Happy Leap Year!

We've been learning to leap (jump) around here...a fun way to celebrate Carter's first leap year! We've also been learning to sing Row, Row, Row your boat :-) 

Happy Leap Year Everyone! 

It's Been Warm

Last week we had a few days of warmth - like 75 degrees warm. Such a welcome temperature in February! Needless to say, Carter and I spent a lot of time outside on those days. I gave C a pot of dirt, several other containers, and a little shovel and he went to town. He could have played in that dirt all day long. I think I'm just going to give up the idea of having a clean patio for a while though - oh well :-) He has fun!

19 Months Old

Carter turned 19 months last week. It's crazy all the things he started to do while he was 18 months old, so I thought it deserved an update, so here you go...

-He throws an ALL OUT PARTY when Dada gets home!

-He says "see?" when he wants to show me something.
-He loves to wear his "boos" (rain boots) and "shooos" (shoes).

-He calls Fischer "Sheesh(er)"

-He LOVES to feed Sheesher.

-He LOVES to go outside. He will run to the door and say "at-sigh" (outside).

-He turns on/off the tv...all the time.

-He pretends to talk on the phone using calculators, baby monitors, pretty much any rectangular shaped object.

-He watches home videos and loves to name people in them.

-He tries to look "into" or "around the corner of" the tv when he hears people he knows talking off screen.

-He counts "uh" "oo" "ee" (1, 2, 3).
-When he wants a snack he runs to the pantry and says "naaa" (snack)

-He says and points to "noe" (nose), "eee" (ear), "tee" (teeth/mouth), "haa" (hair), IIII (eye).

2 Quick Funny Stories: He was eating lunch, and I told him he was eating a pear, and he pointed to his head...he thought I said "hair." We were getting ready to read his Bible before his nap time. I asked him if he was ready to read about Moses, and he pointed to his nose and mine...he thought I said "noses."

-He can dunk his basketball and he cheers loudly for himself every time.

-He climbs into his highchair by himself - he CLIMBS ON EVERYTHING!

-He builds towers with big building blocks and proceeds to knock them down.

-He answers questions! - I asked him if he was finished and he shook his head and said "No." It's a little strange when you get a verbal answer for the first time :-)

-He shakes and nods head.

-He walks down the stairs by himself. Most of the time he holds onto the wall or spindels

-He is interested in puzzles now.

-His new song is Row Row Row Your Boat...he likes to sing the row row row part. He also likes to sing Justin Beiber's "Baby, Baby, Baby" song - thanks to Mrs. Bethanie :-)

-He does the hand motions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Wheels on the Bus

-He puts his hands together when we tell him it's time to pray ("praying hands" we call it).

-When he thinks things are "ha" (hot) he blows on the "shhhhhhh."

-He says and does the sign for "more" and he does the sign for "all done."

-We are trying to teach him that mommy has a baby brother in her belly. When you ask him where his baby brother his, he points at his belly now....not quite :-)

It's been so fun to watch him learn and grow. He is at such a fun age. Everyday is a brand new adventure!

Up We Go!

Kevin had enough materials left over when he made the Toy Storage unit for our playroom to make us some stools for the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.

We got the plans here - Anna White | Build a Vintage Step Stool

We LOVE our stools! I love them because I don't have to hold Carter to wash his hands anymore. He loves them because he can now fill my sinks with toys and cans of chili... He also loves looking in the mirror at himself, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, helping me with laundry and cooking.

Thanks for the stools, Daddy!

Smocking Projects

Here's what I've been up to lately. I LOVE TO SMOCK! It's COMPLETELY addicting. For some reason it is a stress reliever, but at the same time it fuels my creative side and makes me think that I've used my brain at least some that day :-) Kevin would tell you that smocking is unsocial and life-consuming. Just kidding [kind of]. He's probably glad that the smocking part of these projects is over though...I cannot wait to see what the outfits are going to look like!

Here's Carter's Easter Smock. It's my variation of Ellen McCarn's "Crosses" pattern. It's going to be in a romper.

Here's some Crabs that I'm going to turn into a matching Bubble and Jon Jon for the boys for spring/summer. Aren't those button eyes the cutest!?!?! The crabs are my variation of Little Memories's "Crab Happy" and Cross Eyed Cricket's "Blue Crabs" patterns.

Here's a smock that was supposed to be done this Fall...then my 1st Trimester happened. It's the Little Memories "EI EI OH!" pattern. I'm planning to make it into a Seersucker Jon Jon for the Summer.

Don't feel bad if it took you a while to figure out what on earth that said. And if you still haven't figured it out, it says "EI, EI, Oh" as in "Old McDonald had a farm _______..." I think it's really cute! Kevin said it's confusing.

That's the plan at least...I'll update as the projects progress.

Third Trimester

Hello 3rd Trimester!

I wish I could say that I was ready for you. Here I am at week 27.

Yep, I'm pregnant...

I've been working on the new nursery art lately, and I really like how it turned out - the theme is transportation.

We still don't have a name for Baby #2... We have to name him soon though, because I've got an idea for how I'll do his name in the nursery. This will be my inspiration, although I think I'm going to get Kevin to make it like a shelf, so that I can put some things above it. We shall see.

(Note: This will not be his name...)

Dropping our Morning Nap

We've been working on dropping the morning nap this week @ 19 mos. of age. I had been struggling on whether or not to do this for the past 3-4 weeks. Something wasn't right - naptimes were constantly changing, fussiness had increased, crying more than usual before bedtime, waking up in the middle of the night, etc... However, I couldn't tell whether or not it was the fact that we were all sick, or if it was really time for some naptime changes to take place. Well, once Carter (and the rest of us) felt better these things were still a struggle, so I consulted my trusty BabyWise II book and this Blog both of which confirmed the fact that I should try to drop the morning nap.

I was really nervous about how it would go down, but it's been good so far! I made sure that we had lot of play dates/activities scheduled this week, so that C-man would be thoroughly entertained and not "miss" the nap opportunity. It's been an exhausting week for this preggo mama, but sleep things have already started to get better. I've been keeping him going until 1pm everyday when he ABSOLUTELY CRASHES! One day he crashed for 4 hours, the next day was 3. We shall see what today holds! He's also been all but begging to go to sleep at night and sleeping through the night again without waking up at all - yay!!!

We've gotten to have morning play dates, toddler storytime at the library, lunch with friends, playtime at the playground, etc. during the mornings. This has all been really fun as we used to be (basically) confined to the house because of morning naps unless it was a church or Bible Study day! I think Carter has enjoyed all the out and about activity. He does get noticeably sleepy around 9-10am, so I've been trying to give him a snack around this time to give him an energy boost.

I was the most worried about being at home during the old morning nap time. I knew he'd be fine if we were out on a play errand, but I wasn't sure what would happen at home. We have been home some this week during this time, and it's seemed to work out ok. Here's what I do. When he starts showing signs of being sleepy (grumpiness/clinginess/whining), I give him his snack and he gets to watch 15 minutes of Mickey Mouse or Chuggington (his favorite train show) with his blanket (I like to call this his rest time or downtime). After a little down time, I let him play by himself in his playroom for 45 min-1hour. This sounds like child abuse, but he really enjoys it. I have found that during this time if we are home and he is with me he whines and complains constantly, but if I just leave him alone with his blanket, sippy cup, and toys, he plays and talks and plays... (he also takes all the tissues out of the box, completely destroys the playroom, and finds old goldfish in strange places and eats them.....to that I say, "OH WELL!") This is when mommy goes and takes my shower, does the "chores" of laundry, dishes, and any cleaning/menu planning/etc. that I've got planned for that day. Basically, it's what I used to do during his morning nap. This leaves the afternoon nap for mommy's fun/other activities of Bible Study (I do it at this time bc I'm awake and the house is quiet), smocking, napping, ironing, watching my girly TV shows, sewing, reading, etc...

After lunch, from 12:00 - 1pm has been a hard hour, but again if we are out and about he's distracted. If we are home, this is when I let him go play in the backyard with Fischer. I've actually let him play out there while I've been in the house some too (a HUGE step for all you control freaks out there)! First, I scan the yard to make sure it's locked up, poop-free, choking hazard free and then I check on him every 30 seconds for the most part, but I'm trying to give him some space to play and explore without me being all up in his face. He LOVES IT! He and Fischer just wander around the yard together doing their thing - whatever that may be - digging in a dirt bucket I gave him, playing in a mud hole, playing with sticks, writing with sidewalk chalk, pushing the cozy coupe around, sliding, feeding Fischer tree bark, etc... they have fun, and Carter could care LESS about sleep when I mention going "outside." The rainy days will be harder I have a feeling - luckily, it's been pretty this week!

Then, at 1pm Carter and I both COLLAPSE. Ha! This is when I get to do my fun stuff, but sometimes, I just sit and stare because I'm so tired :-) Maybe our energy levels for the morning will eventually adjust...here's hoping. Sorry for the lack of pictures (again). I just wanted to capture this adventure for my future reference!

What Have We Been Up To?

I don't have any pictures that we've taken lately - I should get my camera out soon!!! I've taken some video, but we've been too busy to load it to the computer, so for now, I'll just post an update on what we've been up to lately...

1. Kevin's grandfather - Daddybob - went to be with Jesus in late January. We did a lot of traveling during those last weeks and spent a lot of time with family grieving his loss, but celebrating his special life.

2. I've been smocking a lot lately. I've got Carter's Easter outfit and a few other projects up my sleeves. I'm neck deep in it right now, so I've been doing that in ALL my spare time...and trying really hard not to neglect everything else in life - I get so addicted :-) Kevin surprised me with a serger for Christmas, and I can't wait to actually use it! Once I get all my smocking done, I'll be ready to sew. I can't wait - I'm trying some new patterns, and I think it'll be fun!

3. We celebrated Valentine's yesterday with the rest of you. I baked a Red Velvet Cake from scratch for Kevin. It's my annual labor of love - a 3 year "tradition" and holding at this point :-) Carter and I made cards for Daddy. We also made a card for Gran (this weekend) and sent it to her knowing how much she would be missing Daddybob on Valentine's Day. Sorry to the other grandparents who did not receive a card...it's almost impossible to get Carter to sit down and make 1 card, much less 2...he was D.O.N.E. at this point. Last night our great friends the Lossers offered to babysit for us to go on a date (they had already done their V-day date last weekend). We took them up on it because this does not happen often for us. We had a nice baby-free dinner, and Carter had a blast singing Justin Beiber songs with Mrs. Bethanie and Mr. Kevin :-) This Friday, for a special treat, we are going to see Bill Cosby live in Birmingham! Kevin and I love to laugh, and we can't wait!!! He's supposed to be absolutely hilarious.

4. We've had 3 doctors appointments in the past 2 days. The first was my glucose screening - which I passed - yay! Now I can help eat the red velvet cake and chocolates that Carter and Daddy got me for V-day :-) Carter and Kevin also went to their doctors to get meds for a sinus infection that we've ALL had since late January (ugh!) ...hopefully it will knock it out of them. Carter has not been himself lately - waking up at night, not napping well, more upset than usual, running a low grade fever off and on, etc... I want my happy buddy back! Luckily his eyes, ears, throat all looked good - just a bad, bad cold!

5. I'm doing the Beth Moore James Bible Study on Thursday mornings at church, and we are also doing a couples Bible Study on Hebrews. I love in depth studies of books of the Bible! I have been feeling like I'm really growing and learning a lot through both studies. It's a lot of homework on my part, but that keeps me in the Word which is so important, and I need that accountability!

6. I've been working to transform the nursery into the new baby's room and another bedroom into Carter's big boy room! The new nursery theme is "transportation" (trucks, trains, cars, boats, etc..). Carter's big boy room is coming together too. We are keeping his room a sports theme.

7. Kevin built some step stools out of the leftovers from the toy storage project! I was getting tired of trying to pick Carter up and hold him to wash his hands. Now he loves to get on the stool and wash his hands, brush his teeth, etc... He's such a big boy!

8. In the midst of all of this, I'm 27 weeks pregnant, trying hard to coupon/meal plan/grocery shop on a weekly basis (which has been going great!), cook, keep the house reasonably clean, attend my MOPS group every other Friday, meet people for some play dates (mostly at indoor playgrounds bc it's been cold), be a loving wife and the playmate of my 18 month old lil' man!!!

This life is a crazy life, but we love it! We are thankful for everyday that Lord gives us to love each other and serve him.