look, Carys attacks his ear,

and then Nick says, "I'm outta here."

They really do keep Tonya and I laughing though, and lunchtime is no exception. One time Nick decided he was going to entertain us by making silly faces and noises.

We were cracking up laughing, but apparently Carys was not impressed. She just kept looking at him like he was crazy,

so he tried a different face.

Nope, still nuts.

We had Tonya and Nick over again today for another playdate, and this time Carys was the entertainment at lunchtime. Although her form of entertainment was fussing up a storm, and this time it was Nick's turn to look at her like she was crazy! I wasn't too impressed with her behavior either, so needless to say I didn't get any pics of that - ha!

So, while we are talking about fussing and mealtimes, Carys has been getting more and more independent, and sometimes she prefers to only feed herself. This has been quite the challenge for both of us. I'm trying to relax because I know she should practice, but Oh-My-Word, is this girl a mess! Besides the usual smashing of food, throwing it on the floor and using it to 'condition' her hair, one of her favorite things to do is grab the spoon and flail it around until all the food flies off. This by far is the biggest mess, because the girl has an arm on her and food winds up halfway down the hall. I have learned though, that whatever you do - under no circumstances should you try to grab the spoon at this point. Apparently, this triggers battle mode and always involves screaming, more intense flailing, and only makes you target #1 for the flying food. It's best at this point to just walk away and get outside the fly zone!

All kidding aside though, she is getting better all the time with her spoon. She can put it in her mouth no problem, but we still help her scoop the food. She also likes to 'help' too by taking her finger food from the tray and placing it on the spoon before it goes in her mouth. Sometimes this means she eats peas on top of yogurt, or beans on top of applesauce, but hey - whatever works!

Scott was on-call a couple of weekends ago, so we needed to stay close to home. The weather was beautiful though, so we decided to get out and take a walk from Lighthouse beach over to Lakeside park. Of course, Carys had to check out the swings at the park. She loves swinging!

I love this picture - these two are best friends!

Love this one too!

It was really windy that day, so the lake had some pretty whitecaps.

Well, that's about it for now. I still need to share the pics from our trip to the farm with Daddy, and Carys has had a couple of "firsts" this month that I'll be sharing soon. We are really excited for the weekend. Grandpa T & Grandma A are coming down to visit and Carys is going to be a beautiful, little bug for Halloween. We've given her costume a trial run already and she looks adorable!

The Best Days of My Life

2010-10-21T14:19:00.000-04:00

...began four years ago today, when I said "I do" to my absolutely amazing husband.

Happy anniversary Scott! I'm so blessed to be able to share my life with you and Carys, and so thankful to have you as a partner.

The weekend of our wedding was so much fun and I have so many great memories. We had family and friends arriving from out of town and it was so special to know that everyone was there to help us celebrate. We received one of our favorite presents early. Scott's brother, David, got us this tandem bike and it was so cool!

Our rehearsal dinner was so relaxing and fun. All of our friends and immediate family were there, and we just enjoyed visiting, telling stories and laughing. My mom and Scott's dad both gave toasts that made us laugh and cry - it was the perfect start!

After getting ready at home that morning, we made our way to the church. I was so excited!

Our ceremony was beautiful, and everything I had hoped for - I really felt the vows that we made to each other that day in the presence of God, friends and family. It wasn't just about getting a piece of paper to 'make it official'. I really believe that our commitment to each other became a strong, spiritual bond. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's hard to describe other than to say that even though I knew Scott meant it when he asked me to marry him, that day I felt our commitment to each other so strongly, and it really was amazing.

Overall our wedding weekend was awesome! Even though there were some hiccups, like the florist calling the day before and saying all my flowers were dead, or the reception hall seating 8 chairs at every table when I requested and planned for 10, at the end of the day I knew I would be married to my best friend and all of the people that we loved most would be there to help us celebrate, so none of those silly details mattered.

Happy Anniversary Scott - the last 4 years have been amazing and I look forward to celebrating our life together for many, many years to come!

Chillin with my homies...

2010-10-17T22:38:00.000-04:00

This week was fun, Carys and I didn't have anything scheduled at the beginning of the week, so other than running errands, we just had fun at home. I decided to let Carys paint one afternoon and she loved it!

Other than tasting it, she wasn't interested in doing much else with the brush,

so I let her dive right in and finger paint.

She was a little more interested in playing with the plate of paint than actually painting the turtle, but she was having fun, so that's all that really matters!

And who needs toys when you have a nice big box to play with! She spent a lot of time pushing this around the house, filling it with toys, and then climbing in and emptying it out!

We had our playgroup on Wednesday and swim lessons again on Thursday. Carys really loves both, so it's been a lot of fun, and it's really nice to spend time making new friends. I'm so glad she finally likes her swim lesson. She still freaks if I try to put the water wings on her, so as long as we steer clear of those - she's happy!

On Friday we met our friends, Aunt Jen and the quads, at Blake's Orchard for some fun on the farm. The kids loved checking out the animals.

The quads all call the bug, Baby Carys, and they are all so sweet with her. Alyssa and Addison were giving her hugs and she loved it. She would walk up to them and lean in - then they'd wrap their arms around her.

After checking out the animals, we went on a hayride. Carys got a little antsy the last couple of minutes, but other than that she loved playing with the hay and pointing out all the pumpkins we passed.

We already picked out pumpkins last weekend with Daddy (I'm a little behind in my posts), but Carys still had fun checking out some more on the farm. She was trying to pick these big ones up, obviously they were a little too heavy for her, but she was still trying her hardest - grunting and all!

We had so much fun at the farm. We love hanging out with the quads!

This weekend was really chill. Scott was on-call last weekend and had had two weeks of working some pretty crazy hours, so we were very happy to have him home. Yesterday, while Carys and dad played, I ran some errands and hit a mom-to-mom sale. I scored a nice coat for Carys and some cute play outfits, so I was really happy. Then today, the weather was beautiful, so we went for a nice, long walk downtown.

Checking out the Coast Guard cutter Hollyhock.

Carys loves going up and down the slide, but she also loves making a big dirt pile at the end too! I try not to freak about her getting dirty, but it's really hard!

She was ready to jump right in to the water, but Dad was keeping a super, tight hold on her!

We came home and did some yard work, had dinner and then chased Carys around the house before bed. She finally figured out that she should run away when we chase her. Before she would just get so excited, she'd turn around and give us a hug when we tried to catch her. Now that she gets the concept though, there's no stopping her!

Hope everyone had a great week!

BUSTED!

2010-10-17T20:45:00.000-04:00

Our little bug is so curious, and it seems like every time I turn around I have a new mess to clean up!

My purse in the process of being emptied

Need a wipe mommy?

It looks like Cookie needed a little more stuffing!

The other day I was walking into the living room from the kitchen and Carys actually ran away from me. I looked around the corner and saw why, she had gotten into the bathroom garbage and left a trail into the hallway. She knew she was busted! I didn't get a picture of that one though. She cracks me up!

Smart Cookie

2010-10-12T15:27:00.000-04:00

Just recently, Carys has really been picking up things we are showing her, especially her signs and body parts. I'm going to have to brush up on my signing, so I can start teaching her new ones. It's really cool when she is whining and I ask her if she is hungry, and she'll stop whining and sign "eat". I'm all for anything that stops whining!!