Late fall and getting ready for Christmas

Ok, so since we've been total slackers on the updating thing, we're going to do two posts to bring things back up to date. The first tonight, and another by the weekend.

We'll start with our Indian summer (so to speak) in November. After all the snow and really cold weather in October, we thought we were never going to get a chance to get some new spring bulbs in the ground. Well, the weather cooperated.. for just one weekend, and we managed to get it done. Carly was a BIG help.





Since it was probably going to be the last weekend for playing outside, Carly made sure to get one more round in the sandbox. And with a big pink puffy coat, she found new places to hide sand so she could play with it later in the house.



One last joy ride in the Coupe for the year. Since we're cheap and got the stripped down model.....no windows or heat!



On to Illinois for the long Thanksgiving weekend. The weather and travel were decent. Here's a picture of Carly helping prepare Thanksgiving dinner. She was very excited about the great Turkey and stuffing that was to be ready soon.



So excited in fact, that here she is enjoying her Gerber ravioli and mandarin oranges!



We also managed to make it down and see the Lincoln area family the day after Thanksgiving. Carly had to teach Grandpa how to play with the toys.





On Sunday before we scooted back up to Minnesota, we stopped at the Kitson Family Tree Farm to hunt and kill our very own symbol of holiday tradition and have ourselves a good ol' fashioned Christmas.



Bagged a nice 6 footer... little full... lotta sap.....



Carly was very appreciative of our hard work.



Looks straight to me Daddy!



Now don't I look like an angel in this picture? Yeah... right, an angel, that's it.



Carly really wants a pony for Christmas...



If she keeps this up, she just might end up with one.



So now, a quick update on "Rocky." We had another Dr. appt in early Dec. Everything appears to be going along as it should be. The same day we had our appt, we were planning on doing some Christmas shopping up in the cities. Well... we shopped in the cities, and I suppose you could say we bought a new "Front Wheel Drive Sleigh" so there will be room for Carly, Rocky, Columbo, and all the crap, stuff and who-za-whatsits that go with them.



Ok... that's all for now... things were getting hectic building up to Christmas. Everyone was pulling hair around here!



More to follow... check back in a day or three.

The sequel

If the title alone didn't give it away, this should take care of it...



It's been a "Rocky" start, but as of now, things are going well. Will update more in the next few days.

A bug mommy's not scared of.....

OK, OK., it's been a while since the last update. Been pretty busy up here, getting ready for winter and all. A taste of winter actually came early. We had a record setting 6 inches of snow in October... of course since the ground wasn't frozen yet, it didn't last more than a day. It was however enough to go ahead and break out Carly's new winter coat.


About three weeks back was Andrew and Wendy's wedding in Rockford. It was nice weather and a lot of out of town family were able to attend. It was a great time. Carly does alright in hotels, and enjoys the extra towels.


The wedding itself was in a little town about a stone's throw into Wisconsin. Nice little church. Carly was very well behaved for the majority of the service. (Animal crackers help considerably.)






At the reception we took an opportunity to catch a quick family picture since we were all dressed up.




Then bring on the dancing. Carly had such a great time. She was so exhausted by the end of the night. Well... our night... the party went on a while after we left. Early in the dancing she was out there non-stop. Bouncing and running. After about an hour of dancing, she wanted to be out there for the beginning of every song, but soon she'd want to be picked up. But she'd hear a new song start and want down again. This went on for quite a while too.








At one point she only wanted to be held by Uncle Brian. Not sure what brought this on, but he didn't seem to mind and she really enjoyed it.


I thought we should start getting her trained to do these updates herself! She doesn't mind.


She wasn't sure what to do here after she got to this point.


And now for the title piece....

Many of you know Carly's favorite book is her 10 little ladybugs book. It's read every night, whether we're home or not. So.... for Halloween, we found her a ladybug costume. She really enjoyed it. Surprisingly she even left the bonnet alone when we put it on. These two pictures are from the party at daycare.




For Halloween, Carly was invited to go trick-r-treating with cousins Ellie and Isaac in Dixon. We were in Illinois for another event, so this worked out well. She had such a great time. She started out doing very well on her own, but by the end of the night she was content to be carried.




That's all we have for now. Hope you're all well. We'll be home again around Thanksgiving and then planning for right before Christmas. Take care!

Pigtails, a bookcase and tennis shoes

I know it has been a whole month since the last update. I still haven't gotten the videos uploaded. Just haven't taken the time to do it. We've been pretty busy lately. We met up with the Schahl side of the family last weekend in Joliet for a wedding, and other than that we've just been busy with day to day stuff.

Here's a few pictures from the last month. I promise I'll try to get to those videos soon.

Carly getting a treat to give to Columbo.


Showing off the pigtails. She's just so doggone cute!


Carly was so good the whole weekend at the wedding. Here's she's wiggling out of Grampa's arms.


Ok... maybe not totally good.... she has picked up a few things from her mother. ;)


Cheerios, anytime, anywhere.


Baka made a bookcase for Carly's room. Carly helped Kim load it.


Then she decided that the empty crate that previously held books was loads of fun


All done.


And here, sporting lace up tennis shoes. Tennis shoes and jeans just make her look so grown up!


Ok everybody take care. Going to be busy the next couple month leading up to Christmas.

The petting zoo and some other stuff

Hi, been a busy couple weeks. Not feeling very wordy tonight, so here's just a few pics for fun.

Carly sporting her WIU wear from Aunt Jenn.



Carly really likes Columbo, thankfully, he's usually so desperate for attention that he pretty much puts up with anything.





We missed taking pictures of the trip through the petting zoo at the county fair in town, so we went over and went again at the fair in the next county over.









We've picked up a bike trailer and started taking Carly for rides. She does alright for now... but when she's done, she's done NOW!





Gram and Baka came to visit. They brought up a special treat for Carly. It's a miniature replica of the loveseat at their house that Kim's grandpa built for her when she was little.







After a few seasons the birdhouse/feeder was hanging a bit low. Carly was just checking to see if it needed refilled.



Now occasionally she pushes the coupe out into the grass. It's all well and good until she can't quite figure out how to get back.



Okay, that's about enough for today. I've been a slacker and haven't gotten the videos uploaded. Hopefully I'll find a few minutes for that this week. Take care.