"Twinkle, Twinkle, Traffic Light" {Iowa Part 2}

The summary of our WONDERFUL trip to Iowa continues...enhanced with photos of thee two cutest little girls around (opinions of the writer will here forth be stated as fact)!

Day 7:

Friday was another day of March Madness...where one could find my husband glued to the recliner in his parent's living room with a big smile on his face.  I think the most nerdy thing about him is his obsession with sports, particularly the Cyclones.  I don't think his kids stand a chance of attending school anywhere but there if they know what's best for their relationship with their father. ;)

At any rate, I was not about to spend all day with my eyes glued to the TV, so I used the time (and built-in babysitter) to spend more quality time with friends.  Anna F. & I got up and headed out to Cafe Milo for some muffins and coffee.  We then went back to her place so I could see her recent designs in her house (she's a home designer for Redeker's Furniture, so she naturally has top of the line stuff and great taste in room layouts).  Anna and her husband were married the same summer as us and traveled the road of the first year of marriage together with us and 3 other couples.  Having Christian women in the same stage of life as me during my first year of marriage was such a blessing (not because marriage was hard; it was quite easy back then, but because you always need friends in the same life stage you are currently in.  fact.)!  I will forever cherish those relationships, even if all 5 couples are now living in different cities.

I came back to the house for lunch and then it was off again for another great workout and chat time with miss Carley.  It was SUCH a blessing to have the opportunity to workout while I was on vacation.  Going 12 days without working out and eating so much delicious food would have completely done me in.  Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Hoben!!! ;)

Friday night was filled with excitement as we gathered around the TV to watch the Cyclones play in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  Much to our delight, they won big, so we were able to relax throughout the game.  One of my favorite things about spending time at the Weiss' is that Rhonda is a snack queen, and always has fabulous spreads of food out.  I choose to have zero self control while I'm at her place and eat into oblivion, enjoying every bite!  We all had our Cyclone gear on, including our sweet girlie.  Just wait until next season when she can fit into the cheerleader outfit she got!!

Day 8:

Saturday morning was another work out with Carley (yes, we were on a roll) and then a quick shower, coming downstairs to see Brian's Uncle Dick and Aunt Crystal.  They had come to visit their great-nieces and celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with us.  25 years. I wonder what Brian and I will be doing 21 years from now? ;)  They also brought Carly her first ever Easter basket...filled with books and eggs containing her favorite candy, M&Ms.   Little did they know that those Easter eggs would be our primary source of entertainment for Carly during our flight into the St. Petersburg airport on our way home. 

Shortly after they arrived, Aaron, Kelly & Cora (Brian's brother and his family) graced us with their presence.  They live in Chicago and sweet 3-year-old Cora had just experienced a loonnngg drive filled with anticipation to see her G&G and also play with her baby Carly! I cannot begin to tell you how sweet it was to see her come inside and immediately grab Carly's hand and escort her into the play room.  We get to see Cora 2-3 times per year, and each time she just gets sweeter.  I am so happy that Carly has a girl cousin so close in age...I'm sure they will be good friends throughout their childhood and teen years. 

Cora has a sleeping buddy named Zebra, who was the inspiration for Carly's sleep buddy, Monkey.  Shortly after they had arrived, Carly fell down and began to cry.  Cora's first thought was to run and get Zebra to comfort her...a sign of true love.  Cora would also sing to Carly whenever she was upset (mostly those diaper changes) and did a fabulous job of it.  You can watch a video of Cora singing the coolest song ever, "Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light," to Carly here.

Saturday evening was filled with a delicious dinner from an Ames must-eat, Hickory Park, and lots of play time.  Carly followed Cora around and wanted to do whatever she did, whether it was play with toys, eat snacks or sit on G&Gs lap while playing piano.  Such precious memories.

Day 9:

Palm Sunday.  The crew got up and headed to church along with those two cute girls in their Easter dresses.  

This is how they really felt about the photo shoot ;)

Since Brian works on Sundays, we pretended that Palm Sunday was Easter, and proceeded to take a family picture to commemorate the occasion.

After church we were joined by Brian's entire extended family on the Meyer side (minus 3) who all arrived in their Cyclone gear ready to cheer ISU on during the second round of the tournament.  Little did we know that our moods would be sour for the rest of the day due to a terrible (and unfair) loss.  It was a great, game, though, with a lot of cheering, standing, jumping and sweating!  Even though they lost, we were able to muscle through and take a family photo.  We also snagged one of the 4 great-grandchildren on Brian's side of the family.

"On the count of 3, everyone kiss Carly!"

After the family left, we all had a relaxing afternoon, filled with more basketball.  That evening Aaron, Kelly, Brian & I were able to sneak away and enjoy a quiet dinner at El Azteca, another restaurant Brian & I generally dine at while in Iowa.  It's fun to get parent advice from them and swap stories about our strong-willed little girls.  I'm glad they get to pave the way! ;)

Day 10:

Monday was a pretty chill day, spending all morning and most of the afternoon with Anna G.  It was a bummer to have to skip out on such great family time, but Monday was the ONLY day Anna was free during our 12-day stay (she was in Mexico most of it), and I couldn't go without spending time with my best friend.  We spent the day chatting away, not free of laughter and tears.  She is such a woman of God and certainly ministered to my heart and spoke truth to my mind.  She's one of my greatest prayer warriors and will forever be a great friend.  Here's a photo of us being silly and hot-tubbing at her parents house in the freezing cold weather, and one after we got back to the house.

Mid-afternoon I met the clan at Reiman Garden to take some photos of the girls in the Butterfly Habitat and let them run around in what felt like "outdoors."  It was really warm and felt just like home.  Carly enjoyed walking around and looking at the plants.  She was interested in the butterflies but it was hard to stay focused on such a fluttery little thing.  We got some pretty cute photos. :)

Cora got to hold the butterfly!

Those blue eyes strike again!

This one is pretty precious...love the pink flowers!

After dinner Monday evening, we all relaxed in the living room with one eye watching our sweet girls play and the other on the new season of The Voice.  Carly began entertaining herself with pretend play by taking a play spoon and cup and stirring it up and then drinking it.  It was really fun to see her play in that way and entertain herself for her longest span of time so far in her little life.

Day 11:

Tuesday morning everyone was up and out the door early, all headed to different locations.  It was back to work for G&G, off to Chicago for A,K&C and off to Des Moines for us.  Brian flew out of DSM back to Tampa so he could get a day of golf in while Carly and I spent a couple more days with my folks.  Most of the afternoon I just hung with my mama.  We laid low at the apartment while Carly napped, then headed out for a little bit of shopping.  Tuesday evening Tiff and her boyfriend, Luke, joined us for dinner and then we all watched another episode of The Voice.

Day 12:

Carly got up super early, so we wiggled Grandpa's toe to wake him up, too!  We had taken over Aunt Tiff's room, so to avoid waking her up in the living room, we decided to run to the brand new and largest Hy-Vee in the world for breakfast!  Carly had a feast and enjoyed walking around the store.  It was super fancy and had foods no other Hy-Vee carries.  Pretty neat (but a little over priced to compensate for the luxury). 

Next he dropped us off at the Gerber's house and we spent the next 4 hours playing with Lindsay, Eli (22 months) & Micah (5 months)!  They are super sweet boys and it was a blessing to get so much time with them!  Carly really enjoyed copying the movements of Eli and enjoyed being in control of Micah.  She was trying to be nice but ended up just bonking Micah on the head.  He took to it pretty well, thankfully.  Eli & Carly had fun clapping together and played a fabulous duet on the piano.

Dad picked us up and we headed to my Grandma's house for the afternoon and evening. Uncle Trey joined us and then we headed over to my great grandma's house to spend some time with her as well.  97 years old and "sharp as a tack!"  She is a delightful woman and enjoyed watching Grandpa chase Carly around the house.  Here is the sweetest video of Carly sitting on Nana's lap.

We are incredibly blessed to have 5 generations living at the same time.  Nana is a wealth of knowledge and has seen our world change for more years than most of us combined!  I always enjoy hearing her perspective and stories. 

It was back to Grandma's for dinner and then off to the apartment for our final night in Iowa.  That night we found out that my Grandma had come down with a terrible stomach flu (probably caught it from the preschoolers she teaches twice a week) and we all began to pray real hard that we, especially Nana, wouldn't catch it.  Praise the Lord none of us did!  Grandma was sick for days and even had to cancel Easter, but she's doing better now.  No fun at all!

Day 13:

The flight back to Florida was a bit rough/exhausting, but we made it through.  The descend into St. Pete was really hard on the ears, and Carly kept sticking both fingers in her ears and just screaming!  My ears hurt pretty bad, so I knew she was uncomfortable.  I begged her to drink her water and tried every snack I had in my bag (I ran out of M&Ms too early...) so she would swallow, but she just refused.  I ended up pulling up my shirt and nursing her...and even that was a bit of a fight!  She was fine once she decided to take it, though.  Poor kiddo!  Everyone around us felt super bad for her and all commented on how hard it is to travel alone.  People were asking if they could help and I wanted to say, "ya, you can help by not starring at us and making me feel embarrassed!"  I, of course, just politely declined. :)

We had a really wonderful trip!  Being that often times it can be very stressful and bad-habit forming, it was absolutely delightful and the perfect break from real life.  We have adjusted back to our normal lives very well (including Carly sleeping through the night again) and are enjoying the fabulous Florida weather.  Thank you to everyone who made an effort to see us and host us, brought us gifts, loved on our little girl, let us borrow baby gear/toys and made us meals.  We LOVED our time and are already looking forward to another fun two weeks the end of June and into July!  See you then!!! :)

"Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland" {Iowa Part 1}

I cannot believe I haven't written since March 8th!  I suppose that's what vacation does to ya.  I have finally gone through the 300+ photos I took on the trip (mostly of Carly and her only first cousin, Cora), edited them and chosen which of each bunch would be the best to share.  I didn't realize how much of the trip I missed until I looked through them, but that's okay.

If you can't tell by the title of this post, Iowa was very cold while we were visiting and snowed I believe what was three times!  I couldn't stand it...I've grown so accustomed to not wearing socks and a coat that I was in complete discomfort.  Whenever we go to Iowa, though, I always talk about how great it would be to live there, so the entire trip Brian is always giving "points" to Florida.  Florida certainly started out ahead when we were welcomed by snow. ;)

Writing about the trip by breaking it down into days has been a format that works well, so I will do that again.  I have to split the trip up between two posts, however, because otherwise it would just be tooooo long!  So here it goes!

Day 1:

Brian and I were up early Saturday morning and got the car loaded up, turned on and backed out of the garage before going to get Carly.  We figured we would just transfer her over to the car and she would sleep the hour drive to the St. Petersburg airport.  But, she most certainly did not!  She giggled, yes, giggled the entire trip!  What a great way to start a vacation, listening to your sweet baby girl giggle in the back seat.  Brian dropped us off at the airport and after a few bumps of being misguided about the qualifications one must have when traveling with a lap child, we were on our way.  The flight was great once we found our own row to sit in, but the first hour was a bit rough.  I had exhausted all of our food, toys and books 25 minutes into our flight and the only thing Carly wanted to do was climb on the folks next to us.  We took a trip to the bathroom and discovered an empty row!  We jumped at the opportunity to have our own space and waited with anticipation to arrive at the homeland.

When we landed we were greeted by my parents, Grandpa & Nana.  My mom said that my dad had been so excited all morning he could barely stand it!  And rightfully so!  We headed to their "lovely" apartment in Urbandale so Carly could get a quick nap in.  Tiff joined us there and we had lunch at Legends.  We then ran some errands and headed to Ames, where I was greeted by a wonderful group of women who I was in Bible Study with the last few years of college.  There are 7 of us and at the time only 2 were married.  5 years later we are all married and 5 of the 7 of us have children.  Most of the kiddos were napping, so Carly & Silas were the only two babes present, but all the ladies who live in Iowa were able to make it (and only half live in Ames!).

That evening Brian arrived from his connecting flights (C & I always fly direct, Brian generally opts for a cheaper flight with stops) he joined us for dinner and it was off to bed.  Little did we know that Carly would be up for 4 HOURS in the night.  She wouldn't take anyone but me, despite multiple people volunteering, so I just rocked her while we stared at the ceiling.  By 4am I had only slept 2 hours in a 24 hour span of time, can Carly had only slept 7 hours.  We were both exhausted and she was quite hysterical.  She finally did sleep for about 3 hours and then went back down around 10am and slept for another 3, when we decided to wake her up.  I bet she would have slept all day.

Day 2:

It was a bummer that Carly didn't sleep in the night, because I didn't get to take her to church with me, but such is life.  At any rate, that's the first thing we did on day 2.  I was greeted so warmly by many people at E. Free and as always, enjoyed visiting. 

After church we woke Carly up and headed to Brian's parents for his brother, Nathan's birthday celebration.  Despite there being snow on the ground, Rhonda made us some delicious steaks with fruit and salad.  One of my favorite meals at the Weiss home.  G&G also have an abundance of toys, so Carly very much enjoyed exploring.

After leaving G&G's house, we drove down to Altoona for a joint 1st birthday party for Carly and Zola.  Shayla had super cute outfits picked out for the cousins to wear and ordered the coolest cake I've ever seen!

We very much enjoyed our time with my extended family and it was fun to get to celebrate Carly turning one even a month after her birthday.  We are still praying for a miracle to bring Devine home.  Shayla is a busy, busy mama, so she outdid her self by throwing such a great party!!  Here are some pics from the bash.

Trey & Piper, Shayla's youngest

Bow thief!

Carly, is that chocolate cake I see on your chin??

At the end of the party we got Carly in her jammies and she was out before getting on the interstate.  Fortunately, she slept much better the next night, and continued to only wake up once each night for the remainder of the trip to nurse and go back to sleep.

Day 3:

Monday morning we got up and laid low around the house with Nana, Trey, Tiff & her friend, Mikayla.  Carly started showing off her walking skills and improved every day we were there.  By the end of the trip she was walking like a pro!  Everyone loves spending time with Carly, but the men of the family give her extra attention.  Trey & my Dad always jump at the opportunity to get on the floor and play with her.  Carly also figured out that Trey likes to snack, so she joined in anytime he went into the kitchen. ;)

Brittany picked me up for lunch and we enjoyed some much needed catching up time at Great Plains Sauce & Dough Company.  MMMMM!!!  She also hadn't met Carly yet, so we came back and hung out with her a bit afterwards.  Britt was my personal attendant in our wedding and as been a good friend since my Sophomore year of college.

Later in the afternoon we ran down the street to visit the Roeth's, who we had actually just seen on their vacation to Orlando the week before.  I used to teach their oldest daughter piano, and we've kept in touch over the years.  They come down every year and we always make sure to see them!  They gave Carly a big bag of bows, DVDs and some other baby stuff while we were there.  She also had her first taste of an Oreo...and of course, loved it. :)

Monday evening we hung low and had a nice family dinner while we worked on our NCAA brackets.  Little did we know how wrong we would ALL be when making pics.  Ahh, the fun of sports!

Day 4:

Tuesday I got up and headed to Ames Racquet & Fitness Center to workout with my friend, Carley.  Her and I were workout buddies all throughout college and boy were we good at it!  We even trained for and ran a half marathon together before moving to Florida.  Carley and I also have such wonderful conversation, and we are good at bouncing ideas and advice off one another, always seeking spirit-filled dialogue.  We both realized just how much we have missed those great convos and workout buddy!!

Carly & I had lunch with Shana & Sophie Wilson while Brian was out with his mom.  Shana has always been a mentor to me and once again encouraged me to walk faithfully with Christ as I continue to pursue contentment here in Florida.  To me she seems like she has life all figured out, but I'm sure she would disagree with that.  She's been a blessing to me for as long as I can remember!

Tuesday afternoon was more family time and high energy play time for Carly & Grandpa.  Carly's personality is almost a replica of mine at her age, so my Dad plays with her just like he used to play with me. It's fun for me to picture him doing the same things with me when I was little.  In the next post I will insert a video of a game we played throughout the week.  It takes a special toddler to enjoying being tossed & jostled as much as this little peanut.

Tuesday afternoon Carly also took her first field trip to the basketball court for shooting practice!  She was really showing off her walking skills and was so excited when she found that she was able to walk while holding a basketball!  I absolutely love this picture as it will be one I'm sure we use 17 years down the road when she is a basketball super star! ;)

Tuesday evening Brian & I headed to Ankeny where we met Ted & Lindsay Gerber for dinner at HuHot.  What a delightful meal we had chatting with one of our favorite couples. :)

Day 5:

Wednesday it was off to work for my parents and off to North Liberty (Iowa City) for us.  But first we made a stop at the Office of Admissions, where I worked throughout college.  I always stop in there to say hi to my old supervisors and catch up on ISU life.  I miss working there I sincerely hope to work there again someday.  The ladies were so happy to see Carly and showered her with ISU cookies, rice crispies, toys and a T-shirt that said "Future Cyclone."  We shall see, we shall see.

Next up was play time at G&G's while I went to lunch at Olde Main Brewing Company with my dear friend, Renee.  Like many of my friends, I hadn't seen her in exactly a year, so catching up was a must.  I got to meet her new puppy and she came over to see Carly.  After she left we loaded up an overnight back and it was off to see Carly's godparents, Chris & Nikki in their BRAND NEW house!  We left right at nap time, assuming Carly would sleep on the way down, but boy were we wrong!! She did great for the first hour, but after that said "no more!" and wanted out!  We had to pull over for 10 minutes and let her roam about the car.  She did get back in her car seat to get back on the road, but complained about it the rest of the way.  Silly girl.

The Voss' house was modern, chic and absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed getting a tour of all the design elements they were able to pick out.  We are so excited for them and hope they start filling those bedrooms with littles in the near future!  They are currently parents to the two cutest dogs ever, Mia & Limit. It was a good thing we didn't bring any toys for Carly, because she was completely occupied with those dogs.  We heard so many giggles out of her that night! Exibit A:

And here are some photos of us with our littles:

I laugh every time I see this photo...

Spending time with the Voss' is one of our absolute favorite things to do...and the night did not disappoint!  I think we laugh harder with them than anyone else.  Chris' sarcasm is right up our alley and it's so fun to beat him in a game of cards! ;)  We wish we could have stayed at their place longer...maybe next time.

Day 6:

We are halfway through our vacation!! See, I told you I would need two posts to crank out the summary of our trip.  Thursday morning we got up and spent some more time with the Voss', then attempted to get in the car at nap time again so Carly could sleep on the drive to my Grandma's in Pleasant Hill.  This time, thankfully, she did sleep most of the drive, so Brian & I got some much needed chat time in.  When you have a child, you don't realized how many conversations you don't have that used to just happen without thought.  Hence why it's so important for parents to date.  We truly need to work harder at that...but our frugality of not wanting to hire a babysitter gets in the way every time.

We arrived to Mimi's house at noon hungry and ready for some NCAA March Madness!!  We stuffed our bellies all day long, played multiple games of ping pong, and glued our eyes to the massive TV she has in her living room.  She had a nacho bar set up, monkey bread, coconut-strawberry ice cream dessert, hoagie sandwiches, dried beef and chicken casserole and her famous homemade spaghetti.  Mmmmm, delicious!!  Carly bounced from person to person and I got some snuggles in on the love sack.  :)

Once again we got Carly in her jammies and headed to Ames where we would spend the next half of our trip at G&G Weiss'.  Stay tuned for our Iowa March Vacation Part 2!

"Stayin' Alive"

This week Brian & I experienced a "first" for two different life stages:  The Flu.  The last time Brian & I had the flu was Christmas of 2008, the year we were engaged.  This means that having the flu this week was a first for our marriage.  It was also the first time we experienced dual sickness while being parents.  Let me tell you, it. is. rough.  Trying to take care of a toddler who doesn't yet understand what "mommy doesn't feel good" means is a very trying experience.  It all started on Sunday at Issac's birthday party.

Carly and Issac are just over a week a part and Jenny and I had fun time going through our final trimester of pregnancy together after meeting at church on Christmas Eve of 2011. We try to get together as often as we can, but living 40 minutes a part sure makes that hard!  Needless to say, here are a few pics from Issac's first birthday party.

The very happy birthday boy

Miss C watching Issac open presents

Trying to play with the big girls

Me, C, Issac & Jenny

Monday evening when Carly went to sleep her cheeks were ruby red, but she wasn't showing any signs of sickness, so we didn't think much of it.  As she was crawling from the living room to the kitchen Tuesday morning, she paused and heaved!  She was rather discombobulated by the whole thing and I quickly picked her up to take her to the sink.  That's when I was doused in real life child vomit for the first time as a mama.  What a special memory. ;)  After getting cleaned up, she was essentially unphased by being sick, and went on playing as normal.  She kept asking for food (obviously, she was hungry all day from not having food in her belly) and each time she ate it would all come back up.  I actually had to go into work to close at the World of Disney that evening, so Brian was granted leaving work a bit early and came home to care for our sickie bug. I wondered what was wrong, but after posting on Facebook and finding out that two of the little girls who were also at the party had the flu, it cleared that wonder right up. 

My evening at World of Disney was very fun, as many of the Cast Members (lol...we have to capitalize "Cast" and "Guests" in reports, so that's a habit) I had worked with when I first started working for Disney remembered me and were happy to see my in a management role.  It was a late, late night, not pulling out of the parking lot until after 2am.  One very strange thing happened at work that evening: I ran into my best friend from middle school/high school.  It's a very strange story, but her and I were nearly inseparable for years...we practically lived at each others homes.  She even "dated" Brian first and encouraged me to date him since she thought him and I would be more compatible.  She was there for me when our relationship ended and spent the next year gallivanting about the Gilbert High dances with random friends of the guy I was dating from that high school.  We shared a love for music, went to the same youth group, fit into all the same clothes and had the same hobbies.  She suddenly left the end of our Junior year of high school and never came back.  I received one phone call from her that summer, but never spoke to her again.  There was a lot of hurt from that whole experience and I never received closure from it.  I cried over losing her for years, and have never gotten that close to a girlfriend again.  Seeing her was at first, exciting, as I leaped at the opportunity to give her hug, but then it became quite awkward.  What do you say to someone you were so close to and haven't seen in nearly a decade?  Do you make small talk (which is what we attempted at doing), or do you go on a 5-minute monologue about your lives?  Anyway, I cried the whole way home that night.  Seeing her brought back a lot of unresolved emotions and reminded me of how much I missed her.  She would have been a bridesmaid in my wedding, we likely would have gone to the same college...been life long friends. But she just left.  And that was the end. I never thought I'd see her again. Weird. 

Wednesday we had a nice family day (after I slept in from being up until 3am, of course) and got some fresh air at EPCOT.  It was the first day of the Flower and Garden Festival and I, of course, forgot my camera!!  I did take it out to snap a photo of my loves watching the ISU game Wednesday evening, though!  Go State!

And that's when it happened...sickness overtook my body and I was out for the count! I fought throwing up for hours...I would run to the toilet and wouldn't be able to let go.  I finally made Brian get up and get me a bucket.  He didn't understand why I couldn't go in the toilet.  I must be the only child who grew up barfing in a bucket next to my bed?  Like I mentioned, I haven't been sick since college, and during that break I happened to be home...so I don't think I've ever been sick anywhere but under the gentle care of my mother.  She took great care of us when we were sick...making sure we had ample amounts of blankets, TV, 7UP, chicken noodle soup...and a bucket and towel right next to our bed so we didn't have to get up when we felt ill.  She would hear us in the night and come empty and clean our bucket and place it back by our bed.  Needless to say, I was wishing I was at my mama's house during my flu episode.  A sleepy husband just isn't the same, especially when he is frustrated at me for not spewing in the toilet! Yuck!! ;)

About 3am I was desperately craving 7UP, so when Brian came into the bedroom at 6am (I had given him permission go sleep in the guest room about midnight) I pleaded with him to run to 7-11 to get me a BIG Gulp of 7UP, only to find out he had joined my club.  He was a trooper, though, and ran the errand then came back and took the first shift with Carly.  I took over at 9:30 and did the next shift until 2 (she took a nap in there, though).  It was like that all evening long. We were so thankful when bedtime rolled around...tucked her in and then hit the hay ourselves!  I was still pretty sick this morning so Brian got up with Carly, then he was able to steal a nap this afternoon.  By 1pm I was feeling pretty good, so I took Carly out of the house for a grocery store run and a gingerly jog with some much needed play time outside.  We made it through...can you believe it?!  I think both Brian and I questioned if we were going to get through this about 36 hours ago.

Well that about recaps our week in a nutshell. I'm thankful I worked on Tuesday so I only had to call in one of the days this week.  My first call-in sick since before I had Carly, and Brian's first in a long time.  Too bad we couldn't enjoy the three days off we had together, but thankful it happened the way it did.  I even caught Brian saying in agony last night, "Man, today would be a great day to have our folks live down the street."  Yes, Brian, indeed it would. ;)

"I'm Walking on Sunshine"

Carly is officially on the move putting one foot in front of the other.  She took her first steps 4 days after her first birthday, and a week into being 1, she upped and walked across the room.  Matter of fact, we were in the waiting room at the doctor's office.  She has walked more and more every day since and is becoming quite comfortable with the whole ordeal.  She still, however, much prefers a horizontal mode of transportation on all fours.  She cracks under pressure and when requested to walk will fall on the floor and bury her head in the ground.  Exhibit A:

Now that she is walking, we decided it was time for some real shoes.  I did not know that finding some would be a challenge, however, so she still doesn't have any tennis shoes in her size.  She is a size 3 and apparently most stores don't make "real" shoes until size 5.  So, she wears the one pair of baby shoes she has when we are out and about, but loves to wear these (due to the Velcro and lights) when we are at home.

The past few weeks have just been awesome!  I've been so focused on writing all about Carly turning one that I've completely neglected writing about our day to day life.  It's been two weeks since my Mom was here and we thoroughly enjoyed having her around!  She likes to take care of all my house work when she's here, so I got to sit back while she made meals (and frozen ones for me to pull out on a busy day), cleaned, did dishes, cleaned up after Carly would eat (she is a messy little girl!) and even was my personal shopper!  She went to the grocery store for us at least twice while she was here and also took me to the outlet mall!  As we were shopping (I scored big time, by the way...it's so nice to be able to shop in "my" size again), we realized that the two of us haven't spent a day together in exactly a year.  We always have some sort of male around to get in the way of our girl talk.  So, needless to say, it was a very special day of shopping and eating.  I believe I blogged about most of her trip except for the last day: the day before Valentines Day (yes, it's March 3rd and I'm writing about V-Day).  It was a Wednesday, so of course we all had the day off and were ready to play!  My Mom was staying in a hotel with her foreign exchange students, so the three of us got up and had a relaxing morning together.  After lunch, we met my Mom and the three girls at Typhoon Lagoon for some water park fun.  It was a lovely 80 degree day and I even got a tan!  My Mom played with Carly in the sand while Brian and I ran all over the park enjoying some good water slide action.  Carly LOVES the sand.  And, she is SUPER cute in her swimsuit my Aunt Sherry got her for Christmas.

After the water park, my Mom graciously took Carly so that Brian and I could have our first date night as parents ever.  Can you believe it took us a year to go on a date.  Probably not super healthy for the marriage, but it sure made for a fabulous evening!!  Awe the days of being married with no kids.  I hope when we someday become empty nesters that we will still love dating as much as we do now.  And...maybe we will have lots of money to take extravagant trips with. ;)  Anyway...for our first date in a year, we chose to play mini golf (Brian creamed me) and eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  I pretty much stuffed myself with their delicious bread.  I think bread is in the top three favorite foods for me.  Bummer, huh? ;)

The week proceeding I worked 6 out of 8 days, resulting in a mama who missed her little lady and some crazy schedule changes, but also gave my an entire week off (I work any three days in a weeks time Sunday-Saturday, so if I work Thursday, Friday, Saturday one week and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday the next, it gives me Thursday-Wednesday off the following week...make sense?).  So, one week with Miss C gave me good look at what life would be like if I was a SAHM.  Well...I did love every second with her, but I would by lying if I said by day seven that I wasn't okay with going back to work.  I'm so thankful for my job and get so much positive reinforcement and validation that I just can't dread going.  It's just too much fun.  What a blessing, right!?  I think when future babes arrive, I may have to step down merely because it's too much of a cost for daycare, but I'd really hate to do that, so can we all please try harder in convincing my mama to move down here?  Thank you! ;)

Working a lot also helped with a little bit of weening and allowed for some cow's milk to be introduced to Miss C.  I packed the pump away nearly two months ago, and I wasn't about to get it back out when my freezer supply ran out last week, so cow's milk it was!  She hated the cold milk and spat it across the room, but when we warmed it up and put it in a bottle, she gobbled it right up.  I was hoping to go cold turkey on the bottles but as per usual, my expectation did not meet my child's needs.  I guess we will continue the bottle use until further notice.  But, she's also still nursing, so maybe when she stops nursing the bottle can go away, too.  I give her cold milk from a sippy cup everyday, and everyday she spits it all over her clothes.  Sour milk on a babies clothes just smells so good...

I have also successfully weened Carly off her bedtime nurse, but she still begs for it in the morning and the afternoon.  I really think she will eventually ween herself from nursing, and we've decided that we are just going to let her do that.  If she's still nursing at 16 months than we will probably have to step in, but I really doubt she will be.  Each day she is becoming more like a toddler...walking, talking, understanding more of the world around her.  I highly doubt she will want to continue snuggling up with mama.  In the meantime, however, I'm enjoying each time she will cuddle with me as she has a morning or mid-day snack. :)

Well we have finally reached this week, and boy was it a good one!  Carly is so much fun, our minutes and hours fly away so quickly these days!  It's been gorgeous weather the past month and has allowed for some wonderful days outdoors.  She actually took those first three steps going up hill in our driveway, which is the only place she has to play while enjoying the sunshine.  Speaking of which, I am so excited to MOVE!  Oh...did I mention we heard that the bank was going to accept our offer on our soon-to-be-hope-to-be-house?!  We haven't received the executed contract yet, but I believe we should be moving sometime in May!  YAAAAYYY!!!  I am beyond excited for walking paths, a play ground and a pool just a quarter mile from us!  I'm also excited for more space and a two level house.  Oh I am just so excited!  I hope the deal doesn't fall through!

This has been quite the update, but I can't leave without writing about the fabulous family day we had this week.  Brian had a demanding week at work, so on his way home Tuesday evening he texted me that he needed a little magic on Wednesday.  So that's exactly what we gave him!  We got up early and hit the road to open Magic Kingdom.  We've never been that early and it was really delightful.  We took the classic MK photo and then decided to get a snapshot of Carly walking up Main Street USA, since she had just begun walking.  The picture turned out awesome and will certainly be displayed somewhere in our new home.  I have visions of taking this same photo as we add to our family over the next several years.

Then we decided to hit up Dumbo, Carly's second time on this attraction (after daddy rode Space Mountain, of course).

After MK, we ran over to DTD so I could attend a quick meeting for work.  After that, we let daddy putt a little before heading to Hollywood Studios for lunch.  We ate at Hollywood & Vine, a buffet style meal with Disney Junior characters.  Of course none of us knew who the characters were, but Carly enjoyed interacting with them.  The food was very good, as well.

Kisses for whatever bear this is...

Jake, would you like some food?

Handy Manny...but that's all we know ;)

I love watching the parades as well, so after lunch we waited around for the "5, 4, 3, 2, FUN!" Parade.

She loves them, too!

Does a fabulous job of pointing

Nothing beats this view!

We came home about 4pm and had a relaxing evening as a family.  What more could you ask for on the one day a week we get to spend all three of us together?

I think that about covers it.  Of course there are a million little things that go on throughout our week that I think, "oh I need to remember to blog about this," or "it was fun to watch Carly playing with her friend, ___," but there just isn't time for that this month.

I have 5 more work days before coming to Iowa and Brian is counting down the 7 or 8 days he has left.  He is jittery with excitement while I am just anticipating the stress of it all.  I'm sure it will be fun, though, and I certainly look forward to spending some much needed quality time with my girlfriends.  We are coming for 12 days so that we don't have to feel obligated to only spend time with our families.  I think it will end up being great.

Thanks for checking in!