metamor-a-palooza

This year's canoe trip had a slightly different feel to it...due to the flooding in Iowa, it was just not safe to go canoeing, so Chris and Dawn (and Chris's parents) offered up their house to the crew for the weekend. The Miles clan lives in a georgous house on a lake in Metamora. Everyone (minus those who couldn't make the trip, Jenn, Marty and Jon...they were missed immensely) arrived Friday night, although the Goodness's got in pretty late and most were asleep by then. We (Dawn, Chris, Alli, Steve, Bob, and I) had dinner, played some cards and had a bonfire while waiting for Ben & Amanda to arrive. Saturday morning, the boys headed out golfing, and the girls decided to chat and relax. We talked and caught up inside for a while and then decided it was time to hit the water. We floated in the lake and talked for the better part of 2ish hours, and then ate some lunch. The boys were back by then, but we went back to our floating, the boys did some fishing and played catch in the water. By late afternoon, we were all out of the water, and decided to play some bags and flippy cup. We paired up boy/girl (but not in couples :)). It took us about 20 minutes to decide how to pair up the teams (which was humorous in itself). There was lots of laughter and lots of beer drank (except by me! :)) We even developed a new rule for flippy cup. After that we had some dinner, played some cards, and had another bonfire. All-in-all it was a perfect weekend, even though things didn't go as originally planned. Great food, beautiful location, and most of all great friends. Its always after these things that I realize how lucky I am to have these people in my life, and how much I miss not being around them everyday. Knox is a great place to make friends, but it sure does spoil you with having them around you at all times, so much so that you forget that they won't always be down the hall or in the next room over, sometimes you have to settle for only seeing them a couple times a year. Dawn and Chris are making their way to North Carolina tomorrow (Friday) for the next year. Have a great trip guys and we can't wait to see you again! We love you!!

new pictures...quick post

Morning All! I'm sitting in the hotel in Galesburg downloading pictures from my camera, so I thought I would upload them and write a quick post. We are off to the course in about an hour, and we still have to get all of our stuff packed up. I'll write more about our weekend later...but so far we're having a great time. Galesburg has a boil order in effect, so you can't drink the water anywhere and no fountain pop, so it has been interesting. We ate off paper plates at the restaurant last night. But it has been great to see old friends who we don't get to see nearly enough. Hope you all have a great Friday and I promise I'll be back with more pictures and more stories of the weekend soon.
Happy Friday and have a good weekend!

you are my sunshine

Just wanted to post this video quick. I will be posting more in the next few days, pictures of Jackson's baptism, and of our busy week. We'll be heading to IA tomorrow night and then to Galesburg for the Knosher Outing Thursday and Friday, and then to Metamora for our 3rd annual canoe-a-palooza. Albeit, a slightly different canoe-a-palooza, one without canoeing :). Hope you are all well and I'll be back soon. Please excuse my annoying voice and my terrible singing...I swear it only lasts a couple of words. :) And the quality is not spectacular but its from my phone...so you can't expect a whole lot :)

quick update

Hello All!

Just thought I'd write a quick post tonight, because its been a while. Sorry about that, but I've been extremely tired and really nauseous. If its possible (and I didn't think it was) I'm even sicker with this baby then I was with Brianna. Maybe that means it will stop before I deliver this one (unlike with Brianna) But overall I can't complain...I'm excited that so far this pregnancy has been uneventful and will hopefully stay that way. I have another doctors appointment a week from Thursday, so hopefully all continues to go well.

We've enjoyed our long weekend...but wow did it go fast. Friday night we headed to Rockford to see Minus Six, and it was a great show...as usual! We ended up staying at Bob and Nancy's because Bob was going to play golf with his dad early the next morning. So Brianna and I hung out with Nancy while Bob and Bob played golf. Then we met up with Ben & Amanda at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Brianna loved it there...although the lions roaring scared her a bit. Sunday we had a pretty relaxing day at home, played some Candyland (which Brianna LOVES). And today we spent more time at home watching movies, playing outside, and Bob and Nancy came over for dinner and brought Brianna her new tricycle. She had a blast riding it until dark. That pretty much sums up our weekend. We had a great time together, but as always it went way too fast. I've uploaded some new pictures (I know its been awhile). I'll try to post again soon!

Hope you all had a great weekend! And Happy Tuesday to you all!

(this is pretty much how I feel about the weekend being over too! :o)

Hi Jeff! :o)

One last thing...I found out this week that a high school friend's 7 month old daughter has cancer. She started chemo on Saturday. Please keep her in your prayers (if you pray or in your thoughts or whatever you do for this sort of thing) I'm sure they would appreciate any extra prayers they can get. Thanks!

changes...

Just a few changes to our little home on the internet to reflect the changes going on in our ever-growing family. Yup...you got it, there is going to be another little Carroll. We just got done sharing the news with our families so now we're sharing it with you! We've got a few months to go (December 31st is the due date)...but so far so good. :)

Hope all you moms had a great Mother's Day. Lots of love to all of you, I'm off to bed, its been a busy weekend.

five...

3:00am...Mom comes into the bedroom where Angie and I were sleeping (well Angie was sleeping...I was laying in the dark, mind racing) and says "It's time to get up...." I hop out of bed with a big smile on my face saying "I'm getting married today!!!" Angie buries her head under the pillow and says something to the effect of "are you serious, it is 3am"

The next few hours are a whirlwind of hair, makeup, putting on my dress. At 9am we arrive at church for pictures. I see Bob and smile, thinking to my self...what a lucky girl I am that he picked me. I can tell he is nervous, pacing back and forth...but not me, I've never been so calm in all my life. Decisions have never come easy to me, but this is one that I never thought twice about (even 2 days before the wedding when we had a big fight about the seating chart ;o)

As the doors open, my dad and I arm and arm ready to walk down the isle, I looked at the little church...the church where I was baptized, had my first communion, and was confirmed, the church that holds so many memories of my life, filled with our friends and family, those who love us and have supported us and I smiled, and then I looked down the aisle to my future husband, and my heart skipped a beat. That is one of the moments of my life that I want to freeze, to be able to feel that moment forever. To feel the love in that little church, it’s the kind of memory that on the darkest days makes me smile.

The rest of the day was just as perfect. Oh I'm sure something went wrong...but I don't know what. All I remember is the dancing, laughing, and being surrounded by the people we love most in this world.

Now, if you had asked me then if I thought I could love Bob more than I did at that moment, I probably would have said no. But 5 years later, I can tell you that I love him so much more than I did that day. Everyday I think there is no way I can possibly love him more, and then he does something...something small that it probably seems like I take for granted, and something that even he doesn't think means very much, and its those things that make me fall into bed each night knowing that I love him more than I did yesterday.

I don't know what I ever did to deserve someone like him, most days I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to deserve him, but I am lucky enough to have him and I'm not letting him go.

Bob and I are very different, some days I think we're too different, we bicker about dumb stuff like any couple does, but in the end our differences make us stronger. I'd like to think I've helped him become a little more flexible and spontaneous, and I know he's made me a better planner. He's helped me more than he even realizes find the confidence in myself that I've been missing for a long time. He's always my biggest cheerleader, even when I feel like I've failed. My life without him would be empty.

No words have meant as much to me as those I said 5 years ago today as I stood there in that little church filled with our family and friends and said "I, Amber, take you, Bob, to be my husband...."

Happy Anniversary Baby!
I love you!

new pictures

New pictures posted...enjoy :)

Knox

(Edited to Add: I wrote this post about 6 months ago, not sure why I revisited it today, maybe because its Flunk Day, and the memories are rushing back, or maybe I'm just extra sappy today...who knows...anyway, I'm finally posting it. Love you girls!)

I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting my post about homecoming (I see your eyes rolling over there). Anyway, I'm not going to write so much about homecoming as I am about Knox in general and my experience there. I apologize in advance if i sound like a summary of the admissions material, but I swear no one paid me to say this (although...really they should) :o) As we were driving back Sunday after the homecoming festivities, I realized how lucky I am that I attended Knox. And not just for the obvious reason of meeting Bob. Obviously that is a huge part of why Knox has a special place in my heart. I still in my heart think that Bob and I would have met somewhere along life's journey...but who knows if we would have ended up where we are today. I gained so much from my 4 years at Knox...a quality education and an abundance of debt...to name a couple. But more than that, I gained another family. I have five amazing women in my life that I am privileged to call my friends. Five strong, kind, compassionate women, who are so different and yet all of our differences seem so small when we're together. We've had and still have so much fun together. We've seen each other through ups and downs over the last 9 years, we've cried together, laughed together (a lot), yes...even fought with each other. But somehow we always come back together. I don't really have any college memories that don't include at least one of these women...and most of them include all of them. The are the first ones I called (after immediate family) when Bob and I got engaged, they were some of the first people to know when I was pregnant and they were some of the first people I called after Brianna arrived (even though most of them didn't believe me that she was actually here). These women are my family, and in turn their husbands and boyfriends have also become my family. I look forward to get togethers with them from the moment they are planned. They are one of the most important things I take away from my time at Knox. I value the education I received at Knox...but the friendships I took away from my four years at Knox will last long after my diploma is covered with dust and my debt is all paid off. They have made my life better by being in it. I love you girls! Thank you for your friendship....life is so much more colorful with you in it!

haircut...

Brianna had her first haircut tonight (Thursday). She has gone with me to the salon a few times and the woman that cuts my hair, Gina, is always nice to her and gives her suckers. I called to get my haircut and asked if she could trim up Brianna's as well. Brianna was so excited to get her haircut, for the last two days all she could talk about was Gina cutting her hair and getting a sucker. She sat very well and Gina trimmed up her hair and put her hair clippings in an envelope for us. It was so cute to see her sitting there like such a big girl. Gina kept calling her princess so all night she would say "I'm a princess". Sometimes that girl is too cute for her own good. Anyway, I'm heading off to sleep now, but here are a couple pictures of the haircut. Hope you all have a great Friday!

happy easter...

Just a quick post to let you know there are new pictures posted. We just got back from Lancaster, WI from Grandma Carroll's funeral. It was such a beautiful service, and hearing all the wonderful stories and seeing the legacy that this amazing woman has left behind is truly incredible. 13 children (Bob (dad)is #12), 56 grandchildren (Bob is #55), 83 great-grandchildren (Brianna is #80), and 18 great-great grandchildren, how wonderful is that? Anyway, I'm completely beat...so I hope you all had a fantastic easter. The photo above is Brianna sitting on her new Dora bedding that the Easter Bunny brought.

Welcome to the world Jackson! Our new nephew was born today. We can't wait to meet you little man!

you're gonna miss this

I heard this song yesterday and it brought a tear to my eye (yes, I've been slightly emotional lately and it did actually make me tear up...leave me alone :)) Anyway, I started thinking about how I often want time to pass quickly to get to "something better" The last few months have been ridiculously crazy and I've been having a hard time finding a balance of work and home (this is always a hard thing for me at this time of the year, but especially this year), and I have thought several hundred times over the last few weeks how I just wish it was the end of April. After hearing this song, I realized that one day I will look back and miss this time (oh...I think it will be a good many years before I even sort of miss the pressures of work right now) but if I skip through the work stuff, I would also be missing out on the home stuff. The last 2 nights Brianna and I have crawled into bed and watched a movie snuggled up together, me tickling her and her laughing, I would have missed all of that had I actually been able to skip to the end of April. She is already growing so fast and I already miss so many of the things that she has outgrown...things I never thought I'd miss. Some days she infuriates me (some say it is because she is just like me...I'm not so sure on that ;o) but in the end I wouldn't trade those days for anything. Its the bad days that make the good so much better, and if you "skip" over the not-so-good stuff how do you learn to appreciate the good? Anyway...here is the song with some pictures of Brianna some old and some from this morning.



Bob's Grandma Carroll passed away on Monday March 17,2008 at age 102. She is dearly loved and will be missed. We were fortunate enough to have her attend our wedding 5 years ago, it is something we will both treasure forever. We love you and will miss you.

a perfect valentine's day...a day late

Since last night was a little less than perfect, what with an over-sugared, under-napped 2 year old...I called a do-over on Valentine's Day. So tonight we had a nice quiet dinner (at least quiet for our house), played a bit and are now snuggled up on the bed watching Charlotte's Web (well, they are sleeping now) I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

There is nothing more precious to me than this

new pictures

There are new pictures up. A bunch of Brianna and some from our weekend in Peoria visiting Dawn & Chris. Hope you all had a great weekend and have a great Monday!

just popping in...

Hey all...yes, we are still alive and well. Things have been super crazy at work, and we've had company the last couple of weekends, so the time to post has been few and far between. (that and when I'm actually on the computer at night...I tend to choose to play euchre...I blame Steve for that addiction. :) Two weekends ago, Ben & Amanda came down to go out to dinner and to just hang out for the weekend. We went to Shula's Steakhouse (very yummy) and then came back to the house for some board and card games. Matt, Steph, and Kadi also came over to join in the fun and a good time was had by all. Last week was a super long week at work (averaging over 12 hours a day...boo) and on Saturday Steve and Alli came up to visit. Their 5th anniversary was last Friday and they were leaving for vacation and were flying out of O'Hare, so they came up and are leaving their car here while they are gone. It was a good excuse to see them. This coming weekend Bob and I are heading to Peoria to visit Dawn & Chris and to see Minus Six play in Peoria. We're both really looking forward to it and are happy that we've gotten a chance to see our friends this month. Things will definitely slow down on the traveling front after that at least until tax season is over (but does it really ever end? not in our office) Other than that not too much exciting going on here. (do I type that in every post?) Anyway...I'll leave you with a couple pictures of Brianna, she is turning into quite the ham these days.

Updated to add: Well I was going to leave you with pictures of Brianna, but Blogger is being a pain and won't let me. I promise to upload some new pics soon!

welcome to 2008

Another year gone by...wow! How strange it is that time seems to be passing so quickly. Really I still think I'm 21 and I am fast approaching that 30 year mark. I remember when I thought 30 was old. Ha! Anyway...since I last left you, not too much has been going on.
We attended the wedding of our friends Matt & Steph.
The wedding was beautiful and very fun. Brianna spent the night at Papa Bob and Grandma Nancy's while we attended the wedding.

We spent New Year's Eve at the Goodness house in Wisconsin. We had a good time, but ended up going to bed early(we did make it until after 12) as we were all still pretty tired from the wedding.
We wish you all happiness and health in 2008! We look forward to seeing you this year!
There aren't any new pictures in the album, all the pictures I took at the wedding turned out blurry, so this is all you get....I need a new camera. (Take note Bob...my birthday is only 3 months away :)

merry christmas!

I know I'm a couple days late, but the thought was there! Whew...I can't believe its the 27th already. Christmas came and went so fast this year, the whole year, in fact, just flew by.

We started with our Christmas celebrations on the 16th of December this year. We had a great time at Bob and Nancy's celebrating with Nancy's side of the family. Then on Tuesday, the 18th, Bob, Nancy, Brian, & Mary came over to our house and we had Christmas here. On Friday (the 21st) we headed to Iowa to spend Christmas with my family. We ended up getting snowed in at my parents house for a couple days (7ft drifts blocking the roads), so we didn't get to see dad's side of the family, which was a bummer. We had our immediate family Christmas and then went to my mom's side of the family on Christmas night.

Christmas was so fun this year with Braden & Brianna. They had a great time playing together and got along really well (for the most part). On the way home yesterday Brianna was chatting in the backseat and all of the sudden she stopped and said "I miss my buddy" and got this really sad look on her face.

We drove back yesterday and much to our surprise, the 2ft of snow we had when we left on Friday was gone! However we have 100% chance of snow for tomorrow. Bob and I are both off work until the 2nd, so we're trying to enjoy every possible second of our time off. Actually today and tomorrow are the only times we're home, we're going to a wedding Saturday and then Monday we're off to Wisconsin to spend New Year's with the Goodness's.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were as fortunate as we were to be surrounded by loved ones. We have had a great 2007 (what I can remember of it, it went so fast). We were busy with work, but we also tried to take time to enjoy our family and friends. We are looking forward to 2008 and the arrival of our new nephew, our 5th Anniversary (5 years can you believe it), Canoe-a-palooza 2008, and all of the other surprises that await us in the coming year. We feel very blessed to have been surrounded by so many family and friends throughout the year, and are excited to see what the new year brings.

I will try to keep you updated more often, but remember, tax season is upon us....so cut me some slack :).

Much love to you all! Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

(new pictures are being uploaded as I type. So they should be all done very soon :)

happy thanksgiving...

I know...I know...its been a long time. Things have been hectic around here. We spent last weekend in Missouri for Braden's 2nd birthday. The kids had a blast playing together and it was good to see the family. My handsome little nephew had a great birthday...I think :)

Bob, Nancy, Brian, Mary, & Grandma Caruso came over for Thanksgiving dinner. The food wasn't too bad, I guess, and I think everyone had a good time. Brianna and I made little placecards for dinner, she got a little distracted during the process so she left most of it to me...but i think they turned out OK.

Brianna ended up going home with Bob and Nancy Thursday night, so Bob and I put up Christmas decorations yesterday, and everything is all done except for decorating the tree which we wanted Brianna to help with. Bob went to play basketball today and then over to his mom and dad's to help them with a project and still isn't home yet. I spent the day in the doctor's office. My ear/throat has been hurting since Wednesday night and since it still wasn't better today, I decided it was time to go to the doctor. Sure enough I have an ear infection. So I got some antibiotics and some ear drops. The first pharmacy I went to didn't have the ear drops (which are to help with the pain) and they asked if I wanted to wait until Wednesday to get the ear drops. I said no, so I had to go to another pharmacy to get the ear drops. So that took up a good portion of my day. Anyway, I guess other than that there isn't too much going on. I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving and a relaxing holiday season!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Lots of love.

happy birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Braden & McKenna!
Hope you two have a wonderful birthday!
We love you!

PS. new pictures coming soon....I promise

day of family fun

We had a great weekend at home (yes, we actually stayed home with no plans to go anywhere...we were shocked too). Yesterday we spent some time at a pumpkin farm, walked around, checked out the animals and selected our pumpkins. A couple of the family members then took a nap (I won't mention which ones), so I took the opportunity to make some homemade beer/cheese bread and some chili for dinner. I guess it really is fall :) I also cleaned out the pumpkins while the other two Carroll's were napping. When everyone woke up we carved pumpkins, which Brianna loved.

We also tried her costume on her, because when you ask her what she is going to be for Halloween she says "a pink doggy", but she seemed mighty surprised at how cute she looked when it was on.

Today we had a pretty lazy day around the house, but got a few things done so hopefully our week will go smoothly. Hope you had a great weekend. There are a bunch of new pictures in the October 2007 album. If you click on the link (once in shutterfly) that says 80 new pictures added in the last 7 days you don't have to scroll throught the previous October pictures. Have a great week everyone!

(sorry for the all over the place post...still having trouble with the coherent sentences :)

Homecoming 2007

We just returned home from spending the weekend in Galesburg for Knox's Homecoming. This was our 5 year reunion (crazy huh?). I have so much more to write...unfortunately, I can no longer put together coherent sentences. I will write more about Homecoming in the next couple days. Until then...enjoy the little montage of pictures from Friday & Saturday.

Music in the video is "You My Friend" by Minus Six. Follow the link...check them out...buy their music...they are fantastic. If you don't believe me...just ask Brianna, they are her favorite band. And if you can't trust Brianna, who can you trust? :o)

Night All

family fun

We spent the past weekend in Iowa attending my cousin Matt's wedding. We had such a great time and the wedding was beautiful! It was such fun hanging out with my cousins and talking about the "old days". For those of you who don't know, on my dad's side of the family there are a whole slew of us that are the same age (there are 21 grandkids), so growing up, since we lived not far from each other we spent a tremendous amount of time together. We had BBQs pretty much every Sunday all summer long. So when we get together now it almost seems like old times (except that we can legally drink now! :) Anyway, I had a great time talking to everyone (although they probably were ready for me to leave as I tend to talk a lot...I know...shocking isn't it?) and trying to figure out how we're going to get together more often. :)
Thanks Matt & Ann for including us in your special day...we had so much fun and congratulations!!

While we were at the wedding Brianna (or Bee-a as Braden would say) and Braden spent the day with the Wolfe family and from the sounds of it had a great time as well.

Thanks so much Cathy, Greg, Tyler, Justin, & Nicole for watching Brianna, she loved it!

So, now we're trying to get back into our "normal" routine. We really have nothing planned until the middle of October when we are heading to Galesburg for Knox Homecoming. Can you believe we've been out of college for 5 years already. Yikes...scary thought! Anyway, I think thats about all to report for now. Enjoy the latest pictures!

september 11th

I remember...
As a senior in college, I was working in the Business Office at Knox College when the planes hit the World Trade Center. I forget the details of how we initially heard, but as soon as we heard that the first plane hit, we turned on the radio and listened as they reported the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center. We looked around at each other in shock and horror. Wondering what and how this was happening. I don't think I watched as much news or listened to as much radio in my life as I did on September 11, 2001 and the days following. Yes, we were a long way from New York, but it was the first time in my life where I didn't feel safe. There were students who had family and friends in New York and also students who were from the Middle East who wondered if they were in danger because of their nationality...it was such a strange time. I think we who have grown up in this country have taken for granted the safety we've had here, I know that I have. Six years have passed and still I remember almost every detail of that day, I remember a professor telling one of my classes that Galesburg used to be high atop the "hit list" for other countries during war time, because of its railroad hub. I remember that Bob was on the golf course when he heard about the attacks from Harley. I remember sitting at the Children's Museum where I worked that afternoon listening to the radio. I remember going to a vigil/memorial service the following night and then going to the first Sr. Meeting of the year, just to do something that was "normal". I don't really know what I'm trying to say with this post, after six years it seems like everyone has gone on with their daily lives, like they should, but I guess I just wanted to say, even though today I got up and came to work like every other day...I still remember.
God Bless all of those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001...I hope you have found some peace and know that we still pray for you.
Thank you to those who risk your lives each and every day protect us all; our police officers, firefighters, EMTs...you are true heros.
Finally to our military...I believe you have one of the most thankless jobs...people disagree with the war so they take it out on you...but the only reason they can speak out against the war without fear of persecution is because of you and because of soldiers before you. So, thank you, thank you...for giving of yourselves so selflessly to protect my family. And to your families...thank you for sharing your soldier with all of us. There are lots of us who appreciate every day the sacrifcies you make for us, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and keep you in our prayers. Stay safe, and come home soon!

pictures

I just finished uploading some new pictures that Nancy sent me from the last couple of Brianna's visits to their house. Enjoy!
Thanks for the pictures Nancy! :)

busy, busy, busy

Hello again!

Sorry we haven't been around much lately but things have been busy and to be honest there isn't much to report. Bob and I have both been working a lot, and Brianna is busy with daycare. She moved into the 2-year-old room a couple weeks ago, it was a tough transition for her because she loved her teachers in her old room, but after the first couple of days of crying when I dropped her off she has done pretty well. She is talking like crazy now...she is never quiet anymore...she gets that from her dad I think ;). (As I'm typing this she is insisting that "daddy play!!") She got some new puzzles at a resale we went to and has taken them apart and put them together a million times already.
She spent a few days with Grandma Nancy and Papa Bob last weekend while we attended a wedding for our friend from Knox, Josh (one of Bob's golfing buddies), it was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time. Unfortunately I don't really have any pictures of the wedding (only a few random shots), but when Holly posts her's I'll let you know :). Other than that not too much happening in the Carroll household, Bob is heading to northern Wisconsin on Thursday to have a weekend of golf with his college friends, so Miss Brianna and I will have some mommy/daughter bonding time. We don't have much planned for the weekend, hopefully it'll be somewhat relaxing. :)
Oh...I guess one exciting thing...for me anyway...is that I'm typing this from my brand new laptop! I had ordered one from Dell at the end of July, expecting it to be shipped within 2 weeks, well as of last Tuesday my estimated ship date had been bumped to September 26th!! A full 2 months after ordering, and that was no guarantee that it was actually going to ship then (I was on my 5th estimated ship date). Needless to say I was very bummed, annoyed, angry, etc, so Friday night I was searching the internet and found a HP that had almost exactly the same specs plus a few more bells and whistles for 1/2 the price...so I got my new laptop on Friday and cancelled my Dell order that same night.
Anyway, I think thats about all for now, but I'll leave you with a picture of Brianna in her fairy princess outfit. I will be posting a few more pictures soon mostly of Brianna in this outfit a couple from wedding and some from the flooding outside our house a few weeks ago(like tonight sometime). Hope everyone is doing well and I'll try to post more often (I know I say that all the time, but hey...I have a life too! :)
Have a great week everyone!!

a quick post

Just a quick post since our wireless router has gone down which makes for a pain in the butt right now. So I'm doing this post from work...shhh...don't tell anyone!



Anyway, the 2nd annual Canoe-A-Palooza was wonderful...except for the part of missing a couple of people...(don't worry we drank a couple for you...Jenn & Marty!) The weather was absolutely perfect and we all had a great time. I'm already looking forward to next year! :)

The day after canoe-a-palooza we went to Moline to see Minus Six and to celebrate Alli's birthday. And I must mention that Thursday night before canoe-a-palooza we went to the bar to celebrate Ben's birthday (do you see a pattern for the weekend?). Anyway...it was a great weekend and it was wonderful to see everyone for a while.

We're trying to get back into the swing of things around home, what with all the traveling to different states we're doing!! :) There are a few new pictures up. And just so I don't leave you with a completely Brianna-free post...here you go!

birthday fun

Last weekend we while we were in Iowa for the Relay for Life we had a small birthday party for Brianna with my family (my grandmas and my mom, dad, Angie, & Braden). We had a Dora ice cream cake and Brianna had tons of fun.





Yesterday we had a party at our house for Bob's family and some family friends. Brianna had a blast playing with everyone and was enjoying all of the attention! We had a golfer girl cake (but lots of Dora decorations). Brianna had a great 2nd birthday!:)
We're off to Iowa on Thursday for the 2nd annual Canoe-a-palooza and then we're pretty much done traveling for the summer (as the summer is over anyway!) Hopefully I'll have some pictures from that next week! Have a great week everyone! Check out the rest of the birthday party pictures...there are a few!

birthday wishes...

I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to write to you on your 2nd birthday for a while now, but I couldn’t quite find the right words to say exactly how I was feeling. I’m excited and a little sad, worried, and yet so incredibly proud of you. I’m pretty much every emotion all rolled up in one today. I wish for all those times back that I thought… “I can’t wait until she starts crawling, walking, talking, etc.” They all went too fast…I want them back… to be able to take them in…to cherish those precious moments…to hold on to them just a little longer. But I know I can’t keep you a baby any longer…you are determined to grow into a little girl, and I couldn’t stop you even if I wanted to. I hear a lot more of “no mommy” lately. You want to do everything yourself, and most things you are quite capable of, and while my heart fills with pride and joy over your accomplishments, it also breaks just a tiny bit that you don’t need me as much anymore. I’m always there…watching, waiting…ready to kiss your boo-boos and hug you and give you kisses when you need comfort…I will always be there. No matter how old you are…I will always be there to give you hugs and kisses when you need comfort. I know someday you’ll be horribly embarrassed by this blog and the countless pictures of you, but my hope is that one day you’ll appreciate and maybe even enjoy reading my thoughts about the milestones in your life. As you blow out your candles today…these are the wishes and hopes I have for you.

I wish you compassion…for anyone and everyone who comes into your life.
I wish you kindness…towards those around you, even if they are not kind to you
I wish you understanding and tolerance… of individuals that have ideas different than your own
I wish you courage…to stand up for what you believe in
I wish you love…the kind of love that makes you a better person
I wish you trust…trust yourself, your friends, your family…and your heart
I wish you friendship…the kind of friendship that lessens your sorrow and increases your joy
I wish you dreams…big ones!
I wish you determination…to always continue to strive for those big dreams
I wish you time…to stop and enjoy life
I wish you faith…in God and yourself
I wish you laughter… I hope that you can always find a reason to laugh and that you can even laugh at yourself from time to time
I wish you confidence…to do and say the things you believe in
I wish you childhood…stay my baby just a little longer…OK?
I wish you family…to know where you came from and to know how much you are loved

I hope that you never get your heart broken, but if you do…
I hope you don’t let it stop you from letting others love you.
I hope that the adversities you face are small and that you only grow stronger from them.

I hope you always, always know how much you are loved.
I hope you know how beautiful you are…both inside and out.
I hope you know what a lucky little girl you are to have all 4 of your great-grandmas
I hope you will appreciate the stories about your great-grandpas and know how much they love you without ever meeting you
I hope you know how dearly your grandparents, aunt, uncles, & cousin love you
I hope I’m the mommy that you deserve
I hope I tell you enough every day how much I love you
I hope that even when we disagree, you know I always have your best interest at heart
I hope you know that you can always lean on me
I hope you know how proud I am of you
I hope you’ll forgive me someday for rambling on and on in this post! :)

I used all these words and still couldn’t say everything I wanted to. I will leave you with one last wish I have for you…

I wish for you to be exactly who you are…nothing more… nothing less…because who you are is perfect.


I love you sweet girl!
Happy 2nd Birthday!
Love,
mommy

quickie...

Just a quick note...because I'm running extremely late this morning. I'm in the process of uploading a lot of new pictures...so check it out. There are a couple from Tina & Randy's wedding (stupid camera wouldn't work for me) and there are a bunch from our trip to MN this past weekend. I will try to post more this week/weekend. Have a great Monday everyone!

Congratulations Tina & Randy...the wedding was beautiful!

Thanks again Andrew and Holly for the hospitality...we had a great time, and can't wait to see you guys again!

where has the time gone??

As I looked at Brianna the other day I thought to myself "where did my baby go?" She has been replaced with this sassy, adorable, push-me-to-my-limits little girl. I've seen a lot of people posting about this lately...but I swear I was thinking it first! :) As we approach her 2nd birthday, part of me misses the little baby who used to love to snuggle in my arms and used to rely on me for everything, but as I look at my little girl, I can't help but fall deeper in love every day with the girl she is becoming. She is independent, stubborn (she gets that from her Daddy! ;), funny, clumsy (from her dad also!) and adorable...believe me I could go on and on. Some days she makes me want to run screaming for the hills, but in the next moment she is making me laugh until I cry. I see her and watch her everyday but yet it didn't hit me until the other day that she is growing up in those moments where I wasn't looking. She amazes (and frightens) me everyday with the things she does, and the things she tries to do...really when did all of this happen? I probably don't say this enough...but being a mom is truly such a wonderful thing, there is no greater joy and sadness than realizing your baby has turn from this:




Into this:



Hope you all had a wonderful 4th! We are off to Milwaukee today to spend an extended weekend with the Goodness's, and then next weekend we're off to Iowa for Tina and Randy's wedding, and the following weekend we are off to Minnesota to spend a long weekend with the Isaacson's. So the posts may be few and far between, but hopefully there will be lots of new pictures to share...so stay tuned! Lots of love to all of you! Have a great weekend!! :)

photos

Well our photos have a new home, all 3174 of them! Actually there are more now...I've just uploaded some more into the June 2007 album. Sorry this is short...it was another action packed weekend and I'm ridiculously tired. I'll be back sometime soon though, we've got a weekend home this weekend! Have a great weekend everyone!!

relay for life...

If you know me...you know I hate asking for anything, but a couple times a year I make an exception to that. There are two causes that are near and dear to my heart.

One, is the March of Dimes, in which I point you to Dale and Suzanne's blog (which most of you read anyway!) because they are much more versed and eloquent in speaking of this organization, if you're new to their blog...browse through their archives and you will see just how important your support of the March of Dimes is.

The other is the American Cancer Society, and specifically the Relay for Life. This is my 3rd year participating (although I don't know if you can count the first year because I wasn't really there...having just had my baby girl!)...anyway...not the point. For the last 3 years my family has participated in the Dyersville Area Relay for Life. As most of you know my grandpa passed away from his brief battle with lung cancer 2 years ago. For most of us, cancer has touch our lives in one way or another, and if it hasn't touched your life on a deeply personal level...you are lucky, and I'm asking you to donate to this wonderful cause so that maybe you can live your whole life never having been affected on a personal level. Don't wait until you've lost someone you love to this disease to wake up and start doing something about it, what, I'm ashamed to say, is what it took for me.

I'm asking you all to look inside your hearts and donate or come walk with us on August 3rd, or both. My personal page where you can donate is linked here, but honestly...donate anywhere you want, the important thing is to get money for research...we're all in it for the same reasons.

My love to you all, and thank you to all who choose to donate!

*I'm also creating a link on the sidebar for when you can't see this post anymore*

busy weekend

Hi all! Its been a busy weekend here at the Carroll house. We took off Wednesday night after work for Iowa where we dropped Brianna off at my mom and dad's house. On Thursday morning we headed to Galesburg where Bob was playing in the Harley Knosher Golf Outing.

That's Harley in the picture here with Bob.

He played a practice round on Thursday and while he was doing that, I visited with the Business Office ladies and then worked out in Knox's new fitness center (which is fabulous!). After that Holly and I went to get some much deserved pampering in the form of pedicures. After the boys finished their practice round we had dinner and headed out to enjoy some good company and beer!

We had a great time hanging out with everyone. Friday was the actual tournament so we spent all day on the golf course which was also fun. The team Bob was on (Andrew Isaacson, Jeff Ancelet, John Hawkinson, and Bob) won the low gross score (55), so all in all it was a good day.

On the way back to my parent's we stopped by to visit Alli and Steve and had dinner with Alli, which of course is always a treat! :o)

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing with the family for the most part. Braden, Brianna, and Kelsey got to go swimming and had a blast playing with each other, even if they did get a little cranky towards the end.

It was a fun-filled weekend for us...never a dull moment. Although I think we'll be paying for the action packed weekend for a while with Brianna, because she is definitely out of her routine. Hope you all have a great week! I have a bunch of new pictures, but since Yahoo! photos is shutting down my pictures are not being moved over to Shutterfly, so I won't upload any new ones until I see how this goes. Hopefully I don't lose everything! Keep your fingers crossed!
Our love to all!

aloha...

I guess summer is officially here! We filled up Brianna's pool today and she went "swimming" for the first time. She had a blast. She spent yesterday and part of today at Grandpa & Grandma Carroll's so Bob and I went shopping today to get her some new summer clothes and a new swimsuit. (Bob picked this out) but we thought it was too adorable to not get it. She did not want to get out of the pool, but she was alittle prune by the time we pried her out of there. After she came in and got dressed she still wanted to wear the grass skirt so we put it on over her shorts. Anyway there are a bunch of pictures up of her in her pool. Hope you enjoy! Have a great week everyone! :)

new pictures

There are a few new pictures of Brianna up from Monday at Bob and Nancy's.
Sorry this is short, but I guess I should go get ready for work now! Have a great day everyone!!

it takes more than scarlet fever to slow her down...

Well...its been an interesting week around our house. I got a call on Thursday from Brianna's daycare that she had a fever and they needed me to come get her. At the time they also let me know that one of her little classmates had exposed her to scarlet fever (strep with a rash basically...it sounds much worse than it is). The mom of the other child called as soon as they knew, but obviously all the other kids had been exposed already. The joys of having a kid in daycare :) Anyway, I picked her up and you could tell she didn't feel good, she was pretty mopey and took a nap when we got home. After her Tylenol kicked in she was eating and running around like a crazy person. So we hoped that it was just a fluke that she had a fever. I didn't take her to the doctor right away because she only had a low grade fever and had absolutely no other symptoms. Anyway, when we went to be we checked on her and she was pretty warm so we tried to give her another dose of Tylenol. Well...thats when it hit the fan. She got sick and continued to get sick on and off for the next hour or so. We got very little sleep Thursday night and made a doctor appointment for her for right away Friday morning. By the time we were dressing her for the doctor on Friday the rash had appeared. We got to the doctor's office and he took a quick look at her throat and immediately said that she had strep and a pretty bad case by the looks of it. So scarlet fever it is. She didn't eat much all day Friday, but by today she was practically back to normal. So, we played outside for a little while this afternoon, so she is feeling much better now. Tomorrow we have to spend the day sterilizing all of her toys, blankets, etc...anything she puts in her mouth, so that we can get rid of it. Now as long as Bob and I don't get it...everything should be great! :)

Hope you are all doing well, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Our love to all!

*a few new pictures of us playing outside today in the latest photos*

happy mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and moms-to-be out there! :)
I hope each of you has a very special day today!
Lots of love to our moms and grandmas!! :)

Brianna's feet are much cuter than mine, but I had to show you all what we did yesterday! :)
Oh...and new pictures up finally!

Congrats to Dan & Amanda Felton on the birth of their baby boy, Evan and Beth & Peter Cunico on the birth of their baby boy, Caleb! We can't wait to meet these two little boys!

quickie...

New Easter pictures...you know what to do...click the link! :)

weekend fun...

There are new pictures up...one's I actually took myself. :) We had a good weekend at home, although in all honesty we didn't do much. We went for a walk yesterday, I did some work, we napped, Bob watched basketball...like I said, nothing too exciting. Today we went to church then to get groceries and to get Brianna a new carseat, we had one in Bob's car that someone had given us...but it was no longer working out. We also bought Brianna her Easter dress, which I think is absolutely adorable!! (The pictures of her in it are not very good 'cause she wouldn't hold still).

There are quite a few pictures of the mess Brianna made of herself eating her first cupcake since we found out she's no longer allergic to dairy. She still can't have eggs for a few more months...but I had heard about using a box cake mix and mixing it with a diet pop (instead of the eggs, oil, etc) so I tried it out and they are really good...and Brianna can eat them...and 1/2 the calories! Everyone wins! As you can tell by the pictures she completely enjoyed it!

We spent the last couple hours outside today playing....other than that nothing exciting. Well I guess I should go and pay some bills and then do some more work. Hope everyone had a great weekend! Have a good week! Lots of love!

*Blogger is being a pain and won't let me upload pictures to the post, so click on the link to see them*

more brianna pictures

She's right....everyone does love a brown eyed girl! :)
Thanks for the pictures, Mom!

new brianna pictures

I've added some new brianna pictures. (Thanks Nancy!)

Check them out!

happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday Mom!
We Love You, Have a Great Day!!