Weekend in Conway

It is Tuesday and I am just now re-cooperating from our weekend get-a-way.  We had plans to leave Nashville around 2:00 so we could get up to Conway a little early and spend some time with Cousin Nolan and his parents.  Around 1:00 I notice that my tire light is on but I still drive it town and not think anything about it because it does come on occasionaly without anything being wrong with it.  When I got to town I noticed that my tahoe was slightly lower to one side.  I get out when I get to my dad's office and I have a flat.  So I ask him if he can keep the little one while I went and had it fixed.  Long story short...I needed 4 brand new tires and an alignment.  My tahoe needs huge tires so.....$924.00 later I have a smooth riding tahoe and we didn't get to leave until about 4:00.  Talk about mad!!!  My sweet, loving hubby paid for it and I could tell that he was not thrilled about it.

Anyway, I won't go into full fledge detail, like usual, about my weekend.  We had lots of fun though.  We got to see lots of family and friends which was much needed for us.  This weekend is just what the doctor ordered.  Carter was in a really good mood the entire weekend.  He was constantly on the go!  He ate like a pig, played so hard, and pretty much showed out for everyone.  Nick got to spend some quality time with friends that he don't get to see near enough.  He had a great time.  I didn't get to have as much friend time as I wanted but I still had a great time with family and hanging out with Carter.

Nolans birthday was great.  He is such a special little boy and so very handsome.  I can't believe that he is one.  It just honestly don't seem possible.  It just seems like he should be about 5 months old.  NOT 12!!!  He was surrounded by all the great people that love him on his birthday and you could tell that he loved the attention.  He is the happiest 1 year old that I have ever seen and that's so great.  I know that Abbie and Neil are so proud to be able to call him their son and I know they have so many enjoyable moments everyday.  I am so glad that Carter is able to have him as a cousin and one day best friend.  I see lots of trouble being stirred up by those two and I would not have it any other way.  Don't think that this momma/aunt won't give some whippings though!! :)   They will make so many great memories together.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROARK NOLAN REEVES!!  We love you.

Day 1

1 Year

T-R-O-U-B-L-E



A Date in the Bathtub

Mine and Callie's wonderful husbands went yo-yo fishing last night (Callie and I tried our hardest to figure out what in the world that was).  Supposedly they put some kind of fishing stuff in the water and then wait a couple hours to see if they caught any.  Really??  Do they just stare at each other during those two hours?  Then what if nothing was on the string?  They just waisted all that time for absolutely nothing?  Just sounds like a very lame excuse to get out of Daddy duties to me!  Naw, I'm just joshing!  I am glad that they got to go actually do something fun and during the week.  They both work lots of hours so I guess they deserve it.  But honestly, if it was me and I got to choose something to do fun I would for sure not choose to go sit in a boat staring at the water for hours waiting for something to jump on it.  Just sayin. 

Callie invited Carter and I over to hang out for a while since we would both be manning the babies by ourselves.  The kiddos had a good time.  Ava was all over the place laughing and walking up a storm while Carter does his usual thing.....playing with toys by himself in silence and not wanting to be bothered.  Two totaly different personalities there.  We decided to give them a bath together.  We are already planning their wedding and this will for sure be on their slide show during the ceremony.

You can't get any more precious than that!!

Here recently I bought my three most favorite babies some of the cutest Easter baskets!  They were a really great price so I just had to get them.  Here is Ava's:

And here is Carter's and my nephew Nolan's:

They are so much bigger than what I thought they would be!

Since Nick's mom loves Easter, probably just as much as Christmas, I have decided to let her have them so she can fill them up and give them to the boys.  I really think she will love that.  She always goes all out for Easter. 

We have such a busy weekend planned.  Since Nolan's birthday party is Saturday, we have decided to just make a weekend out of it and stay in Conway from Friday to probably Monday.  We are staying with Nick's best friend, Brent.  We both have several friends in that area so we will be making our rounds to see everyone before and after the big birthday bash!  I can't believe that my precious nephew will be one year old tomorrow.  That just hurts my little ol' soul.  They are not supposed to grow up this fast.  Before we know it they will be starting school.  Scary.





OH HAPPY DAY!!

Carter only woke up twice last night and cried for about 5 minutes the first time and 1 minute the second time.  I could tell that his cry was a cry that meant that he was not hurting so we never went in because he has gotten used to us walking in right when he made a whimper and I wanted to see how well the medicine was working.  After he realized that we were not coming in he went right back to sleep and pretty much slept all night.  He was actually in his crib and not his swing, too!  I really hope that last night was a testament of how our nights are going to be from here on out!  I have no clue what time he actually woke up this morning because I was gone by 5:30 but man I feel great and I know that Carter probably does too.  He sure needs to start sleeping a lot more, especially during the day!  He is taking his medicine, twice a day, like a pro so I have a feeling it is really going to go into effect here in a couple of days.

The food making is still rocking and rolling.  Big boy is almost off of baby food!  I am wanting him to get a little better with textures but he is eating all of his fruits, veggies, and pasta by himself.  Next I am going to start letting him eat chicken with his fingers.  Things like his oatmeal and organic brown rice I am going to still have to feed him but other than that he is doing really well doing it himself.  After he runs out of his breakfast stuff that I have already made I am going to make him some pancakes...but of course I have to use whole wheat flour, sneak some veggie puree in with the batter, and top it off with blueberries, applesauce, and possibly some banana and peaches.  I have a feeling he will love it.  Breakfast is when he gets all of his fruits and lunch and dinner he usually loads up on protein and veggies.  After he gets used to eating chicken, we are moving on to turkey.  We are going to hold off a while on red meat. 





Cousin Time and 10 Months

Carter and Nolan got to have lots and lots of cousin time this weekend.  They are so super cute together!  These were taken at Nick's parent's house.

Carter has two new obsessions....spinning tires and opening and closing doors.  Once he gets started on one of these he will be there for a good 20 minutes.

____________________________________________________________

My baby boy is 10 months old today.  I can't believe it.  Only 2 months until his big birthday bash!!  He is doing so well on his feet.  His balance is still not all that great but he is a walking machine with his toys, along furniture, walls, ect.  As long as he can hang on to something he is good to go!  He is wearing shoes every day now so he can get used to them.  He was really sloppy with them a couple days ago and now they really don't bother him anymore.

Richard Carter,

Hey little buddy!  I still love you more than anything in this world and I am still your most favorite person!  Your daddy gets so mad and I love that!!  He tries so hard to get you to like him more than me but we have that unbreakable bond.  I know my days are limited until you will no longer want to be with me, though, so I am soaking it all in.  You have yet to give Daddy kisses and you kiss me about 50 times a day.  You rock!  Men are still not on your high list but you really love the ladies!!  If it is not a man that you are around A LOT  then you are really not comfortable with them at all!  But a woman that you have never seen before can hold you all day.  I still rock you to sleep every single time you go to sleep.  People make fun of me for that but guess what.....it is my most favorite time of the day and you really like it so that's what we are going to do until you will not let me anymore.  The best advice that I have ever gotten that made the most sense to me was to hold you as long and as much as I can because I only have a couple of years to do that.  A couple of years will just fly by.  Almost one year already has and it seriously needs to slow down.  Your daddy and I love to sit and watch you.  We could do it for hours.  We always wonder what in the world is going on in your head.  You are the biggest analyzer that we have ever seen....especially for a baby.  Your attention span is so huge and you will stay on one thing trying to figure it out for a long time.  Even though you have a few minor complications breathing and sleeping you are still a very happy baby and very rarely fussy.  We are so thankful for that.  I love you always!

Love, Mom  

Children's Hospital

Welp, yesterday was the day.  Carter's doctor appointment at Children's Hospital.  We were wanting answers so bad but I was really not ready for it.  I was so unsure about what they were going to put Carter through to see what was going on inside him. 

We got there and checked in.  I gotta say, Children's Hospital has it going on.  Everything was so set up and so organized.  All I had to do was take a piece of paper that they sent me in the mail and scan it on the computer and make sure all of our information was correct and wait for them to call our name.  They finally did about 10 minutes of sitting there in the LARGE waiting room and I had to fill out just a couple of pages and that was it.  Anyways, we talked to a nurse for a little bit and they sprayed something up Carter's nose to numb from his nose all the way down to his voice box.  The doctor came in and asked me a couple of questions and took a look at Carter's ears and throat and listened to his lungs.  He said his ears looked great and that we might not ever have to deal with infections.  Then we went into a different room where they were going to look inside him.  A really sweet nurse came in with a sheet that she wrapped around Carter's arms and held his head and they assured me that nothing was going to hurt Carter.  He hates being held down so he screamed the whole time.  Another nurse took a very small camera that was attached to a very long wire thingy.  They stuck it up his nose and pushed it down.  The doctor and I were looking at the screen and seeing everything as it went down and he was telling me everything that he saw.  Come to find out he has very swollen adenoids which is why he has a hard time breathing out of his nose.  The back of his throat was blood red and swollen which is caused by acid reflux coming up when he lays down to sleep....which explains his horrible sleeping hobbits and why he only sleeps good in his swing or car seat (elevated).  I sure hope the medicine works because he is about 2-3 lbs away from being too heavy for his swing.  He was very surprised when I told him that Carter has spit up maybe 5 times his whole life because usually babies with reflux spit up a whole lot.  But he said that it just gets to the back of his throat and goes back down and it is very painful and burns very bad.  Lastly, the flap that covers his voice box is very immature and loose so the liquids that he drinks goes in there and that is what has made him sound so congested all of the time.  The voice box flap with correct itself.  All of that also explains why he gets high fever so often.

As of right now no surgery is required.  We have to give him 2 different kinds of medicine, along with his fluoride drops, twice a day until we go back in 3 months.  This should be reeeaaaalll fun.  One is a nasal spray that will shrink his adenoids and the other it a liquid that is taken by mouth that will help with his reflux.  He said that we should tell a difference in 1-2 weeks.  If the meds don't work then we will talk about surgery to take the adenoids out.  The bad thing is, the nasal spray is not covered on our insurance and it is 150 bucks a pop!!  If it works, though, it will be so worth it.  He also said that once we get all of this straightened up then I will have a totally different baby...a lot healthier and happy and a baby that will sleep ALL NIGHT.  Nick and I won't know what to think.  He said that Carter was not sleeping near enough for his age but he is growing and developing perfectly. 

A couple things that I have thought about over and over and over since his appointment.  Nick and I were told 100 times from lots of different people to just let him cry it out when he gets up to cry during the night because that was the only way he was going to learn to sleep all night.  I am not downing the people that told me that because I thought the same thing and I thought it was very good advice, but you just don't know how bad I feel knowing that he was screaming because he was really hurting.  He just wanted his parents to make the pain go away and we just left him in his room crying by himself.  I had myself a break down last night, in my shower, thinking about it because we let him cry it out several nights.  Poor baby.  I don't know why in the world he was so happy to see me the next morning, but he was.  I know he does not understand or remember crying it out all night...or maybe he does.  But I wish we were all like that.....easy to forgive the ones we love.  I know I could learn from that lesson.  The next thing I thought of....Carter's health issues might sound like a big deal but after seeing all of the other children there, I welcome this and I am thankful for it.  Carter's little problem is nothing compared.  All of the sick children in the world will forever be in my prayers every night along with their parents. It just made me sit back and realize how blessed I really am.

On a better note, I bought myself a little happy yesterday.  Since Carter is learning to walk and falling more, Nick and I decided to get a bigger rug for our living room to soften his fall.  I went to Garden Ridge and I was kinda overwhelmed because they only have 21592359723597 rugs to choose from.  I looked at about a million of them and I came across one that just jumped out at me and told me to take it home.  I knew it was the one.  I don't know why either because it is so not my usual style.  I have more of a simple style and this rug is just the opposite of simple.  I guess I just got a wild hair.  But I love it and I think it looks great in my living room.  I really don't think Nick is too happy about it, though.  I also bought pillows for our couches to match.

And here is my sweet boy being good eating his snacks while Mommy shops

When we got home Carter was so glad to see all of his toys.  He was so sick of being held, or in his stroller and car seat.  We let him run naked for a little bit before his bath.  He LOVES to be naked.  That how he would like to be 24/7 if we let him.



Snow Day

Yesterday was Carter's first snow day.  I was so excited when we got up so I could take some really cute pictures.  Carter went down for a nap around 9:00.  I figured it would be just one of his 20 minute ones.  I hurried and got his snow suits and layers out so we could go outside and take some pictures and I also had Nick put his wagon together that he got for Christmas.  2 1/2 hours later he woke up and it was raining and it rained for the rest of the day.  BOOOO!!!  So no pictures.  The one day that he actually takes a good long nap it had to be on his first snow day.  I was so upset.



Tonya Stanley came over around noon so we could do Cardio X from P90X.   Boy, talk about rough!  But we did manage to finish it with only taking one short (30 second) water break.  Since I worked out I was feeling pretty good about myself and asked Nick if he would get me a six inch sub from Subway...ya know...trying to be healthy and all.  He comes back with a six inch, salt and vinegar chips, two cookies, and a coke!!!!!  Yes, I ate it alllll.  After I ate every bite I got on to him for bringing that and he informed me that the cookies and coke were for him but he didn't want to stop me because I was eating them like they were going out of existence.  Neither one of us need them so I still got on to him.

After Tonya left Carter had his lunch.  For some reason he was very very hyper and got into a giggling mood and could not stop.  He would just look at me and start laughing.  After I started doing silly stuff he really got to laughing but I had to stop because he was starting to spit out his lunch all over me.  For lunch I made him whole grain wheat pasta spirals with marinara.  I made the marinara out of tomatoes, zucchini, and carrots.  He loved it!

After another hour nap we went over and ate at Grams and Grumps house.  Carter got to play with lots of new toys that Grams got for her house.  He loved them.  She got a wooden toy that came with wooden pegs and a wooden hammer.  Instead of Carter hammering the pegs out he just pulled them out with his hands and decided to put bite marks in them.  I don't guess there is a wrong way to play with a toy!

He ate so good again that night.  He had chicken for the first time.  I mixed it with sweet potatoes and green beans and he loved it.  I could not get it to his mouth fast enough.  For dessert he had watermelon and cantaloupe.  He ate so much!  Then we got home he was so wore out.  He could not even wake up for a bath so we skipped it, which we hardly ever do unless he is running a fever.  I figured he would be up a lot since he had two good naps but he slept all night long until 6:30. 

Today he will pretty much have what he ate yesterday but I made him a Valentine's Day dessert that I know he will love: Sugar free red jello with mango mixed in with it.

Happy Valentine's Day!!



Carter Lately

If you are sick of hearing about Carter and all of his milestones....this blog is not for you :)

My Carter is starting to get sick again!!  Ugh!!  He is starting to cough, he is snorting like a pig when he breathes out of his nose, and I can feel a rattle when I touch his back.  No fever or runny nose yet thank goodness!  This has been the story of his life since he has been born and I hate it for him.  Thank goodness we have a doctor appointment at the ear, nose, and throat doctor at Children's next Thursday.  Maybe we will get some answers.  I just hope he does not get too bad so we don't have to make a doctor's appointment with his doctor before then.  Nick and I are a nervous wreck because, supposedly, RSV and Pneumonia are going around pretty bad for the little ones right now.  My sister-in-law, Abbie, has informed me that it is ZERO fun.  My poor nephew, Nolan, had to go through it and he handled it like the champ that he is.  Thank goodness he is so tough!

Carter is doing well eating whole fruits and veggies!  At one point I thought he would be on pureed food forever.  The things that he refused to eat last week he is eating like crazy this week.  His favorite veggie is sweet potato and there is a tie between kiwi, watermelon, and apple being his favorite fruit.  He loves organic brown rice with any fruit or veggie and next week I am going to try some whole grain pasta mixed with carrots and tomato with some strawberries for dessert.  I see a huge mess in his near future!  Breakfast is his most favorite meal of the day.  This week he is getting bananas, peaches, blueberries and banana flavored yogurt mixed in with his oatmeal.  He eats that like he is a wild animal.  I can't get the food on his spoon and to his mouth fast enough.  He spends the majority of his time yelling at me trying to get me to hurry for his next bite.  His least favorite veggie is asparagus and I have not found a fruit that he does not like.  I have decided to keep making his food all through his toddler years.  It is so fun and gives me such a good feeling knowing exactly what he is consuming.  I know that he is eating so healthy.  If I got in the habbit and ate what he ate with more added meat then I would be in good shape!! He is 9 1/2 months old and has never had anything with preservatives in it. 

He is still obessed with his books and flash cards.  He will throw the biggest fit you ever saw if you put them up before he is ready to.  I have learned that if you do not have about 30 minutes to sit with him and go through them then don't even let him see them.  If he is acting up in a restaurant or somehere in public all I have to do is get a book out and he is good to go!  I can put two flash cards down in front of him with a cat on one and a cow on the other.  I will ask him which one the cat is and he will pick the right one every time.  I will switch them up 100 times and he will always pick the right one.  If I ask which one is the cow he will always pick up the cow.  He will get it wrong every now and then but it just tells me that the flash cards and books are really helping and I am so glad that he LOVES them.  I am going to start putting down three at a time and see how he does with that.  We are still learning body parts and for some reason he has forgotten where his nose is.  He was getting it right every time last week and now he is not doing it anymore.  Little stinker!

Still no words.  Every now and then dada will sneak out and that is it.  For the most part he is really quiet and keeps to himself.  Even when we look at our books and flash cards he sits there in silence just looking and soaking it all up.  Every now and then he will get in a talky/screamy mood but not too often.  He mostly expresses himself through facial expressions.  Nick's mom said Nick was the exact same way when he was a baby.  He will crawl from toy to toy, walk with his walking toys, turn pages in his book, and watch cartoons for hours without making a sound.  He does get really really vocal when he laughs.  He laughs with all of his might.  Sometimes he laughs so hard he will throw back his head and fall backwards....lol.

He can now walk beside us just holding on with one hand.  That took a while before he got brave enough to let go with the other hand but he is doing really well.  I honestly think he will be walking within the next month or so....for sure before his 1st birthday.  His balance still has a lot of improving to do.  All of our house is hardwood and tile so we were having to walk behind him when he walked with his walking toy because he would fall every now and then.  Now he is good enough that we just let him roam the house with it.  He will crash every now and then and it is VERY dramatic but that hardly happens anymore.  Now I just wish he could figure out how to turn the toy around instead of expecting the wall to move out of his way.

He knows what the word no means and listens so well.....as of right now.  I can always tell when he is going for the dvd case or a picture frame that is on a lower shelf that he loves to knock over.  Right when I say, "Carter no."  He turns and looks at me, smiles, and goes a different direction.  Nick says no more firm that I do so he listens to him more.

Anything and everything goes straight to his mouth if it is on the floor or in his reach.  If there is a dead fly in the floor he will pick it up and put it in his mouth.  He has done that and I almost broke my neck trying to stop him then I made him cry because I was digging in his mouth with my fingers.  I did manage to get it out before he swollowed it.  Yes, I was gagging the whole time.

I am still his favorite person and he is most definitely mine.  Being a mommy is so much fun and so rewarding!

Hey guys!!  Long time, no blog!  Sorry about that.  We really have not been up to all that much.  Friday I spent some quality time with my little monkey.  We were l-a-z-y!  We spent a big part of the day in the big bed watching cartoons, reading books, and eating Cheerios and sweet potatoes.  I can't tell you how much he loves being in our bed.  He gets so crazy/hyper when he is in it.  Since he does not sleep with us, it's like Christmas morning for him when he finally does get in it.  It is the forbidden place and I guess it makes him feel like a rebel and a big boy.  Nick and I were finding Cheerios all night Friday.  Ooops!

Saturday Mom, Nana, Carter, and I made a trip to Texarkana to hit up the sales.  We went to Hobby Lobby and got ALLLLL of Carter's birthday party stuff on sale.  I am done.  I have like 2 1/5 months, too.  That has to be some sort of record for me.  I am on the ball on this party.  He will only turn 1 once, right?  My mom bought most of the decorations, which she did not have to do.  I argued with her at the checkout counter for a little while and realized that I was fighting a losing battle.  I am so thankful for her and don't know what Carter and I would do without her.  She did promise to let me buy the cake/drinks/snacks though.  We'll see.  I have so many cute ideas for pictures and decorations.  Carter was a little angel the entire time we were there.  It shocked me because he has not been a little angel, in public, here recently.

Sunday Callie, Cody, and Ava came over to watch the Super Bowl.  Carter and Ava are starting to be more active together it seems.  She is still leaps and bounds ahead of Carter.  She is for sure a full time walker now and it took everything Carter had to crawl to keep up with her!  She sat on Carter's truck/walking toy while Carter pushed her, though!  He was straining but he managed to get her halfway across the rug.  It was really cute!

Yesterday started my workout without boot camp.  I met Tonya Stanley at the track and we walked/jogged 2 1/5 miles then ran bleachers.  Then I went up to the gym to meet Adriane Picket and Erin Bell and I did about 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer then we worked shoulders and back.  I am really going to enjoy that!

Here are some pictures that I have taken the last several days.

He LOVES sitting in the big recliner with his Daddy!

Reading Daddy his book.

Sweetest kisses in the world!

This is why I can't get ANYTHING done while I am at work.  He tries to help way too much.  You may notice the phone is off the hook.



Mooooo!!

I believe I have the funniest child on the planet.  You just never know what he is going to love or be scared of.  Mom was reading him books yesterday and it was all about animals and the sounds that they make.  Mom said, "The lion goes RRROOOOOAAARRRRR!!"  She yelled it and he smiled.  They turned the page.  "The Owl goes hooooot hoooooot!!!"  He smiled and they turned the page.  "The cow goes moooooooo!!"  He got hysterical.  How funny and weird is that?  It amazes me how little brains like that work.  What in the world triggered his little mind to be scared of the moo cow instead of the roaring lion??  The blender and vacuum he is terrified of but the hair drier he is ok with. I can sneeze without giving him warning and he starts crying but I can cough and he is fine.  Too funny!

I FINALLY found a vegetable that he will eat in chunks.....sweet potatoe!  He loves them!  Last night he ate his 10 oz. of pureed food.....green beans, peaches, and apples...then ate A LOT of sweet potatoe.  I was a happy momma!!  Tonight I will try squash.



I am not exactly sure how to start making his food more chunky in the blender, but I think it is time to start making it really textured.  So, I am going to start with brown rice and some other vegetable.  He will run out of food tomorrow so I guess that's when I will start.