Farewell to summer

When Carolyn and I stepped outside this morning it became clear that summer is gone. There was a layer of snow on the deck just perfect for making footprints and all of our plants were brown and shriveled. Some people are pretty sad around town, but we are excited! Besides the challenge of finding a Halloween costume that sufficiently insulates a toddler, I like this weather. I can't wait to go home and rake our leaves into a big pile and play with my daughter.
As a tribute to this past summer, I wanted to share my favorite picture of the season. This is from camping at Turtle River State Park with Grammy and Grandad.



My sister's wedding is coming up soon, so Carolyn has a beautiful new "wedding dress", aka: flower girl dress, and you wouldn't believe how excited she is to wear it. We get it out of the closet daily. I am not as excited to wear mine. It fits perfectly except in one area (if you know me, you understand) and I'm feeling a little self-conscious. But I AM VERY EXCITED to wear the jewelry. My mother and I got to go design some custom jewelry at a local business and we had a blast. It is all going to turn out absolutely, fabulously cool.

We are still working on the bathroom and Bryan is gone for a week to do some pheasant hunting, so you can imagine how frustrated I'm getting. At least Carolyn loves taking baths at her grandparents' houses.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

For those of you who haven't given up checking this blog, yes, we are still alive. We are in the middle of our first major home improvement project. Apparently Bryan doesn't want to take showers in the middle of our unfinished basement anymore... something about being too cold in the winter. But that also means that we no longer have a bathtub for Carolyn and I, either. Naturally it is taking a long time and going over budget; but for our first project, it is going fairly well.
We went on a boundary waters canoe trip with Bryan's sister and brother-in-law last weekend. I needed it. Even though it was hard work and I got pretty scratched up falling off some slippery rocks, I loved it. We were canoeing against the wind in some pretty rough waves on this big lake and I couldn't stop laughing - it was pure happiness for the first time in a long time. I'm a weirdo for finding the fun in that kind of stuff, I guess, but like I said, I needed it.
Carolyn stayed with Gramma-Lissa and Grandpa Roger for the weekend. The first day we were gone we acted normally, the second day we started talking about her all the time. We must have been missing her! When I picked her up on Monday morning, she was going double speed! Her talking and movement, etc. were so much faster than they were on Friday. She must have had a good time because she hasn't stopped talking, yet.
Well, I hope the pictures we took last weekend turn out so we can share some of the stuff we saw.

House update

I mentioned that we made an offer on a house... well, now its going to be OUR HOUSE! We aren't closing for a couple months, but so far everything is going surprisingly well. To tell the truth its quite frightening buying our first house. Its kinda a big deal. It is a 3 bedroom 1 bath; okay, 1.25 bath because there is a free-standing shower stall in the middle of the unfinished basement. Its hilarious, really. It has a big apple tree in the yard, a garden and a big 2-stall garage. We are going to get some pictures to post this weekend, so STAY TUNED!

A Home?

Well, just a quick update on what's going on with us...
We have been casually looking at houses for about 6 months, now, but last sunday we went to an open house out of curiousity - now 4 days later we are doing the whole bargaining song and dance to buy it (potentially). People keep asking me if I'm excited. No. I don't have time to be excited. Mostly I'm just scared to death because I'm a very cautious person - I overthink everything. If we buy a house we're stuck with it and the mortgage!

This is only adding to the stress of school. I have been overloaded with work because the semester has had to be condensed due to the month off during the flood. I have a huge list of things to do and I just keep working at crossing them off, day by day. I had to go to the doctor for help with a severe stress-induced tension headache that lasted 17 days and was only getting worse. The great thing is that the medicine also stopped the eye twitch that I'd developed!

Carolyn got to come with me to see the doctor, and she is a big fan of doctors ever since she had a dislocation in her elbow and the doctor fixed it right up, so she was excited. She had a blast! I feel bad that the next time we go to the doctor she'll be getting a shot; it will probably traumatize her. She especially liked putting on the rubber gloves and running around to give all the nurses high-fives. She had a minor tantrum before we left because I wouldn't change her diaper on the examination table. They are pretty much the same as a changing table, and she is almost two years old.

Almost two years old! And you can tell. She says "do it by myself" and "mine" alot. She also has figured out that she doesn't always want to do what you do anymore, except when it comes to putting on makeup. She loves to put on makeup, and she'll do your makeup if you let her. The other day I let her put bright pink blush on one of my cheeks and partly down my neck. Unfortunately this was right before going to class and running errands - yup, I forgot about it. It was sparkly and everything!

Well, I'll be back soon with an update and some pictures. Its been a LONG time since I've adequately shared little C's adorableness!

Penguin Week

Last week was penguin week at Carolyn's daycare. It was awesome! Just check out some of her penguin-inspired works of art:

Hey,
This is Stephanie's blog.
I'm not available right now,
But as soon as I can sit down at a computer that works, with pictures available,
I'll get back to you with some entertaining updates.
Until then,
An apology will just have to do...
Sorry!

He went BOOM! (arms in the air)

Let's just say Carolyn had a great Christmas; all 5 of them.
My parents had an early Christmas, Bryan's Grandparents had Christmas Eve, the in-laws had Christmas day, we opened presents at our house, and then my parents had a second Christmas. I told Carolyn the other day that we were going to go visit Grandma and she looked at me with a serious expression and nodded her head convincingly while saying "Open presents, again."

And on a serious note (to a certain 19-month-old):
Santa broken

We recieved an inflatable Santa from a friend of our family a couple years ago and BOY was it a DOOZY! It was the best (by that I mean most ugly) decoration EVER!!! It looked like Obi Wan Kenobi glowing red with an inflatable round mustache that was completely separate from the rest of its face. Then it had a gigantic white ball on top of its head that failed at all to resemble the puff on Santa's hat. It was roughly shaped like one of those punching bag clowns that always pop back upright and it was constructed out of the same vinyl stuff that they make water flotation devices out of (to its eventual demise). I was pregnant when we first inflated it, and lets just say I rolled around on the ground for a good hour laughing so hard I almost peed myself!
We took this Santa and put it in front of our friends' house, randomly, and it was hilarious. Well, when they moved we stole it back and were going to vandalize someone else's home this year. We went to go inflate it with the air compressor, and while Dad worked on it, Carolyn and I hung out in the house. We were sitting there eating a cookie when we heard a loud BOOM that sounded like a bomb going off. Carolyn was scared so we went to check on Dad to make sure everything was alright. We peeked out the door and asked what happened; Dad said, "huh?"
While Santa's boots were inflating, the brittle frozen plastic shattered and exploded.
Well, this whole event was very notable to Carolyn who had no idea that there was a difference between the Santa we had been talking about bringing presents and the Santa that just gave daddy a percussion headache and temporary deafness.
To add to the confusion, daddy decided to put him in the dumpster with his head peeking out like he had succumbed to the poor economy and was in a last-ditch effort to fill his gift quota.

If you call the Hall home now, or walk in the door you will hear of this story, still. You see it lives on in the mind of Carolyn. She is obsessed with the memory of the Santa that 'sploded, just like a balloon. We can't walk outside without hearing that he peeked out of the dumpsters. Quite frankly its getting to be a little old.

Won't someone start a Valentine on fire or something?

"Holy Empty Shelves, Batman!"

I finally did it... no, not updating the blog, although that is also pretty crazy!
I went Christmas shopping.
No smiley face, no exclamation point; it was completely a failure. I needed to get: socks (forgot), a sled (the aisle was completely devoid of merchandise), a certain gift for Bryan (wrong size), and some other gift for Carolyn (she was with me, does it even count then?).
Oh, have I made this Christmas un-fun or what? Mostly I'm worried about money, so I've largely limited our potential merriment. It's even been too cold to go outside, so we can't even enjoy all of this snow while we try to be un-materialistic. Our dryer broke, our heat keeps going out, and Bryan can't even go fishing with his Dad!
What is going on this year?
I guess the only enlightenment I'm getting is that we are still pretty lucky even though I'm acting like Scrooge. I can't help but think that it would be pretty selfish of me to take a picture perfect Christmas, with a tree surfing on top of awesome gifts, for granted. There are so many people without Mommies and Daddies or any gifts at all, no heat, no cars, no nice comfy apartments, and the list goes on.
Kind of makes me think back to what the Christmas story was all about, and that's the important thing, right?
I just want to say that I love you all (yes, you), and I am so lucky to be spending Christmas with my wonderful family in this amazing place I call home!
Merry Christmas!

Two more to go!

I'm down to two semesters of school and two weeks left in this semester. I'm kind of excited to be at the point where I'm finally registered for some of the last classes I will ever take! It's gonna be a tough spring, but I am excited; is that weird?

Thanksgiving was BRUTAL this year, we ate enormous meals for 5 days straight. My stomach hasn't stopped hurting for a week. This is not a good thing actually, because my doctor wants me to take some more tests to figure out what's going on with my body, lately. I've gained more than 20 pounds in the last month and apparently that is not normal. That coupled with extreme fatigue, unbelievable pain, and some other strange things makes me worry. But, as usual, I'm sure its nothing but stress, so it's not worth the trouble.

Oh, we got approved for a home loan, so we might start looking at houses (maybe, if it doesn't cause me to gain another 20 pounds!). Carolyn tells us, "Carolyn home" when we talk about it, so maybe she's trying to convince us to get her a place with a yard and the potential for a puppy...

Well, that's what's on my mind right now. Perhaps someday I'll have the ability to post pictures again!

CANDY!!!

So, in case you didn't hear, yesterday was Halloween...

I was so excited all day, because Carolyn actually kinda knew what was going on this year. She went trick-or-treating with her daycare and learned all about how to get candy. So when we went to go show the family her awesome cow costume, she already knew to grab as much candy as she could fit into her pumpkin. What can I say, she's a genius! I feel bad, however, because by the time we made it to Grammy and Grandad Hall's, she was too tired to moo anymore; she just fell asleep. I sent a disposable camera with the daycare, so maybe I'll get some cute pictures; but until then here is our little Halloween moo cow.

Bryan taught Carolyn how to eat MaltO'Meal like he does this morning. My thought was, didn't she have enough sugar last night?

I've been thinking...

Not that it is that unusual for me to think; as a matter of fact OVER-thinking is probably my normal state, but I have been in a particularly reflective, inflective, and critical mental state for the last couple of weeks. However, instead of bringing all potential readers of this narrative into my level of psychological torment, I think I will list some interesting things that I have thought about, recently.

My daughter is a genius when it comes to words. I realized this yesterday when we were driving; she pointed and said "Schood bus" when a big yellow bus drove past.

Bryan is perhaps the most patient man in the world, except when his shoes are stuck on his feet, then he completely goes berserk.

We have exactly 3/8 of a dining room table.

When I was a sophomore in college I told someone that my favorite quote was from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol (think Alice in Wonderland). I think that it still is.

The time has come, the walrus said,

To speak of many things;

Of shoes and ships and sealing wax;

Of cabbages and kings;

And why the sea is boiling hot,

And whether pigs have wings.

In a way, I guess it reminds me of what I think congress must be talking about... sorry, sometimes I think I'm funny. But really! why does it seem like our government is so busy worrying about things that don't make any sense to me (Baseball steroid use, horse welfare, cruise security, etc.) I'm worried about real issues that will affect my family and my children's future. What if I am upset that neither presidential candidate appeals to me in any way? that I don't find anyone up for election worthy of representing me, even at the most local level? I am almost at the point of not caring anymore! But that would be unpatriotic, and so would moving to the Northwest Territories, so I guess I'll just keep worrying about it.

I will also have to beg for mercy for my lack of pictures. I don't have time to go online, regularly, at home this semester, and I don't have pictures at school, so you're just gonna have to live with it.

Update

It was just an ear infection, and luckily it rained that night and the sound soothed her to sleep. However, every night since she has been begging for "rai'nn" (I'm trying to show how she says it, it's cute) whenever she gets tired. Oh! And she actually really likes her medicine THANK GOD!

Morning Sickness

NO NOT THE KIND YOU ARE THINKING!


Carolyn woke up this morning at 5 and was in pain of some sort : (


I am kind of scared because I don't know what's wrong and she is obviously not doing very well; but I am letting her sleep for a while before I bring her in to the doctor. It occurs to me that this may just cause her not to nap as easily later today when I really am fed up with coddling an irrationally unhappy child. I'm just all around worried about my little monkey-bean... I'm probably more of a wreck than she is. I can't help it though, her little cries of "Dadda 'a Momma" break my heart when I don't know what's wrong. She thinks I can make it better.


Okay, enough divulging of my insecurities as a mother; here are some really cute things that will make me feel better as I'm posting them:

Carolyn wants YOU to provide her with candy!

When asked "How did you get up there," Carolyn replied " a'know?" (I don't know)

Blog-o-naut, or is it Blog-not?

Well, we have been busy, but not really with anything too spectacular. I am back to school and Carolyn is too. The signs are all there... the messy house, no food in the fridge, and we are all sick with something that came home from daycare. Ahh, the communal germ and virus pool that children swim in every day. At least I have some interesting classes this semester.

Well, I guess I better get everyone caught up on the cuteness that is our daughter.

Is it a tweet-tweet (bird), is it a blfffff (airplane)? No, its redneck baby! (Please do not be offended by this image)

Here I am getting my hair done by my little beautician:

A new favorite food:

Home At Last

Well, we survived our first major "family" vacation. I say "family" because Carolyn probably won't remember any of it... so its really just for us parents, I suppose.

First we went to Turtle River State Park just outside of Grand Forks. I had seen the sign, driving past, my whole life and never really thought twice about it. The park was FABULOUS! One of the nicest places to camp I've ever been to. Some of our family came with (Mike, Sara, Emily and Jake). There were supposed to be some more of us, but great grandpa Hall was busy recovering from back surgery in Fargo, so Al and Naomi didn't make it.

Here are Emily and Jake making some signs with charcoal and our firewood (Please disregard the "leaves of three" inches behind Emily):

Next we went to Powers Lake; it is my "hometown" or at least the place where my father's family is from and I was born. My aunt Cindy was in town, and my brother, sister and her boyfriend Ryan were visiting, as well. We rode horse, "Boomed" some rocks in the lake and ate until we burst at the seams. It was a lot of fun! I will probably have to go back to the store and have a CD made of those pictures, because apparently I forgot to tell Bryan that we needed one. Oh well, you'll just have to imagine.

Next, we went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We stayed at the North unit the first night and it was pretty neat. We saw a beaver, an enormous mule deer buck, some buffalo, and a LOT of turkeys. Here is Carolyn with her turkey feather that is as big as she is:

The next day we went down to the south unit and explored the trails for a couple of days. There was a huge snake that lived in our campsite that was really neat (I don't think he was poisonous, anyhow). We saw a very large herd of pronghorn and an even bigger herd of Buffalo. There were several bands of wild horses and we heard a bunch of elk cows calling in a valley we hiked through. We also explored Medora and did some "tourist-y" things, but the most fun is always getting out and hiking. Carolyn kept going to the car door and trying to get in while yelling "bye" at us whenever we were just sitting around. Apparently she likes going on hikes and playing at new parks. Here she is exploring a baby-sized cave:

Well now we're home and its time to think about doing all those things we've put off all summer. This week I hope I get our dining room table refinished and Bryan is going to shampoo our carpets. The very best thing, however, is that my mother gets back from Kenya tomorrow; I am so EXCITED to have her back and hear her stories!

Babble Baby

Carolyn is starting to do some fake-talk sounds, and what she wants most is to talk on the phone. Here she is trying to call Gramma:

On a more serious note, last night we were awakened shortly after 1 am to the sound of multiple sirens rushing by. I didn't think it was anything until they kept coming for another 20 minutes. When I looked out our window, there were flames shooting over a hundred feet in the air and totally engulfing the apartment across the road from us. Within an hour, two very large apartment buildings and their surroundings had entirely burned to the ground. It took all of the resources of Fargo, West Fargo and Horace just to keep the burn under control. They had to evacuate hundreds of apartments from the surrounding buildings. Some of you might know that we have a problem with our neighbors starting fires in our building (accidentally, but still!) and I don't really think anyone takes it seriously. I hope that next time they actually realize the damage they could have caused.

Don't play with matches, don't smoke in bed, don't overload your outlets, etc.; but most of all, be safe!

Just plain tired : P

This has been my worst month blogging, yet! I apologize for the delay in the video that I promised a few people... I do have several good excuses involving my husband, stress, school, illness, solar flares, etc. Hopefully VERY soon I won't have so many things to do; school is done in 2 more days!
I could really use a nap.

More summer pictures

Naomi sent these to me today, and I have to share them with everyone!



Oh, she is so cute; I just can't handle it sometimes!

Hurray for Summer

Here is a picture of Carolyn cheering for her daddy at his Monday softball game... and then a picture of her daddy.

All credits go to Sara for the photography. Thanks!

Ahh, the lazy days of summer

We have NOT been doing very well this week. Every day we've been late to daycare/school because of crazy reasons. On tuesday we didn't even make it at all. Today Carolyn doesn't feel good and somehow we should to make it by noon. I don't know if I should just take her to the doctor and count the losses for another day. We'll see how it goes.

The other day I went to get some stuff from another room, and returned only to wonder where Carolyn had disappeared to. I looked all over the apartment and eventually heard baby singing coming from a corner. Lo and behold there she was, hiding.