Good Morning Baltimore!

Angel wanted to document the three of us at Hairspray together

Why is she so bad at taking pictures?!

This will do.

We do have a picture of Kara, Angel, and me after Hairspray, but no decent pictures were taken before the show started. We had a grand ol' time at the show. Penny Pingleton is hilarious. I thought she was much better than in the movie. Who knew Broadway shows would rather tour to Anchorage than Portland?

In town square there are ice sculptures. Most are slightly melted and bear little resemblance to the artist's original intent. I was told this was supposed to be Mickey Mouse.

All I see is a blob with ears.

I got tired though so we had to go home.

PS: Dad, Carolyn is still cute.

Dancing Squid

This post is for Jeremy. We took this cute little video at lunch today. Thought you would enjoy it.

Did we really do this in public?

It's vacation, so we are going to all my favorite restaurants where I grew up. One big difference--I have a toddler now. One who even prior to this trip was trying to assert her independence/codependence at meal times. She has to be practically on top of me while she eats, but, aside from that, she will do everything herself--this includes eating ketchup with a spoon and picking up the goblet of water. My goal these days is to make it through the meal. You can see from my face that I was thoroughly enjoying the mess Carolyn was making. I wish we had a close up of her face from this picture. It is thoroughly slimed.




This was a cold turkey sandwich. Apparently, halfway through eating it, Carolyn decided it was too hot. She needed to cool it down.

How do parents get their toddlers to stay seated for meals? I understand it is asking a lot at restaurants because they don't have their boosters and it's something exciting and new. But at home? The first picture could have been taken at our dinner table. If we try to force her to sit in her booster, she cries and refuses to eat. Sometimes, like the days Jeremy works 14 hours, I can't handle listening to the crying and I let her sit on my lap. So do I just have to let her starve if she won't sit in her own seat? What's the deal here?

Sledding

Two things first. This trip was immediately a success because we were able to get Carolyn out of the house without the blasted binky. We are no longer a "only at sleeptime" family. And now she actually knows the word for it and looks under couches on a mission to find it. BUT, we did get some really cute pictures without it covering half her face. The second thing is that we are heavy on the pictures. That is what happens when Dad is still in Portland. These are for his benefit. But you may enjoy them as well!!

Taking Carolyn out for a ride

That's a tow strap through the toboggan handles--

very convenient for pulling

Carolyn enjoyed this little hill, but in the end it was too wienie .

We moved on to bigger, steeper hills. We are the small dots at the top.

Her pink snowsuit makes her much more visible than I am.

This is us mid-ride. I have no idea what Carolyn is doing,

but she "wheed" and giggled the whole way down

As soon as the sled stopped,

Carolyn was off my lap trying to head up for more.

On the way home. Mom is tired from carrying her up the hill and jogging across the snow.

This is by far Carolyn's favorite thing we have done this trip. She loved riding on the toboggan and going fast (this meant Mom was running up hills pulling her--that tired me out quick). We took her home against her will because it was bed time. I know people think the sun never rises here, but these pictures are dark for a legitimate reason, it was 7:30 pm when we left the house. We will definitely be doing more sledding while we are here.

Where a kid can be a kid!

Chuck E. Cheese's is my new best friend. Carolyn ran and ran to her heart's content today. We met some friends this morning and we played until nap time. Hallelujah. It kept Carolyn out of the kitchen and away from the floor installers. The floor is now in and looks great and won't be keeping Carolyn so restrained anymore.

More Snow!

My parents are remodeling their kitchen and the new floor was being installed today. This means that the living room is packed with furniture. With little room and loud noise from the installers, Carolyn and I decided to head outside.

Carolyn needed a snack before heading outside. The glove had to come off so she could have her fruit snacks.

Walking into the back yard.

The snow was only up to her waist, but it still made it impossible for her to move anywhere. Truthfully, she didn't really enjoy this expedition. I tried to let her run around the driveway after this, but she just wanted to go inside. Poor girl, she spent the rest of the day begging to "GO!" She's got a bit of cabin fever with the remodel going on. But she's doing quite well.

Fan Hair

A good friend has two treadmills, so I took Carolyn over today to get a run in without all the snow and cold. Between stops to keep her little body away and time for cuddles, I got in almost three miles! It felt nice to run again after my break for laziness. The fan set up to keep us cool was a big hit with the children. Here are some little pictures of Carolyn styling her hair with it.

Real honest-to-goodness snow

We made it to Anchorage last night. It was quite the trip with both of us feeling under the weather, but it's over and we have two more weeks until we have to try again.

Carolyn really wanted to go outside this morning, so we quickly threw the boots on over the pjs. Out the door we went. She loved it. I couldn't get a good picture of her face because she refused to look at me. The snow was just that much fun.

This is actually the road in front of my parents' house. Yes, we drive on it this way all winter long.

It was 7-10 degrees outside when we headed out. For once, Carolyn gladly kept her mittens on.

The snow in our yard is by far over her head. That's why we didn't go in the back. I didn't want to lose her. (My mom is being a party-pooper and thinks the snow in the back would only be up to her waist, but Jeremy will tell stories of knocking snow off trees with it up to his waist in years past.)

Sick days

What do your sick days look like? Ours look like this:


with this--


on a continuous loop. Get me out of Elmo's World!!

Ride 'em, Cowgirl!

I delayed posting this out of laziness, but I totally justified the whole deal because my sister-in-law went to the carousel as well, and she posted a lovely picture of Carolyn right here. That meant I didn't have to find my camera cord because out there, somewhere, in this large InterWeb, a record existed of Carolyn on her first solo ride. I've been informed I was sorely mistaken.








When is this ride ever going to start?











Hit it, Jack!








uhhh...my horse just moved.









Mama?!









There are no more pictures after this because Carolyn had her arm firmly around my waist from here on. Not the best angle for snapping photos. All in all, she enjoyed it. But like most things, she was much happier when I was within clinging distance.

Random old pictures

Carolyn tried, unsuccessfully, to zip up her own jacket sometime in the last few weeks. She also chose her attire for this day. Apparently, Mom wasn't getting out the door fast enough this particular morning. She brought me each piece, crying for it to be put on. I happily obliged and then we still didn't go outside. Eventually she just got mad at me.

No new pictures in this post...

It has been a long time since I've posted pictures of Carolyn. Well, prepare to wait awhile more. I found out this week it is harder to take care of a healthy child while sick than a sick child while healthy. Plus, to top it off. I am feeling mostly better, and Carolyn has caught the bug. Tomorrow we fly off to Alaska. Feel sorry for all the other people on the plane with us.

6 facts.

The rules of the game should be posted at the beginning of the post. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comments, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I read just about anything. And, unless it offends me, which is kind of hard to do, I will finish the book no matter how boring or poorly written it is. I have to stick it out to the end to make sure that the book is truly that bad and I didn't miss the good stuff.

2. I wanted a boy as a first child. Somehow I knew I was having a girl when I became pregnant, and I was fine with that, but I enjoyed having older brothers so much that I really thought every girl needs at least one. I was the first girl after three boys, and while I obviously didn't follow the same pattern, I have a little niece coming soon who will have three big brothers. If she has any questions on how to handle them, I live just down the road. But free advice for all...kissing usually gets them to back off. Brothers hate that stuff.

3. I hate things I'm not good at. I am working really hard at developing talents instead of just appreciating the ones that come easily for me. I hate to run, but I am slowly changing that, one mile at a time. I hate playing sports because I feel like it's not fun for the people who can actually catch the ball.

4. I hate to be wet. Especially my hands. This makes dishes my absolute least favorite chore and something I try to put off until Jeremy does them. This worked much better before he worked insane hours at his job. Now I suck it up and just make sure I dry my hands really well (really good? I'm too tired to figure it out) when I am done.

5. I will research anything. If I am curious about, say, how exactly the BCS standings are figured each year, I will pop up Google and spend my time reading the ins and outs of all the dumb computer polls and different rules that automatically qualify one team over a better one. This makes me a wealth of knowledge, but also a professional time waster.

6. I cannot for the life of me pick a sixth thing. Wait, I know! I am the wife of an official CPA! We found out Jeremy passed his last test just a few days after Christmas. What a relief. His application has posted and it is over! No more studying, no more missing family activities and no more stress (about that, at least). I've been chastised multiple times for not blogging this yet. So now everyone knows. Jeremy is a CPA!

Sorry, I can't tag anyone. I feel like people will hate me although I don't dislike people who do it to me. There's a seventh thing for you--I worry too much about what other people think and overanalyze everything.

Maybe I'm her second favorite

Me: Did you have fun tonight?
Carolyn: (nods)
Me: Do you like your new friend Brooklyn?
Carolyn: (nods)
Me: Do you like to eat chopped liver?
Carolyn: (nods)
Me: Is Mom your most favorite person in the whole world?
Carolyn: (begins to nod) uh uh. ELMO!

Random Tidbits

• I'll spare you the pictures, but Carolyn has a new favorite time of day--we call it "nekkie time." No matter how grumpy or mellow she is, if we take off her clothes and diaper, she will run in circles until the cows comes home. Or burrow into our blankets on the bed calling "night night!" It is so much fun to see her take glee in the simple things, and we've only had one accident to date.

• I dread the time for potty training. With Carolyn being only 18 months old, I don't think it will happen soon. But her announcement of "poo poo" every time she goes makes me think she will be ready before I am. After she comes to tell me she needs a diaper change, I usually ask again just to confirm. My favorite reaction is when she goes to point to her diaper. For her to do this correctly, she lifts up her belly so she can see where she is pointing. It makes me think of when I was pregnant and couldn't see much below my ginormous gut.

• Today Carolyn came over and puckered up her lips asking for a kiss without me instigating it. Love it!

• I was reading a book where one of the characters died unexpectedly, and I started crying. Not really crying until I realized the character was a daughter, and I thought about losing Carolyn in my life. That didn't help the tears disappear. Want to know what did? Carolyn came over and wiped them off my face

I am so grateful that I can spend all this time with Carolyn and watch her personality develop. She is one of the most caring babies I have ever met. She likes to make people feel better when sad and share her love with everyone who will allow it.