Mumbler.

Is she not the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Ok, maybe I'm partial, but she really is. I can't get over her. And I can't get over how quickly she is growing. I put socks on her the other night that used to go past her knees. Now they are like ankle socks. What? I almost cried. She is so fun right now, talking and rolling and smiling and screeching. I watch her and sometimes I just freeze and stare in awe. Where did she come from? She is a miracle. We gave her rice cereal for the first time too. She gagged quite a bit and seemed to prefer sucking on her bumbo over eating the cereal. Is that normal?

~

Did you know that for how much we're paying in rent we could have a $150,000 house in East Lansing, Michigan? I'm just saying. I'm getting pretty ready for our next stage in life. Too bad this stage still has 7 months to go. I'm getting done with Knoxville, done with apartments, done with UT (and I don't even go there). I like to look at houses in Lansing. Are we moving to Lansing? We don't know. I was pretty sure we were and then when we were out West Chris had a fabulous interview at the U of U and now things are a little more up in the air again. The lady told him he was accepted, which is good we'll have a place no matter what. Still waiting on Michigan State, but I'll be shocked if they flew Chris up there and wined and dined him and then don't let him in. So it looks like a choice between two really good options. I hate that kind of choice. But the houses are cheaper in Michigan.

~

I watch too much HGTV, which probably contributes to my house-hunger. I'm decorating my bathroom right now. Its been pretty bland. I'll post pictures when its done. Nothing spectacular, no paint since we're renting, but its fun. I got new bedding for Christmas too. Oh, how I'd like to paint some walls . . .

~

Have you seen the movie Up? Probably, we're slow on seeing movies. We watched it this week. *spoiler alert* I totally called Ellie would die in the first 5 minutes. As my mother says, the wife/mother always dies. But the movie was quite unexpected. A lot of adult themes. At the end when he is looking through her adventure book and looks at "Things I'm Going to Do" and finds all the pictures of their life together . . . that's when I bawled. Does that not send such a great message? Life doesn't have to be extreme to be a grand adventure. I love how Russell is talking about his time with his dad and says something like "Its the little things that I remember the best." Isn't that true? It made me really want to cherish every second, because life moves too fast. Carly is teaching me that lesson every day.

~

I have a really wonderful husband. I love him very much. Just thought I'd throw that in there. He doesn't get much credit.

~

That's it. Tomorrow is the Sabbath, and Carly is going to wear her Zebra print shoes. Its going to be a good day. xoxo.

There are places I remember.

There are few places in this world that I love more than my parents house in the great state of Idaho. Its a place of many large flatscreens, comfy couches, and endless M&Ms. Its a place of Mings and movies, lounging and laughing, snowfall and Sashas, HD football and family. Its a place where you can look out the window at the snow falling and say, half to yourself, "I could really use some creamy, cheesy, potato soup" and in no time at all, there in front of you is delicious creamy cheesy potato soup (true story). Its a place I called home for so long, it will always be home. So without further ado, a few Idaho tidbits:

~
Carly did fab on her first flights, nursing on take-off and landing, smiling and staring at everyone as they boarded, and being generally pleasant. Mostly she enjoyed looking at all the lights on the plane and sleeping in daddy's arms. She took to flying much better than I did.

She wasted no time in getting her first "purple couch nap".
She also got to meet Brenna (but not Uncle Jason or Aunt Kasee. Sad.)

She got a snow suit that made her the spitting image of an ewok.

My brother Michael and sister-in-law Camie journey up from Utah to see us. We're so glad they did, as we rather enjoy their company. We also got to see their cat, Sasha, again. I've got to say, he is a very pleasant and enjoyable cat to be around.

Carly meets Sasha.Carly slept in the crib that me and all three of my brothers slept in, and used the same crib bedding (seen here). My dad said it was quite the process getting it back together. Not going to lie, I had a few visions of it collapsing as Carly slept. Turned out it was nice and sturdy and performed admirably.

I was so excited to introduce Carly to my grandparents.

She liked them quite a bit, as she usually doesn't take to new people quite this well.

Four generations of the T family.

If you have a Costco nearby and would like a life-changing experience, and would also like to gain 10 pounds, pick up a bucket of these. Macadamian miracles is that I call them.

Carly definately has a soft spot for her uncles:

(Uncle Brit is my cousin, but close enough).

But grandmas (and grandpas) are good too.

We stopped by and visited one of my best friends from high school, Renee.

Renee had her little Maggie 4 weeks after I had Carly.

Carly and Maggie.

The night before our flight we went down to Utah and stayed at Michael and Camie's new beautiful house. My dad, Chris, and I had the opportunity to go to the Jordan River temple. It had been since April since Chris and I had made it to the temple, and it was a truly wonderful experience. Remember how I said there are few places I love more than my parents house? The temple is one of them.

All the partying took its toll on Carly, and after a fabulous 8 days, we headed home.

Thank you, mom and dad, for everything. Thank you Brady for letting us invade your basement. Thank you, Michael and Camie, for partying with us and letting us stay at your house and watching our screaming baby so we could attend the temple. And thank you, weather, for not messing up any of our flights. The end.

five months old.

Last night Carly refused to go to sleep until after 2 am.

Her schedule is seriously askew.

We laid her between us and she told us stories in the dark.

A good way to celebrate her 5-month mark, I think.

Carly, at five months you . . .

*talk a lot. And you talk loud. You are starting to make distinct sounds, like "na na na", "bububu", and "dah!"

*are pretty close to sitting up on your own. I'm guessing by 6 months old you will.

*grab everything. You're spilling glasses of water and throwing things on the ground and putting everything in your mouth.

*smile as big and beautiful as ever. I love you smile because it doesn't grow like a normal smile. It bursts onto your face.

*like to put on a show. When a crowd is big enough but not too big, you'll talk and squawk and growl and smile like you're showing off.

*require constant entertainment. I can't just put you down and let you play by yourself. You like a lot of stimulation and people to look at and play with.

*have lots of energy! You wiggle a lot and look at kids who are walking like "Hey, how do you do that?"

*giggle more frequently, especially when daddy is playing with you.

*love mommy's hair. You like to put it in your mouth. When you put someone else's hair in your mouth you make a disgusted look and spit it out.

*are so fun and so cute and getting more and more wonderful every day. We can't believe how fast you're growing.

Happy five months, Car. We're glad you joined us.

We're home.

825 square feet of chaos has never looked so good.

I have a vicious cold.

I wasn't so sure we'd ever make it back.

Oh, how happy I was when Knoxville showed up in my windows.

~

We have no food.

We have mountains of stuff to put away.

But we're home.

~

We have a sick mama,

a grouchapotomus wiggle worm baby,

and an exhausted yet handsome daddy.

But we're home.

~

Our trip was grand. Maybe a little too grand.

I have an inkling we won't ever be doing 22 days again.

10 sounds good.

~

Carly's in her crib tonight.

And we're in our bed.

I love love love being home.

Her First Noel

Carly sent her first Christmas out with a bang. We've been on the road nearly three weeks, and with a blizzard going on now in Indiana, I'm not sure when we'll make it home. I'm so excited to get back, so hopefully its soon.

~

Knoxville Christmas

We had our little family Christmas Eve and Christmas morning before we left town. We had yummy food and read The Polar Express (T family tradition). The next morning we opened presents and headed out of town on Carly's first road trip.

Family Time in Indiana

We had a whole week at Chris's parents house before Christmas. We spent it doing nothing in particular. We did puzzles, took lots of baths in the sink (that was mostly Carly), and ate way too much. Chris and I enjoyed a date night, and Carly stayed home and made sugar cookies with her aunts and grandma. It was a nice way to relax, but it felt like Christmas took forever to get here!

Christmas Eve/Day 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas Eve we followed Chris's family tradition and went out to breakfast. That evening we went to a party for a little while, and came home to do PJs and take pictures. Carly went to bed shortly after, and Chris and I stayed up watching the Grinch and The Nativity (I was surprised at how much I liked it). The next morning we were up and opened presents. We were all showered with prizes, though Carly seemed to enjoy the wrapping paper more than any of her gifts.

Chicago Christmas

On Christmas day we headed to Chicago where Chris's maternal grandmother, Baga, lives. The whole family gets together and opens presents. Chris is the oldest grandchild, so the house is full of teenagers and kids. Its always fun and we love seeing family. Carly, of course was spoiled. Each grandchild gets 2 presents; Carly's total came to 8. One family made her a Chicago Cubs Build-a-Bear. Its quite adorable. While there, we also took the opportunity to take a four generation picture: Baga, Chris's dad Pat, Chris, and Carly.

It was a wonderful 10 days.

Shortly after our visit to Chicago, Carly enjoyed her first airplane ride as we headed out West to Idaho.

(To be continued . . . )