Carli's Board

A few weeks ago I was asked if I would do a bulletin board for Carli at the church building, kind of a get to know the baby thing. I had pictures (that I had yet to order) and lots of ideas, but totally no motivation! So after catching up on my picture orders (over 925 ordered), and enlisting the help of my teacher friends, Tiffany and Tori - we finally got Carli a bulletin board a couple of weeks ago. I kind of cheated, and provided the pictures, cut out the letters and let the other girls do the rest! I thought it turned out super cute - and was very thankful for their help!

Keith took this picture with the iPhone, since I kept forgetting to get the camera out to take one.

Reading with Logan & Aunt Chelle

Last Monday, Aunt Chelle and Logan got to come see visit us for the afternoon. Logan and Carli had lots of fun together and Carli wasted no time letting Aunt Chelle read to her!

Logan even shared his ball with Carli after they warmed up to each other! Thanks Aunt Chelle and Logan for the fun afternoon!

I took full advantage of my Mom passing through town with them, and had boiled chicken done so she would shred it for me! It's one of those pregnancy things I guess, I can't shred boiled chicken, it's just too gross! Thanks Mom!

Shea Shea!!

I really wish I had been on the other side of the door with a video camera -

If I had been so lucky - you would have seen her full face and both arms out the doggie door with her fingers opening and closing trying to beckon Shea to come back in the house! You would have also heard a very persistent "SHEA SHEA!!! SHEA SHEA!!!" She was loud enough for me to come from the other side of the house to see just what Shea was doing to be getting such a chewing out! Turns out the poor dog was just getting a drink of water!

23 Weeks

First - I must note that Carli had her first bloody lip last night. She was "running" in the kitchen and fell face first on the tile floor. I guess having only two teeth at 15 months has its advantages - not bad to have made it so long without a fat lip!

And we managed to get a 23 week belly picture in before our Sunday came to a halt. Keith even managed to get us both smiling! All three if you count the baby karate chopping my bladder, I'm pretty sure she thinks that is funny...


I did go to the doctor last week for a belly check. I like my doctor during this pregnancy more so than last. He is a little more sympathetic. I really like his nurses...they make me laugh. They asked if I felt okay - I told them I hurt - and they responded with, and? I told them I felt huge, and they told me I was normal and then congratulated me on making it up to my "pre-pregnancy" weight finally. I guess I had lost more than I thought I had during the first of the pregnancy. He did tell me that this little one was measuring right on for 23 weeks and her heartbeat was really strong - always helps when she kicks the heart monitor thing when he is trying to listen to her! A bright note for me was that he told me at 39 weeks he would do a voluntary induction on a second child if I am extremely uncomfortable. That is good news, b/c I am still fearful of having a huge baby - and seeing as to how I feel huge, I am already a little nervous! Plus, he made me go the full 41 weeks with Carli, 10 days after her due date! So, I was relieved to at least know that option was available.

We go on Feb 2nd for our second ultra sound. He is doing a full check up I guess just to make sure everything is A-Okay with her and her two veined umbilical cord. Carli's pediatrician had told me that he is really checking the development of her kidneys and heart, that blood flow is a big deal. So I guess we shall see. We are excited to see her again on the sonogram though!

What a Sunday

Our Sunday has not gone as planned, but such is life - right? Yesterday, I started sneezing and had a swollen throat, but attributed it to allergies and the beautiful weather. Being pregnant all I can take for a runny nose and coughing are Tylenol products and they don't do anything for me - especially when I'm pregnant. So as I lay in bed last night counting backwards from 100, trying to fall asleep, I must have dozed for a little while b/c when I woke up I could have sworn someone was breaking into our house and was trying to take Carli - stupid dreams. So then I lay there rationalizing why such a thing would not happen and if it did I would have heard something. But just in case I did check the baby monitor numerous times to make sure Carli was still in her bed - and let the dogs out of the room just in case...you know, my three less than 15 lb watch dogs. I felt safer. So after a long, long night of not sleeping - when morning came I was exhausted, and promised myself a nap upon returning home from church.

We got to church and I felt and apparently looked horrible. I made it through communion and had Keith bring me home. I was exhausted and did not feel good. Keith went back to church and I slept. By the time he and Carli made it home I felt much better and the Sonic Dr. Pepper he brought me really helped - so much more so than Tylenol! Still got a runny nose, but as Keith has told me, I'm a horrible sick person. I would much rather be doing something than just sitting...I tried to do the floors and he wouldn't let me. So I've done a consumer report thing to mail in, I've played on facebook and now updating the blog. I think I'll go to small group tonite and keep my distance b/c I can't stand not doing anything!!

Carli looked super cute this morning and we had a successful bow morning. Daddy was able to remove the bow prior to our nap with no hair tangles too! She looked like one of those little Dr. Suess characters when he got it out...

A Window Sill & Shoes

Really - that's all we need for an hour of fun!

Lovin' Grammy

Usually when we go to Alto, Carli gets to spend the afternoon with her great grandparents while I work. We head home around 6 or so - usually later b/c my time concept has gone out the window. But anyway, before we head home, Grammy and Pa will come up to see Carli before we go. Usually, she is kind of grouchy b/c she will have just gotten up from a nap - but last week she was in one feisty mood! When Grammy got there, Carli was ready to wrestle!

She threw in some hugs in between the pushing and rolling!

It was fun to watch Carli get such a kick out of her Grammy!

Big Headed Baby

Carli simply makes me smile. She became attached at a very young, itty-bitty age to her froggy. She sleeps with him every night and loves on him every morning. She actually runs into her bedroom when it is nap time so she can have froggy. Besides froggy, Carli has not really attached herself to any other toy. She will have a favorite for a day or two, and then move on to the next toy. However, last week, she found Big Headed Baby in her toy box and has proceeded to carry her everywhere.

Big Headed Baby came to our home compliments of Mom #3 (AKA Ms. Jamie) from the shower she gave Carli back in the summer of 08. Since coming to our house, Big Headed Baby has had a home on top of the TV (the dogs thought she was an awesome play toy), in Carli's room (until the dogs found her) and then in the toy box. Carli has come to the age that she will tell the dogs "No!" and take things away from them if they are not to have them. So Big Headed Baby was safe in the toy box with Carli on guard.

If you look close you can see Big Headed Baby on the left side of this picture - this was at our shower.

We have been pointing out babies in pictures, on TV and Carli even has a couple of baby dolls we have tried to get her interested in hopefully to help prepare her for the one we have on the way. She gets really excited when she sees a real baby, but the dolls were of no interest to her at all! Well, last week Carli was on her emptying routine of the toy box which usually simply entails throwing every thing out of the toy box and declaring it all done and leaving. But, this time, when she came across Big Headed Baby she got so excited and yelled "Baby!" and quickly gave her a huge hug and took her all over the house...

Lounging on the couch...

Taking a stroll...

Move over Tighty, make room for two!

Helping Big Headed Baby into the chair...

Waiting patiently for Daddy to come home at lunch...

Yes, she did put the headband on herself...she got mad when one would not stay on Big Headed Baby...

Big Headed Baby even had to join Carli for her Daddy hug!

There was actually a little indecision today at nap time, if Big Headed Baby needed to take a nap as well. I was able to talk her out of that...only one baby in the bed at a time! Thanks Ms. Jamie for our Big Headed Baby!

Just Sayin' Thanks

We had a lot of fun this year doing thank you notes with Carli Lynn. Since Carli doesn't go to day care, there are some things we miss out on - like having cool little mementos of her hand print and foot print on random art projects. So we decided to combine our two needs - thank you notes and mementos and see how it turned out.

Since we actually had a Christmas at Thanksgiving this year, we did the hand print turkey on the front of our thank you notes to that side of the family. Carli thought we were crazy...



Then for our regular Christmas thank you notes, we did some foot prints. We varied the color - wander if Uncle Tone noticed why he got the color that he got...


Here is Carli clapping for herself doing a successful foot print...


Some of our finished products...

Anyway, we had a lot of fun making them - and we hope everyone knows how much we appreciate everything they have done for our family this past year!

15 Months and Growing

Carli turned 15 months as of January 1st. It's kind of crazy how fast she has grown. We had our check up this Tuesday. It was kind of a well check dash ear infection follow-up. She checked out great on her 15 month check up, not so much on the ears.

She was 20 lbs 11 oz which is in the 15th Percentile. But I am pretty sure in the last two days she has gained a pound. She started eating none stop! Today at Grandma's they ran out of food to feed her! She ate all the snacks I had taken and she was only there for the afternoon!

She was 30 inches tall which is in the 32nd Percentile. I think she got a short gene. And her head circumference was 18 1/4 inches which is the 65th Percentile - she's got a good head on her shoulders! :)

Our ears were not so good. She had her first ear infection in November...our first ever. And it just seems to really like her! We thought we had gotten rid of it over Christmas only to have it come back. We are now on some pretty stinkin' high powered meds, which the doc said would either give her the runs or make her nauseated. I'm not sure which is worse, b/c the runs have given her a nasty diaper rash. Not fun. Other than that, the ears don't seem to bother her really. She is still goofy and playful and just a good little girl. Just don't change her diaper. That really ticks her off!

Speaking of goofy - her Daddy came home this week and took his jacket off. Carli insisted on wearing it...

I was squatting down to take her picture, so she squatted too...

And this is our "CHEESE" face...not done on demand, done when she feels like it!

Oh no, lost our hand...this went on for a good 30 minutes before we got her attention elsewhere...

Just another day with Carli Lynn!

Headbanding It

Carli quit letting me put headband bows on her a long long time ago. But recently, her new thing is to put the headbands on herself. She discovered my stash of hair accessories, which include some headbands that I use in the summer, some pony tail holders which are better known in Carli terms as bracelets and some ribbon which better serve as scarves...I'm pretty sure I have a girly, girl on my hands! :) Ironic, huh?

No help needed putting this one on!

Showing off for Daddy

21 Weeks 4 Days

Here is our "bump" picture this week.

And just for comparision - this is me pregnant with Carli at 20 weeks...not as big I don't think.

This is what I feel more like...pregnancy with Carli at 25 weeks. The difference with this baby is I am carrying her lower...so maybe it is deceptive?

Flash Cards & Animal Sounds

With Keith home half the week, Carli really had a blast getting more attention all day long than she usually did. She loves to read - and we have had the "Baby Can Read" set since she was itty bitty but she only really watches the videos when we are in the car and she never was interested in flash cards. So we didn't push. This week, she discovered the flash cards and really likes them. Already she learned where her teeth & chin are! Anyway, here is a "short" 3 minute video of her talents thus far and a little of her animal sounds. She does a lot more animal sounds but gets camera shy most of the time.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I Wander What She's Thinking

**I should have titled this..."See What Naggy Taught Carli" - Naggy gave her Mardi Gras beads for Christmas.

I was working in the kitchen and Keith was on the computer when Carli stuck her head in and squealed at us - we looked up to see this...wander what she was thinking!

A Daddy's Girl...

Carli LOVES to help her Daddy anyway she can - she especially loves to do whatever Daddy is doing...


If anyone were to ever question the fact that Carli has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger, let the following be proof to the contrary. Carli loves to “talk” on the phone. She really likes it when she can push buttons and things light up. She whines and reaches and begs for Keith’s blackjack all the time, and he usually gives in. One night she was done “talking” and threw it down. This resulted in a small part of the lower right hand screen to then be “broken”. The glass wasn’t broken, but the color was all messed up. The phone was still useable and the only downfall was that I could no longer play my favorite game, bubble breaker. But that’s okay – I found an iPhone app for that…anyway…so Keith learned his lesson right? Wrong. Two days later, I kid you not, he let her have it again, and this time she killed the phone. The screen went totally white and Keith lost his ability to use his phone. It would still ring, but that did him no good b/c he could not see who was calling nor could he call anyone…so he had to switch to his old faithful Samsung flip phone. At least until Jan 15 when his contract with AT&T was within its 30 day renewal period and he could get an iPhone…which is what he really wants and which is probably why he kept letting his daughter play with his blackjack.

I didn’t feel sorry for him. You can say that is mean, but the man doesn’t learn! He has had the same watch since he was a senior in high school – 10 years. They are inseparable. But, he leaves it within a certain little girls reach and one morning when watch and tile floor met, the floor won. He sends me an email that day entitled “This is the day I have been dreading…” Immediate thoughts of lay offs come forth and I start to freak out…only, it was a watch that had met its demise, not his job AND it was his fault! But don’t worry – he got on ebay and found the exact same watch for $20 – he was willing to pay $65! Goodness…wander if he will learn…

Let me answer that for you – nope. She’s still got him and he’s still giving in. She wanted his Samsung flip phone to play with and he provided it willingly. I tried to intervene and give her the old dead blackjack which she was not interested in b/c for one, Daddy didn’t use that one and for two, it didn’t light up. So, I told Keith to turn it on for her so at least the screen would be white, but it would light up and maybe the Samsung flip phone could survive a mere week and a half longer. He turned it on and guess what – the blackjack booted up and works just fine…full picture and all…wander how long it will last!

And just think - he's about to have two girls. Hmmm, this should be fun!

Super Sunday, Part 2

So, our Super Sunday quickly turned into one of sheer panic when I could not find Hooptie’s keys anywhere…but first, a little background.

We sold Volvie and bought what we thought was a pretty awesome 08 Mercury Mountaineer. Well, turned out it was not what it should have been. The dealership was deceitful, and after about a month and a half we returned the car and got our money back. Having dealt with that and with the holiday’s approaching I did not want to deal with looking for a new car. Up stepped my parents and offered us the use of one of their vehicles. We fondly call their 96 Ford Escort, Hooptie. It isn’t much to look at, but bless it’s little heart, it just keeps ticking when everything else seems to fall apart!

Having Hooptie has done us a world of good. It brought us to reality, that looks don’t matter, functionality does. Hooptie has saved us tons of money on gas. We have tried to take really good care of him. Carli and I washed him, vacuumed him, get his oil changed and keep him gassed up. He is our faithful little companion on our biweekly trips to Alto and does a really awesome job getting us there. So, we have changed our focus and hopefully we will be able to return Hooptie to his rightful owners soon, once we find a comparable vehicle that is as dependable and efficient as he…

So with that said, the only thing both my parents told us when we “borrowed” Hooptie was that there was only one set of keys…so not to lose them. Check. Should not be a problem, right?

Well, Saturday was a busy day. Keith begin one of our many projects in preparation of the arrival of Baby #2 and Carli and I were sent to the hardware store to get some supplies. We obviously made it home. Saturday was a huge success, Sunday morning was great. We take Keith’s truck to church on Sunday’s so it was not until grocery shopping time that we realized Hooptie’s keys were not hung up. We did a quick search. We had swept and vacuumed on Saturday night, so surely the keys just got put somewhere else. We looked and looked. I got frustrated and declared I was going to the store anyway – and left.

I got in the truck and decided perhaps I should call our mechanic. Bless his heart. If you need a good mechanic – check out T&L Auto in Jacksonville. He is awesome. Anyway, I called. He assured me that they would be more than happy to come all the way to my house (30 minutes away) and hotwire Hooptie to take him to the shop and see about getting a key made…which would be no easy task. I told him we would keep looking and swore him to secrecy…please, please, please don’t tell my parents! And I came back home.

Keith and I looked everywhere…in the garage, in the trash, in the dirty clothes, the toy box, under couches, everywhere with no luck. I started tearing apart the bed, and Keith was looking in the linen closet. Then it got quiet…guess where the keys were…go ahead, you’ll never guess….

Remember this picture?


Outside the doggie door. Well, turns out we have the most random things end up outside…forks, toys, cheerios and now add to that list, keys. I don’t know why it took us so long to think to look there. Talk about a huge relief. I was so stressed out. Hooptie’s keys were found! Woohoo!

So, we figured, I must have gotten out of the car and put the keys in my sweat shirt pocket while I got things out of the car. Carli and I came in the house and promptly set about getting lunch together. I took my sweater off and the keys must have fallen out. Carli then took it upon herself to put the keys outside the doggie door…thanks baby…you are too sweet!

So three hours later, high blood pressure, many tense comments and calling our mechanic Tim back and letting him know we had found the keys…I think I can sleep good tonite. Such was the end of our Super Sunday!