9 months on, 9 months off

That's what they tell you. It takes you 9 months to put on the weight so, give yourself 9 months to take it off. Well, here I am 9 months and one week from Christmas Eve 2008 and I am finally back to my pre-baby weight. Yeah! It actually only took one month - I just sat on my butt for the first 8 before realizing that I probably should get rid of the last 10 pounds sooner rather than later.

Only problem is, that number on the scale looks just like it did the day of our wedding, but my body looks NOTHING the same. I guess I'll have to reset my goal. Less than 3 months until we're back in Maui and I have to wear the same swimsuit I wore on our honeymoon!

My baby is so tall

It used to be that we talked about how long Carter was. I realized today when I saw him pull himself to the window to look out that he isn't "long" any more. He's tall. Carter is tall enough to look out the window.

My football watching boys

Then..



and now..

Our baby is... skinny?

Carter turned 9 months old yesterday so, we headed in to see good ol' (actually very young - Dougie Houser like) Dr. Voytas. Carter seems to be a little ahead of the game with his crawling and pulling up on everything and right on par with everything else. The big surprise came when we found out that Carter weighs 21 pounds 8 ounces (is that all?! He is so heavy!) and is 29 3/4 inches long.

On the charts, he is in the 90% for his height (he is taller than 90% of all babies his age) and only 70% for his weight. In Dr. Voytas' words: "he's on the skinny side, but that's fine."

What?! Please repeat. THE SKINNY SIDE.

He has thinned out a bit from all his activity. I guess it is those squeezable cheeks that had me thinking he was still my tubby baby.

Halloween Costume

I came across this cute little costume yesterday and decided to try it out for Carter's big 1st Halloween. You can use the poll on the side to weigh-in. What do you think - should he be a jack-o-lantern?

Ma Ma

GG hit it on the head in her last comment. Carter FINALLY started saying "ma ma" last week. Music to my ears after waiting on him hand and foot for 9 months! Of course, he mastered "da da" months ago.

my lil' cage dancer

I did some more Carter-proofing of the house today which included buying another baby jail. This one converts into a little jail or a straight line/fence which is how we will more often use it to keep Carter in the living room and away from the stair and kitchen. I had it set up, waiting for daddy to install the anchors to the wall and decided to test out how it would hold up to little man.



His new thing is to stand up and dance whenever he hears music. I probably shouldn't encourage it when he is in the baby jail.. It makes him look like an exotic cage dancer.

Confused mommy

OK.. Not confused. I totally realize that I had my son in a baseball shirt with basketball shorts and gave him a football to play with..



I just haven't had anything that goes with the red short until now. That is daddy's baseball shirt. If you look close, you might be able to see that it says "Chris"

Our day at the Pumpkin Patch

Last week we headed to Sauvie Island to the Pumpkin Patch with Kerrie, Will and Auntie Lindsey. It was near impossible to get both the boys to look at the camera at the same time.




They were so interested in the hay. Kerrie and I had to keep running over and taking it out of their hands right before it made it to their mouths.




They had a barn with animals in it. Carter's favorite was Victor, the goat.




The little cow rides weren't in operation that day, but boy did Carter get a kick out of ol' Harry! Will wasn't quite so sure...









We couldn't leave without buying some yummy fruit and veggies. Butternut squash, peaches, pumpkin and... a baby?

Thanks a LOT Auntie

No really, thanks. I wasn't worried about the stairs before, but now.. now I have to make sure the gate is up at all times.

Just look what Auntie Lindsey taught Carter yesterday!



Sorry it's such a close-up. I had to be RIGHT behind him.

What? For me?!!

The afternoon before I left for Vegas, there was a loud banging on the door while I was feeding Carter. I opened it to find a big box left by UPS. Inside, another box, wrapped up all cute.



Since it was sent to Carter, I let him open it.



Ok. I let him try to open it. He was SO excited when I finally got it open for him.




He could hardly wait for me to get it out of the packaging.



Still not sure what it is? Neither was Carter. I think this is the first toy that he has run from, which might have been more entertaining for me than him playing with any other toy. It took a few days, but now he LOVES this toy!! I'll have to tape him playing with it and post it. Thanks Uncle TJ, Auntie Storm and little Miss Isabelle!

Catching up

I'm frantically posting trying to get caught up. Chris and I went on a business trip to Vegas this past week/weekend and left little man with Grandma J. Chris left Tuesday morning and I stayed with Carter until Thursday morning. Man, those Audigy Group employees are like energizer bunnies! We had to be in the conference center and ready to go by 6:30 am and the day didn't end until at least 9:30. We are exhausted and the days were even longer without my favorite little guy. We did bring a little something back for him:

and then there were four

Chris and I just got back from Vegas and found 2 more teeth showing in Carter's mouth! We'll take a picture when you can actually see them in a photo!!

I am so over toys!

Now that Carter can get anywhere he wants in about 2 seconds flat, he is really checking everything out. He is over his little basket of toys, the fire engine, anything he is supposed to play with. Now he is into sharp corners, electrical outlets (covered, thankfully) and our magazines.

My little indian - on the go

A little help for mommy

Carter has finally got the hang of feeding himself little pieces of cereal, yogurt drops and anything else that Gerber says is OK for me to give him. These little snacks keep him entertained while I get his real food ready.

If you love someone, let them go.

As much as we swore that having a baby wouldn't affect Mona, boy did her life change when Carter was born. By choice, she started sleeping in her kennel in our room instead of on our bed. She didn't get to go with me on quick trips to the grocery - it is hard enough to get Carter and all of his things together let alone a dog. Her occasional barking when the doorbell rings turned into a felony offense as it might wake Carter from a nap.

We went back and forth about what was best for Mona and ended up deciding that the only reason to keep her was because we love her so much. Since she clearly is not enjoying her new life with children, we decided not to be selfish and let her go. So, she is off to a better place. A place with a huge yard that is tightly secured for little dogs with no little holes to get out. A place with a little friend, a dog, just her size, to play with. A place with its own personal dog chef, Chuck. Yes, Mona is off to Lake Tahoe to live with her previous baby sitter, Chuck and his wonderful girlfriend, Tina. She'll share her new home with Etufay "Etu" - the little dog her same size, and a cat that she adores.

We'll miss you little Mona, but we know that you'll be so much happier in your new home where you will be showered with attention and no little babies to deal with. We'll see you in about a month for a visit!

Good morning!

After waking up to some baby babble on the monitor, this is what I wake up to each morning.


I can't believe that just a few months ago I was just seeing this much of him.

Mall Therapy

Aside from comfort food, I have found that shopping is the next best pick-me-up. So, this past weekend we treated ourselves to a little mall therapy. Turns out, shopping for Carter is the best pick-me-up especially when we get to watch him enjoy a new toy.



I'll post a video a bit later. This nifty little table teaches him Spanish too!!