funny conversations...

I posted this originally on facebook, but some of you out there aren't on facebook so I couldn't resist posting it here as well.

Brianna (after throwing something): "go get it buddy, go get it boy!"
Me: "Brianna, he is not a puppy"
Brianna: "But he chews on shoes!"

I had no response to that because...it is true.
She really does crack me up!

**not sure what is going on with the videos I've posted...I'm trying to fix it**
**aren't you impressed with my consistent posts for the last week or so?**

i wish I knew what she was thinking...

Yes, she can and does tell me what she is thinking most of the time. In fact she is quite vocal about pretty much everything these days. But I still wish I could be inside her head and figure out why she does the things she does. I guess it those little quirks that make her who she is. She was so proud of herself when she came up to me this afternoon after she had made her face "pretty". I didn't yell or anything I just asked why she did that and I hurt her feelings. She was sad that I didn't like what she had done. I just wonder what the thought process was like as she decided to write on her face with pen. Just one of the many, many, many reasons I love her. :)

the call...

My sister told me I needed to listen to the song "The Call" by Matt Kennon, so today I looked it up on google and the video on You Tube was the first link. When I heard the song and watched the video I got goosebumps. The song itself is pretty heavy, and hopefully most of us aren't in situations like that. It reminded me of a book I just read "An Hour to Live, an Hour to love" and in it, a quote "If you had an hour to live who would you call? And why are you waiting?" This struck me because I often think of friends and family and think I should call them, but I stop myself because I don't want to bother them or I don't really have anything specific to say. Is there anything better than an unexpected phone call from a friend or family member just because they were thinking of you? One call can make all the difference.

my favorite thing...

My favorite thing in the whole wide world is watching my kiddos sleep, especially when they are babies. Last night Bryce woke up around 1am...and I was still up so I went and got him and held him while he fell back asleep. As he lay there sleeping I watched as he smiled, giggled, frowned and made crazy facial expressions. I looked at that beautiful boy and wished for just a moment I could see what was going on in his head. In those moments of watching him sleep or even watching Brianna sleep the whole day is washed away, all of the frustrations and the moments that I wanted to scream or cry...are gone and all that is left are images of my children laughing and smiling and being sweet to each other...the world feels right again. All too soon I won't be able to hold them in my arms ,watch them sleep and let their innocence wash away the day, I am grateful for every moment that I get to spend with them. They are my angels even when they aren't. :)

more videos...

I'm loving the flip Bob got me for Christmas.
Here are a couple more videos for you!

happy 2010...

The new year rang in without us. Bob and Nancy were very kind and took the kids for us. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling that great and so we spent the night watching season 1 of 30 Rock and eating Chipotle. I think I fell asleep around 10:30. Oops. I'm old...I've accepted it. On the 2nd our friends Dawn & Chris came to visit and we had a great afternoon catching up. Since then there hasn't been much going on. I'm trying to catch up on my bookkeeping and get our stuff ready for our tax return and keeping the kiddos entertained in this horrible freezing cold weather. We don't have much planned for the next few months...I know you are all shocked, but so far the next few months are pretty calm. Hope you all had a great New Year! We wish you many blessings in 2010!

christmas...part 2...

So, we headed to Iowa to spend Christmas with my family. We had planned to leave on Wednesday after Brianna got out of school but with the weather that was predicted for Iowa that day we decided to leave a day earlier. Bryce does not travel well. AT ALL. He slept for 30 minutes and then pretty much screamed the other 3 hours. It was not so much fun. We got to Mom and Dad's in one piece and with our hearing still mostly intact, so I will consider it a success. Wednesday was a pretty low-key day. I was supposed to meet some friends from high school on Wednesday evening but there was about 2 inches of ice on everything at the time I was to leave...so I opted to stay home. I was bummed that I missed everyone but hopefully we'll be able to get together sometime in the near future. Anyway, Thursday found us getting ready for Christmas Eve mass. It was crowded and hot and the kids were lets just say...not so good. I have always loved Christmas Eve mass, but I'll be honest, I didn't get anything out of it and I was glad when it was over. (I'm sure I'm going to hell for that statement...but it was really not good). Back at my parents we had homemade pizza (our tradition) and then opened some gifts. It was ridiculous there were so many presents they didn't even really fit in the one room. Everyone was happy though and that is what counts. Christmas morning the kids opened up the presents Santa brought. One thing I will probably always remember is that when Brianna opened her big present (a dollhouse) she shrugged her shoulders and said "It is fine...but it isn't the one I wanted" Yup...way to go Santa! We headed to my Aunt and Uncles for a while on Christmas Day and then up to my Grandma's house. She spoiled everyone and it was so great to see the family! Saturday Bob and I met up with some of my friends from high school and had a great time laughing and reminiscing. Sunday we had the last of our Christmases with my Dad's family. It was great to see everyone and it was the first time some of them have seen Bryce. All-in-all a very hectic but great holiday season!

sunday sunday...

Thought I would quick pop in and say hi before I'm off to watch 24 with the hubby! (we are nothing if not exciting) Hope you all had a great weekend...we have an extended one because Bob is off tomorrow...Yay! We're thinking about maybe just going to the mall with the kids for a while for them to run around...but I guess we'll see how everyone behaves! :)

If you have time...I think you should check this out.

I turn 30 in 2 1/2 months...aggg! So here it is blogland...I had a goal to lose 50ish pounds before then (this was a few months ago) and since that is not going to happen in any sort of healthy way at this point...I am going to just work toward that goal. Starting tomorrow the workouts and the healthier eating resumes (lets be honest...I'm still going to have my occasional beer and ice cream). I'm thinking that on Fridays I will post my progress for the week. There it is blogland...it is out there and I'm accountable! I've done it once...I can do it again!

Happy Sunday!

christmas...part 1...

We started Christmas on the 20th with the Caruso family. The kids had so much fun playing together and it was nice to catch up with everyone. We all kept laughing about how last year there were 3 tiny babies at Christmas and this year there were 3 kids running around and getting into stuff faster than anyone could stop them (OK maybe that was just Bryce that was getting into stuff!). The food was great and the company was even better.

Oh...I guess I should back up just a tiny bit and tell you that the Carroll family is growing once again. Ha! Scared you didn't I? No, there are no babies on the way but I am so happy to tell you that Brian and Mary got engaged on December 18th!! She has been a part of the family longer than I have, but it is exciting to make it official! The kids adore her and so do we. I'm so glad that I'll be able to call her my sister-in-law! :)

Wow, this is sort of a random post...anyway, after Caruso Christmas we had the Carroll Family Christmas on Tuesday (before we headed to Iowa for more Christmas). It was fun hanging out with everyone and it was very low-key...just the way I like things :) We spent a few hours hanging out, eating, opening presents and then we climbed in the car and headed to Iowa to try to beat out the nasty winter weather that was heading that way.

Stay tuned for Christmas part 2 coming shortly...until then some pictures of the Caruso and Carroll Christmases!

somthing to make you smile...

our little rockstar and her biggest fan...

anyone still out there?

Oh my...it has been a while hasn't it? I don't even know where to begin at this point. When I last left you we had just celebrated Bryce's 1st birthday. So, I will update you on the kiddos and then try to update the other stuff in the next few posts.

Shortly after his birthday the little man started to really walk...well run...everywhere. Once he figured out that walking/running was really faster than crawling he started running and never looked back. He went for his year check-up and weighed in at 21lbs and is still on the small side, but growing right along his own little growth curve. His iron was a bit low when they checked it at his appointment but we're giving him supplements and he seems to be doing OK. They will recheck it at his 15 month appointment. He ended up with an ear infection and potential pink eye to end out the year and last week he ended up back at the doctors because he was running a fever while on antibiotics. When we got to the office his temp was 103.9!! He was put on a stronger antibiotic because the doctor was worried about a sinus infectino, but we got no real reason he had such a high temp on antibiotics. He seems to be doing much better now and we have just a few days left of the antibiotic, but he takes his medicine like a champ so I can't complain. Hopefully he'll stay healthy for a while now!



Miss Brianna is doing quite well she is still loving school and says stuff all the time that just crack us up. She is really anxious to learn to read and even picked out a chapter book to buy with some Christmas money she had. She has a very active imagination and is so creative and loves to dance and sing. Don't kid yourself she is still just as sassy as always but she is also a big help most of the time. Other than that....nothing much new to report on the kiddo front. They are growing too fast, but I'm glad I'm here to watch them! :)

links of love news...

links of love is now on etsy.
Check out the shop and let me know what you think.
As always, contact me if you want a custom piece...I would be happy to accomodate you! :)

i'd say it was a success...

**pictures are going up on shutterfly right now**

365...

Dear Bubba,
That is how many days it has been since you burst into our lives. You surprised me then little man and you have continued to surprise me every day for the last 365 days. December 3, 2008 was the beginning of a wonderful, joyful chapter in our lives. You just started walking and you looked so proud of yourself, but I think it is too slow for you. You are a speed demon crawler and you can get into anything before I can even blink. You test my patience every day (you'd think that after your sister I'd be cool as a cucumber...but no), but that smile makes me forget it all. I love the way you are finding your voice and never for 1 second let us forget you are in the room or if we are in a different room you let us know where you are. You don't like to eat anything different than we are and you get mad if we try to give you something we are not eating. You are pretty much done with bottles, you will grab any sippy cup you can get your little hands on. Can I tell you a secret? I love that you save your big sloppy kisses only for your mama (although we do have to work on the not biting part...my cheeks are not chew toys). The smile that breaks out on your face when you see me for the first time every day melts my heart. I even love that at 11pm (almost) every single night you wake up and just want to cuddle for a little bit, you'll lay your head on my chest and smile and then you start crawling all over the place, and when I put you back in your bed you don't make a sound, it is like you just wanted to see mama and dada one last time before you really go to sleep for the night, to make sure we are still there. You are stubborn just like your big sister, and you love her with everything you have. I still cannot wrap my head around how these last 365 days have passed...it has been a whirlwind. We started out a tad rocky, but I think we're hitting our stride now. In those last few minutes before you were born I was scared, you were having some problems all of the sudden there were 5 extra people in the room, your daddy didn't even get to cut the cord, but in the midst of it all I heard the doctor say it was a boy and I looked at your daddy and he had the biggest smile I've ever seen and tears in his eyes. I heard you cry and the doctor said you were just fine, perfect in fact, and I saw for myself how perfect you truly were. Your smile and your laugh are infectious, it is impossible to stay unhappy when you are in the room smiling and laughing. You are still mama's little cuddle bug and I love that. How lucky I have been to be able to share each of these last 365 days with you...to see your first smile, crawling, first steps, to notice when your first teeth (finally) came through. A year ago I was blessed with a perfect baby boy, and today I'm feeling especially blessed that you are in our lives. How fast time goes and things change. I love you birthday boy!
Love always and forever,
mama

a year ago today...

(note: this is more for my memory than anything else, it may not interest you, if it doesn't that is OK just go buy some of my jewelry instead. Haha!!)

I started off my morning with a trip to the OB (OK...please read the title...a year ago as in 12/2/08...I am not pregnant...I'm reminiscing!). My 36 week checkup to be exact. Bob went with, I don't remember exactly why. The doctor was running late...I mean REALLY late. I think we waited in the exam room for over an hour. Bob was getting antsy...I had to physically restrain him from going into the hallway and asking if they had forgotten about us. Finally the doctor came in, listened to the heartbeat and rushed out. We seriously saw him for about 5 minutes. We both went off to work, not knowing how in less than 24 hours our lives would be drastically changed. I remember getting to work and walking through the warehouse of the building and slipping on some water...I fell to the floor...I landed as gracefully as a 36 week pregnant lady can (which is to say not very) but thankfully was not hurt. I walked into the office and apologized profusely for being so late. I sat down and got to work. For some reason my boss was out that afternoon so I was in the office by myself. I was caught up on work so I decided to kind of "clean out" my computer of anything personal. I knew I'd be leaving my job once the baby came and I was taking advantage of the quiet time to get some stuff done. About 3:30 a client called and needed something scanned and emailed to her. I pulled out the files got everything I needed ready and went in the other office to begin scanning. As I stood there (about 4pm) I knew something wasn't quite right. It was sort of funny because I remember thinking...either my water has just broke/has a leak or I have lost all control of my bladder. I sat at my desk for the next hour (this was nothing like when my water broke with Brianna...there was no question then about what had happened) my heart racing...wondering if this was it. Of course, I said nothing to anyone and at 5pm I rushed out of the office to my car. I was 1/2 way home when I decided to call Bob and talk things through. I think my exact words were "Um...something funny happened and I think my water may have broke...but I'm not sure. What should I do?" This was probably not the best thing to do to a man who was driving. I felt so silly, like I should know if my water broke. I had the biggest fear of going into the hospital saying my water broke and them saying "um sorry no...you just wet your pants!" We called the hospital and they said to come on in, then we called Bob's parents to come watch Brianna. I got home and packed a bag (of course I wasn't packed...I had 4 weeks left). As I packed my mom called and asked what I was doing. I told her I was packing a bag and she said "going to be prepared this time huh?" and I replied "no...I think my water broke". She stammered out something and then said...I'll let you go pack. Call me later. After I was packed I sat around waiting for Bob and his parents. We headed to the hospital around 6pm. The nurses checked me all out and confirmed that my water had broken. They started antibiotics (as the strep B test that I had taken that morning hadn't come back) and said they would find out if the doctor on call wanted to start pitocin or just see how things went. At some point pitocin was started and I started having contractions, drugs were given, I tried to rest...didn't work. I texted from my hospital bed and read emails from a friend recapping our class reunion that I had missed the weekend before, watched the same episode of Family Guy about 3 times, and a very ill-timed episode of Law & Order SVU when a pregnant woman is murdered. (why do I remember all of this stuff?). In case anyone was wondering...Bob slept! :)
All of that happened a year ago today. It seems like a lifetime ago and yesterday all at the same time. December 2, 2008...my last day of work...my last day of being pregnant...the last day we were a family of 3...the last day of not knowing how much more love would be in our house.
December 2, 2008....the end of another chaper in our lives.

gobble gobble...

Happy Thanksgiving...a couple days late.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families!

happy birthday little angel...

I just wanted to write a short post in honor of my little cousin Ian on his 5th birthday (well a couple days late).
On November 10, 2004 he was born, 15 weeks premature. From the moment he was born he was surrounded by love. He has two amazing parents that love him so very much as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins...the list goes on and on. He fought the best that he could...but because of his prematurity, his tiny body just could not take it. On November 11, 2004 Ian got his angel wings. It has been 5 years, but Ian...you are just as much loved today as you were the day you took your first breath. I know you are up there in heaven with Papa Joe and I'm sure he has found you some M&M's (or Skittles) to help celebrate your birthday.

Dale, Suzanne, & McKenna~ you are always in my thoughts and prayers. Your strength amazes and inspires me. I love you all!

Happy Birthday Ian with much love from us all!

and the winner is...

First of all...thank you for all of your suggestions. I got several emails with suggestions along with the ones posted in the comments. It is my great pleasure to introduce you to...



links of love



I am getting ready to take some new pictures and upload them. I know there isn't much there yet, but take a look around...I would love to hear your comments/criticisms, etc.



Thank you to Sarah and Linda for this suggestion. Watch your mailbox in the next week or so for your prize! :)



Thank you again to everyone for your help...this has been extremely stressful (not sure why) but now that it is out there...I feel relieved and excited. Thanks again!!

calling all creative minds...

I need your help. Bob's work is having a craft show/fair thingy in December and he is going to sell my jewelry there. I want to have business cards made up to put along with the necklaces/bracelets, in case anyone wants more personalized pieces. Anyway, here is my problem...I for the life of me cannot come up with a name for my jewelry. So, here is where you come in. Leave me a comment with your suggestion(s) and email address and if I like yours and use it...I will send you a necklace (or bracelet if you prefer). I've come up with nothing good so far and my brain is completely blocked on this...so your help would be much appreciated.
Ready...set....brainstorm!!

weekend recap...

Another weekend has come and gone. It started a bit frantic with getting Brianna to school on Friday (after having miss the rest of the week due to being sick) and Bob taking Bryce back to the doctor (and we were worried about having money left in our flex account at the end of the year...ha!) where he had a breathing treatment at the office and then was sent home with prescriptions for more. I stayed home and ran about packing everything up and cleaning up so we could leave as soon as Brianna was done with school. We got her picked up and then went to pick up Bryce's prescriptions. (Which they messed up...that is a whole other post). Finally an hour after we left home we were on our way to Iowa. We helped my parents move into their new house (yay!) and then took the kids trick-or-treating. Saturday was exhausting, but it was amazing to see all the people that came to help mom and dad moved. They are loved! (I already knew that :), but it was great to see so many people help out. Sunday we helped move around some furniture and unpacked a few boxes and then we headed out to meet up with some friends to have another go at trick-or-treating. Everyone had a ton of fun. We finally got back home last night about 10:30ish. I'm still tired. Anyway, it was a great weekend and I'm uploading pictures as you read, but I'll leave you with this one of my little monkey and my cheerleader. Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween. OK...off to hide some of this candy in the freezer! :) Have a great week everyone!