One for the Road...

Well, here we are with one day left before we go on our big adventure. As I type this, I'm on hold with my cell phone provider trying to get last minute details sorted out. You know, it's not the packing and stuff that's the challenge, it's all the details. Details like working out cell phone service, getting an oil change, going to the dump, paying speeding tickets (oops) and generally getting things sorted out. This move has been really good for us, actually, because it's forced us to clean out our house. It's amazing what you accumulate in a short amount of time. For example, two days ago I took 113 kg of garbage to the dump. Wow.

In the midst of all this packing and sorting and stuff, I wanted to do one final posting before we leave because you never really know when you'll get another one (definitely not next week, at least). I have to say that it's been quite the exciting week for Theo as well. He seems to be progessing by leaps and bounds every day. He's got even more of a personality now, which is really quite strong actually (but what did you expect from our kid?), and he's not afraid to tell you when he doesn't like something. But he's also really good-natured, and we can take him places with some toys and not worry about him throwing a big temper-tantrum. It's pretty nice. And he loves to play, which is really cool as well.

So on with the photo gallery. There are plenty here today, so grab a cup of coffee and relax.

I wanted to start this posting off with something completely un-Theo. We ran across this spectacular piece of Engrish on some packaging the other day...

I gave up dirt 100% quite some time ago, actually. I've never felt better.

Here's what I don't understand about this--if it's for a clean kitchen, shouldn't the scope be limited to, well, kitchens? Apparently not...

It's good to keep the brushing and cleaning in the family, after all. And by the way, if you operate any business other than a hotel or restauaut, you're stuck apparently. I'm sure they make other sponges for use in, say, retail stores. One more thing: at least they made the effort to spell "restaurant"; I have to admit, that one gets me every time. Where do they get these things?

Ah, that explains it.

On to the Theo photos. I said before that he likes to stand now--it's one of his favourite things to do. Here's some photographic evidence...

In addition to standing, he's learned how to sit up as well (this one he can do without help, although when this picture was taken, he still needed a guiding hand)...

Ah yes, another random bath shot...

My dad's been away on business for a good chunk of time, and he came home last week to be greeted at the airport by a sign-bearing baby...

He made that sign all by himself. Really.

If there's anything better than one cute baby, it's two! This is Theo's friend Parker (son of our good friends Carl and Amanda...Theo's not the only baby with his own website)

He's so cute when he's asleep...

And even though he's eating solid food, I'm not sure that he's at the stage of being able to feed himself just yet...

The worst part is that this stuff just dries on his face like wallpaper glue. And, of course, he hates having his face wiped. Especially when you have to use a scouring pad and some Comet to get the dried food off. Just send me the therapy bills, kid...

Finally, unable to stand the constant pressure of having a camera in his face, he snapped...

This picture was taken just before he turned on me; I no longer have an ear on the left side of my face.

Okay, here's the real back-story behind this one: he was mid-yawn when we took the picture. That's it. Oh, the truth is just so much more boring than the story you could make up if you just looked at the picture! But that's what you get for trying to take pictures when it's bedtime. Personally, I think this is the funniest one yet.

But on a more serious, okay, cuter, note, here's another one (wow, look at all the commas in that sentence--it's a comma party)...

And as usual, I've saved the best for last...

That's it for tonight, everyone. The next time you hear from me, I'll be in Three Hills, Alberta, hopefully kicking some serious butt at college. Like I said before, the plan is to start a second blog for our Three Hills adventures (or misadventures, as the case may be) and keep this blog for strictly Theo-related postings. I still haven't come up with a clever name for the second blog, although Aunt Bern's suggestion is right up there on the list (her suggestion: Little Mouth on the Prairie...or perhaps Big Mouth, although I wouldn't know what she's referring to by that). Anyway, any other suggestions are welcome; I should have it up and running by the end of next week or the beginning of the week after that, depending on our internet access situation.

See you all again soon.

Bath Time!

I was going to fold these shots into my next posting, but I can't decide which ones to cut, so you get all of them in a posting all to themselves! Hooray!

Here's just a small disclaimer: I realize that every parent has an arsenal of embarrasing bath shots, which they take with the express intention of showing at their child's wedding. Seriously, why else do you take photos of your kid in the bath? You don't go around showing them off to people, do you? "Hey, do you want to check out a picture of my kid in the bath? Look, he's naked!" I don't think so. Because I've been through the scarring incident of having an embarrasing bath shot shown at my wedding (thanks a lot, mom and dad--you'll get my therapy bill soon), I have vowed not to take any embarrasing bath shots of Theo. So there. That said, I can still take pictures of him in the bath because hey, he is cute, after all. Enjoy them.

This is what we call a "Classic Theo" look--such an interesting facial expression. You know he's got something to say, and if he could only find the words, he'd really tell you...

I love this one. Looks like he just wants to come out of that bath and give you a big hug...

"Daddy, why are you making such funny faces?"

What a ham; he's totally mugging for the camera. "Oh yes, I'm so cute"

More looking up at silly daddy...

"I'm glad that's finally over with, because I'm totally pooped..."

But of course, I've saved the very best photo for last, even though it doesn't really fit in my storyboard. Oh well, I figure you should be rewarded for your patience.

"Bath time is fun!!"

That's all for this evening, I think. I had grand plans to do another posting tonight, but you know what? I'm just far too tired for that. But don't worry, in tomorrow's installment, a thrilling update on packing for our upcoming move and other various fun-filled adventures, as well as lots of photos. It'll be a thrill a minute. I'm really into that word ("thrill") tonight for some reason. I'm really a one-trick-pony though, so when I find an adjective, I stick with it. So be sure to tune in next time--as they say at the monster truck rally: "We'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!" Get it? You'll only need the edge? Okay, it's definitely past my bedtime.

See you soon.

A Rather Large Announcement

Before I get to the substance of this post, I have a major announcement to make: the Carroll family is moving! We're going to be heading off to the lovely town of Three Hills, Alberta at the beginning of September for the upcoming school year at Prairie Bible College where I can finally finish my degree. We'll be leaving on September 1, returning in mid-December for the Christmas break, and heading back again in January for the winter semester, returning for good (hopefully, but you never know, do you?) in April. We'll be back on other occasions as well (Thanksgiving, for one), but we're not exactly sure when.

The reasons for our move are many, all of which can be summed up in one: distance education just wasn't cutting it. I've come to realize how important getting this degree is to me and my future plans, and this is the best way to finish it right now. I'll explain more of that some other time.

Now, you may be wondering when we hatched this crazy plan and why it's taken us so long to reveal it. Well, the reason is that we only came up with it two weeks ago. That's right, the entire thing from conception to birth took a grand total of two weeks to put together. It's been a whirlwind, and it'll continue until the day we leave. I got approval for my academic plans last week, and we just got confirmation today that we'll have a place to live. It's been exhausting.

I can also say that this whole thing could only be possible if it was God's ordaining for it to happen. There are so many "coincidences" that have had to fall into place in order for this thing to work (I'll explain more of them some other time as well) that there's no other explaination than God's providence. For the first time in a long time, we feel like we're back on track with where God is leading us, after fighting against it for some time. Now that we're on board, it's feeling pretty good. We have no fears about going, because we know that God is with us.

*Jarring transition* What does this mean for the blog? Well, I'm not sure yet. We may choose to forego internet access in the house and use the school computers instead, which means that uploading phots will probably be a no-go. But don't quote me on that--I'll do my best to keep you, the blog-consuming public, in the loop. What I can say is that I'm going to be starting another blog dedicated to our exploits in Three Hills, while still maintaining this blog for strictly Theo-related purposes. As soon as I think of a catchy name, I'm going to register it and I'll let you know where it is. If you care. It won't personally offend me if you don't. Okay, maybe it will just a little. But not much.

Now that I've consumed so much space talking about us, let's have a little Theo update, shall we? Everything here is going smoothly, to whatever extent raising an infant can be described as "smooth." Theo's a really character now; he's sitting up on his own (and falling over when he decides to reach for his toes, which are still his favourite plaything) and babbling a whole lot. He's eating a wide variety of solid foods (grains, veggies, and fruits), his favourite of which by far is the banana. He's also going through a massive teething process which seems to have reached its zenith (oh man, any time I can use that word, I'm happy) in the past week or so. Oh, how we love the Tylenol at this house. And don't get me started on the drool. Oy vey. But hey, when he's happy, he's one funny guy. He likes to play and interact with us, which is really cool; he has his favourite games (one of which involves being chased by the "Daddy-monster") and he laughs when we play them. Fun times are being had by all. Except when he won't sleep. That seems to be his biggest challenge right now, but we'll get over it. All-in-all, we're happy as clams.

How about some photographic evidence? You betcha. I've got some good ones here, most of which fit in the "comedy" section. For example:

"Onward!" Love it. The other day, we caught him trying to steal our car...

Aha, busted!

But after a hard day, there's nothing like a good snooze...

Yes, we know we're irresponsible for letting him sleep that way. Tough.

This expression was particularly difficult to capture, even though he uses it qute a bit. We call it "turtle face"...

And here's one that I've been told I have to put on the blog, as much as I don't want to (I can't stand pictures of myself, in case you haven't guessed). I only put it up here under duress and threat of punishment from my wife...

Of all the foods he does like, orange-coloured veggies are definitely not a hit...

Here are a couple of good ones from a recent photo shoot:

"Hey there, come here often?"

After all that photography, a snooze is definitely in order...

A couple more great shots from another photo shoot...

But there are consequences to taking too many photos. "I'm getting unhappy..."

"Definitely not liking this anymore..."

"Okay, that's it, I'm done with this!"

Just so we don't end off on a sad note, here's a great photo of the two good-looking members of the household...

That's it for now (and it's a lot). I'll update at least once more before we take off. I hope to hear from some of you in the comments section (we got three for the last post!). Chat with you again soon.

Lots More Photos!

Well, I figured that since the last post was all text and no photos that this post should be all photos and no text. Okay, some text. Everything's well, by the way, and thank you for asking. We've been really busy over the past couple weeks, but we're taking lots of pictures. And videos. I need to figure out how I can post those for public consumption (I'm boldly assuming that the public wishes to consume said videos, however). Anyway, enjoy the photos.

These five are from a photo session we did at a local park. The lighting's just right, and, of course, Theo's his usual photogenic self...

And now for some cute outfits. Exhibit number one is the patriotic Canada outfit, although you're not really able to tell he's wearing it in this picture due to the flashing of the abs. He's so gangsta...

And now, his best Beach Boys impression (the shirt says, "Baby Surf"--not to be confused with "Baby Smurf." How cool would that be?)...

"Daddy, what the heck are you doing?"

This is usually the last thing you see before getting hit with a big string of drool. Yum...

He's trying so hard to crawl, and he's determined to actually make it happen. "Here I come, mommy!"

"Uh oh, I don't feel so good."

"Aw, crap."

"Oh well, maybe I'll just try to fly instead!"

Here's daddy being silly, trying to see if Theo's really got the legendary "Carroll Head."

Turns out he's got a little ways to go if he wants to match daddy for sheer head size.

Finally, playtime, his favourite part of the day. Oh, except when you interrupt it with photo taking. Looks like he's going to get up and smack us one...

That's all for now. Plenty more photos on the camera, ready for the arduous process of red-eye reduction and resizing for proper blog uploading. Hope I can get them up here soon. See you then.