Carly Luisa

Carly says cheese!

2009-12-10T12:03:00.001-08:00

Took pictures last night to use for our Christmas card and this one would have been great except Carly's in the middle of saying "Cheese!".

new jammies

2009-11-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

Braids

2009-11-09T12:28:00.001-08:00

Summer 2009

2009-09-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

A few shots from this past summer/spring:

Building tower in August

Pony ride and petting zoo in July:

Planting flowers in June:

Last shot with our lilac bush in May:

pigtails

2009-02-23T13:43:00.000-08:00

Now that Carly has turned two I'm not really keeping track of her age in months anymore. She's been 25 months for a over a week and I haven't even thought of it till now. Anyway . . . she is showing her independence more and more lately as she likes to do many things on her own, such as climb into her booster chair and climb into the carseat. The other day I lifted her into her booster chair and she got so upset (major meltdown with loads of tears) that I pulled her out and let her climb up herself. Here are a few photos from the past few weeks. In the second shot she is holding one of her toy phones (thought it was such a funny shot). And aren't those pigtails so cute?!?

Our two year old

2009-01-20T13:05:00.000-08:00

The pictures above and below were taken on Carly's birthday: sporting her new apron and enjoying a brownie from our favorite bakery.

Took this shot below the day before Carly's birthday. I was impressed with her tower of cans, spaghetti sauce, apple sauce and breadcrumbs and I love her smile!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-22T19:38:00.001-08:00

23 months old - mama graduates

2008-12-22T19:32:00.000-08:00

Carly turned 23 months on December 14th and the day before I participated in my graduation ceremony for earning my master's degree. I finished all the requirements this past June, during the summer semester, so I had to wait for the December commencement. Carly came along for our breakfast celebration that day but napped during the ceremony.

22 months old - pretend play and Fritz

2008-11-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

Our sweet girl changing Jolly the giraffe's diaper

Fritz giving mama a hug - he looks kind of ferocious in the first shot so I posted the other where he looks a little better

Halloween video

2008-11-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hear me roar . . .

Our little lion

2008-10-21T12:29:00.001-07:00

Carly loves to see the lion at the zoo. Whenever we drive past the zoo, she either roars or says "I want see roar". She has a pretty good roar. So we thought it would be fun to get her a lion costume for Halloween. Too cute!

21 months old - apple picking

2008-10-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

We went to an apple orchard a couple weekends ago on an unusually warm day for October. Too many great pictures to choose from so here are several of my favorites from that outing:

First time eating an apple whole - usually mama cuts it up for me.

Checking out the pumpkin patch

I love my "wow wow"

2008-09-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

New back porch

2008-09-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

The pictures above were taken on August 30th, right before demolition. The posts are not even attached to the ground . . . scary!! The 2nd picture shows where the porch was falling apart. The wood on the floor of the porch where it was uncovered was totally warped.

AFTER

Last weekend the porch was completed. It's so much more sturdy and a little bit bigger on the side that is not covered and we have a built in bench (and one more will be built on the opposite side that is covered). We are so happy with how it turned out. The bottom of the porch is now covered with lattice with a door built in so that we can store a few things underneath. We'll stain it in a month or so - not sure what color . . probably something neutral, whatever is easiest to maintain.

20 months

2008-09-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

One of Carly's favorite activities lately is standing on the step stool and taking everything out of one of the kitchen drawers. She likes to empty out pretty much anything: laundry basket, lazy susan cabinet in kitchen, drawer of clothes, basket of books, her diaper bag . . . And she usually says "no, no!" when I suggest we put things back. Carly also likes to stand on the step stool in the bathroom to wash her hands and play with the water. Her vocabulary continues to increase and she often speaks in phrases - some we understand ("I want see Elmo", "Itzy outside") and others we're not so sure. The picture below was taken a few days ago. Her hair is getting longer. She's so pretty, isn't she? (mom's biased opinion but I really do think she is so cute!)

19 months old - recent travels

2008-08-22T11:43:00.001-07:00

In early August we headed up to northern Wisconsin. Above Carly is with Michelle in the kayak. Just after this shot Carly decided she wanted out and kind of dove/jumped off. Fortunately she was wearing the "unibomber" suit (Paul's name for it) with built in floatation and the water was only about a foot deep.

Below we are with Wendy right before heading home.

Carly and Paul enjoy the hammock in our friends Lindsay and Josh's backyard. We had a wonderfully relaxing time hanging out with them at their place in the middle of corn fields in central Indiana.

18 months - putting my shoes on

2008-08-03T12:41:00.001-07:00

It always cracks me up when kids put their shoes on the wrong feet, so I couldn't resist capturing this moment on film. Carly has been putting this particular pair of shoes on by herself for the past month or so. Most of the time she gets them on the right feet. These pictures were taken on July 17th (close to the 18 month mark).

Grandpas

2008-08-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

Carly got to see both of her grandpas the weekend of July 19th:

Grandpa Roy (K's dad)

Grandpa Gene (P's dad)

Video - Reading Nee Nees and getting sleepy with Bee Bee

2008-07-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

This video shows Carly reading one of her favorite books that she calls "nee nees" (picture book of fairies) and then she starts to fade, grabs "bee bee" (her bunny blanket she sleeps with) and lays down.

Video - playing with baby

2008-07-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

This video shows Carly playing with her baby - one of her favorite things to do these days.

Late June/Early July

2008-07-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hangin out with my friend Reed.

Visiting my Great Grandma

Future virtuoso?

the storm on Father's Day

2008-06-17T12:36:00.001-07:00

Berwyn got hit pretty hard with the storm on Father's Day morning, right around 7:40am. Lots of tree damage in our neighborhood. Paul helped our neighbor remove a heavy branch from his garage roof. We had no damage - very lucky. Below are pictures taken about a half mile west of us - one tree completely uprooted and another broken in half.

Father's Day

2008-06-17T12:30:00.001-07:00

Here's Carly and papa on Father's Day. Paul is wearing the gift we gave him - a big hit!

I decided to try to get a family picture and this one turned out pretty well. Fritz is posed so nicely - just like in our Christmas photo.

17 months old

2008-06-17T12:18:00.001-07:00

Carly has been spending a lot of time sitting at the table in our front porch - her new favorite hangout. During the last couple of weeks I was studying for my master's degree comprehensive exam every afternoon at the table during nap time. I think Carly has been trying to act like mama - reviewing notes and checking out the flashcards.
Here she is sitting in the recliner checking out the bulletin from church. She can now climb most of our furniture.

16 months old

2008-05-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Took this picture about a week ago. Carly was in the middle of saying something. She often pulls out her photo album, flips the pages and points out "mama" or "papa" or "tz" in the pictures. Took this picture yesterday. Carly is getting quite good at climbing. She has conquered our dining rooms chairs and yesterday kept climbing one that I moved right by the window. She had fun looking out - the kids from the school cross the street (you might be able to see the crosswalk in the picture) to get to the playground across from our alley. There's a lot of action late morning as many classes seem to have recess.

Our climber and model

2008-05-06T09:54:00.001-07:00

Caught Carly the other day on top of this footstool in our room. Normally there are several blankets piled on top of it. She threw the blankets off, climbed up and started pulling some interesting items off the shelf.

And here's Carly modeling my wool hat that I bought on a trip to Sweden several years ago with a lovely handmade purple scarf. She loves to put things around her neck. She also likes to play with various articles of clothing that she pulls out of her hamper or our hamper. She'll stand there for several minutes and inspect different parts of a shirt or pair of pants.

Carly and her buddy "tz"

2008-05-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken at the end of April:

Love that grin!
About a month ago I posted a picture of Carly and Fritz looking out the window. This one better captures their relationship. He's very patient with her and she loves "tz" (that's what she calls him).

Singing along

2008-04-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Caught Carly on video a couple weeks ago singing along a little bit to the 'Build each other up' song on her favorite CD. Super cute!

15 months old

2008-04-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Put on Carly's new Keen sandals a few days ago when the temps hit the upper 60s (mama is a big fan of Keen shoes :) ). Carly is also sporting her new crop pants - not so cropped yet but she is definitely getting taller. Below is the result of me pulling out some Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt while Carly was around - she had to have a taste and better yet wanted to take the whole thing.

Late March

2008-04-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

The picture above was taken on Easter Sunday. I finally cut Carly's bangs shortly after Easter. Below Carly is hanging out by the stereo. She often walks over there with excitement, anticipating the music that she loves to dance and sing along to. I think her hair looks so cute in the picture below too - it's getting longer!

14 months old on March 14th (papa's birthday!)

2008-03-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from the past couple of weeks:

Carly likes to stand on her chair and look out the window. So does Fritz.
Reading with Grandpa

Portrait time

2008-02-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

This morning we had Carly's 1 year portrait taken (now that she's 13 1/2 months old . . oh well, close enough, right?). The photographer had to get 6 poses and it was tough because Carly didn't want to sit still or stay in one place for long. She was getting tired and frustrated and it shows in our final shot. But we did get some cute ones that I added below the "get me out of here" shot.

What a cutie pie!

Can you see that she's holding a gerber biter biscuit in the shot above? It was helping her get through the photo shoot!

Our independent multi-tasker

2008-02-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

Carly likes roam around and explore while she drinks from her bottle or sippy cup. Above she is hanging out in one of her favorite spots - loves to pull the DVDs off the shelf of the TV stand. Below she is getting some books out of a basket in her room while taking a swig (or just chewing on the nipple?).
Here she is looking cute in a sweater that my mom made.

First walk outside with new shoes

2008-01-16T08:50:00.001-08:00

Here's Carly walking outside for the first time with her new squeaky shoes (they squeak when she puts weight on her heels). We're on our way to her friend Ginette's 1st birthday party.

Birthday Girl!

2008-01-16T08:44:00.001-08:00

Carly turned 1 on January 14th. We'll have a bigger celebration this weekend with family and some friends, but here she is on her birthday looking intently at her 1st candle.

Latest shenanigans

2007-12-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

Carly loves to pull and tug on Fritz.
She loves to take her clothes out of the hamper - hasn't figured out how to put them back (or maybe that just doesn't seem as fun?)
Just looking cute!

Christmas pictures

2007-12-29T16:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas at Grandma Karole'sChristmas Eve with cousin Zach
Best picture of Carly's Christmas dress and shoes.

She's walking . . .

2007-12-13T19:41:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Carly will be 11 months. She took her first steps in my presence on November 26th and each day since has walked for longer stretches. She's getting pretty good. I took these photos a week ago.I was in the middle of dressing her and thought she looked so cute in her onesie and pink socks. I love the shot of her walking next to Fritz. She is often walking while holding on to something.
I often find Carly holding on to her high chair. She also likes to pick something up, drop it and pick it up again.

10 months old

2007-11-16T08:20:00.001-08:00

I tried a jumper on Carly that my mom knit for me when I was a baby. It's got that 70s look.

And here's Carly sitting in the tub on November 14th - an official 10 month old!

No more box elder tree

2007-11-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

November 6th we hired "Paul Bunyon and Sons" (not kidding) to cut down our box elder tree. The day before I noticed a big crack where one of the main branches connected to the stump. It looked like it could fall at any moment.
It is bittersweet to lose the tree. It was such a great source of shade and we had fun swinging in our hammock chair with Carly, but this will hopefully be the end of those blasted box elder bugs which invade our house. I think Fritz will especially miss the tree because it was a playground for squirrels and provided lots of entertainment.

Visit with Rosa, Pablo and Yoel

2007-11-15T08:07:00.000-08:00

On November 4th our missionary friends (from Spain), Rosa and Pablo came over to visit with their son Yoel. Gene and some other friends came as well. It was a great reunion of friends who two years ago prayed over us as we struggled with infertility and now could see the answer to that prayer.

She is on the move!

2007-10-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

Since my post at the beginning of October, Carly has been getting more and more mobile. Here's a "play by play":
October 1 - discovered Carly sitting up in her crib
October 6 - finally witnessed Carly sitting up by herself
Week of October 7th (?) - she started crawling and pulling herself up to a standing position
Week of October 14th - she's getting better and better at pulling herself up and I think it was this week that I found her standing up in her crib.
October 21st - We had friends over and pulled out this toy that she can hold on to and walk with and she did it (check out the video) . . . Yikes she really is on the move!

9 months old

2007-10-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken on October 13th.

Crib lowering

2007-10-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today Carly put up quite a fight when I tried putting her down for her afternoon nap. Here's how I found her after the second or third time of checking on her. She managed to pull herself up to a sitting position and I think she was quite happy with herself. I couldn't resist taking a picture - had to show Paul when he got home. Later in the afternoon I lowered the crib all the way. She is getting more and more mobile every day!

I can clap

2007-10-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Carly started clapping her hands a week or so ago.

So pretty

2007-09-19T20:02:00.001-07:00

Carly is wearing the matinee coat and hat that Grandma made her. She's so pretty and so is the jacket and hat!

New bathtub

2007-09-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

We tried out the new giant rubber ducky tub the other night.

New Stuff

2007-09-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

Carly is sitting on her new alphabet play mat that we put in her room. We spend most of our day on the main floor of our house which is hardwood. I thought the mat would motivate me to do more tummy time with her and maybe it will help her crawl sooner? It's a great little space to play with her. She's posing in a new outfit that I bought yesterday for fall - so cute! And she's playing with a new toy that a coworker of Paul's bought for her.

She'll soon be 8 months old and is getting bigger and bigger - some of her 9 month clothes may not work much longer. A few weeks ago she started rolling onto her stomach and now loves to roll all over the place in her crib. She's been making lots of new sounds too - mama, baba, papa, yaya.

7 months old - August 14th

2007-08-17T18:49:00.001-07:00

Here's our 7 month old reading with papa before bed. She's been saying dada for the past few weeks, getting her bottom two front teeth, trying new foods (really loves mango!). This picture really shows how she's getting more hair - getting thicker on top. What a cutie pa tootie!

House on a lake

2007-08-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

We visited Wendy, Brian, Nathan, Lily and Michelle last week and had a great time. We love their house on the lake . . .what a beautiful view to wake up to everyday. Carly also had her first experience in a playground swing. She liked it!

Shoes, glorious shoes

2007-08-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

Carly usually goes barefoot but the other day we tried on these sandals that I bought a while ago. Buying shoes for her may become one of my downfalls . . .

First Portraits - 6 1/2 months

2007-08-03T14:41:00.001-07:00

This morning was Carly's first portrait/photo session. She was so good - such an easy going girl (helped to do it the morning which is probably her best time of the day). There are so many cute shots . . .so it's tough to choose what to post here. We had her in two outfits: my favorite pink plaid sundress and one of the dresses that I wore as a baby.

DC photos

2007-07-29T11:54:00.001-07:00

Lizzie had fun with Carly. Saturday night Uncle Bill, Aunt Carol and Sonja came over for dinner which provided a nice opportunity for a family photo. It was a coincidence and nice treat that Sonja was visiting the same weekend - we haven't seen her since our wedding. And the final shot shows Gerry & Lizzie after one of our Scrabble matches.

Flight home was much better!

2007-07-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

We got an extra seat on the flight home which was nice. And I got to enjoy some decaf.

Carly's First Flight

2007-07-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

We flew out to DC to visit my brother Gerry and family. The flight out there was a little brutal for Carly's first experience: mechanical problems and weather caused a 3 hour delay. In this picture she finally fell asleep in Paul's arms as we were waiting to board a new plane - first plane had the mechanical problems. She woke up shortly after this shot pretty unhappy. Who can blame her - not napping for over 5 hours is not good!

6 month check up

2007-07-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today was Carly's 6 month checkup. The stats: weight - 15 lb 6 oz, length - 25 1/2 inches, and head circumference - 15.6 in. She had two shots and let out some big cries but calmed down pretty quickly. Thank goodness we won't have shots again for a while.

Uncle Gerry stopped by

2007-07-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

July 13th Gerry stopped by after speaking at Rotary. He was invited to speak about humanitarian efforts of the UN. Kind of cool that he came to my workplace (completely coincidental - it wasn't me that got him the invitation!) and also very nice of him to endure Friday afternoon rush hour to stop by to see Paul and Carly.

Meeting my Swedish friends

2007-07-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

On July 11th our friends Derek and Carin visited with their children, Doreen and Delen, who they adopted this past spring. We wish they lived closer but cherish their visits and are so happy that God has brought them together as a family.

Reading with Papa

2007-07-16T17:55:00.001-07:00

2007-07-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

I was looking at some of my favorite pictures of Carly and was reminded of how "they grow so fast" like many people told us . . . In the beginning I didn't believe it or it felt like time was going slow (especially the first 2 months). But now I realize how quickly they grow and how we need to cherish these early months. In the first picture Paul is holding Carly on day 2 of her life and she's 5 months old in the second picture.

Sitting up

2007-07-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Carly has been getting better and better at sitting up (without tipping over right away) for the past week or so and did really well this past Sunday (July 1).

First Solid Food

2007-07-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

On July 2nd we set up the high chair and gave Carly some rice cereal. I think she enjoys eating. She looks pretty little in the high chair with the tray on so we skipped the tray when we brought out the food.

Meeting Great Grandma Hunt

2007-07-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

On June 29th we visited Grandma Hunt and Aunt Maxine (that would be Great Grandma Hunt and Great Aunt Maxine to Carly).

Siblings

2007-06-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Buddies hangin out in the kitchen.

Exersaucer Delight

2007-06-29T20:51:00.000-07:00