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As most of you already know, we're in the long and complicated process of building a house. Thanks to a slight break in the weather last week we're finally making some progress. We now have a complete foundation and are ready to start framing. Our new address will be Harrisburg and Carly will be a bulldog when she starts school. Luckily, we will only be about 15-20 minutes from Columbia and Jon's commute to work will only be about five minutes longer.

The Birthday is Over!

I'm not sure, but I think Carly's birthday was more exhausting than Christmas. The celebrations are finally over. Yesterday we celebrated with Jon's parents, Chris and Becky, and Charlotte and Charlie. We had cake and ice cream and more presents. Carly was thrilled with everything, except the birthday song. Every time we tried to sing to her she would yell, "Quit that!" She wasn't as interested in blowing out the candles this time around, I guess it had lost the appeal. She had a great party though, and was worn out by six that evening. She took a cat nap in the chair while I was cleaning the kitchen. That was amazing because she never falls asleep that way!

Groovin' and Growing

I took this little video a couple of weeks ago and decided to share it today. I can't help it, she makes me laugh. Although, she is getting more and more challenging every day with her strong personality and stubborness. The little fits she has are always revealing and I struggle with how to deal with them, especially when they happen in public.

Last week, I started keeping a friend's daughter. She is two months old and a really good baby. Carly has adjusted well, almost too well I think some days. I expected things to be a bit more challenging to begin with. Carly is the most interested when Claire is eating and she has ran off with the bottle a couple of times while we burp. The good thing is that she just studies it and doesn't try to take a drink. The other thing is that I can't keep her out of her diapers and wipes. Luckily, she can't open the wipes so she is not wasting them. I really shouldn't complain though, most of the time Carly has the dirty diapers thrown in the trash before I can even ask her. So, I am sure this experience will provide some entertaining stories for posts to come. Stay tuned . . .

Happy 2nd Birthday, Carly Grace!

Wow! It is so hard to believe that Carly is 2!!! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. It's probably not hard to believe, but it has been an emotional week, knowing that my baby is turning 2. She is no longer a baby, but a fast-growing little girl with a strong will and mind of her own. She brings us more joy than we could ever have imagined.

We have been busy celebrating, starting on Saturday with my parents at their house and then Chuck E. Cheese. Then, tonight with homemade pizza, cake and ice cream, and her new red wagon. I think Carly was very pleased with her present. Jon had to pull her around the basement and help her in and out countless times. She had a blast!

Happy 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hope everyone's 2010 got off to a great start. Hard to belive it's already been a decade since all the 2000 hype. I'm not quite sure how we got here so fast. Jon was saying the other day he remembered that the first New Year's Eve we spent together was 12/31/99 at my parents' house. That may be the year that Dad and Jill convinced him to try pickled herring. Mom and Tom tried to talk him out of it, but at that point I think he was still afraid of looking bad so he gave in to the pressure. Ok, that's enough strolling down memory lane.

Hope this year is memorable and happy for everyone!

Holiday Season

Sorry it has been so long . . . We have been busy enjoying the holiday season. Since Thanksgiving we have been to Silver Dollar City with Papa and Grandma Willis. That has been the highlight of the season so far. Carly loved the huge Christmas tree on the square. She is also really interested in trains at the moment, so the train ride was a big hit, along with the singing. She even got Papa to ride the frogs with her. That was a true Kodak moment!

Carly is much more interested in everything Christmas this year. She loves the Christmas tree, despite the fact that I tell her not to touch it at least ten times a day. One day she was very clever. She picked up Elmo, looked right at me, and started to make Elmo's hand touch the tree. It was so hard not to laugh, because it was so obvious that she was testing the limits and putting me on the spot.

We were also able to visit the Magic Tree (http://www.magic-tree.org/) in south Columbia, a very unique attraction.

This week Jon started his vacation and celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday. Unfortunately, there wasn't much celebrating. Over the last three days we have endured a nasty stomach bug with nasty symptoms. I think we have it beat, but we are all ready to feel well and more festive.

Thanksgiving 2009

What a better way to start than with a picture of Aunt Kim recovering from "Black Friday."

We made it home from Las Vegas and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. We have a lot to be thankful for this year! You can see some of the people we are thankful for in the pictures I have posted. It was our turn to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. We had Thanksgiving with my Dad's family on Saturday and almost everyone was there, we were only missing two people! It was a beautiful day and the kids spent most of the afternoon outside.

We spent Thanksgiving day with my Mom's family. Actually, most of the family spent Thursday and Friday night together in a condo at the lake. My aunt, two cousins, sister-in-law, and myself were crazy enough to go shopping on Friday. We started at the outlet mall at midnight. We were at Walmart by 4:30 am, Target around 6 am, and back to the condo by 7:30 am - right about the time the little girls were starting to wake up. What an adventure! I tried to take a nap during the day on Friday, but wasn't successful. Jon finally put Carly in the truck to get her to take a nap and he only had to drive to the end of the driveway before she was asleep. As you can see, Carly had way too much fun playing with my cousin's daughters, Abi and Ava. We all had a great time - it's not very often that we all get to have a sleepover.