But it's cold outside...

Hello all,
Sorry for the long absence in writing. I have a good excuse.  I promise! Carolyn will be two in less than a week so I thought that I should update the blog before her second birthday while I had a free moment to do so.   So here is a quick recap of the last few months.

We had a very busy and family-filled Thanksgiving. We were able to have all of Jesse's immediate family from Arizona travel to Indiana for the weekend.  This is included: Carolyn's grandparents, great-grandma Anne, Uncle Michael and Aunt Kristie, and cousins Alisa and Kaylie.  We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time at our house which also included Auntie Erica and Noni and Elpa.  I bought a big turkey from the farmer that I buy a lot of meat from at the Farmer's market and prepared it by using a brine.  I debated for a long time whether or not to brine it.  In fact, I called my parents so many times asking their opinion that my dad finally told me to stop calling because they had no more advice for me :)  In my humble opinion it all turned out pretty darn good.  We had a busy, crazy, hectic weekend and one that we are sure not to forget anytime soon.  As usual, the day and weekend flew by without many pictures being taken but here is a picture of the turkey and C helping buy the extra pillows, etc. for the large number of house guests that we were so happy to host!

In early December Carolyn had her school Holiday program and she was by far the star of her class.  (No, I am not just saying this because she is my child! We were actually worried about how she would do with the crowd.  Remember her first birthday party last year with the cake?!?!) Anyway...  we were shocked and impressed when she was the first one up on the stage from her class and kept waving and saying hi to the crowd as they got assembled.  Once the song started she was even more impressive.  She rocked those jingle bells the whole first song through and at the end of the song threw her bells down and led the crowd in the round of applause and yelled "Yeah" into the microphone.  The second song brought more of the same except for about a 20 second stint where she zoned out and seemed to be doing "some business" in front of 200 people. Surprisingly, she had not.  It was adorable to watch and wish we had the video in a small enough format to upload it here.


Christmas was very low key this year.  My sister had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so we literally stayed in our pajamas all day long at my parents which was a first for us.  (Hence why there aren't really any pictures).  Our plan to celebrate on the day after was cut short by the impending snow storm that was set to hit the day after Christmas.  We got up really early and opened gifts and then Jesse, Jeffy, and I headed back to Carmel just as the snow was starting while Carolyn stayed up in Ft. Wayne for a few extra days with Noni, Elpa, Antie Erica, and Uncle Nicky.  While it was a Christmas different from any other we have had, it was nice to relax and not have anywhere to rush to after Christmas Eve church or on Christmas morning. This Christmas Carolyn got gifts related to her new or going interest in trains, blocks, music, stars and the moon, and zoo and farm animals.

A fort fun tradition.... 

 

 Really early Christmas morning.

 We actually ate in my parent's dining room... A Christmas miracle!

Fun in the Sun Snow
Carolyn was really excited to play in the snow.  Here are a few snapshots of her first time really getting to play in the snow. (Jesse has some better pictures on his phone I will try to upload later)

 Our driveway and back porch when we got home.

 Out our front and back door

In other news from the holiday season, I almost successfully pulled off a surprise party for Jesse for his birthday.  Who expects a big birthday bash for your 31st birthday?!?!  I had it all planned to perfection until Jesse came home early when people were arriving.  But he was surprised and had a great time anyway.  Qdoba did a great job cooking and I owe a huge thanks to Nick and Lexi for helping me pull it off.

That was our holiday season in a nutshell!

It's Christmas Time....

I promise to have a real post up soon but I am out of my "free" picture data so I need to just buy more at some point soon.  In the meantime, check out these awesome pictures from our favorite new photographers Nathan and Ashley Siner!

~ Alicia 

 Christmas Shoot

Fall into fun

Every day I say today is the day that I am going to take a few moments and update the blog and alas each day comes and goes and it remains staring there at me on the "to do" list.  So here is a quick review of how we have fallen into fun this season.

Carolyn continues to amaze us with how much she is like a real kid instead of the baby we sometimes like to think she still is. She is stringing words together, making connections, and doing things we can NOT believe she is big enough to be doing.  We love her for the firecracker that she is but we are also learning how stubborn and picky our little girl is going to be.

We had our first pumpkin carving party at our new house and we were so blessed that so many family and friends were able to come over and help us celebrate our first get together in our new house.   We moved it to the evening time and next year we will know to start our carving a little earlier so that we are not carving by candle/spotlight.

A packed house 

Our attempt at a group shot of all of the kiddos 

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

C was all about the pumpkin guts

A "MEOW" (C's favorite)

Daddy, Carolyn, and Mommy's hands

One of the things I love about day care is that Carolyn learns things that I wouldn't even think to teach her.  When we had the lights out and the pumpkins lit we started hearing C dance to some music.  We turned the light on and caught her singing and dancing along to this toddler tune favorite. 

Carolyn was a bumblebee for Halloween.  We think it's only fitting that a girl as busy and active as she is be a buzzzzzzz'ing around.  (Plus it was $10 at Target)

Buzzing around the candy bowl

Some other odds and ends from this fall:

First snow fall in the new house

Her newest obsession is "COOKIE" (monster)

Helping mom in her classroom

Buying more pillows for our Thanksgiving guests

Too cool for shoes?!?!  It was literally 28 degrees when we went to pick up our Thanksgiving Turkey from the Farmer's Market and she would not keep her hat, gloves, or shoes on. 

Farmer's Market Dance Party

Continuously Amazed

I am sure that this isn't the last time I will say it but these last few weeks I am just continually amazed at how quickly Carolyn is growing and developing.  Every day she says some new word or makes some new connection that just blows me away.   Here are a few of the things that our daughter has done the past few weeks to make us say "did she just do that?!?".

Putting words together:  She is stringing words together left and right. 
Counting: While she isn't a counting pro she knows what number comes next (some of the time) and will say it if you don't. 
Singing: Not only is she singing along to some songs but she also knows what songs come next and will start singing it before it starts.
Pointing to letters: She is starting to point at some letters when she recognizes them.
Manipulating: It's reaching new heights...  like today when she came and gave me a hug and kiss and then went on to do what she had just been told not to do.  I think we are in trouble for the teenage years.
Facetiming (is that a proper word?): She knows that if it's mommy's phone that has the facetime ring it means "noni" is calling and that if it's daddy's phone that it means "grandma" is on the line. 


Ok, it's bedtime but it's been awhile since I blogged. 

New Home, New Adventures

It's been awhile since I have posted.  I keep waiting for life to slow down a little but life doesn't seem to be willing to comply.  We are loving the new house (I will post pictures at some point, we are still in the buying furniture, putting boxes away, trying to find a place for everything stage) and we are very thankful that our serendipitous decision to casually look at some houses this summer worked out so well.  While we loved our time in Broad Ripple and our cute 1939 house, it is so great to live in a family neighborhood in a more spacious home.  We love living in the Carmel community more than we ever thought possible and are excited to establish new roots and traditions here. 

 Although it's been a a busy first 6 weeks of living here we have found some time for fun.

• We bought bikes over Labor Day weekend and Carolyn LOVES riding in the bike. She is constantly asking to "biii" and will bolt for her bike carrier as soon as she gets into the garage.  So far we have been able to bike to watch a rain make-up varsity football game, bike into downtown Carmel for a casual Friday night dinner (what a great family friendly atmosphere!), and bike to the park. 
• We have also been able to do quite a bit of furniture shopping to try and fill up some of the empty space that is an obvious consequence of moving to a larger house.  Although Jesse and I aren't HGTV specialists we have had some fun dates shopping for furniture and looking for deals.  
• We have also gained some great new friends who we "picked up" at the nearby park! :) They live just a few houses down and have a daughter around Carolyn's age and we are very thankful for the great new friendship that is blooming.  Between going to the pool and impromptu and an impromptu we are looking forward to making many more memories together!
• We only live about 10 minutes from Conner Prairie now and Carolyn loves to go and run around and see all of the animals.  Jesse and I enjoy learning something new about how life used to be every time we go as well.  

We feel very blessed and are excited to be entering into our first change of season here and all of the new memories that we will create!

18 (well almost 19) month update!

Carolyn turned 18 months at the end of July but we just had her check-up this week so that she could meet her new pediatrician.  She is still in the 90th percentile in height and weight.  The doctor was impressed with her speaking skills, running speed, and her intense energy.  Carolyn even figured out how to open the door and tried to escape in nothing but her diaper! Our CareBear is still just as energetic, spirited, and vocal as she has been since we've known her.  While it can be tiring we wouldn't trade her for the world!

Now for the updates...
She is saying lots of words and starting to put two or three words together.  She can point to lots of animals, body parts, and other objects that she recognizes.  She LOVES Elmo, playing "ousside",  our dog who she has taken to calling "Buddy", getting into anything and everything she shouldn't, throwing food (we do not in any way support this!), saying "NO" (going on 6 months now!), running, reading books, being pushed around in her toy car, playing in the basement in the new house, and MEOWS. Seriously cats may be the thing that Carolyn loves most in her life right now.  She was pretty upset the other night when we were on a walk because she saw a cat and we wouldn't let her go pet it.  (In our old house there was a lady down the street who had 6 outdoor cats that Carolyn was welcome to pet... needless to say she didn't understand why the rules had changed).  Jesse and I always joke that if we do decide to get a cat it will play out something like this-



Carolyn is still the apple of our eye, even if we can't figure out how she is always the dirtiest kid at the end of day care days! Her teachers at school say that she is one of the best behaved kids (she must use up her quota for the week at school!) and even if she doesn't always like drop-off she is really growing and learning at school and has made lots of friends.  She still loves her veggies but won't eat foods like raspberries!  We are very excited to see how much she enjoys the fall and winter festivities this year and are looking forward to watching her continue to grow the rest of 2012!

I promise to post some about the house in the next few weeks!

Here are some pictures of Carolyn!

 Enjoying popcorn for the first time! Made shopping so much easier!

 Out to lunch

 I seriously wish something so small could make me so happy!

 State Fair with Uncle Nicky and Lexi.  C was so tired by the end that she fell asleep literally sitting up in her stroller.

 Playing at Holiday Park

I seriously left her alone for only a minute. This girl has an arm on her. 

 Bath time.  Last bath in the old house.

 First breakfast in the new house.

 First day of school.

 

Poor C couldn't understand why we couldn't brush her teeth or get her milk from the fridge at the old house.  Interestingly she also refused to go into her old room at all.   It was enough to break my heart.  Luckily she loves the new house and has adjusted well.

Seriously... dirtiest kid at day care.

 Enjoying her first ice cream cone at the ice cream shop by the new house.

Farmer Market fun

Blessings, Uncertainty, and Perspective

It's been a weird and great last few months so I apologize for those of you who read this blog mostly to see pictures of Carolyn.  I am not an avid journal keeper.  In fact, I used to try and keep one and it would never last so I eventually gave up.  The last few weeks have been very weird for me filled with lots of highs and lots of lows so I decided to do a different kind of post tonight... a more "what's on my mind" theme if you will. 

In the last few months I have seen friends and family go through extremely hard and sometimes devastating events while at the same time I have been able to share in awesome events and blessings with friends and family as well.  My own life has been filled with both great excitement and great sadness.  While I have been occupied this last few weeks being stressed about the on-line class I taught this summer, the buying and selling process of homes, and how to get my toddler to not throw her food and scream I have had people very dear to me experience extreme heartbreak and fear over situations in their own lives.  Sometimes as a Christian (and a human) it is often hard to comprehend how pain and joy can exist so simultaneously.  When I think of my grandma's last moments and the heartbreak we were experiencing I also often think of the extreme joy some other family was experiencing at the very same moment with that thing they call the circle of life.  After some conversations with people dear to me I think the only way to comprehend everything is by keeping perspective.  Perspective. Such an interesting word.  I was feeling very guilty today about being stressed about our appraisal not being released yet for our closing when so many other people are dealing with much more severe situations.  Luckily a good friend reminded me that it's ok to admit that it is a big deal to me even though others are going through situations that seem more daunting so long as I keep it in perspective.  I wonder how much more civil and caring the world would be if we could all keep that one simple word in the forefront of our minds.  How much more would people feel that I cared or understood if I always kept that in mind?  How much different would the whole Chick-fil-A debacle be if both sides tried to see the other point of view? How many real solutions could our government have created if they kept perspective instead of demonizing their opponents? Perspective.  Something to keep in mind as we go through life. 

For those of you going through a tough time I leave you with a song that has brought me much comfort since the death of my grandma.  While it isn't technically a religious song... I consider it to be and picture God singing it to me whenever I feel lonely or worried.