Happy Anniversary, Mimi & Don-Don!

Today marks my parents' 41st wedding anniversary. We want to wish Mimi & Don-Don a very happy anniversary with the hopes of many more years of blissful marriage to come! :) We love you!!!!

Dancing Machine

We went to Chicago this past weekend for Laura's wedding (Scott's cousin). We crammed in as much as we could, and I do plan to post pics from the trip. In the meantime, here's a look at our little life of the party. I especially love the clap and point...watch for it! :)

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball!

C got his face painted at the Farmer's Market today...
To no surprise, he wanted a baseball.

Carter LOVES sports...he just can't get enough. Is that just an innate quality of the male species??? We may have mounting evidence! :)
While Carter loves basketball, he's quickly become one of the "boys of summer" wanting to wear baseball shirts, his "batting sleeves" (wristbands with baseballs on them), and playing baseball every chance he gets.
This week, he gave me a lesson playing catch. It was too cute receiving instruction through Carter that obviously had come from Daddy originally! :)
Here are some pics of our fun the last few days...

Playing ball with Daddy

Playing catch with Mommy
(note the "batting sleeves")

Can we say "Defense?"
C was practicing his moves on Isaac at our community group picnic.

Fish Food

Today was yet another gloomy day overhead, so it was the perfect day for a little indoor fun! Carter and I headed to the Aquarium restaurant with Don-Don to eat and watch the fish. At first, Carter wasn't so sure about the big tank, but he warmed up pretty quickly. :) From the picture above, you can tell he was tuckered out after all the excitement! Fish, eel, and sharks...oh my!

Surfer Dude

This is as close as C would get to that shark. :)

Mr. Personality

Fish watching with Don-Don

Summer Fun!

I hope these aren't the beginning stages of OCD! :)

We've been so excited for summer to come, and it's finally here! (Okay, not officially, but for a teacher's schedule it is!) As such, Carter and I began our summer fun painting pottery and hanging out at the factory. We're looking forward to making a scrapbook together of all our summer fun...in the meantime, here are a few pics from today! :)

Yummy-Chocolate Ice Cream!

Say cheese!

Rockin' & rollin' at the factory

At it again...Carter got a hold of my computer
while I was getting ready this morning. Here's my fave. Such a ham!

Carter's Prayer

Carter's been praying this prayer, and I thought it was SO sweet that it should be shared!

"Thank you God for this day and,
For my family and my friends.
Help me do the things I should,
And to others be kind and good.
Amen."

LOVE IT!!
Tonight, when I went to leave his room for bedtime he said, "Don't go, Mommy! I want to keep you." Those are some of the greatest words a Mommy can hear!! :)

Happy Bday, Nana!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!!
We love you!!
Here's a special drawing just for you...

Bring on Summer!

Summer is just around the corner...and with the AMAZING weather the past few days, I really have a taste of "Summer Fever." That's right...summer, not spring. I love the spring, but I just can't wait to have more time home with Carter. We already have a growing list of things we want to do, and I plan on having him draw activities out of the sand bucket each week like we did last summer which makes it even more fun! :) Along with summer, I should be able to get up more frequent posts with pictures and video. In the meantime, here are a couple priceless pics to tie you over! :) Love to all, Sarah

Carter showing off his new Cubbies hat

Check out those muscles! You should see his full pose down! :)

Happy Easter!

We hope you all had a Happy Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ! What great reason to celebrate!!
Carter was visited by the Easter bunny, and we spent the day at my parents house playing baseball, hunting Easter eggs, and eating....and eating some more! :)
Here are some of my favorite pics of the day...

Spring Break

Well, of course, Carter's Spring Break fell at a different time than mine. It sure hasn't stopped him from having plenty of fun, though!!
Yesterday he went bowling with his Aunt Ally, and he got his first (real) strike! Today he stayed with some friends of ours and went to storytime at the downtown library. Tomorrow his Mimi and Don-Don are keeping him and he gets to go to a baseball game!
This is a pic from his fun today....He calls these cutie pies his "sisters." :)

Stomach Bug!!

Well, it's been a long week at our house.
Saturday night, Carter went from jumping up and down excited one minute to throwing up the next...and it continued all week long.
We eventually had to take him to the children's hospital ER because of dehydration caused by whatever virus had attacked his little body.
I've changed more pull ups and bedsheets than I thought humanly possible in a 5 day time period!
Good news...Carter seems to finally be on his way to recovery. Today, he's kept down small amounts of food and is drinking plenty of fluids as well. We go back to Doc in the morning, with hopes of a good report!
Unfortunately, he lost about 5 pounds in 4 days...but we're thinking that once he gets his appetite back he shouldn't have any problem regaining the weight.
Many thanks to all of you who've been praying for the little man this week and for your words of encouragement. It's meant so much! :)
Hopefully, I'll have fun pics to post again soon once Carter bug is feeling a bit better!
In the meantime...GO TARHEELS! :) Just had to get that in there...it is March, afterall! :)

Carter's Photo Booth

Friday night I went on a quick girls' overnight, and I apparently left my computer out within Carter's reach. I asked Scott what time Carter woke up on Saturday, he chuckled and said he wasn't exactly sure. I said, "Uh oh, what did he do?"
Apparently, Carter's become computer saavy without us even knowing! He opened every application on my computer...even the photo booth! Here are pictures he took of himself and even attempted to email...all while daddy was still snoozing.
Sneaky, sneaky...

Happy Valentine's Day!

From our house to yours, we wish you love! :)

Steady Beat

Carter's still loving his drum set from Santa. He likes to play a "steady beat." Enjoy!

Long Time, No Write...

Sorry for the lack of updates...it's ended up being a busy few weeks!
We continued our potty training efforts, and Carter is officially "potty trained"...at least enough to go to preschool!! :) We are thrilled that he started a new school this week, and he seems pretty excited too! Still working on making it through the night...and probably will be for awhile...but we're just so excited he's able to wear big boy pants now! :)
Last week & weekend ended up being busy as some of our relatives from KY came to stay because they were without water and power due to the ice storm. Carter enjoyed getting to hang out with his cousin, Ethan...the two even went to get a haircut together. We feel blessed that our family is close enough they were able to come down for a little warmth and fun!
On a separate note...Scott just filmed Carter playing the drums...I'll try to post a video soon!

Whatever it Takes

Despite reading several websites, suggestions from pediatricians, and stories of what worked for friends regarding potty training, I've come to the conclusion that it's all dependent on your child being ready and having the motivation/desire to use the potty. My sis and I had a great chat last week about it all, and she was so right...you just have to find what works for your own child.
We've tried gumballs, switched to smarties, promised a trip to Jump Zone, blown bubbles, made up a potty dance, even thrown McDonald's in the mix...but the biggest motivator has been Carter's own desire to be a big boy. As such, I am thankful to report that Monday's "scoreboard" included 4 accidents, Tuesday's only 1, and so far today 0!! That's even with a good nap!
We're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!! Thank you for all of your words of encouragement this week. Please pray that if Carter returns to school, he won't revert to needing pull ups. If I had it my way, he wouldn't return to school, we'd just go ahead and apply for the preschool...but that's another prayer request in itself. :)
I know reading about potty training can't be all that exciting, but thanks for sticking with me and praying us through this week. Your prayers have certainly been felt!

Rough Start

Well, I got pretty hopeful after yesterday's successes, but am trying not to be discouraged by this morning's start. We're 1:1...1 successful potty time to 1 accident already. Please keep praying for the successes to far outweigh the accidents!

Sunday Scoreboard

Yesterday was a GREAT potty training day! We're so proud of Carter! Here are the final scores for Sunday...
Successful Trips to Potty 9!!
Accidents 2
Proud Parents 2
Happy Boy 1
Please keep praying! Your prayers have certainly been felt!

Potty Scoreboard

Well, the day has had its ups and downs. We're trying to remain positive and hopeful that Carter will "get it" this time around. He's been a bit more feisty than normal today, which is a factor we hadn't totally accounted for. :) Whew, this parenting thing is a doozy...but great all at the same time.
So, the scoreboard version of the potty update essentially is as follows...
Accidents 8
Successful Trips to Potty 4
Pooped out parents 2 (pun intended)
Energetic 3 year old 1
Future scores to follow! Please pray the number of accidents don't stay on top... :)

Potty Training Round 2

Well, our efforts over labor day were unsuccessful, so now that Carter's officially 3 we are setting aside this weekend to give potty training another go!
We'd resigned to the fact that it'd be difficult to do until the summer when I could stay home with him; however, with some concerns related to his current school and a strong desire to move him to a preschool we decided now's as a good a time as any to give it a second go. We have new motivators to try and are praying that he'll get it this time. In all seriousness, we appreciate your prayers over the weekend as well. Boys are hard to potty train, but we're hoping Carter's ready and bright enough to figure this out.
When we started talking it up earlier this week, he seemed excited. Unfortunately, he's not been so thrilled about it this morning. I want this to be a positive experience, so please pray for patience! :)
We'll keep you posted...in the meantime, you know where to find us!