Congratulations David!

David Orr has officially purchased his first car! Our family is the proud owner of a new mini-van!! We have been discussing such a purchase a lot over the past few months, since Carly's big girl car seat didn't fit easily in Dave's truck. The discussion increased during the summer months once Dave's air conditioning gave out. In hopes of buying one towards the end of this year we went out test driving vans over the weekend and picked out our first choice. As Dave stirred on the idea of buying a car and him having air conditioning again, he began wheeling and dealing over the phone. At 8pm we had a deal and I was scrambling to find someone to sit in the house while Carly slept. Thanks to a wonderful neighbor and friend I had success with my first call and was able to meet Dave at the dealership shortly after 9. We were home with our new van by 11!!

BIG News!!

I am proud to announce some HUGE news!! (This won't actually be published until a much later date, but I still want to celebrate my excitement at the moment.)

David and I are going to parents to another bundle of joy, and Carly is going to be a BIG sister!! I officially found out that I was pregnant on the morning of Thursday, August 25. I had been suspicious earlier in the week due to exhaustion, but could easily chalk that up to David being on a 7 day business trip. My double lines appeared on the test quickly, confirming our pregnancy and started the spinning of my brain. I had daydreamed throughout the week about how I would tell David, especially since he was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. In my daydreams I thought of video chatting with him and having Carly wear a "Big Sister" shirt during the chat, but thought maybe she wouldn't sit still long enough for him to actually read what her shirt said. I thought about just blurting it out when I spoke to him again, but didn't find any fun in that idea. So, I decided to have Carly wear a "Big Sister" shirt to the airport to pick David up. He had already confirmed that he would be checking his luggage and it would work best for us to all meet at baggage claim - which meant he would see Carly out of her car seat immediately!

So I frantically began searching for a "big sister" shirt online - trying to eliminate the number of stores I would need to stop out before having success. Unfortunately, many of the companies had already switched to their fall lines and these big sister shirts were only available in long sleeves. I picked my favorite long sleeved design and ventured over to the store, in hopes that there would be a short sleeved version of the shirt available in store. Angels were definitely guiding me that morning. The store clerk said there may be one available on the clearance rack, and she would double check in the clearance boxes in the back. As she came out to tell me that toddler sized clearance items hadn't been received yet and was about to redirect me to the fall collection of long sleeved shirts I placed my hand on a short sleeved BIG SISTER shirt! I was thrilled. My $14 shirt was only going cost me $3 (super news to a stay at home mom who is about to announce to her working husband that #2 would be arriving in May 2012)!!

So home Carly and I went to WAIT!! I had the positive test, the Big Sister shirt, and it was only Thursday morning. Dave wasn't going to be flying home until Friday evening. Surprisingly enough I was able to keep my mouth shut. Carly and I were able to pull off the surprise. We showed up, found Dave at the baggage claim, and I set her loose towards him.

*I will admit that I didn't quite get the jumping for joy or discrete tears I was hoping for from him, but he did tell me that he was REALLY excited - however, it was 2:30am in his body clock and was physically done for the day!!

A Girl After Her Daddy's Heart

This evening Carly showed that she really is a girl after her daddy's heart. A while ago Dave commented to me that he could eat Mexican food every night of the week. Tonight Carly and I ate Salsa Chicken - a chicken dish with salsa, cheese, and diced chili peppers. Carly ate a lot of chicken (3 helpings - which turns into 12 one inch cubes), that she picked up with her tortilla, then put some corn with it, and dipped it in her refried beans. All things her daddy would have done during the dinner.

Carly's appetite continued at dessert time, when she ate 2 whole peaches.

Carly-isms

Recently Carly's personality has really started to bubble and show. Things I have noticed recently...

~ Carly loves to dance, but only to the "right" music.
~ If she is not interested in a song she will say "NO" to it within the first 15 beats of the song (whether at home or in the car).
~ Carly will use her hands to gesture you once (maybe twice) asking you to follow her, then she will start pulling you by whatever she can grab.
~ She is labeling everything as "Mommy's" "Daddy's" or "Mine!" She goes around all day pointing to shoes, keys, furniture, clothing, and anything else she can find.
~ Books should be acted out in Carly world, and read over and over and over. She has begun to put motions to the words, and will sign for "more" once I say "The End." (While in Atlanta this week she also began standing on her potty stool to act out "From Head to Toe," it was quite comical.)

~ She will "read" books to herself. She turns the pages, babbles, and acts out her motions she has created for different pages.
~ Carly is obsessed with BABIES. She currently has two that need to travel almost everywhere with her. Recently these babies have eaten pancakes and Cheerios in the high chair with her, needed to take a nap with her, needed diaper changes (or so she motioned when she really needed to be changed), need to be fed a bottle (which she signs milk for) around each of her meal and snack times, and go for many stroller and grocery cart rides throughout her playtime.

Giddy Up Tiger

Sometimes the way Carly chooses to entertain herself leaves us laughing uncontrollably.



(She scooted across the floor a lot more before she realized she was being recorded.)

Wheee!

Carly went to the park with her BFF this morning, and they had a wonderful time. Carly especially enjoyed going on a tunnel slide for the first time.

Happy Birthday Conversation!

At the beginning of this month I began working with Carly to say "Happy Birthday Daddy!" After his birthday, Carly and I began working on saying "Happy Birthday Mimi!" for my grandmother's upcoming birthday. Yesterday afternoon I began to get nervous that Carly would not actually wish Mimi a Happy Birthday over the phone, so I began videoing our practices. Here are a few of those clips:

Carly did say "Mimi" on the phone, but that was the extent of her "Happy Birthday" wishes on the phone.

Another Step Closer

This morning Carly took another step onto the potty train this morning. She gestured that she needed to go potty, so upstairs we travelled. Once on the potty she started signing that she was done, I convinced her to sit long enough for me to go get a diaper. Once I returned she began to poop. She did not seem bothered by this action, but then again I was applauding her as she pooped.

Another Step Closer

This afternoon Carly was busy playing in our family room when she began taking toys into our half bathroom. Once she had her three cell phones in there and her stacking cups she pulled up her dress and began pointing to her diaper. When asked about needing to go potty, she nodded a "yes" but was not too sure about sitting on this particular toilet (it didn't have her modified seat). So was quick to agree to head upstairs for her potty. Once upstairs I removed her dry diaper and placed her on her seat. After a few moments away she went. And away we all applauded before heading down for a pretzel celebration snack! (She is her daddy's girl when it comes to a love of pretzels.)

Dave and I are not taking this as a sign that it is time for her to run around without a diaper, but I do think we will be moving to pull ups when her current diaper stash is depleted and in September we will be having no diaper days in our backyard.

Happy 30th Birthday!!

Happy 30th Birthday David!!!

Unfortunately, David was very busy today. He started his morning off with a 7am work call, while he was also driving to the DMV for his license renewal. He then worked a full day before coming home for a 7pm class and a 10pm call (that was eventually cancelled for the evening). We did find a small chunk of time to celebrate with Shrimp Scampi and delicious cupcakes.

Melts My Heart

During non-meal times Carly's high chair is pushed up in the corner of our breakfast room next to the built in desk. This desk is also where I keep our non-board book library books for safe keeping.

Shortly after breakfast this morning Carly climbed back into her high chair. Once she was seated in the chair, she grabbed a book, and began "reading" it. I loved watching her read, but more importantly I loved how proud she was of herself. I was able to catch her eye during a page turn, she gave me the HUGEST grin and kept reading.