One of Caitlyn's new favorite things to do is to put on my clothes and shoes. Whenever I fold laundry, she finds my shirts and puts them on like dresses. She also really likes these pink striped slipper-socks (more like leg warmers on her).


She enjoys going through my closet and trying on my shoes.
Here's a short clip of her walking in a pair of heels:

Backwards, like Ella

Back in February, our friends Ben and Anna came to Huntsville for a visit. Ben was speaking at Southwood's High Life Winter Retreat, so we got to spend some time with Anna and Ella and Drew. Ella is about 7 months older than Caitlyn is, and when they play together I can already tell that Caitlyn "looks up to" Ella...if that's possible at this age.


At the time we were trying to teach Caitlyn how to go down the steps safely. She was great at crawling up, but made us extremely nervous when attempting to come down. Ella, of course, had mastered stair-climbing, and she was a great example for Caitlyn. We encouraged Caitlyn to go down the steps backwards, like Ella, on her hands and knees. We began using that phrase every time Caitlyn approached the steps, "Go down backwards, like Ella." After a few days, Caitlyn finally got it and is now able to go up and down the stairs without giving Will a heart attack each time. The funny thing now is that every time she comes to the top of any steps, she says, "Ella," and then turns around and climbs down.

So, Ella, we thank you for teaching Caitlyn such a valuable lesson. And now we think of you and your family every time we are near a staircase.

Little Valentine

I am admittedly not very good at celebrating special days. I am notorious for forgetting birthdates, and even when I remember, I usually fail to do anything more than say "happy birthday," or at best send a card.

Now that we have a child, I have a greater desire to make holidays and birthdays special for her, although I still don't do as well as I would like. So this year, sometime in January, I was at Publix and walked past the greeting card aisle which was putting off a rather pink glow. My first thought was, "Oh yeah, Valentine's Day is next month. I'll have to remember to get cards or something." As I kept walking, though, I realized that would never happen unless I stopped right then and there and bought cards. This, of course, was a big gamble with a toddler in the cart...I take a long time to pick out cards. Fortunately, Hallmark makes multi-packs of holiday cards, and this time that was good enough for me. Cards, check. Now on to the goldfish aisle.

Of course, we bought the cards and took them home, but it was still only halfway through January: too early to send them. I wrote a note on my calendar to send the cards a week before Valentines Day. Fast forward....

Two days before Valentine's Day, I realized the cards are still in the package buried in a stack of stuff on the kitchen counter. I wondered if it was too late to mail them. I hoped not, because then all of my good intentions would be down the drain. I also realized at that point that I had no crayons or markers for Caitlyn to "sign" the cards. I dug through the drawer in the kitchen and came up with a red Sharpie marker. It would have to do...yet another risky move with a toddler.

I stripped Caitlyn down to her diaper and put her in her high chair, thinking that was probably the best way to restrain her while she held a permanent marker. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, we had no crayons, so Caitlyn had never really drawn before. (This is probably sad to some of you...don't worry, we now own crayons and Caitlyn has colored on numerous things in our house.) I put the cards in front of her, and showed her how to use the marker. She didn't do a great job of staying on the paper, so I added plastic wrap to the high chair tray to keep it from becoming permanently streaked with red. She signed the cards, and we rushed off to the post office with high hopes. We were thrilled to hear from family members on Valentine's Day that they did actually receive special cards in the mail from Caitlyn. Success!

Look at how hard she was concentrating on scribbling her messages:

My sweet friends Missy and Anna gave Caitlyn this outfit when she was born. It was very appropriate for Valentine's Day, although maybe getting a little bit snug. Doesn't Caitlyn look thrilled to have her picture made?


The meltdown worsens. This picture is for those of you who think Caitlyn never throws fits.

Caitlyn also received lots of special cards and gifts for Valentine's Day. Thank you! She enjoyed playing with them and still keeps them all together in a little red bag. She loves to spread them out on the kitchen floor and point to the animals on the different cards.

And finally, she received a lollipop in one of her packages. We love to hear her say "lolly," and this was the first time she had ever tasted a lollipop. My camera battery died before we could get much video, but we were able to capture the moment.

A place for everything and everything in its place...

Caitlyn has a new fascination with cabinets, particularly with sitting in them. We have child safety latches on most of our cabinets, but she knows the ones that don't have them. This is "her cabinet" where she often sits while I cook dinner.


She sometimes gets frustrated that she can't get all the way in and close the door on her own.

Fortunately the bottom of the china cabinet is currently empty.

It's not quite big enough to seat Caitlyn comfortably.

Go Tigers!

Although it didn't help us win the bowl game, Caitlyn sure looked cute in her cheerleading outfit on New Year's Day. Maybe she'll have more to cheer about during March Madness.

Catching up: After Christmas with the Carrolls

What a treat for us that my parents and brother traveled to Huntsville to see us after Christmas. We had a blast with them, and Caitlyn received another dosage of spoiling!

Finally Uncle Ryan came to visit so he could read the German books that he sent for her birthday. Caitlyn was probably somewhat confused because Will and I "read" them to her in English, so she didn't know what to think when Ryan read them in German.

Caitlyn and Mimi had fun playing with the doll in the new stroller from Great-Grandmom and Great-Granddad. That doll was mine when I was a little girl.


Caitlyn taught Uncle Ryan about the animals on Farmer Tad's fridge farm.

Caitlyn is all dressed up for church and playing with the cradle that Mimi and Pops brought. That cradle was mine when I was little, too.


One of Caitlyn's new favorite toys is the set of Little People blocks that Marmee and Granddad gave her for Christmas.

Grandma and Pop-pop gave Caitlyn this really fun baby for Christmas. She moves and babbles and says "Mama," which Caitlyn mimics every time she plays with it. The baby also has a pacifier and bottle, both of which Caitlyn tries to use for herself, or as pictured here, to poke the baby in the eyes.


Here's Caitlyn riding the rocking horse from the Spinks. She sings "rock, rock, rock" as she rides and has so much fun.



Another favorite gift of the season is the princess tent. Here is the princess herself in her new pink palace. (I think Mimi is hiding in there, too.)


Caitlyn is looking out the window of the tent. What a fun gift! Thanks, Pops!

Catching up: Christmas with the Spinks

We got to spend a few quick but fun-filled days with the Spink family at Christmas this year. Will was able to help with the Christmas Eve service here at Southwood, and then we hit the road for Memphis. We were only able to stay a few days because Will needed to be back in Huntsville for Sunday morning worship. The Spinks came to Huntsville later in the week, though, so we got to spend some more time with them then. Below are a few pictures from Christmas morning in Memphis:

This is a Spink family tradition: sitting on the steps on Christmas morning, waiting to go into the living room to open presents. Caitlyn has no idea what everyone is so excited about...yet.

Caitlyn received a new car from GiGi and Great-Granddad!

"Rock, rock, rock," is what Caitlyn sings while she enjoys riding on the new rocking horse from Granddad and Marmee.

Great-Granddad gives the best stocking-stuffers.

Sharing toys with Aunt Mary Taylor was so much fun!

Marmee gave Caitlyn lots of special gifts this year. Some of Will's old toys were in this box.

Caitlyn loves to read, and Uncle Peter gave her some great new books for her growing library.


What a fun time we had during Christmas 2008. We are so thankful for our families and the time we were able to spend with them again this year. We are very blessed indeed!

I'm just not good at this blogging thing.

I don't know how people do it all. I just can't find enough time in the day to sit down at my computer and upload pictures and think of cute captions. I thought the problem was lack of consistent internet access, but we now have internet service, and I still don't keep up with my blog. And my other problem is that I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. So, when I get this far behind, it really bothers me. I am not able to start over and just leave several months un-documented. I feel the need to go back and cover everything, so I get overwhelmed and procrastinate even more. Aaaagh!

I'm going to try to do better...thanks for continuing to check in and please don't give up on me!

In the meantime here are some of the shots from our attempts at a Christmas card picture:

Things didn't start off so well...this was one Sunday morning before church, I think. Will had already gone to church early, so I was here by myself trying to capture the perfect picture. Obviously, someone wasn't cooperating.

We tried again a couple nights later when Caitlyn was in a better mood and Daddy was around to help entertain. Much better.

This was just about the time she started walking, so we were thrilled to capture a wobbly step in front of the Christmas tree.


Look at those sweet curls. I hope she doesn't lose them!
And finally the winner...we just thought it was a great smile. Merry Christmas...in February.