11 Months

Carys you are 11 months and I can't believe your first birthday is right around the corner! 

I think you are still around 20 pounds, and I'm pretty sure you've grown a few inches taller - we'll see for sure at your 12 month check up.  You still wear size 6-12 or 12 month clothes, size 3 diapers during the day, and size 4 at night.  Mom and Dad love that you are still a really good sleeper and take a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 1 hour nap in the afternoon.  Bedtime is right around 7 pm and you'll sleep until 6:45 - 7 am the next morning.  

  

  

You have gotten much more mobile in the last couple of weeks.  You can take a few steps on your own and are even getting brave enough to do it without Mom or Dad waiting to catch you.  You still have not crawled, but you can pull up, roll and scoot around to get to things you want, but sometimes you whine quite a bit because you want help to stand back up again.  You also like to sit on your bottom and use your legs to move in a circle.  You love your doll stroller and use that to get around, but you also discovered that a laundry basket will work too!  When we help you walk, you like to hold onto our hand instead of us holding on to you.  I think this is your way of letting us know that you are trying to be more independent!

 

For the most part, you're still a pretty good eater.  Although you are driving us a little crazy because you've decided it's fun to spit your food out after you chewed it a few times.  Meal times have become quite a big mess thanks to this little 'trick'!  We've tried switching your formula to sippy cups, but you are NOT interested in that at all.  You'll drink water from a cup, straw or sippy cup, but not formula!  I stopped nursing you just last week - we had gotten down to just one feeding at night, but now we are done completely.  I thought it would be hard to stop, but I think we were both ready and it was pretty easy.

A couple more firsts - you've learned to wave Hi/Bye and give high-fives, and you think that's a lot of fun!  You love to play with anything that's not a toy, and you almost bought a $39.99 pay-per-view show off the TV last time you had the remote!  It's been so hot that we've gone to the pool and the beach a couple of times and you LOVE the water.  We're excited to move into our house and have a pool in the backyard for you!

I can't believe your first year is almost over, but we have loved every minute with you.  You make us laugh everyday and even though we are exhausted by the end of the day and need a break, we still miss you when you go to bed at night and can't wait to come in and get you in the morning, and you are always so happy to see us!  We love you sweet girl!   

Beach Babies

It was hot today, so for our playdate with Maryn, Jack and Claire, we decided to hit the beach.  It was fun and exhausting!!  I think Maryn and I packed enough for a week even though we were only there for a couple of hours.  The kids had a blast though.  We rigged a canopy for the girls using the strollers and a neat sheet.  I don't know how I don't have one of these yet.  Maryn brought two and they are exactly the kind of thing that I love. I have seen them before, but for some reason I never bought one.  Well that will be changing soon because they were perfect for the beach and definitely going on the shopping list!

These pictures were pretty much the only time these girls were sitting still.  Soon after, Carys decided she didn't want to sit and needed to check out the sand and Claire started diving all over for the toys.  I did squeeze in some lunch for Carys, and Maryn was able to take Jack for a quick swim though.

After her lunch, I took Carys down to the water.  When I put her down, she paused briefly to check out the sand under her feet and then she was off.  With me holding her hands, she walked right into the water all the way up to her chest before she decided it was deep enough.  I was so surprised that she walked out that far.  This kid loves the water!

After our swim we went to sit at the edge of the water and I got her bucket and shovel.  She had absolutely no interest in that though - unfortunately, she only wanted to eat the sand.  She got a big handful before I could stop her, and as I was trying to wash that off, she was grabbing another scoop with her other hand.  I can't imagine what could be so appealing about eating sand, but I could not get her to stop!  So, needless to say our stay next to the water was short lived.  She got a quick rinse and it was back to the blanket.  I guess we won't be building sand castles anytime soon!

We sat and watched Jack play while the girls tore into everything on the blanket that they could get their hands on!  Then we all went for another swim before deciding it was time to head home.  We had tons of fun, but everyone was ready for a nap (moms included), so we loaded up and headed out!

And this is how we roll!

Ready for Takeoff

We had another busy weekend with a trip back to our house in Michigan to tackle some more home improvement projects.  Well, Scott tackled them with the help of Uncle David who drove in again for the weekend.  I spent my time keeping Carys occupied, which pretty much meant that we had to leave the house.  If Daddy's around, Carys wants to be right there with him and since she's not much help when it comes to plumbing - we needed to make ourselves scarce, so Scott could get something done.

The boys worked super hard all day and accomplished some much needed work.  Carys and I had a fun and busy day.  We met our friends Tonya and Nick at the park for a play date.  We had a blast and are so looking forward to spending more time with these two once we get settled back at home.  Tonya brought Nick's wagon, so we strapped the two of them in.  After we went for a walk, we hit the swings, which both kids love!  Then while Nick kept the squirrels busy by chasing them all over the park, Carys checked out everything on the ground.  She loves feeling the cement, pulling grass and picking up wood chips.  I had to keep a close eye on her because apparently, wood chips are pretty tasty.  I ended up pulling more than one from her mouth!  Around this time, we realized the kiddos were probably getting hungry, so we strapped them back in the wagon and unloaded our food supplies. The kids had a blast eating together in the wagon.  They took turns feeding each other and stealing trading sippy cups.  By the time lunch was over, the kids and the wagon were one big, hot mess and everyone was ready for a nap!  We said goodbye to Tonya and Nick, and finished the day running errands and stopping by Grandma's place for a quick visit. 

I am seriously slacking these days because I failed to take any pictures all weekend.  We did get this quick video though after we got home today.  Carys took her first solo steps on the 4th and we've been practicing ever since.  She gets so excited that we have a hard time getting her to calm down long enough for her to catch her balance, but when she does she'll takeoff and get a few steps in before crashing into mom or dad.  Today was the first time she walked to the couch instead of mom or dad.  I think that means she's getting a little braver!  

We are exhausted and tired of driving, but we know that this work will be worth it when we finish the big move next week!  

 

It's Official - We're Moving Home!

So the big plan we've had in the works for awhile now is finally happening and we couldn't be more excited!  In just a week and a half, we'll be loading up all of our stuff and hitting the road to move home.  We have been living in Ohio for over two and a half years now, and we've really grown to love the area and have made some amazing friends.  We live just northeast of Columbus in a beautiful small town that we love.  Columbus is a great city and it's really the best of both worlds to have all the amenities of C-bus close by, but with the slower pace (less traffic!) of a small town.  The move here was never intended to be temporary, but sometimes you make plans only to find out that the Master Planner has other ideas for you!

The hardest part of our move here was leaving great friends and family behind.  Michigan will always be "home" to us and we felt that every time we visited.  We also were unable to sell our house when we moved.  The market in our area was really hit hard, so not wanting to take on an additional mortgage we've been living in an apartment while our house is on the market.  Moving from a house to an apartment definitely wasn't our first choice, but it was never really a big deal until we had Carys.  Especially now that she is getting more mobile, the lack of a backyard for her to play in has been really tough.  Scott and I were blessed to both have great jobs, but the stress of maintaining living arrangements in two different states was really taking it's toll.  We had been praying and praying that our house would sell, and that we could get settled in one area.  In the midst of those prayers an unexpected opportunity arose.  Well, unexpected to us, I really believe that this is exactly God's answer to our prayers - just His answer, not ours!  After hearing about a possibility to return home, I really asked God to open the door for us if it was His will.  And after waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more, He opened the door.  Scott will be returning to work with a team that he has always missed, I will still have the opportunity to stay home with Carys, and we'll be moving back into our first home that we love.  It is unbelievable to me how things have fallen into place and I'm ever more confident in the verse that has always encouraged me during difficult times...

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

We truly feel like a weight has been lifted and are so thankful for this opportunity.  Now we can't wait to get settled in our new-old home.

In Bug News this is what we've been up to...

going for walks,

trying a bite of Mom's nectarine,

deciding Mom didn't need anymore and eating the whole thing, 

(for not having any teeth yet, this girl sure can eat)

and trying to stay cool playing inside.

Happy 4th of July!

I know this is a little late, but we were out of town for the weekend and I didn't have internet access!  I can blog from my phone, but I haven't figured it out yet and we were pretty busy, so I didn't have time to mess with it.  It was a working weekend for us, as we have some big projects to tackle (next post), but we had a really nice long holiday weekend.

We had an extra special visit from my baby sister, Aunt Lynnette, on Saturday and I'm sad to say I did not get one picture.  I am SO mad at myself.  It was great to see her and spend a little time visiting, and she was able to get some snuggle time in with Carys.  She went canoeing on the 4th (her birthday) with friends, but she stopped by again on Monday.  This time she brought Carys's adopted Aunt Mary Beth.  Mary Beth and Lynnette have been best friends since 2nd grade, so she is officially considered part of the family.  I was so happy to see both of them before we hit the road - I miss them so much!  Carys was ready for her nap, so she wasn't the happiest camper, but Aunt Netty read her one of her favorite books and that calmed her down, for a little bit anyway!

Sorry girls - I stole some Facebook photos of you! 

Happy Birthday Aunt Netty!

LK & MB 

 We were also lucky to have a visit from Uncle David too.  He worked hard all day with Scott, but we also managed to squeeze in some chill time.  The most important thing was that he was there to witness Carys's first SOLO steps!!!  She was standing next to Dad, and when he let go she took two steps on her own before crashing into him!  She still has quite a way to go before she gets that balance thing fully worked out, but she's improving and before long I think we'll be chasing after her!  

Uncle Dave quickly figured out that the fastest way to earn this girl's affection is to feed her, and 

 I think this will be the first of many chats between these two!

Knowing it was going to be a super hot weekend, we decided to stop on our way into town and get Carys a pool.  Unfortunately for Scott, with all of our stuff in Ohio including the air compressor, he had to spend the night before blowing it up!  All the hard work was worth it though, because Carys loved it!  In fact, we all took turns cooling off, and Carys even had her lunch in the pool!

After swimming, we came in to take a nap while the boys went for a bike ride.  Carys chilled in her pack'n'play for a little bit, but decided she did not want to waste the holiday sleeping, so I got her up and we played all afternoon.  She was being a goofball and cracking me up.  Another first this weekend was Carys decided to add a new syllable to her babbling, and I couldn't be more excited because it's MaMa MaMa!!!  This girl has been saying DaDa DaDa for months now, but I could not get her to make the "M" sound even though I say it to her like 50 times a day!  Of course after seeing my reaction, she's been saying it ever since, and it just melts my heart! 

 Being sassy!

Texting the grandparents to say Happy 4th!  

After Uncle David hit the road to get home for his own 4th celebration, we went to dinner at Quay Street, one of our favorite spots.  We both had tomato bisque soup, which is so yummy, and then I had a chicken ceasar salad and Scott had the brewhouse burger.  Carys enjoyed a little of both mom & dad's dinner, and thankfully she had fun and behaved long enough for us enjoy our dinner.  After getting home, we gave her a quick bath and she barely made it to her 7 pm bedtime - she was exhausted!  Scott and I sat on the deck and took in the fireworks going on around us.  It was such a beautiful night and great to spend some time together just relaxing and chatting.  Of course we stayed up later than normal, so Carys's 6 am wake time came way sooner than we would have liked, but it was worth being able to squeeze in some extra alone time.  It was a busy weekend, but a lot of fun and getting to see some of our favorite people made it even better!

I love the 4th of July! It's always been a special holiday because it's my sister's birthday, but I also love the spirit of the day.  Celebrating with BBQ, family and fireworks is what I love about summer.  It also reminds me to stop and give thanks for those that have sacrificed so much for our freedom.  God bless the USA!