Fireman Carter

Last week, the fire truck was at Carter's school. I was amazed at how well he had payed attention to the firemen when he got in the car and said, "Mommy, we need a meeting place." I think C's the cutest fireman I've ever seen!! :)

Halloween Cookies??

Use your imagination, and you just might see that it's a ghost.

Today, I thought it would be fun if Carter and I made some Halloween cookies. I wanted this to be his project, so I let him roll with it. Unfortunately, our "ghosts" and "pumpkins" turned into big blobs that became one huge cookie! Even still, we were able to cut them apart, ice a few, and add sprinkles. They taste GREAT! Even if they were horrible, I wouldn't care...we had a BLAST! :)

The chef was proud of his creation!

Being silly (pretty much the entire time!) :)

Pumpkin Patch

We met my dear friend, Angeline, and her adorable daughter, Rosa Grace, at Walden Farm today. We've taken them there the last couple of years, so to me it's become a special tradition. Here are a few pics from the day...

Carter on the mini tractor

What a sweet face!

C's first hayride...notice he's putting the moves on Rosa! :)

Playing with corn and grain

Picking out pumpkins

Carter in the hay maze...
He LOVED it!!

Our little pumpkin

First time with face paint
(I thought he was going to cry when we washed it off!)

Fun with farm animals

My God is SO BIG!

Last night after saying his bedtime prayer, Carter serenaded me with the sweet song "My God is so BIG!" complete with the motions.
So...tonight I thought you should get to hear it too. Unfortunately, he decided not to do the motions, and the second part's a little sketchy...but what a precious reminder that "There's nothing my God cannot do...for you!" :) I love this sweet little guy. What a blessing!!!

Jump Zone

Tonight, Carter's school hosted a family fun night at Jump Zone.
What is Jump Zone???
To kids--just about the most fun you can have indoors.
To adults--a bunch of those blow-up bouncy slide/obstacle course contraptions in a hot warehouse room...basically a germ fest!
HOWEVER...no complaints from this mom. Carter had a BLAST (he was super brave!) and we're about to scrub him down from head to toe before what will, hopefully, be a great night's rest. As crazy as I may sound to those of you who've been there, I'm actually thinking it'd be a great place for his first "real" birthday party...don't hold me to it, though. :)

Monkeyin' Around...

Every day for the last week and a half, Carter has asked to go to the zoo. So...here are a few pics from today's fun including Carter's first carousel ride! He was so excited and kept saying "Oh my goodness!" each time we saw a new animal. Favorite animal of the day? To no one's surprise....the gibbons (like monkeys). :)

"Where are the magrillas?"

"I think I'm having fun...but will it ever stop??"

Daddy, Carter, and the friendly giraffe

Batman!

For his potty training efforts, Carter's Aunt Ally, Uncle Ross, and cousins Braxton & Adaline gave him his own Batman outfit (complete with cape), a Batman action figure, and some cool stickers for when he goes potty. Ally also found Brax's old Batman mask...Carter's been "flying" around the house while singing his "na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na BATMAN!!"

"Moose Valuable Player"

Carter and I have been all about sports this weekend! Friday night, the two of us sat in the pouring rain as we watched BGA defeat Father Ryan (Go Wildcats!!). I'd already talked up the game to Carter, so how could I not take him? Scott was the smart one for staying home, but even in the rain we had fun! :)

The weekend continued with watching Carter's cousin, Adaline, play in her first soccer game of the season yesterday. She played so well!! Go ADDIE!!!
For the game, Carter wanted to wear his own soccer shirt...so here are a few pics of him sporting his "Moose Valuable Player" shirt that Nana & Papa got for him this summer. :) Although Carter likes to play soccer, he especially enjoys being the coach. You should've seen what he had my sister & me doing as "warm ups" last weekend when he was the coach and we were his "soccer teamers" as he put it. We were stretching, kicking, even walking like magrillas (Carter's word for gorillas). I'm sure the neighbors thought we were crazy!! But look at this cutie pie....who could say no? :)

Adaline is the one right in front of the ref...
Look at her hustle! Way to go, Addie Bryce!

Still Training...

Sorry to leave you hanging on the whole potty training thing. The weekend of trying didn't end exactly as we'd hoped, as Carter had more accidents the third day than he did the other two.
Oh well, lessons have been learned (mostly by me), and we continue the process.
The good news is that ALL of Carter's class at school are in the process of potty training. (Bless his teacher, right?!?!) He's been doing well with that, and we ask him if he needs to go regularly at home as well. We'll make the official switch to those cool big boy underwear eventually...it just may take a few more weeks! :)

Feeling Brave

Okay, so the thought of 72 hours trapped in the house with already a total of several hours spent just sitting and waiting by the potty is not all that thrilling. SO...I got brave yesterday. I needed to run to the grocery to pick up just a couple of ingredients, so we ventured out! I put a diaper around the outside of Carter's underwear, and much to my surprise he was still dry when we got home!!! :) He actually held it and went as soon as we got home. Hooray!

Our little success, despite a morning of battle of the wills/grumpy pants, encouraged me to try naptime without a diaper...and guess what?!?! He woke up dry!!! I couldn't believe it!! Go Carter!! Unfortunately, he still had several other accidents during the day, but I'd like to see the glass as half full...After 49 visits to the potty, you have to stay motivated somehow, so I choose to consider the positives...I've already replaced the diaper changing pad on his dresser with a row of baseball caps and pictures. Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but what else have I got??? :) More to come...

Potty Pics

I know that there are very few people in the world interested in seeing snapshots of our potty training day, but here are a couple of pictures for the grandparents... :)

Passing time playing McDonald's

What's our trick? What else? A "rally cap" and superhero undies!
(Okay, stickers, toys for potty time,
and a piece of candy here and there hasn't hurt the process!)

Yes, that towel is strategically placed...
not every trip to the potty was a complete success. :)

Life in 20 minute segments...

Wow! Who knew 20 minutes could go so fast?
While potty training today, we're setting a timer to have Carter at least attempt to potty every 20 minutes or so. It seems as though we just get situated playing a game or something, when beep-beep-beep off goes the timer! I think it's working, though...
He had his first accident at 8am, but went on the potty at 9:15am! Yeah Carter!! :) Since then, we've had a couple of successes and a couple of accidents, but all that is to be expected.
We're following a strategy suggested by a friend and are just thankful he's got a positive attitude and is so excited to be a big boy.
Last night he cracked me up as he tried on his big boy underwear, put his hands in the air, and started to shake his hips while singing "No more diapers for me!"
Hopefully, he's right! We're looking forward to the "pay raise" as Scott puts it. :)

Potty Time

"How are you spending your Labor Day weekend?" you ask??? Rather than take off on a family vacation to the beach or making one last warm weather trip, we've decided it's potty training time! For those of you who pray, please add us to your list! :) Carter is pretty excited to go pick out his own "Big Boy Underwear" tomorrow with Daddy. In fact, he's requested Batman be on them....which is pretty funny when you consider the fact that he's never even seen Batman outside of the outline of him on a cereal box. But, hey, if it'll get him excited about the process I'm all for it!
We'll keep you posted on how things go...

Carter Wins GOLD!

We've been a bit obsessed with the Olympics along with a large part of the adult population around the world....how exciting to watch Michael Phelps bring home 8 gold medals in one Olympics! WOW!

But today, history was made in our own family. Carter's school started their own version of the Olympics today with a "Track and Field" race and...you guessed it...Carter took first place! :) If you've ever seen him run, just imagine it now...those arms swinging (elbows out) with a whole class of toddlers running behind him. I'm sure it was a sight to see! :) I don't know what other events are scheduled, but in our eyes Carter has his first "gold!" Way to go, C!!! We love you!!

Happy Anniversary!

I am so blessed. Today, Scott and I are celebrating our NINTH wedding anniversary! :) In the words of Rick and Bubba (two radio show hosts in AL)..."HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY! I GOT YOU ON MY MIIIND! :) I love you, Scott!

Busy Days & Bowling...

To those of you out of state, my apologies. The last couple of weeks have been crazy. I quietly crossed into my thirties choosing to embrace them. Then, as if some sort of sick joke, I started back to school with a whole new team where I've gone from being the youngest person on my team to now being the oldest. (I think I just got a new gray hair even thinking about it.) Thankfully, my team is amazing and will help keep me young, ha, ha! :)
Needless to say, with diving back into routine I've been a bit overwhelmed and exhausted--hence, no blogging. Carter managed to get sick the night before my first day back, so I've operated on anywhere from 2 to 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. Whew...
But now that I have a quiet moment, I did want to at least share a few quick pics from Carter's first bowling outing (which happened to be on my b-day). Big fun! We went bowling with Carter's cousins Brax & Addie, Aunt Ally, & Don-Don. We were on the mini lanes, and Carter had the bumper up, but I was still impressed with his first ever bowling score of 79! :)

Ready to roll... (pun intended)

Calling his shot (thought that was just in baseball) :)

Adaline: "Is it even moving?"
Braxton: "Yeah, no way it's making it all the way to those pins"
Carter: "I'm a real bowler!"
Mommy behind the camera "It'll be a miracle if we go home without broken toes!"

"Where'd it go?"

Wait for it...

It eventually knocked a few down! :)

Holy Toledo!

It's been a while since our last post because we've been out of town on our last "hoorah" of the summer. This past week, we had the privilege of visiting our dear friends Chris & Dayna in Columbus for a couple of nights then headed on to Toledo to see Nana, Papa, & Susan. We had a great time with all! :) (Dayna, Nana, & Mommy are MIA...we must've taken most of the pics...)

Our little stud muffin...

Carter's impersonation of a "magrilla" yawning
(a.k.a. "gorilla")

Chris & Scott right at home at the zoo... :)

Riding the train at the Columbus Zoo

Our cutie pie...Chef Carter!

Carter & Aunt Susie...Word.

Who is that masked man? :)

Lunch at "2 Toots"--where your meal is delivered
on a toy train!

Daddy & Carter at the Mudhens game

Papa & Carter...Go HEELS!

Beach Bums

July 8-12 we went to my sister's beach house in Seagrove Beach, FL (which is for sale if anyone is interested!). Here's a quick glimpse at the priceless memories we made...for more pics, I can send the snapfish album. Enjoy! :)

You've got to love those soft, white, sandy beaches!

Anybody seen the weight room?

Did you see that plane? (Scott's fave pic)

My handsome boys!! (My fave pic!)

Just the three of us (plus some serious ocean wind!)

Entertainment for the ride...a plethora of Disney/Pixar films! (and, of course, Muppets!!)

OUCH!
Just kidding...the only thing this jellyfish touched was our net.

Lookout ocean life, here he comes!

The cutest beach bum in town!

Carter's favorite pass-time...