Halfy Birthday Carly!

Carly celebrated her Half Birthday on September 13. She is 2 1/2! Can I just say...Holy. Cow. Time. Flies.

This is the only face I seem to get these days when I ask her to smile for the camera.



Daddy helping her make a Mickey Mouse cookie.




Mommy helping her add some sprinkles (that Carly Dilyn picked out)





The Halfy Birthday plate's first half birthday.



See that bite she is taking? That's pretty much the only one she had. She isn't a big sweet-eater. Must take after her dad.



I can not tell you how hard I tried to make Mickey Mouse shaped cookies. I failed miserably. Note to self for next Mickey Mouse cookie-making-attempt: Bake cookies THEN cut out Mickey. It may waste cookie, but at least the cookie won't look like a big blob.

Blue Dress Babies

Do you remember favorite clothes from your childhood? I do.

And one of the pieces that I remember is a blue dress I had with jingle bells sewn in to the underneath of the skirt. I remember twirling in the spare bedroom of my grandparents house, listening to it jingle. I adored that dress and I couldn't have been much older than 2 years old because the dress is a 2T.

I found that dress when I was looking through a chest at my parents house. I thought it would be cute to take pictures of Carly in that dress to share with my mom and my grandma.

Here is a picture of me in the dress (making a HORRIBLE face) - circa 1982.

And here is Carly in that same dress. I loved seeing her play in it; swinging the skirt to make it jingle. I may just have to sew some jingle bells in to another dress for her.

Why is our dry cleaning bill so high?

Because Carly is going through a phase where licking mommy is HILARIOUS!

No one else. Just mommy.

First Day of School

Carly started her first day of her second year of preschool on August 22nd.

Last year she was 18 months old and she was in the "nursery". This year she is in the "Two Room".

Last year she cried for an hour and half after I dropped her off. This year she simply hugged and kissed me and told me bye-bye.

Last year she went twice a week. This year she goes three times a week.

Last year I was nervous that I was doing the right thing by taking her to "school" instead of leaving her with my mom. This year I am glad to give my parents some more free time and am excited about all stuff she is learning.

Perhaps this is preparing me for her first day of Kindergarten. Perhaps I won't cry on her first day of Kindergarten. But I doubt it.

September To-Do's

 My August To-Do's are To-Done.

We took Carly to get her first snow cone. The snow cone stand didn't have umbrellas over their tables and it was over 100 degrees outside, so opened the back hatch to my car and sat in the back.

Carly took a few bites of our snow cones, but quickly moved on to the movie that was still playing on the dvd player in the back seat. Good thing we didn't buy Carly her own snow cone.



I also FINALLY ordered a blog book of the first year I blogged - 2008. I used http://www.blog2print.com/ and it couldn't have been easier! I just wish I had found a valid coupon code. I plan to do the same for 2009 and 2010 soon as well. I love that I will always have these books to look back on. I love me some pictures, but having my thoughts and commentary to go with them is just icing on the cake!

Now on to my September To-Do's.

The last skirt that I bought was right after I had Carly - over two years ago. The last skirt that I bought before that was probably in 07. Needless to say, I dont' have many skirts in my closet that fit my mommy body. It's time for a new skirt. But not just a skirt - an entire skirt outfit because that last thing I want is for the skirt to just sit in my closet because I don't have a top to go with it.

1. Buy a skirt outfit

2. Do something new and fun with Carly

3. Complete a craft project (I am now accepting ideas. Until I find a good one, you can find me on Pinterest.)

What is everyone else doing this month?

Dear Bahamas, I miss you

Three months after the fact, I would like to tell you about our trip to the Bahamas. That's right. It's September now and we took the trip back in JUNE!

We went with our friends Andrew and Kacie who are quickly turning in to our traveling buddies. We've been to Mexico, Las Vegas, San Antonio and now the Bahamas with them. Not to mention several out-of-town weddings. We also have another Las Vegas trip booked for January, but more about that in January.

We stayed at a Sandals resort and LOVED it. This is the first time we have gone adults-only and it was a very good decision. Had I seen cute toddlers toddling around the resort with their parents I would have had some serious mommy guilt that likely would have ruined the trip.

This cat found Kacie and wouldn't leave her - or her flip-flop - alone. I advised Kacie to either sanitize or destroy that sandal. Stray, foreign cats surely can't be vaccinated.

This was me pretty much the entire trip - laying on a lounge, reading the Kindle. Sure, I could have done this at the Holiday Inn down the street, but it was so much nicer in the Bahamas. And hey - this was my vacation and I wanted to spend it reading, so I did.

Thank goodness Andrew and Kacie were there to keep Freddy occupied. Thanks, guys!

Maybe you can spot the restroom sign in this picture, but I couldn't. I wandered down the stairs (per the directions of the bartender) thinking that once down there I would be able to pick between the men's or women's restroom. Wrong. This staircase led ONLY to the men's restroom, as noted on the poorly placed sign. Lucky for me I quickly noticed my mistake and was able to make my way back up the stairs without being spotted.

The piano bar was TONS OF FUN, but the man in charge wouldn't let anyone sit and watch. Everyone had to sing with him - even me, one of the worst singers in the world.

A little piece of advice for anyone wanting to try piano bar singing - Kokomo is NOT a piano-bar-friendly song.

The resort served only Bahamian beers, which Freddy and Andrew were able to doctor with a little lime. But when the Mavs beat the Heat while we were there, they guys won a bet with the bartenders and were able to score a few bottles of their favs - Miller Lite and Coors Lite.

Dirty Bananas - Yum-Me!

The only downside to this gorgeous resort was the birds, for me anyway. I HATE birds. I think that they are gross, they carry diseases, they invade your personal space for the chance to scoop up even the tiniest of crumbs with their nasty, pecky, pointy little beaks. And don't get me started on their talons and beady eyes. Yuck!

Regardless of my feelings for birds, even I had to admit that this white peacock was pretty cool.

Fancy-Shmancy, no? This, blogger buddies, is the seating area in the before-mentioned downstairs bathroom. I thought it was fun.

The food at this resort was very good. In this particular picture, Freddy is being tossed a piece of fried egg - and he caught it in his mouth - unlike the 3 newlywed husbands!

Freddy and I ventured out one morning to the straw market. It gave as an opportunity to experience local public transportation, which was interesting.

This picture does not do it justice. It was isles and isles of straw products and knock-off bags. I learned quickly that you can negotiate the price of the bags, but not of cute straw hats.

This was the cute straw hat I bought for $25. It saved me! However, it is only for laying out. If you wear it while walking to the brick-oven pizza stand (which we ordered from every afternoon while we were there), it flops in your face and you can only see about two feet in front of you. I heart that hat. Fingers crossed that it will reshape after being stuffed in my bag for the trip home.

See that guy catching the football? That's my husband. Sorry, ladies - he's taken.

It was a wonderful trip with wonderful friends. It was nice to get away, but I sure did miss my baby and my puppy. We will definitely be trying more Sandals resorts in the future.