Santa Came...

We had a great Christmas this year! Carter woke up late on Christmas morning. When he walked the living room he Froze! He stood in awhhhhhh. It took a couple of minutes for him to even blink then he noticed the smallest gift and started yelling mo mo (buffalo). It didn't take him long after that to realize everything was all his. Carter really raked in the toys this year. We ended up getting to open gifts 5different times. By the end Carter could have cared less about opening another gift. Overall we had a pretty relaxing holiday. Now it's birthday time!

Santa Claus

Last but not least...

We went to see Santa Claus today. It was the last thing on my Christmas to-do list. So we got to the mall and waited in line. The wait with a almost 2 year old without a stroller was so fun. Actually he did really well considering. As we were waiting I was holding Carter and he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Look at that man, Mommy." Standing 2 people back was a dad with a 12 inch mohawk. It was very eye catching, especially to a little guy. So as we stood in line for 40 minutes (yes that's the truth) Carter kept bringing it to every one's attention that that man looked funny! That guy got the attention he wanted with that hairdo. Carter wasn't scared of Santa instead he did let Santa faze him. He sat down looked straight ahead and didn't blink. The elf told me he was the most serious child to visit Santa. She even offered to retake his picture but I love it. It will be a great memory one of these days.



I hope each of you have a great Christmas. Consider this my Christmas card. I'm really slacking in the organization this season. We are very excited and can't wait to see Carter's face on Christmas morning. He has really gotten into Santa Claus and understands that Santa will be visiting our house this year. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Picture

We didn't get a picture taken this year so here is last years Christmas picture. Overall I don't think any of us look the same.

So actually I'm stressed out. Long story short I ordered Carter's Christmas gift online from Toys R Us. Big mistake!!! I got an email today telling me that they canceled my ordered and that my little guy won't be getting his present I spent hours finding. Apperently, when you order online they may or may not update their system when items are backordered. And it may take them 3 days to let you know when it is too late to order anything else to get it before Christmas. Luckily Carter's birthday is in 4 weeks and I already know what we are going to get him.

Waiting for Christmas

We have been crazy busy the last couple of weeks. Getting ready for Christmas and remodeling a house (actually Chris is working on it not me). I'm excited about Christmas this year because Carter kind of understands. I ordered Carter's big gift online this year. I'm nervous it won't make it here on time. He may be getting a Happy New Year's gift instead. Luckily he can't tell time and won't know the difference.

As you can tell by the updated pictures he is a big boy. He looks like one and talks like one too! I asked him what he wanted Santa Claus to bring him for Christmas he thought about it and said a truck. Then he added a Mack truck (from the Cars movie). He ran around a minuted longer got right up in the video camera and said "I want a yo-yo". Chris & I started laughing because we didn't even know he knew what a yo-yo was. He amazes us everyday.

Merry Christmas

This week we finally had time to put the Christmas tree up. I wanted to make it a family affair. It probably isn't as put together as it was last year but Carter decorated all of the lower branches. He also redecorates it everyday. He has learned how to turn the tree on and off without any help. I am going to attempt putting gifts under it. We will see how long they last.

We have had a busy couple of weeks, well Chris has. We bought another property. Chris has been over there fixing it up. He has done a great job. Carter & I have helped in the past but this house is nasty and I'm not touching it. There is no way I wouldn't catch something breathing all of it's nastiness. Now the hard part do we rent it or sell it.

I still haven't got all of my Christmas shopping done. I can't figure out what to get Carter. I know he probably won't remember or even care but I do. The great thing is the things that I have bought he won't remember and he'll be surprised to see them again. I love this time of year. It is so much fun with Carter. Although I hate all the family drama (who's house to go to when) I'm ready to celebrate Christmas with my guys!

Our Little Artist

Carter loves to draw and color. Everyday I spend hours drawing Lighting McQueen. I have actually practiced drawing things so that I have more to draw for him. I don't know if anyone actually knows that I'm improving everyday.

Don't worry the video you are about to see isn't as bad as it appears. With a lot of soap everything cleaned up.

Too funny not to share!

We saw this video at church today. The youth pastor preached and he was so funny. He was talking about joy. When you watch this you will see how much joy it is bringing you, time and time again. Notice the dad on the side. He is doing a typical dad thing, turning and ignoring what is really going on because he is so embarrassed. Like many of us moms we have to deal with the uncontrollable child while our "better half" leaves us to fend for ourselves!

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope each of you had a great Thanksgiving! We did. This year we went to Dalhart (yes I know there is nothing there) to eat with Lolly. We stayed the entire day and had a great time. Carter got to color with markers, that weren't washable, which you will see further down. Chris brought his shotgun and got to play, also. Friday we went to Chris's parents and had spaghetti with all of his cousins. It was fun to see everyone. There where a couple of little cousins that we got to meet for the first time. Lots of fun, lots of food and lots of noise!

Carter's artwork!

Lolly & Carter

Carter played with this big truck all day.

22 Months

Carter turned 22 months today! I can't believe he is that old. In a couple of months he will be 2 and won't be a baby anymore. Well for everyone else he won't be a baby but for me I think he will always be my baby. I took him to get his flu shot today. He was so excited to get one. The nurse even laughed because I played up a flu shot so much I think Carter thought he was getting a puppy! He did fine although it took his breath away.



Sunday, I helped Chris out and did an open house. It sounds better than it was. I didn't want to tell him no. He does so much for us I thought the least I could do was sit at a house for 2 hours. I left out the part about how BORING it actually was! Carter and I arrived at our open house and it was a chilling 50 degrees inside. It was warmer out than in. Carter did really well. He thought it was a giant playhouse. I brought plenty of entertainment for him. His favorite was a tomato plant in the backyard. The pictures below are of him picking the nice homeowners tomatoes (I'm sure they weren't any good anymore...hopefully). Luckily I had my camera with me. He would pick the perfect one and then throw it against the fence and laugh when it splattered everywhere. He was having such a great time.

OK ,so I'm trying something new if it works I might do it more often. I think I figured out how to put videos on here. Ignore the high pitched voice on it. I really don't sound like that, right? When you watch it (if it works) you can see Carter and Chris playing with play dough. It was really cute. Chris usually doesn't want to sit but he was very focused on making a play dough mommy for Carter. Since Carter is getting bigger and non-breakable Chris is playing with him all the time. Chris was a very hands on daddy but now Carter can wrestle around with him. They have such a great time together. We could not have asked for a better baby.

Talking

We all had a relaxing week. Chris & I had a banquet to go to Thursday night. Chris was inducted on the Texas Panhandle Building Association

(I think that is what is called) board. I'm not as outgoing at those functions as Chris is but I did alright. I better get used to it it seems Chris is on every board there is around here. I am proud of him he is doing great getting out and meeting new people and his business is doing really great.

Once again Carter is doing new things. This week he started having conversations with us. Every time he ask a question then makes a comment on my response it surprises me. I'm not sure why he is almost 2! Honestly I don't like to think about that because that means that he is not a baby anymore. I still remember the day we found out about him and the day we brought him home. God knew that Carter would be the perfect addition to our family. He is absolutely WONDERFUL!!! This week he looked at me and said "Cart Cart love you Mommy"!

Halloween - Now

So we just had Halloween. At first I didn't think that Carter would wear his monkey costume but he did when he saw other kids in theirs. It was so cute to see him so excited. Most of the pictures I took are blurry because it is really hard to capture a live monkey that is jumping and running around. We took him to the Connor House (an assisted living that Aunt Rene runs). Carter really enjoyed it. The little old people just sat around in their chairs and let the kids take over all the candy.

Besides Chris & I getting sick last weekend we felt fine to go to Dallas this week. Chris had a Building Association meeting and Carter & I just needed a vacation. We got to stay in the Gaylord Texan. It is worth going there and seeing how great it is. I took some pictures from our balcony. Carter had so much fun there. He loved the river and waterfalls with all of the fish. He sat in his stroller for hours while we walked around the 4 1/2 acres resort. I think that I got plenty of exercise. I personally didn't want to leave...actually I think that I could live there. I thought that are room was great until I saw a room that I was told was 3,000 sq ft. Actually it was a house. Honestly I was very happy with our room but 3.0000 sq ft SERIOUSLY!!! The Gaylord was great. They were setting up for Christmas and it was really pretty. They had a cow in her Christmas clothes that Carter just loved. We missed out on seeing some friends because we had to leave earlier than we wanted (sorry guys), Chris had the Veteran's Day Parade in Amarillo Saturday morning. Hope each of you had a great Halloween with your kids!

Back to the Dentist

So we went back to see the dentist about Carter's front teeth. Over the last couple of weeks I noticed that his teeth were not gray anymore. I sort of thought that maybe it was in my head since I look at them everyday. So when we dentist asked me how his teeth were I told him that they are white again! He then preceded to tell me that teeth don't just change colors, once there is damage it doesn't just away. Well guess what? His teeth are better than perfect they are white again!

It's official Carter is a big boy. He got his new bed in yesterday. I have been talking up the bed and the excitement of sleeping all by himself. When the doorbell rang his eyes lit up and he knew what was on the other side. He helped me take apart the (beautiful) baby bed and put together his big boy bed. He got to pick out his very own sheets and blanket. Lolly made him a Lighting McQueen pillowcase. He is so proud of his new bed. He went right to it at bedtime and went right to sleep...for 3 hours. But you know what it's progress. He will adjust sooner or later.

New Look

Alright I have been working here for a couple of days in my spare time. I hope everyone likes the new look. I'm not computer smart but I think that I did alright and hopefully it works!

WTAMU Homecoming

I know I always comment on how fast Carter is growing up but he really is. Everyday there is something new he is saying or doing. Last week he looked at me and said, "Mommy that really good doda". He is putting sentences together really well and is talking non-stop. We are so proud of everything that he is doing.

We all went to Toys R Us last week and got Carter is first Halloween costume. We wanted to be a bee. But with a little investigation bees are for little girls. I found this really cute monkey (which we got) but Chris was determined that Carter wanted to be batman. He did really like the batman costume but wasn't near as cute as the monkey. I out voted both of them and we are going to be a monkey. Next time he lets me put it on him I'll take a picture so everyone can see how cute he is as a monkey.

This weekend was the big WTAMU Homecoming Parade and game. So we loaded up early to go watch another parade. Luckily Chris's office is downtown so we get to watch most of the parade inside. The parade was fun but I think Carter had more fun pretending he was in jail with Nicole (inside the office is an old bank vault).

The football game was even more exciting! As we were getting all situated it started sprinkling. Then it started pouring! Of course I wasn't prepared for rain. It has never rained at any game that I have been to. After we were soaked I remembered Chris parks his corvette inside the stadium. So we made a run for it! Next time I'll remember the corvette before it starts pouring. Overall we all had a really fun day.

Dentist Appointment

So Carter had his first dentist appointment last Thursday. We decided to make him an appointment after he fell and his front tooth started turning gray. I was nervous about bringing him to a dentist because it is honestly hard enough to brush his teeth let alone look around. So the entire day before I talked all about Doc Moore (that is what Carter calls him) and that that Doc Moore wanted to look at his smile and take a picture of his teeth.

Carter practicing his smile for Doc Moore before we left for our appointment!

Carter had so much fun at the dentist office. They had so many toys laying around to play with. The x-ray machine was down (of course) so Carter and his dental assistant got to play. When it was time for Doc Moore to look at his teeth he did great! The good news is that nothing had to be done that day and that Carter got 5 new toys from Doc Moore. The bad news is that we go back in 6 weeks for another x-ray. There was some swelling above one of his front teeth (the white one). Doc Moore is 90% sure that that tooth will start turning gray within 6 weeks. It would be better for Carter if both of his teeth were fixed at the same time. So it looks like next month little Carter will have 2 root canals. He said it is a 10 minute procedure and not as severe as an adult root canal. More that likely he will have to be put to sleep, which is better than tying him down. When it is all said and done Carter will have the prettiest, whitest teeth of any kid around (Doc Moore is going to paint them back white also). Keep Carter in your prayers and I will keep you updated.

Some of the 5 toys Carter got at the dentist.

Boy, n.:

This is the newest decor in Carter's room. Grandma (Chris's mom) found it and knew the best place for it to go. It looks really good right above his window. Every time we go into Carter's room he points to it and says Baba (aka Grandma).


We have had a really busy week this week. We bought our first rent house (so far Chris has not sold it). It had very interesting decor in it. We have had to put paint on everything except the ceiling which probably needs it too. Chris rented it out and they move in on Monday. I'll keep updating!!!

New Boots

CARTER'S NEW BOOTS

A couple of weeks ago Denny Pa took Carter to get his first pair of boots. They were both so excited. Denny Pa ( my dad) has wanted to buy Carter boots since Christmas. They are John Deer green on the tops and really cute.

Carter giving DennyPa a hug Thank you!

Carter is so proud of his new boots. He won't take them off. I a had to go buy him longer jeans. Everywhere we go he will go up to complete strangers and tell them about his new boots. If we ever lose on of them we are in deep touble! Carter was in bed the other night about to sleep and remembered his boots were not on. I had to get up and find them. As soon as they were on he went right to sleep. He really does look so cute in them.

Vacation

So as you all can see it has been awhile since I blogged. I finally got a new digital camera (thank you Chris) but no one would show me how to download all of my pictures. Finally today I got Chris to help me. So now hopefully I can keep my pics updated for you.

We recently went on vacation! I was so ready. We went through Dallas on our way to Austin and went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was so much fun. There are so many animals there. Carter loved looking at the monkeys. I did too. They are really fun to watch. I do think that Carter liked the penguins the best. Since we got home he walks around the house like a penguin. It took a couple of times before I realized what he was doing. I will try to get it on video and put it on here. It is really cute. I think Chris enjoyed the zoo also, even though he has never said anything. The entire time we were there all Carter was saying was "hippo". I didn't event know he knew what one was. Surprise! He knows exactly what a hippo is.

After we left the zoo we headed to Austin to see Chris's dad (Papa and Grandma Paula). I know Chris was looking forward to seeing them and playing golf with his new clubs. We had a really good time with them. We don't get to see them very much and was nice to get to spend sometime with them. Carter got lots of one on one time with Papa and Grandma. We did have a little drama there. Carter tripped and hit face, I mean teeth first in the coffee table. It was horrible! All I kept thinking about was how pretty his front teeth are. Luckily, the next morning they popped right back into place! Besides, the blood we had a great time. Carter even came home with a big car full of balls. Thanks Grandma & Papa there is nothing like picking up 125 balls out of your floor!

I almost forgot about Sea World. All I can say was that it was HOT! I have never been that close to sea animals. That are really cool and smart. Carter loved Shamu. We had really been talking Shamu up so that he could recognize him. We really did have a good time there. Next time we are going to Wonderland and telling him that he got to go to Sea World!

Chris also had a Birthday! His office was giving him a surprise party but someone ruined it. Since he is an entire year closer to 30 he went out and bought himself a present. A V-Rod Harley!!! I am so excited that Chris was so thoughtful and bought us something that the ENTIRE family can enjoy! I think his mind was cloudy when he came home with it. It is very nice and he looks great on it. He also rides ALONE.

Since got home from vacation Carter is non-stop talking. Really big words like teacher, see ya, motor cho-cho (motorcycle). I think he is a really good age right now. He can play alone, talk, and is completely entertaining. He knows what is funny and wants you to laugh at him.

STILL SUMMER

It's still summer. We are still having a ton of fun. We went to the library yesterday and got a library card. It is free entertainment!!! Carter was in book heaven. The little guy loves books. At the library they have an area for little guys were he can take all the books out of the bin he wants to. It was great for me as well. I didn't have to keep trying to pretend I knew were they went on the shelf. We also had our first experience with our own shopping cart at the grocery store. For month I have done everything in my power to distract Carter from seeing the little carts. So I have to thank Daddy (Chris) for showing them to Carter. I was a nightmare. But since it wasn't my idea I left Chris to deal with all of the isle cleanups! It really takes a lot of patience to shop with a small cart. So back to completely ignoring them again...now I have to be really sneaky!

4th of July

Happy Fourth of July! This is one of my favorite holidays. It was so fun this year. We had such a busy day. Carter and I got up and got down to the parade early because I wanted to at least park within walking distance to Chris' office. This was the first year that the office has been open in Canyon and it was really nice to have a place with air conditioning and something cold to drink (and of course a real bathroom). It was so hot but we hardly noticed. Carter was very interested in all of the parade especially the soldiers. He stood on the window sile and just clapped his little heart out. Lyons Realty was very close to the end and I don't think Carter understood that Daddy's car was a part of the parade.

As of this year I decided to start some traditions with Carter. I have not been to the park for fireworks since I was in junior high. So we packed up and went. I'm so glad we went. Carter wasn't scared of the loud noises. He wouldn't even take his eyes away from the sky. He did keep saying BOOM! I think everyone liked watching his expressions more than the fireworks. Hopefully we will remember how much fun we had this year and do it again next year.

Carter & Mommy getting ready to watch the parade.

Watching fireworks for the first time.

Carter helping Daddy wash the corvette for the parade.

Mid June Update

On more week of summer flew by. We did go to the pool this week and Carter loved it. This time I couldn't get him out of it. He didn't even need my help or want it. Before we went swimming we went to the park to play with 4 of our little cousins. It was fun. They each go in opposite directions so there is no conversation with anyone except the little ones.

Right now we are in a rut of eating only dog dogs (corn dogs). I'm so sick of corn dogs. But Carter request one anywhere we are. I'm trying to be really creative at the grocery store for more food options. If it doesn't have a wienie in it we won't eat it!

Chris and I are still amazed everytime Carter talks. Last night we were going to bed and Carter looked at us and said "Momma and Daddy". Who knew the word and would be so fun to ear!