My "bow lady" who used to sell the cutest bows on eBay has been out of commission for the last several months and our bow collection is starting to look a little meager- many have been lost as small things carried everywhere often are... I tried to find someone else making them the way she does on eBay, but either everyone else seemed to be so different or sooo much more expensive that I just couldn't make it work... so I dug up her email address and emailed her personally to ask when/if she was coming back. Turns out she's expecting her 3rd child in October and not coming back to the business til at least January! I couldn't wait that long- I got a little desperate- so I went to Hobby Lobby and stocked up on ribbon and tried to give myself an extra sense of patience... and gave it a try! It took me about 3 hours yesterday, but I made these 6 bows that I think are at least passable! My favorite is the top left one with purple spots. :) I'm sure that I'll get better with a little more practice- because I was glad to learn that it really isn't that hard. :)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
New Hobby
My "bow lady" who used to sell the cutest bows on eBay has been out of commission for the last several months and our bow collection is starting to look a little meager- many have been lost as small things carried everywhere often are... I tried to find someone else making them the way she does on eBay, but either everyone else seemed to be so different or sooo much more expensive that I just couldn't make it work... so I dug up her email address and emailed her personally to ask when/if she was coming back. Turns out she's expecting her 3rd child in October and not coming back to the business til at least January! I couldn't wait that long- I got a little desperate- so I went to Hobby Lobby and stocked up on ribbon and tried to give myself an extra sense of patience... and gave it a try! It took me about 3 hours yesterday, but I made these 6 bows that I think are at least passable! My favorite is the top left one with purple spots. :) I'm sure that I'll get better with a little more practice- because I was glad to learn that it really isn't that hard. :)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Beach Day
Friday night turned out to be an uncharacteristically light call for Brad and apart from a few phone calls (the things some people bother their doctors about in the middle of the night...?) he slept most of the night, so he was more refreshed than usual and up for a family outing to the beach on Saturday. I think I got a little vision of what he must have been like at 10 years old. There were some pretty strong waves and warm lake waters; he had a blast splashing around like a dolphin and would have stayed out there all day I think.
He and Carolyn share a deep and abiding love of sand. She wouldn't even look at me or talk to me for about the first hour we were there because she was so absorbed in playing in the sand. Brad tells me he was like this as a child, too- never could get enough of digging and playing in it. Neither can she. :) Lake Michigan is like the biggest, sweetest sandbox ever.
Unfortunately this was the last picture I managed to take before the battery died on the camera (such an amateur move not carrying a spare with me!) But somehow it's almost nice when stuff like that happens because it means I can just enjoy being in a moment instead of documenting it all. :) We had a very nice time together.
I'm grateful to be married to my best friend, and to share with him a love that goes beyond saying for this little girl- and her little brother or sister who is just starting to make him or herself known with little flutters here and there- sometimes I think I'm imagining things... but then it'll happen again and I know I'm not. :) Still pretty irregular and never when I sit around wait and hope for it... but feeling those stirrings of life inside is hands down my favorite thing about being pregnant (except of course for the baby you get at the end, as my friend reminded me :)).
He and Carolyn share a deep and abiding love of sand. She wouldn't even look at me or talk to me for about the first hour we were there because she was so absorbed in playing in the sand. Brad tells me he was like this as a child, too- never could get enough of digging and playing in it. Neither can she. :) Lake Michigan is like the biggest, sweetest sandbox ever.
Unfortunately this was the last picture I managed to take before the battery died on the camera (such an amateur move not carrying a spare with me!) But somehow it's almost nice when stuff like that happens because it means I can just enjoy being in a moment instead of documenting it all. :) We had a very nice time together.I'm grateful to be married to my best friend, and to share with him a love that goes beyond saying for this little girl- and her little brother or sister who is just starting to make him or herself known with little flutters here and there- sometimes I think I'm imagining things... but then it'll happen again and I know I'm not. :) Still pretty irregular and never when I sit around wait and hope for it... but feeling those stirrings of life inside is hands down my favorite thing about being pregnant (except of course for the baby you get at the end, as my friend reminded me :)).
When Mommy's Not Home...
Apparently, this is what dinner is like when I'm at work... :)
We have a patent pending for the exact shade of orangey-red of my spaghetti sauce and are looking into marketing it for face paint. :)
This face reminds me strongly of someone I know... I think it might be me... or maybe one of my sisters. I'm pretty sure it's a Barton-esque expression.
Who needs a fork?
We have a patent pending for the exact shade of orangey-red of my spaghetti sauce and are looking into marketing it for face paint. :)
This face reminds me strongly of someone I know... I think it might be me... or maybe one of my sisters. I'm pretty sure it's a Barton-esque expression.
Who needs a fork?
Friday, August 22, 2008
Sneak Peek
There are a lot of sacrifices involved with seeing a husband and daddy through OB residency... we share quite a few meals at the hospital and don't always see him as much as we would like... but there are also some really great perks! We haven't taken as much advantage of the ultrasound machine on the floor this time as we did with Carolyn- because we decided that constant surveillance only served to increase my anxiety level- but we took a little peek at the little baby tonight! Carolyn's brother or sister is growing! She saw the baby on the screen and we told her it was the baby in Mommy's tummy and she said "Baby Aria!" [side note: one of my best friends who Carolyn frequently sees just had a baby named Aria so Carolyn thinks all babies in tummies are Baby Aria]. It's too early to tell the sex (as we expected) but we got to see a lot of other cool stuff and it was just neat to see him/her jumping around in there, even though I can't feel most of the movements yet.
Here you can see the baby's profile.
And here you the eye and mouth and nose- also a knee.
Here he/she is looking at us and opening and closing his/her mouth.
Check out the arm and hand! We didn't get a picture of it, but the baby waved to us at one point!
I admit this is a little freaky, but it's also really amazing to see all the bones in that little arm and fingers right where they should be. I'm so excited for that little hand to grab my finger in less than 6 more months! :)
Hope you also enjoyed this little sneak peek! We don't get as much time to just sit around and think about being pregnant with this one as we did with Carolyn- she keeps us pretty busy! But it is fun to have moments like this when we can stand back and marvel at the miracle God is hard at work on inside my body! It still gives me the chills to think about how He creates a whole, new, complete individual this way!
Here you can see the baby's profile.
And here you the eye and mouth and nose- also a knee.
Here he/she is looking at us and opening and closing his/her mouth.
Check out the arm and hand! We didn't get a picture of it, but the baby waved to us at one point!
I admit this is a little freaky, but it's also really amazing to see all the bones in that little arm and fingers right where they should be. I'm so excited for that little hand to grab my finger in less than 6 more months! :)
Hope you also enjoyed this little sneak peek! We don't get as much time to just sit around and think about being pregnant with this one as we did with Carolyn- she keeps us pretty busy! But it is fun to have moments like this when we can stand back and marvel at the miracle God is hard at work on inside my body! It still gives me the chills to think about how He creates a whole, new, complete individual this way!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
A Morning at the Park
Today we got together with Krysia and Garrett for a morning at the park. The one we planned to go to was closed, so we ended up at a new park for Carolyn and me. It turned out to be a great pick! We had a wonderful time- and I brought along "The Beast" (huge, wonderful, beautiful new camera) to take some pictures of the kids having fun... since I know I've been a bit slow on pictures lately. :)
Michigan weather is nothing if not unpredicatable! We've had some uncharacteristically cool days for August and some of the trees are actually starting to turn colors already! And even the green leaves are starting to take on the tinge of "old summer green," which means they are thinking of the reds and yellows and oranges they'll be putting on soon. Every year when the first hint of chill begins to hit the air, something inside me seems to come alive. I don't think I could live in a place where there wasn't Fall. I hope we don't get cheated out of this most wonderful season this year- last year it stayed summer warm until mid-October and then we only had a few weeks of Fall until it was Winter (FOREVER). Maybe this time we'll just get to have an extra long, beautiful fall to enjoy. I can always hope. :)
We brought along the bubble blower that Aunt Katy and Uncle Doug and Emily gave Carolyn for her birthday.
She's finally mastered the trick of blowing so that bubbles actually come forth from the bubble wand.
Carolyn was eager to share her new skills with Garrett- who was actually pretty good at it, but always approached the wand like he wanted to eat it- before starting to blow. :)
I love the look of wonder on his face- there's just nothing so fresh and beautiful as a child exploring and discovering the world for the very first time!
Of course no photo-documented trip to the park would be complete without a slide picture. Carolyn is increasingly independent on the play structures and now she is brave enough to go down even "big" slides without any help. I can't believe what a big girl she is now!!
It was really good to see our friends- since I stopped watching Garrett at the beginning of the summer, we just don't get to hang out nearly as much. But the kids still get along great and seem to really enjoy one another. Hopefully our next babies will be friends, too- the "pregnancy water" in our pharmacy seems to have reactivated (the last time it started, there were four babies born in 13 months...), and Krysia's expecting her second in April- just 7 weeks behind me this time. I had hoped that we would be able to be pregnant together again, and I'm glad God answered that prayer- even if my friend is still a little shellshocked at moments. :)
Michigan weather is nothing if not unpredicatable! We've had some uncharacteristically cool days for August and some of the trees are actually starting to turn colors already! And even the green leaves are starting to take on the tinge of "old summer green," which means they are thinking of the reds and yellows and oranges they'll be putting on soon. Every year when the first hint of chill begins to hit the air, something inside me seems to come alive. I don't think I could live in a place where there wasn't Fall. I hope we don't get cheated out of this most wonderful season this year- last year it stayed summer warm until mid-October and then we only had a few weeks of Fall until it was Winter (FOREVER). Maybe this time we'll just get to have an extra long, beautiful fall to enjoy. I can always hope. :)
We brought along the bubble blower that Aunt Katy and Uncle Doug and Emily gave Carolyn for her birthday.
She's finally mastered the trick of blowing so that bubbles actually come forth from the bubble wand.
Carolyn was eager to share her new skills with Garrett- who was actually pretty good at it, but always approached the wand like he wanted to eat it- before starting to blow. :)
I love the look of wonder on his face- there's just nothing so fresh and beautiful as a child exploring and discovering the world for the very first time!
Of course no photo-documented trip to the park would be complete without a slide picture. Carolyn is increasingly independent on the play structures and now she is brave enough to go down even "big" slides without any help. I can't believe what a big girl she is now!!
It was really good to see our friends- since I stopped watching Garrett at the beginning of the summer, we just don't get to hang out nearly as much. But the kids still get along great and seem to really enjoy one another. Hopefully our next babies will be friends, too- the "pregnancy water" in our pharmacy seems to have reactivated (the last time it started, there were four babies born in 13 months...), and Krysia's expecting her second in April- just 7 weeks behind me this time. I had hoped that we would be able to be pregnant together again, and I'm glad God answered that prayer- even if my friend is still a little shellshocked at moments. :)
Looking More Like Daddy!
We have really been noticing Carolyn starting to look more and more like Brad lately! Doesn't this smile look just like him?! And yet not at the same time- she really is a blend of us both- but there are moments when we both just do a double take when she makes a certain expression because it's like looking in a mirror or something! :)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Visit with Little Baby
Today we went to see Little Baby's doctor, Dr. Florido (well, I guess she's also MY doctor) for a checkup. Everything went very well. I brought our portable DVD player and Carolyn enjoyed watching Cinderella (the movie of choice the past few weeks- even surpassing the famed Mouse in popularity lately!) and behaving like a model child. :)
I only gained 2 pounds despite my clothes already not fitting right at not even 15 weeks! It really does pop out there a lot faster with the second child- I was afraid I'd gained at least 10 pounds! I've put off the maternity clothes so far but I don't know how much longer I can manage with shirts that keep seeming like they are shrinking up my body leaving parts of me hanging out that should not see the sunlight! :) I will be glad to move past the chub stage and into the cutely pregnant stage. I loved the way I looked when I was pregnant with Carolyn (well, once I got over the chubby part) and I'm excited to pull out some favorite clothes again- when I cast them into the basement with a look of scorn 2 years ago I wasn't sure I'd ever want to see pants with stretchy tops and shirts with empire waists again- but I'm kinda excited now. :) But there is really no point in buying warmer weather things since this one wants to be a winter baby so I'll just have to struggle along in too-short shirts until fall clothes start to work weather-wise. At least my pants still fit. :) That IS a comfort.
I got to hear Little Baby's heartbeat- it took awhile to distinguish it from my own clippy 120-130 beats per minute (I already run fast and when I'm nervous... well there's just nothing I seem to be able to do about it!) But Dr. Florido heard him/her kicking around in there so we knew the heartbeat had to be there somewhere. And after a bit of a search, there it was, in the 150s and sounding totally different from mine. I was so glad to hear that sweet sound! It never gets old or routine for me to hear that thump-thump of a whole separate, unique, special life!
We set up our "formal" ultrasound for September 24- about 5 weeks. And yes, we ARE going to "find out" this time. :) I can't wait!! It was awesome to have the surprise in the delivery room with Carolyn, but this time I want to try it this way. I want to be able to bond with this baby as an individual and tell Carolyn all about her brother or sister. It's possible we'll cheat and find out a little earlier if we find a good time to borrow the OB floor's ultrasound machine in a few weeks- it's still too early to tell now- but by September 24, we should have the answer to this all-important question! :) We'll be taking votes when it gets closer on what you all think it is. :)
Anyway, I suppose I should end this long and rambling post and go to bed! I'm still tired from working all weekend!
I only gained 2 pounds despite my clothes already not fitting right at not even 15 weeks! It really does pop out there a lot faster with the second child- I was afraid I'd gained at least 10 pounds! I've put off the maternity clothes so far but I don't know how much longer I can manage with shirts that keep seeming like they are shrinking up my body leaving parts of me hanging out that should not see the sunlight! :) I will be glad to move past the chub stage and into the cutely pregnant stage. I loved the way I looked when I was pregnant with Carolyn (well, once I got over the chubby part) and I'm excited to pull out some favorite clothes again- when I cast them into the basement with a look of scorn 2 years ago I wasn't sure I'd ever want to see pants with stretchy tops and shirts with empire waists again- but I'm kinda excited now. :) But there is really no point in buying warmer weather things since this one wants to be a winter baby so I'll just have to struggle along in too-short shirts until fall clothes start to work weather-wise. At least my pants still fit. :) That IS a comfort.
I got to hear Little Baby's heartbeat- it took awhile to distinguish it from my own clippy 120-130 beats per minute (I already run fast and when I'm nervous... well there's just nothing I seem to be able to do about it!) But Dr. Florido heard him/her kicking around in there so we knew the heartbeat had to be there somewhere. And after a bit of a search, there it was, in the 150s and sounding totally different from mine. I was so glad to hear that sweet sound! It never gets old or routine for me to hear that thump-thump of a whole separate, unique, special life!
We set up our "formal" ultrasound for September 24- about 5 weeks. And yes, we ARE going to "find out" this time. :) I can't wait!! It was awesome to have the surprise in the delivery room with Carolyn, but this time I want to try it this way. I want to be able to bond with this baby as an individual and tell Carolyn all about her brother or sister. It's possible we'll cheat and find out a little earlier if we find a good time to borrow the OB floor's ultrasound machine in a few weeks- it's still too early to tell now- but by September 24, we should have the answer to this all-important question! :) We'll be taking votes when it gets closer on what you all think it is. :)
Anyway, I suppose I should end this long and rambling post and go to bed! I'm still tired from working all weekend!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Kuplink! Kuplank! Kuplunk!
Today when I went to get Carolyn from her bed, I told her that we were going to go PICK BLUEBERRIES today. She looked at me and said "Like Little Sal! Kuplink Kuplank Kuplunk!" Blueberries for Sal is a big time hit around here. When I heard of a blueberry farm in town where you can pick your own, I knew Carolyn would love it! 
Nana came with us and brought a large white bucket- we improvised a small tin pail out of a play cookpot and a pipe cleaner. :) It worked great!
Nana helped Carolyn learn to pick only the blue berries, not the green ones, and put them in her little pail- which made a perfect kuplink kuplank kuplunk sound. :)
Like Little Sal, Little Carolyn couldn't resist putting her hand into her pail....
and eating all the berries inside it! After awhile, she actually did start helping pick berries- she liked to dump her little pail of berries into Nana's big pail of berries- and then sneak a big handful (without really meaning to, just like Little Sal :)) to eat. We managed to pick over 4 pounds of berries to freeze for the winter!
And when her feet got tired of standing and walking, Little Carolyn, like Little Sal, just sat down and ate blueberries. :)
And of course the book had to come along with us to provide entertainment for the drive home. :) If you haven't bought one of these books for the little girl in your life, you should not delay any longer! :)
Nana came with us and brought a large white bucket- we improvised a small tin pail out of a play cookpot and a pipe cleaner. :) It worked great!
Nana helped Carolyn learn to pick only the blue berries, not the green ones, and put them in her little pail- which made a perfect kuplink kuplank kuplunk sound. :)
Like Little Sal, Little Carolyn couldn't resist putting her hand into her pail....
and eating all the berries inside it! After awhile, she actually did start helping pick berries- she liked to dump her little pail of berries into Nana's big pail of berries- and then sneak a big handful (without really meaning to, just like Little Sal :)) to eat. We managed to pick over 4 pounds of berries to freeze for the winter!
And when her feet got tired of standing and walking, Little Carolyn, like Little Sal, just sat down and ate blueberries. :)
And of course the book had to come along with us to provide entertainment for the drive home. :) If you haven't bought one of these books for the little girl in your life, you should not delay any longer! :)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
A Great Week
Well, we've had a wonderful week in the Smokies. It has been wonderful and restful to spend such a nice time with the family in such a peaceful, beautiful place. I haven't blogged much this week because we have been so busy "living" the week! But now we're heading home tomorrow, back to the busy-ness of "real life" so I'd better do it now or never!
I have slowly begun feeling better- the tiredness is gradually going away and the nausea seems to have subsided somewhat over this week. I'm just over 13 weeks now- and looking forward to the part of the pregnancy when I start feeling like myself again! Even though I've been feeling better than I have in a few months, I'm still pretty tired, so I didn't get a chance to do as much rambling in the woods as I'd like to have done- and long hikes aren't really realistic with a 2-year-old in tow! But still we were able to get Carolyn out in nature most every day and she just loved exploring all kinds of new things.
We went on a short nature walk to a small waterfall (the small gray blur behind us in this picture). The lighting turned out great in this picture- the expression on Carolyn's face, not so perfect- she's a bit anti-camera lately. :)
This was somewhat of a theme for Carolyn's week- everywhere we went, it seemed, there were small mountain streams, and she just loved playing with the water and the rocks.
This, too, was a fixture in our week together- Carolyn has taken a real step forward in comprehension this week and is really transitioning from the simple board book stories into "real" children's books. Favorites have included "The Carrot Seed," "Blueberries For Sal," "Corduroy," and "Corduroy's Pocket." She's getting to where she will sit now for half an hour at a time, just listening to stories. I'm excited to begin expanding our reportoire of stories- there are so many wonderful children's books out there!
There's a great hot tub on the back porch. One night it wasn't very hot so I got in... for about 3 minutes... then I got nervous and got back out again- they say hot tubs are a pregnancy no-no... But everyone else had a great time soaking after their long hikes.
Some of you might be mad at me... but I got a haircut for Carolyn! It was a bit bittersweet- I did so love her long hair- but it was totally impractical for a 2-year-old. She hated having it dried and didn't ever want to let me put it up- so I thought she would be comfortable and cute with a little shorter style. I actually really like how it turned out- and she was very well-behaved for the haircut (though that might have had something to do with the Jelly Belly jelly beans I was feeding her while she sat there!)
On Tuesday night, all the "big kids" went to play "Hillbilly Golf." There are about 18 miniature golf places in Gatlinburg- so there was plenty of selection- we picked the one that's built into the mountain and has a tram that takes you up to the course! It was fun. We played in couple teams and the Irvings won! I played much better than my usual 5 or 6 strokes per hole. :)
Yesterday we took a scenic drive out to a pretty little mountain stream where Ammy and Carolyn and I had a picnic lunch on a big rock a little way out into the stream.
Carolyn contrived to get herself soaking wet. :)
She loved dropping/throwing rocks into the water.
Ready, Set, Frow! Yay!
Today we went on the closest thing to a "real hike" I did this week. We walked about 2.5 miles roundtrip to Laurel Falls. Carolyn liked to be carried most of the way up. :) She wanted to explore all sorts of textures- especially liked trees.
Giving the tree a kiss.
Peekaboo! She was so excited to go inside this hollow tree.
Our family when we stopped for a snack by the falls.
Here are the falls- even with the SLR we still manage to overexpose the picture and make it look all washed out. Still have to get the knack of that...
Carolyn and Daddy had some sweet bonding moments on the way back to the car.
This little girl is glad to have her daddy HOME from Africa!
Keep us in your prayers tomorrow as we start the long trek home. Google Maps says it will be about 10 1/2 hours- without traffic and stops... so probably more like 12 hours... could be a long day! But it will be good to sleep in our very own beds tomorrow night! And to come home to a CLEAN house!! :)
I have slowly begun feeling better- the tiredness is gradually going away and the nausea seems to have subsided somewhat over this week. I'm just over 13 weeks now- and looking forward to the part of the pregnancy when I start feeling like myself again! Even though I've been feeling better than I have in a few months, I'm still pretty tired, so I didn't get a chance to do as much rambling in the woods as I'd like to have done- and long hikes aren't really realistic with a 2-year-old in tow! But still we were able to get Carolyn out in nature most every day and she just loved exploring all kinds of new things.
We went on a short nature walk to a small waterfall (the small gray blur behind us in this picture). The lighting turned out great in this picture- the expression on Carolyn's face, not so perfect- she's a bit anti-camera lately. :)
This was somewhat of a theme for Carolyn's week- everywhere we went, it seemed, there were small mountain streams, and she just loved playing with the water and the rocks.
This, too, was a fixture in our week together- Carolyn has taken a real step forward in comprehension this week and is really transitioning from the simple board book stories into "real" children's books. Favorites have included "The Carrot Seed," "Blueberries For Sal," "Corduroy," and "Corduroy's Pocket." She's getting to where she will sit now for half an hour at a time, just listening to stories. I'm excited to begin expanding our reportoire of stories- there are so many wonderful children's books out there!
There's a great hot tub on the back porch. One night it wasn't very hot so I got in... for about 3 minutes... then I got nervous and got back out again- they say hot tubs are a pregnancy no-no... But everyone else had a great time soaking after their long hikes.
Some of you might be mad at me... but I got a haircut for Carolyn! It was a bit bittersweet- I did so love her long hair- but it was totally impractical for a 2-year-old. She hated having it dried and didn't ever want to let me put it up- so I thought she would be comfortable and cute with a little shorter style. I actually really like how it turned out- and she was very well-behaved for the haircut (though that might have had something to do with the Jelly Belly jelly beans I was feeding her while she sat there!)
On Tuesday night, all the "big kids" went to play "Hillbilly Golf." There are about 18 miniature golf places in Gatlinburg- so there was plenty of selection- we picked the one that's built into the mountain and has a tram that takes you up to the course! It was fun. We played in couple teams and the Irvings won! I played much better than my usual 5 or 6 strokes per hole. :)
Yesterday we took a scenic drive out to a pretty little mountain stream where Ammy and Carolyn and I had a picnic lunch on a big rock a little way out into the stream.
Carolyn contrived to get herself soaking wet. :)
She loved dropping/throwing rocks into the water.
Ready, Set, Frow! Yay!
Today we went on the closest thing to a "real hike" I did this week. We walked about 2.5 miles roundtrip to Laurel Falls. Carolyn liked to be carried most of the way up. :) She wanted to explore all sorts of textures- especially liked trees.
Giving the tree a kiss.
Peekaboo! She was so excited to go inside this hollow tree.
Our family when we stopped for a snack by the falls.
Here are the falls- even with the SLR we still manage to overexpose the picture and make it look all washed out. Still have to get the knack of that...
Carolyn and Daddy had some sweet bonding moments on the way back to the car.
This little girl is glad to have her daddy HOME from Africa!
Keep us in your prayers tomorrow as we start the long trek home. Google Maps says it will be about 10 1/2 hours- without traffic and stops... so probably more like 12 hours... could be a long day! But it will be good to sleep in our very own beds tomorrow night! And to come home to a CLEAN house!! :)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
On Vacation!
We are officially ON VACATION! And I think we all needed some time away after the craziness of the last few weeks, getting ready for the Africa trip, doing 2 weeks apart- not to mention the roller coaster the past 2 months have been since we found out about Carolyn's brother or sister. So this time of R and R is much appreciated! Thanks Mom and Dad for making this happen!
We got up at 3am on Saturday morning to get an early start... thinking/hoping Carolyn would fall asleep in the car and sleep for more of the way... that didn't exactly work out as planned... she was awake pretty much the whole time, even with only getting 5 hours of sleep the night before. But surprisingly, she really was quite peaceful and happy most of the time and we made relatively good time. Fortunately, she did drop off for an hour or two after lunch... and I joined her! We ran into some nasty traffic getting through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg... but finally arrived just around suppertime.
This is the view from the back porch of our cabin- isn't it beautiful? You can't even tell that we have neighbors!
The house is perfect- a great place for sleeping and resting and eating and playing together- outside, inside- room for everyone. It was a great pick!
Today we packed a picnic lunch and headed into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to explore a little.
Carolyn seemed to really relish being outside with so much space to run and play. And I love how her hair fans out behind her... I'll enjoy having these pictures to look back on soon... because I think I am going to get her a haircut so that it is more manageable for a 2-year-old- even though I wish I had hair like hers!
There were lots of butterflies fluttering around the picnic area. Most of them wouldn't be still long enough to get a good picture, but this yellow one cooperated with me...
And this blue one was missing half a wing on the side I didn't take a picture of, so he had to be still. :) Brad got some great pictures in another place on the other camera but I don't have the download cord handy right now.
Here's Mom and Dad- still act like they're on their honeymoon. :)
And Jon and Laura (this is the first time boyfriends have been invited on family vacation- but she's the youngest so all the rules get bent for her- and there's a nice futon in the family room for Jon to sleep on :))
Shelly and Bryan
And us! I'm so glad to be a complete family again!
After lunch we wandered down to the stream. Uncle Bryan held Carolyn in the water and she had the greatest time playing with this stick, dropping it in the water and saying "Come back, stick!" She was loath to get out of the water, but she was soaked and it was time to go!
Hand in hand with Ammy. :) Fun times.
We got up at 3am on Saturday morning to get an early start... thinking/hoping Carolyn would fall asleep in the car and sleep for more of the way... that didn't exactly work out as planned... she was awake pretty much the whole time, even with only getting 5 hours of sleep the night before. But surprisingly, she really was quite peaceful and happy most of the time and we made relatively good time. Fortunately, she did drop off for an hour or two after lunch... and I joined her! We ran into some nasty traffic getting through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg... but finally arrived just around suppertime.
This is the view from the back porch of our cabin- isn't it beautiful? You can't even tell that we have neighbors!
The house is perfect- a great place for sleeping and resting and eating and playing together- outside, inside- room for everyone. It was a great pick!
Today we packed a picnic lunch and headed into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to explore a little.
Carolyn seemed to really relish being outside with so much space to run and play. And I love how her hair fans out behind her... I'll enjoy having these pictures to look back on soon... because I think I am going to get her a haircut so that it is more manageable for a 2-year-old- even though I wish I had hair like hers!
There were lots of butterflies fluttering around the picnic area. Most of them wouldn't be still long enough to get a good picture, but this yellow one cooperated with me...
And this blue one was missing half a wing on the side I didn't take a picture of, so he had to be still. :) Brad got some great pictures in another place on the other camera but I don't have the download cord handy right now.
Here's Mom and Dad- still act like they're on their honeymoon. :)
And Jon and Laura (this is the first time boyfriends have been invited on family vacation- but she's the youngest so all the rules get bent for her- and there's a nice futon in the family room for Jon to sleep on :))
Shelly and Bryan
And us! I'm so glad to be a complete family again!
After lunch we wandered down to the stream. Uncle Bryan held Carolyn in the water and she had the greatest time playing with this stick, dropping it in the water and saying "Come back, stick!" She was loath to get out of the water, but she was soaked and it was time to go!
Hand in hand with Ammy. :) Fun times.
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