a columbus thanksgiving...

Hey everybody! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I just got home from a trip to Columbus, Ohio, where all of our family met up & I got to meet my Great Grandpa Hogue for the first time!


Mommy & Daddy didn't know how I'd do for 7 straight hours in the car, but sometimes I just like to amaze them... between napping & reading & listening to music together & any other fun distractions Mommy could throw my way, I did great!


My FAVORITE part of the trip was being able to play with all of my cousins! Trevor & Tyson were next door to me in the hotel, and as soon as I woke up each morning, they were the first people I kept itching to see! They were SO sweet to me & we really had a blast together.


I also loved seeing my baby cousin Erik, who is now 6 months old! Isn't he a cutie?


Need I say more?

hotel fun...

Filling up the ice bucket!


Swimming at the pool!


Eating a snack with Pop by the pool.


Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, too!

updates...

Before:

Our original entryway/foyer light fixture.

After:

Ooh la la... :)

Other updates:


I'm still balding & looking more and more like middle-aged men I see. :) The doctor said it could take another week before the medicine levels start to "kick in." It's gonna be a long 8 weeks of treatment but I guess we'll get through it, right? (maybe I'll have some hair back by Christmas?!?) Mommy & Daddy have a hard time seeing me go through this...


but as you can see, I could care LESS!

ring ring...

Hello? Yes, this is she.


Mmm hmmm.


Okay, I'll be there as quickly as I can.

hair loss...

In yesterday's post, I (Amy) mentioned that in the past couple of days, we've noticed patches of Caroline's hair falling out. And while it's normal for that to happen to itty bitty babies, it's apparently not normal for toddlers her age.

So after a trip to the doctor this morning, it turns out she's got a kind of fungal infection of the scalp that's making her hair fall out. Poor thing- right now it's probably not super-noticeable to the average person, but it's definitely becoming more noticeable. You can see several "clearings" starting to show on her head. (it obviously isn't bothering her a bit!-- we're just hoping to get this situation turned around as quickly as possible so she doesn't keep losing hair!)

The doc couldn't tell it was a fungal infection from looking at it, but under the microscope, the cells from the scalp were showing that it was fungal. So, after some more scraping of the scalp & some bloodwork (oh, can I just say how utterly TERRIBLE it is to hold a crying toddler in your arms while they fill a VIAL of blood from their finger!), she'll have to take some anti-fungal oral medications twice a day for 8 WEEKS! (good grief!)

Just wanted you all to know so you can pray for us as we start this medicine asap. Pray for no side effects, for the hair loss to stop, that this infection would leave quickly, & for Mommy & Daddy to stop being anxious & rest in God's sovereignty. Thanks, dear friends.

at 21 months...

I turned 21 months today! At 21 months...

-I am a chatterbox! My vocabulary is growing by the minute! I'm talking in 2-4 word sentences & I can tell you what I want. (ex. "Daddy go work." "Go see Mommy." "More cereal." "Fire going." "No kick chair.")


-I LOVE going to church now! (finally- no crying going to the nursery! hooray!) After church, all the bigger kids like to follow me as I run around and there's no doubt I LOVE the attention.
-When I'm riding in the car, I'm pretty obsessed with looking for planes (you wouldn't believe how I can spot a "pwane!" sometimes), stars ("dars"), and deer.


-I am a sponge for learning. Anything you throw at me I'll learn. Mommy & Daddy like singing lots of hymns to me & my favorite one right now is "Holy Holy Holy." I can sing most of the "ABC's" too.
-My hair just started falling out!? (anyone know what that's about?)


-My little sense of humor is starting to kick in. Mommy & I can look at each other and crack up making faces at each other.
-I'm a happy gal who is sooooooo loved.

separatist...

Toddler Tip #38:

The other day Mommy made an easy southwestern dish in the crockpot of chicken mixed up with black beans, tomatoes, & corn with fresh cilantro on top.

A certain "someone" suddenly refused to eat.

Until Mommy & Daddy had the brilliant idea to pick out the food & separate it for me on my plate.

And then...

They couldn't keep it coming fast enough.


Yummm...

dc...

Hey guys! We're back from a quick overnight getaway to our nation's capital. Sounds like a fun idea, right? Well, in a way it WAS, but let's just say that Mommy & Daddy would love to go again, but next time without a toddler. :) Yeah, it was a rough night trying to get me to sleep (& STAY asleep) in a different place, and then missing all that sleep didn't make me the happiest camper the next day.


But either way, it was my first time to Washington DC! (that's pretty cool, huh?)


I was pretty fascinated riding the Metro train into DC.


(Aunt Cheryl, we thought of you when we saw the huge EPA building!)

And since the weather outside was pretty icky & we were VERY limited on time, we headed indoors...

to the National Aquarium, which is the nation's oldest aquarium. (it's actually in the basement of the Commerce building)


The aquarium itself isn't anything to write home about (definitely go to Baltimore for the BEST!) but hey...


...that didn't stop me from loving it.

ruf according to me...

It's Thursday, so that means it's RUF night at our house! I LOVE it when the students come over-- they're my FAVORITE people ever, and I start saying "cookie" when they come in the door. (because we usually have cookies for everybody to eat, which means I get one, too!)

Anyways, here's how it works: I'm around for the announcements & the singing/worship, and then I usually tell everyone "night night" (sometimes on my own initiative!) & wave goodbye. Mommy takes me upstairs, puts me to bed, & I sleep peacefully while Daddy speaks & everyone hangs out afterwards. (by the way, it's AMAZING how many hymns I'm learning just from being at RUF during the singing! wow!)

What else is amazing is how much I pick up & remember. Yesterday at lunch with Mommy, I started talking about RUF (totally out of the blue) in full sentences! Wanna know how I see RUF?


"Ryan play guitar."
"Indzy (Lindsay) play piano."
"Mommy play violin."
"Mary sing songs."
"Rachel sing."

"Daddy pray."

So sweet!

freebie...

We all love a good freebie, right? Well, here's one for ya! (and there's no catch.)

50 free photo cards that you design (for Christmas cards ror otherwise) with free envelopes WITH FREE SHIPPING. Free. No purchase necessary. No strings attached. (thanks to my old friend, Amy, for putting up a link to this!) I will warn you, though- there's been alot of traffic on the website, so be sure to keep saving your work just in case you need to come back to it at a later time when there aren't quite so many people on their site.

Had to tell everybody-- this offer is good through 11/30. I ordered mine this afternoon, put 50 in my cart, entered the promo code at checkout, and watched my total go from $39.50 to $0.00!! It was so thrilling!

Click here & enjoy! (Merry Christmas!)

making papa & nanny proud...

Papa, you'll be proud of me...

I love cheeseburgers! (this was my first time I bit into a whole one! "Yummy!")

Nanny, you'll be proud of me...

I love to help Mommy clean.

New words/phrases:
-"How 'bout..." (as I pick out a book)
-"won't you sing with me" (the end of A,B,C's- 5 words in a row!)
-"crocodile" & "panda," "myk-rave" (microwave), "quiet"
-"Mommy play violin"
-counting quickly to 14!

Funny fact: This morning in the nursery, I kept calling one of the little boys "crazy"!! (ha!!)

leaving in the fall...

We're all feeling much better! And we were waaayyyyy behind on getting up our leaves...

so I got the best seat in the house while Daddy used the "bow-uh" to blow the leaves into big piles!


Leaf fight!



Here's my FAVORITE part of getting up the piles of leaves...

taking a ride on the big tarp!

Wheeeee!