The Karth Family.Com

I get a lot of random thoughts that float through my head. I realize that many of these things are the things people put on their Twitter accounts. However, to this day Twitter annoys me. I have a hard time wanting to get on. I don’t know why everyone would want to read little snippets of thousands of other peoples thoughts. I was told it was an excellent way to advertise myself as a writer and to get more traffic to my articles and blogs. I still can’t do it.

Anyway. Here are a few random thoughts for this morning:

1. My little boy is growing up. I know that I don’t have to really feel this for quite some time. He is now three and a half and while he has gotten bigger and learned so much, the realization that he is growing up actually hit me for a completely different reason. He has two blankets, a puppy, and a dragon that he sleeps with each night. For the longest time everything had to get out of bed with him in the morning. For the past two weeks it doesn’t. If he gets cold he will go get a blanket and every now and again he will grab either puppy or dragon (neither one has a real name) to play with. But for the most part, they stay in his bed until he needs them.

2. Today I would like a cup of hot chocolate. I haven’t bought hot chocolate for the house since moving down to Texas. The need for something hot to drink just isn’t there like it was when we lived in Michigan and Wisconsin. After all, coming in from a thirty degree day is a lot easier than the cold that happens up there. So, we have cocoa and I could make myself some hot chocolate and it would be good, it just sounds like too much work. I know, I know, I shouldn’t be that lazy, but right now putting a coffee mug in the microwave and stirring in a pre mixed and pre measured amount of powder sounds loads easier.

3. It takes us a number of years to master the concept of sharing. Marcus is a fantastic big brother. He helps me, he checks on his sister, he worries about her falling off the couch (he will put his hand up and let her know she is getting to the edge even though both Mommy and Daddy are sitting there), and so on. However, she has entered the stage where she likes playing with toys (a lot) and she is moving around (a lot). For the life of him he doesn’t want to let her play with anything! Her toys are very interesting. All the toys are his. The baby toys are amazingly interesting. Then if it isn’t a toy he is worried it will hurt her. So, pretty much he takes anything that she wants away from her.

Well…that’s it for my random thoughts. Parenthood clouds the thoughts as you can see. I am excited and pleased to watch them grow. It also thrills me that they are learning so much. Anyway…it’s time to feed Vanessa breakfast. Till next time!

~ Danelle

While some members of the family have been anxiously awaiting Vanessa learning to crawl, her mom wasn’t too excited. I just wasn’t quite ready for all the problems that happens with a newly mobile child. Well, Vanessa has been doing better and better scootching around the room. This has made it so that we have to make sure that all of Marcus’ little toys are picked up from under the couch. Vanessa is able to find things that are way under there (I didn’t even realize her arms were that long!). Well, today I will say that it is official. While she doesn’t stay up on her knees long, she is getting both of them under her and moving forward a bit before going back to her belly. This of course will lead to her moving much faster and it probably won’t be long before the living room won’t contain her!

Marcus learned to crawl in some weird ways. He actually didn’t crawl at eight months. Instead he learned the under the wire crawl you see in movies and boot camp ideals. He knees would be on either side of him like a little lizard and he would get to moving at scary fast speeds. He tried crawling a few times and decided his way was faster. He was ten or eleven months old before he crawled in a normal manner!

Well, I certainly knew this day was coming and at eight months she is on target rather than early…

But time does fly so fast and with it comes so many changes…

It is apparent that Marcus thinks he looks like Caleb. This morning he was going through the family newsletter naming the people iin the pictures. I admit that this isn’t an easy task because they are small, black and white, and aren’t the clearest of pictures. He came to a picture of Vanessa and proudly said, “That’s Nessa!”. Then when I pointed at the picture of him near by he said, “Caleb”. I corrected him and moved on to the next page. There was a picture of him holding Vanessa. When asked who they were he pointed at the baby and once again announced that it was Nessa. Next he pointed at himself and quickly announced that it was Caleb.

So, while this issue isn’t one that happens often, it is clear that there is a strong family resemblence. No doubt about it that Marcus looks like a Karth!

The other bit of news is that sadest news I have yet! Vanessa is gearing up to say her first word. Right now her sounds include “babababa” and “lalalala”, but what concerns me the most is that she is also saying “dadada”. While she hasn’t realized that it sounds like a word, it won’t be long. For the life of me, I can’t get her to say anything that sounds like “mama”! I thought we had a deal! Marcus said, “dada” first so Vanessa was supposed to say Mama first! Well…so much for my plans. :-{

It has been awhile since we posted. Christmas alone would be a good excuse, but when you add illnesses and long weeks to the list it becomes more than understandable. Somehow I missed the Christmas countdown and thought (up till last Sunday) that I had one more week before Christmas. This caused our family some issues because we weren’t ready. I had to finish making a gift, we had to buy a gift, and nothing was wrapped.

We had thought we were going to make a goose and found out that the only goose in the area was a $45.00 bird (for a amazing 10 pounds). So, instead I made Southern macarroni and cheese for everyone and the world’s most incredible fudge. It was a good thing cause illness racked the week.

First Marcus was sick, then Peter. I ended up with a cold. Come Christmas morning we found out that Caleb was sick and sadly before the day was over the flu had taken another victim in Mary. I still feel ill from the cold, but we are not sure that the rest of the family is alive. We will call later to find out.

Even with all of this, I am very thankful for our Christmas. The food was great, the presents were wonderful, and having a family to spend the season with even better. Hope yours was also a great Christmas (and minus illness).

I know the Caleb and Levi have been hoping for a little of the white stuff and making it sound like it just won’t happen. However, I got up in the middle of the night (truth be told Vanessa got up to eat and I went to the bathroom) and found that the ground was covered with a light sprinkling of snow. It has been pretty cold the last few days and yesterday hovered around freezing, so it is possible that it will stay around for a day or two. However, as crazy as I am, I took pictures tonight just in case it is gone in the morning!

We have been in Texas two and a half years now and have seen it snow once. Our first Thanksgiving, back in 2007 it snowed. We woke up with several inches (in Texas terms). It was enough that Mom rolled snow around their front yard to make a small snow man. By the end of the day the only snow left was her snow man (with leaves sticking out of him). He lasted a couple of days if I remember correctly.

That Christmas was warm. One of those only need a light coat because of the breeze kinda days or maybe a sweatshirt. We all walked down to the football feild to throw a ball around. It was definitely a change from the Michigan winters we had come from. I personally like it though Caleb misses the snow. I enjoy warm and comfortable winters. On the other hand, I really don’t like the hot hot summers. I have talked about a desire to be a snow bird (one who flies south for the winter. I would live in Michigan most of the year, leave in the fall just after the colors had turned or maybe just after the first few snows, and come back in spring, long after the crocuses had bloomed.

You may be able to tell that it is 3:30 in the morning. I seem to be getting a little sleepy eyed and very sleepy brained and waxing just a bit poetic on  you. I am off to bed, but will try to post pics on Monday.

May you have a wonderful weekend!

~Danelle