Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Talk about progress

Yesterday the doctor was concerned about his speech today, Carter opened a book and began pointed out all sort of things to mommy saying (not perfectly, but close enough that anyone would know what he was saying):

Rock
Boat
Eye

This is already better than the whole say-the-first-syllable-only thing he did yesterday. Guess that talk with the doctor did the trick.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

2 year appointment

I cannot believe that we just had our 2 year doctor appointment! Carter is 35" tall which is in the 85% range (so, he's on the tall side - taking after Uncle Nick) and weighs 27.4 lbs which is in the 45% range (so, he is on the slender side).

Dr. Voytas is very mildly concerned with his lack of talking. He said that most of the time kids like Carter who are not saying 2 and 3 words at a time at this age will all of the sudden just explode with talking one day. As long as he is progressing, there is nothing to worry about so, we'll see where he is in 3 months. As long as he is further than he is now, we're good to go.

Dr. V was very impressed with every other skill Carter showed while we were there today. Using my iphone and navigating to some videos to watch while mommy and Dr. V talked pretty much blew him away. Then, during the exam, Carter was told that Dr. V needed to look in his mouth. Carter opened wide and said "AH!" without even being asked. Dr. V said that he has a hard time even getting most 4 year olds to do that. He also sat perfectly still for his spinal check. Dr. V also gave Carter the option of which ear he wanted checked first. Carter pointed to his left and turned his head so that he could be checked out.

So, basically, we have a non-verble genius.

When the nurse came to give him his shots, he was a very good boy! I told him that he would get a "sticker" on each leg so, after she poked him with the needle in just one leg twice and gave him the one band-aid, he pointed to the other leg and she obliged him with another band-aid. That was it.

He is such a good boy! For a treat, we picked daddy up from work and did a Starbucks run. He loved having the few extra minutes with daddy!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Ready for snow

Dude, I'm totally ready to shred the hill in this awesome snowsuit that my auntie got me for Christmas!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

Our morning started with Mickey Mouse pancakes and tons of balloons. Happy 2nd birthday my sweet little man!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

New favorite "toy"

Carter will not let his Handy Manny paper plates out of his sight. We're going to use them for birthday cake tomorrow, but today they are his favorite "toy"

Monday, December 20, 2010

Don't judge us.. He gets so many gifts this month with his birthday being Christmas Eve we figured one or two wouldn't hurt. Plus, we had a rough past week and it cheers us up to see Carter open a gift so, it was totally self-serving and not for spoiling reasons.





He is such a good boy! You'd think that after opening a present he wouldn't want to stop and would try to open all the presents under the tree, but he hasn't. He did bring me a present asking if he could open it, but when I told him that he needed to put it back under the tree, he did! Christmas is going to be so much fun this year!!!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Quick fix

I came across this cute top 75% off at Freddy's this morning. After trying it on, I realized why it was so marked down. It reminded me of a shirt I had in the 90s that I wore with leggings. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a shirt or dress.




Something in me still really liked it so, I bought it and to my surprise, was able to cut off the excess fabric and (GASP) use my sewing machine to put it back together. Have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Self-imposed time out



We hardly every have to use time out at our house. I think we have honestly used it twice and ever since, I just give Carter the option to do as mommy or daddy has asked or sit in time out. The usual response is to do what was asked.

Today was a bit different. We played all morning and it was time to leave the house so, I asked Carter to come with me to get a new diaper and get dressed so that we could leave. This request was followed by about 10 seconds of a hissy-fit. I told him that he could get a new diaper or sit in time out.

He calmly walked over to his bench and sat down.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

More free fun



I found a recipe for homemade play dough and decided to give it a try since we had everything at home to make it. We made orange and green and it really turned out great. For the first 5 minutes, Carter really didn't want anything to do with it, but after I showed him some of the neat things to do with it... well, I may have created a monster. He cannot get enough of it.

I'm also rethinking introducing him to the whole "ta da!" thing.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Free fun

One day, we'll look back on today and say, "remember when he could
have a blast at an arcade without us spending a single penny?"

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A message from Santa

We have been so busy over here! We finally stopped to take a break and saw this come through from Santa:

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/91ImFR8QP45f8ba6hIqSqQ

Looks like Santa has been pretty busy too! Carter LOVED seeing Santa talk directly to him.

Friday, November 19, 2010

It's that time of year again

I can't believe it has been over a year since we had our family photos taken. Last year I was really ahead of the game and had them taken in October and immediately ordered our Christmas cards from Shutterfly. They arrived in no time at all. I actually remember Chris telling me that it was tacky to send Christmas cards before December 1st (in my defense, we were moving December 1st so, I wanted to send them so that I didn’t have to move them). The cards turned out great and it was so easy to design them. And yes, I did wait until December to mail them.

Fast forward to 2010. We're supposed to take a photos this weekend, but the weather doesn't seem to be wanting to cooperate so, we might have to postpone. Good thing I still have some time before I need to get them ordered. Even better, I'm getting mine for free just for writing this post and you can too! Just check out this link.

I'm keeping my card design a surprise until it arrives in your mailbox :)

Artwork

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Terrible 2s continued

Today, I was THAT woman. You know, the one who has the child screaming at the top of his lungs in the grocery store. Yep, that was me.

Carter was well-rested & well-fed when we got to the store, but within 2 minutes, his world came crumbling down when mommy dared to buckle him into the cart. In my defense, I let him go without the seatbelt for a couple of aisles. It was only after he stood up in the cart and would not sit back down that mommy used the seatbelt.

That was all it took. He kicked and screamed all the way to the front of the store to the register. He finally calmed down - I think out of embarrassment - when it was time to pay.

Yep, I was THAT woman today.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Terrible 2s already?

Carter mastered the word "no" this week. Unfortunately he thinks that
it should mean something to mommy EVERY time he uses it. This has
turned nap and bedtime into full-out screaming.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Some time with daddy

I was only gone about an hour, but apparently that is plenty of time
to built a huge fort.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Carter's fortune

Daddy pointed out that his whole life is already a vacation.

Working with dad

Carter and I spent a good half hour in the backyard raking leaves the other day and you could hardly tell we had even been out there. We decided it was time to get daddy a present - a leaf blower! Of course, daddy wanted to check it out INSIDE the house, but, as he told us out loud, he needed a screwdriver. That was it, Carter was off to the playroom.




What you don't see here is that Carter first came back with Filipe and daddy told him that he needed a flathead so, he went back for Turner.

Things I find around my house

Do you see what I see?

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Learning some manners



Notice how every time I mention the food in his mouth he feels the need to show it to me.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Big news for Carter



Carter was given this great book from daddy's cousin Cierra today and it came with an even bigger gift - Carter has been asked to be the ring bearer in Cierra and David's wedding this coming May!!! We are so excited that they asked him to be part of their special day. I can't wait to see what he gets to wear!!!

Like riding a bike

Yesterday morning, Carter and I had NO plans for today. By last night, that all changed.

On the schedule for today: Papa and Neta for lunch with baby Emma (Chris' cousin's 5 months old baby), followed by fun time with Grandma J, followed by or simultaneously having cousin Cierra for a visit.

We were so excited to see Papa and Neta and lil' Emma. After lunch, when they had to leave for Papa's appointment, I begged them to let Emma stay. Carter loves babies and really took to Emma. He gave her some sweet little hugs and after Papa and Neta left, he got a little upset with me for not letting him pick her up by himself. He did get to hold her for a minute, but carrying her around the room... we'll save that for his baby doll.

So, 1:00 came and it was nap time so that Carter could play with Grandma when she got here. All was good until Emma started to cry when I put her in the bumbo to change Carter (I love that I still have all my baby stuff readily available). Carter, although perfectly fine, was very distraught that Emma was upset and started to cry as well. So, we had to do a very hurried "night-night" and leave him crying. With a screaming Emma, I panicked a bit thinking - what they heck am I doing trying to have another baby? I've only had 2 for 10 minutes and they are both crying?! Then, I remembered the swing!!!!

I grabbed the swing out of the guest room closet and placed Emma in it. The crying stopped immediately. She loved the swaying and the toys on the bar. By this point, Carter had completely passed out as well (it took all of about 2.5 minutes for him). 5 minutes later, Emma was passed out as well. Oh, how I love that swing and the wonders that it works.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Imagine my embarrassment when I realized that I didn't post a Halloween Jib Jab for my new nephew! He wasn't around last year so, it's only right to include him this year! As always, Isabelle seems to steal the show with her moves - You go girl!

Happy Halloween


Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Shots & trains

Today Carter and I head to the doctor's to get some vaccinations. First, the flu shot, you know, just cause. Then, we got the Hep B shot which they've wanted him to get since birth and I've been putting off since he's not at-risk as well as the Hep A shot. I've read, and his doctor agreed, that he should get these as his new brother or sister may put him at risk (Hep A can be spread like a regular cold). Obviously, we'll know more when we know who our new family member will be, but the vaccinations take a few shots and several months, so I wanted to get them out of the way now while we know we have plenty of time.

So, we got to the doctor's office and Carter was thrilled to see the train table. He even pointed and said something close to "train!". I responded with "yes, it's a train!" and he quickly said "choo choo." So cute!

The shots went OK. He cried so hard when they happened, but when I asked if he wanted to play with the train some more, the tears dried right up! We went out to the waiting room and played for another 15 minutes or so before I had to drag him away.

I guess I have an idea of a birthday/Christmas present this year.. 

Little vultures

So Carter and I got back from some errands and the moment I set him down inside the house, there was a knock at the door. I should have known better than to answer it. I naively thought it might be UPS or FedEx and that I was lucky to have made it home just in time to greet them. Wrong. As I have already learned, a knock at the door THE MINUTE I get home means that there is a neighborhood child wanting to sell me something who has been watching for me to get home.

Don't start thinking I'm some sort of scrooge. I'm all about Girl Scout cookies and school fundraisers. What I'm not about is kids wanting to wash my car or sell me Chip Ahoy cookies right from the bag just because they want some money. Such was the case today. The repeat offender showed up asking if he could rake my leaves. I told him honestly that I didn't know if I even had any money to pay him and I asked him to give me like 15 minutes to get Carter fed and see if I have any money. He agreed and as he left, I saw the whole handful of leaves on our lawn. OK - we don't need help raking those up.

I fed Carter and with no further knock at the door, we proceeded to bath time. As I got Carter out of the tub and to his room for a diaper, I heard a knock. There was no way I was going to rush down to answer it so, I got Carter into his PJs during which time the knocks continued and got LOUDER.

I finally took Carter to the door to find that he had raked the few leave in our yard. I told him I was surprised he had raked them given our discussion to which he replied, "you can pay me tomorrow."

HOW SLICK IS THAT?

I wonder if their parents have any idea that they do this...

I asked him to wait as I ran through the house looking for spare change. Since we recently put it all in a piggy bank that requires braking it to get to it, I was left with about $1.04 from my purse, car and random dish in the office.

I went out and handed it to him.

To be honest, he did about $1.04 worth of work. That said, I'm sure he expected $5. Maybe he'll learn a lesson from this.... don't do the work before being told you'll be paid.... or, quite messing with the newest neighbors - they're on to us!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Rain boots



These used to be such cute shoes. Now that he refuses to take them
off, they have lost their appeal. He wears them ALL day!!!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Coffee date

Chris ran a race this morning and Carter and I went to cheer him on.
It was raining so badly, Carter and I changed our plans to a coffee
date. We'll meet daddy at the finish line!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Bad haircut

We tried a new place for Carter's haircut this time. End result: bad
haircut and a blue-stained t-shirt from the sucker they gave him.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Halloween sneak peek

If you know Carter, you know what he will be for Halloween this year. I've been slowly acquiring all the pieces from the green shirt to the workman boots throughout the year.  After finding the plain green T-shirt, the hardest piece was a tool belt that fits an almost 2 year old. I finally decided to improvise and make my own.


I started with a $1 adult tool belt from Walmart and cut it in half. Then, I had to pull out the seams and shorten it.




Look Grandma! I actually used pins to hold everything in place before I stitched (I usually don't have the patience for this step).


Finally, I added the ties back on and stitched 2 lines to divide the tool belt into 3 sections. 


It seems to hold his tools just fine!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Breyden #1

I'm just realizing that I haven't posted about Carter's buddy,
Breyden! Breyden's daddy works with Chris and we've been having weekly
play dates for about a month. He is such a sweetheart!
Now that Carter knows a Breyden and a Brayden, we'll call Brayden with
an "a" Brady :)

A new buddy

We had a play date with Brayden and his mommy today. Brayden's dad
works with Chris AND grew up in Reno. What are the odds?

Brayden is about 4 months younger than Carter, but they had a great
time -as did the moms.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Got to love the Gap Card!

Carter and I just got back from the Gap. I had a return to make and today seemed like the perfect day since EVERYTHING IS 40% - it's 45% off if you use your Gap card.

Crazy, right? I know! It got even better for us.

For some reason, the 45% had to be hand calculated by the cashier if you used your card. When I got home, I looked at the recent and it turns out, I got 55% off! Poor girl. She took the number x .45 (the discount) and charged me that instead of subtracting it from the total. The mall is a good 25 minutes away so, there's no way I'm driving all the way back now to insist I pay the correct amount.

So, go go go! You still have time to make it there today for 40-45% off of EVERYTHING!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

If you give a mouse a cookie...



My little Silhouette project got me thinking about my pantry. Of course, I know where everything is and it IS organized, but to anyone else, it probably doesn't look like it. So, with the cute little "pantry" sign on the door, I decided to I needed to make the inside look better as well. 

Before:


AFTER:


I know. It looks like I threw out a ton of stuff, but I didn't. I just combined duplicates and got rid of big, bulky boxes and bags by transferring the contents to other containers. Now, if I can just keep Carter out of there! He keeps moving things just for fun!

It's a love hate relationship

I finally came out from living under a rock and learned about the Silhouette SD. Wow, that things that machine can do are AMAZING! There was a great promotion going on to save about $100 on the purchase so, I took the bate and waited anxiously for it to arrive.

All my excitement was damped when it arrived without any sort of instructions. They advertised that it was now compatible with the Mac so, I shouldn't have any problems, right? Wrong. All the software that they sent was only for the PC. I was able to go online and find a download for the main software, but the instructional CD, well when I called Silhouette they informed me that they had not yet created the CD for the mac.

So, there I was with a great machine and no clue how to use it. Thank God it's 2010 and U-Tube and a bunch of women with experience who like to film themselves exist. I'm still trying to figure out most of the functions, but I was able to complete one project which I'm pretty happy with. That said, I was able to complete this project using Cricket products (vinyl and transfer tape). The Silhouette brand would not stick to the door which makes it pretty useless.




We've had enough people try to get to the garage via the pantry that I thought this was no only cute, but warranted. 

Friday, October 8, 2010

Bye-bye highchair?

Lately Carter has been insisting on sitting in a big boy chair to eat.
I miss the highchair already.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mommy's helper

I was telling Carter all about his cousin Isabelle helping her mommy
with the laundry and he must have gotten my hint! One if his new
favorite activities is sweeping and swiffering.

(yes Uncle Nick, he again doesn't have pants on). :)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

OMSI

I had been told that Carter was too young to enjoy the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) so, we haven't made a huge effort to go there. What a mistake! He had a blast and so did we! We spent a few hours there and will definitely be going back.

***I swear that I was there as well. I just didn't make it into any photos




Lessons from Dad

Carter is learning new things everyday most of which I take credit for since I'm the one with him EVERYDAY, but some... some, I have to give credit where it is due.

Like this morning for example. I left the boys alone when I went to my workout class and when I got home, I found this:


Let me explain what you're seeing here. This is an example of how you can support your two favorite teams at the same time. Oregon Beavers hat and windbreaker accompanied by UNR Wolfpack sweatpants and blue and white striped stockings. But wait, there's more!

This is also a lesson on time-saving dressing techniques. Why take the pajamas off to get dressed in the morning? Just layer your clothes on top of them! hmm.. Why didn't mommy think of that?!


Friday, October 1, 2010

Static cling

This is new.... We're experiencing little meltdowns whenever I leave
Carter with the daycare lady (who he LOVES) at the gym and now this...
At home in our kitchen....

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Say what?



Did you hear him?! Clear as day: "Hi-Ho Silver Away!"

Baby is getting around

Just look where I found him today. He really likes to try out all of
Carter's toys. It's really sweet how much Carter takes him around with
him. He's not so much playing with the baby doll as he is playing and
baby doll is with him. Just like his little brother or sister will be
;)

Friday, September 24, 2010

So tired!

We're closing in on 2 weeks since Carter took his last morning nap! I've already gotten so used to having more time to be out and about in the morning that I can hardly remember what it was like having to put him down for a nap so early.

I've started working out at Barre3 (which is kicking my butt in a good way) and Carter has really enjoyed going along since he's usually the only kid and gets all the toys and the babysitter to himself. We usually work out, come home for lunch and then it's nap time. Yesterday was a different story.

He feel asleep on the 5 minute ride home. Usually, when the car stops, he wakes up and we would go about our plans. Yesterday.... I got him out of the car, changed his diaper on the living room floor, carried him over the baby gate, upstairs and laid him in his bed. He slept for an hour and a half.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Stroller/baby update

Home study meeting #1



Our social worker thought it would work out best if Carter wasn't home while we did our home study as it was mostly talking and he would be a distraction. So, Auntie Lindsey showed up bright and early to take Carter out for some fun.

When they arrived home with Grandma Cupcake in tow, it looked like they had just spent the day at an amusement park! They had been to Cafe Sip 'n' Play for some play time/coffee and then apparently to Toys R' Us and then out to lunch.

They came in with boxes and toys. One was a potty training Elmo complete with sippy cup and potty. The other was a practice baby and stroller to help him prepare for his baby brother or sister. I'm pretty sure he likes the stroller more than the actual baby.

Edited to add the below photos - it really was like an amusement park

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The little boss man



We spent most of yesterday at Auntie Lindsey's house helping with yard work. Boy, does she have some amazing friends! There must have been 10 of us there doing yard work (building fences, gates, weeding, and laying gravel in her driveway).  There aren't too many people that I would give up a Saturday to do THEIR yard work for, but as much as Lindsey does for us, it was a no-brainer. I think all of her friends felt the same.

We had a blast out in the rain and the icing on top was the yummy chili and cornbread Lindsey made. Carter was such a good boy for us! He brought his shovel and helped as much as he could. He needed a break before the rest of us, but he still wanted to be part of the action so, he sat on the front step to supervise.

Auntie - we need an "after" photo since the video is definitely a "half-way" point.

Benny the Beaver

Thank you to whoever gave Carter his "hello Benny Beaver" book prior
to his being born. It is one of his FAVORITES. As you can see, he
insisted we had to take it with us yesterday as he was not done
reading it for the 1000th time.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Nap time or gymnastics?

Good things come in small packages

I've been expecting something for a little while now. I've been so excited and yet, wasn't supposed to tell people yet. So, with all my excitement, I've been researching and reading to keep my mind occupied. Through this reading, I stumbled upon a blog that had a necklace that I just had to have. It was a steal of a deal too!

And so, I then was expecting a package while I was expecting the thing I was not supposed to talk about yet.

The package arrived!



I opened it to find a beautiful necklace, but not THE necklace. Got to admit... I was bummed. I contacted the creator and let her know and she was BEYOND apologetic. She said that I could keep the necklace sent by mistake AND she would send my necklace the very next day. How cool is that?!

I decided to share her generosity and gave the necklace to Gramma Cupcake who adores it. Anyway, my package arrived today. Not only did it have my perfect necklace, it also had a pair of very cute earrings for the mix-up. Completely unnecessary, but I love them!

OK. So what was in my little package?

It says "Expecting from Ethiopia"

For more, check out our secret blog: www.therobertshouseadoption.blogspot.com

Please allow everyone else to find out about our news just as you did. It is so much more fun when people check-in to our blog looking for a hoe hum post about Carter and instead find something exciting. 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Espanol tambien?!

Brilliant?

He may not say much. He probably can't tell you which toy is blue, but
the important stuff he knows.

Back on the wagon

I stepped on the scale after Vegas and did not like what I saw. I
wasn't surprised given that I don't like how any of my clothes are
fitting lately. It's amazing what 5 lbs can do!

So, I'm back on the weight watchers wagon. I try to not make Chris
suffer with me. He definitely doesn't need to skimp on the calories
so, shopping sometimes requires additional variety.



Classic: 7 points/serving and oh so good, but too spicy for Carter.
White Chili: 5 points/serving and good, but Chris always gets chicken. Does he really need it in his chili too?
Veggie: 3 little point/serving!

I probably could have gotten just the veggie, but the 99% fat free scared me. After a long day's work, the last thing Chris needs is something that tastes fat free. No worries! This veggie chili was just as good as the classic that I remember.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Vegas baby

When 2 of the 3 (yes, we have 3 which is CRAZY) bathrooms in your
hotel room are nicer than what you have at home, it might be time to
renovate.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Carter's Barbie Babe


We had so much fun yesterday at the circus with the Dawsons. We got to try out the box seats which was perfect for a 1 year old who can't sit still for the entire show. I think his favorite part was the elephants. 



Afterwards, Ciera was a huge help at dinner watching Carter and keeping him entertained. She then took him for a ride in her hot pink Barbie jeep up their driveway. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. He just sat there with her, enjoying the radio and her commentary on the different types of fruit trees in the yard.



Tuesday, August 31, 2010

A new patio

We're starting the paver patio today and Carter is loving watching it
all happen!