What we've been up to...

Since the last post we have had Halloween and Thanksgiving and we are now getting ready for Christmas.

We didn't do much for Halloween this year as we were out in the middle of no where visiting with family from out of state. Jarrod's great-uncle died and so the funeral was on the 31st in Cherokee. Carley was able to do some trick-or-treating at the daycare but that was about the extent of our October. We never even made it to her day care's pumpkin patch so I don't have those pictures to share.

November is the month of Thanksgiving, well, and the start of deer hunting. I think Jarrod ended up at the ranch for 3 out of the 4 weekends in November while Carley, Jersey, and I headed the opposite direction to go stay with my parents every weekend except for Thanksgiving. 4 hour trips are harder on me than on it is Carley with her sleep schedule. For Thanksgiving, we headed to the ranch for a visit with Jarrod's Mom's side and some family from Alabama. Some of Jarrod's family from south Texas were able to make it so Carley had fun with lots of girl cousins.

Also, during this month I took Carley in for a well visit and shots....yes, she got the regular flu shot and the swine flu shot. We are 1/2 way vaccinated as I have to go back this month (Dec 10th) to get round 2. Also found out that we don't have to have any more shots till she is 4!!! YEAH!!! She will still continue to have her annual visit but no more going back every 3 months! Large victory in our books as the visits take about 2 hours...that is a LONG time to keep a toddler entertained in a small room.

December is here and nearly almost 1/2 way gone. I have been mostly done with Christmas shopping for about a month or 2 now so I'm enjoying the holiday atmosphere again this year. It is so much more relaxing when the shopping is done and you can just enjoy the people (well, most of them). So far this month we have experienced snow, which I actually got to stay home for the whole day with Carley and 2 days later we now have wind blowing (last I heard) about 60 mph. That is a bit windy, but we are managing. I will try to get pictures uploaded soon as I'm trying to sort through some pictures to send out.

We are gearing up for another busy Christmas week as we will be traveling again this year as we have always done in the past. The only day of the year where we can end up at 3 towns for Christmas, to be able to visit with family, and actually enjoy the day. Don't get me wrong, we are worn out by the time we get to bed but we thoroughly enjoy getting to visit with so many families during the day.

Well, that is what we have been doing...staying busy and trying to take in every day. Hope everyone is well and enjoying life.

Love to you all!!! Hutchinson crew

Another New Classroom

I guess a sign of Carley getting bigger to me is that she continues to move up at daycare. She is now in her 4th classroom starting this morning. The daycare staff does a good job of letting the kids "visit" the next room before they actually get moved up. Ms. Dakota (the morning teacher) already knew Carley but Jarrod and I got to meet her this morning and I'm looking forward to meeting Ms. Brittany this afternoon. Some of the kids look familiar but there is one that is always right with Carley so she walked in and waved bye to us and off we went. All the teachers get a kick out of us because all the kids apparently cry in the mornings and Carley actually waves bye to us as though to say "I'm here with my friends, you may now leave". I just pray it continues to be this easy.

I will try to get random pictures posted sometime in the near future.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Don't forget...

I had planned to give Carley a bath Saturday night but after only getting a 30 minute nap throughout the day she ended up in bed sooner than normal. Sunday morning I went in to get her and she had poop in her diaper (which is typical), but there was some odd stuff on her leg. I kept looking (and still haven't figured it out) but ended up bathing her Sunday morning. I took off her dirty diaper, wiped her down, and cleaned her up, then decided to bath her first thing to get the stuff on her leg. Well, instead of putting a diaper on to turn around and take it off, I opted for waiting and just sending her straight to the bathtub, only....I didn't get her in there before she was standing in a puddle of pee all over the bathroom floor. In the future, know that hearing running water can make a young child feel the urge to pee as well.

Have a great week!

18 months today

Our sweet little Angel is 18 months old today! She seems to be growing very well and fast.

She is walking, running, and continues to get into everything that she possibly can. She

is so much fun to have around. Most have asked and yes, she is finally starting to talk more.

Some of her favorite words that we hear far more often are...

Mom

Dad

Jersey (usually yelling at her while she is barking outside followed by jibberish...

gee, I'm not sure where she might have heard that before?!?)

Mimi

Sarah

Some of the phrase that we are still working on but we have heard her say...

I love you

thank you

please

daycare

cookie

drink

and of course everyone wants her to say their name (harder task)

She has been such a blessing in our life!!! We do not go to the doctor this month but we do next month so I will send an update then. I can't remember if I already mentioned, but we now have a new pediatrician so let's all hope he doesn't move on us as well.

Hope everyone has a good week!!!

Last Couple of Weeks

Here is an update from the last couple of weeks...

The Tuesday before Labor Day weekend Carley comes home from daycare sick (again)!!! Jarrod ended up staying home with her on Wednesday as we thought she felt better only to realize we were wrong about the time we were going to walk out the door that morning. She wasn't getting any better so we figured we would take her to the doctor to see what is going on. She ended up with a 24 hour stomach bug but with her being so much younger the doctor told us that it would take up to a week.

Friday was Jarrod's birthday and the wonderful day that we were able to head to the ranch for an extended weekend. Some other family came in for the weekend so we had a good time. We had a rough weekend as Carley decided she didn't want to miss anything by sleeping so we struggled during nap times and going to bed each night but we ended up winning in the long run. She was able to go riding around with us while we were there, and throughout the weekend we were able to see cows, horses, and even some deer. Wonderful weekend!!!

This past weekend I was able to go on a retreat with my Mom. Thoroughly enjoyed that. I always enjoy being able to get out and go on long walks in the woods with new scenary. Jarrod stayed home and kept Carley and seemed to have fun besides the fact that he was sick Friday night and she was sick all day Saturday. They both had the same thing so I was just glad to see they were over it by the time I got home. Let's just pray she stays well this weekend.

Last night we decided that we all felt well enough to run over to the Permian Basin fair for a couple of hours last night. Lots of fun! We walked around and showed Carley the FFA critters, although she couldn't take her eyes off of a bungee slinger contraption, not sure I have a picture, but it looks like a sling shot and tosses you around like a I don't know what. Jarrod took her through the petting zoo and she seemed to enjoy that as well (yes, we washed her hands good afterwards).

I will try to post pictures as soon as I can that will go with all of these stories but I haven't had a chance to download anything yet.

Hope everyone has a good week and upcoming weekend!!!

Happy Birthday Dear!!!

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to Jarrod,

Happy birthday to you!!!

Happy birthday dear...I hope it is a good one. We love you big bunches! You are the best husband, and father, anyone (especially us) could ever hope and pray for!!!

With all our Love,

Me, Carley, and Jersey

Goes with last post

Apparently I deleted this picture when adding comments to the last post.