Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

We try to be fair with the kids. Since we were ordering Carter a special shirt for Christmas, we thought we should get one for Lexie also ;-)

(It was Monte's brilliant idea!!)

Help Needed

I know this is short notice, but I just found out a couple of hours ago. My parents' church is helping out a homeless shelter for tween/teen girls. Luckily, Lexie and I have just cleaned out our closets, so I already have some stuff ready to go. I think if you click on the picture, you can get a better look at the list of items needed. If you have (and are wanting to get rid of) any of these things, let me know. I will be out on Tuesday, and I will gladly come where ever you are to pick them up. (I am turning the things in on Tuesday evening.) Send me an email: shelley.moore@yahoo.com.

Prayer Request

I would like to ask all of you to pray for our nephew Aidan. He is having some health problems, and I know the more people that are praying for him the better.
Thanks so much!!

Just wondering

Carter has been ill for a couple of days, so I took him to the doctor this morning. As I was sitting there in the waiting room, this question popped in my head: "If the waiting room is full of sick kids, how come I'm the only mom with dried snot all over my shirt?" (I put on a clean shirt right before I walked out of the house, but somehow it was not so clean by the time we got to the doctor's office. )

Almost a year

I can't believe Carter is almost a year old. I have forgotten to put his last couple of cupcake pictures on here with his monthly update. He is doing so much, and it seems he learns something new every day. He has just started dancing. This is hilarious. Apparently he is a 50's fan because he likes to do The Twist!


He weighed 18 pounds 10 ounces this morning at the doctor. (He had his first ear infection two weeks ago, and we had to go in for a recheck. By the way, Carter is the best medicine taker ever!! He would get very excited when he would see his antibiotic bottle.)



Another thing he started doing a month ago is snapping. (He does the motion, but can't actually make the sound yet.) It is so cute. Although I am not really sure I like my 10/11 month old snapping his fingers at me when he wants something, and yes that is when he snaps.

He takes a step alone occasionally, but he runs all over the place if he is holding on to something.


Diaper changes have become a nightmare. He absolutely hates them and throws a very loud tantrum every time. I have come to dread diaper changes. My whole body tenses up when it is time to do it. (But honestly that is really the only time he is less than pleasant, so I guess I should be happy he is a happy baby. -knock on wood)

Carter LOVES books. His favorites are the touch-and-feel books and the lift-a-flap books. Right now his favorite his a Santa's Workshop book. If he gets fussy, all you have to do is show him the book and he stop crying and crawls over to the book. (If only it worked during diaper changes.)



Carter's absolute most favorite thing to do is eat. He is an eating champ. (He had TWO big blueberry muffins for breakfast.)The funny thing is he hums when he eats. The louder he hums, the more he's enjoying the food. Based on this, I have determined that his favorite meal is baked ziti. My sister gave me the recipe, and Carter is so grateful. He practically yells when he eats it.
(Matt if you are reading this, stop right now and skip to the pictures!!) I was dreading weaning Carter from breastfeeding, but he is basically weaning himself. He would much rather have food than milk. The only time he wants me, is right after he wakes up in the morning and after nap.

"Hmmm. What do I want to eat?"

Actually this is his play cabinet. He loves to pull everything out of here and play with it. It really helps me get things done in the kitchen because he just sits there and pushes around boxes of coffee and plastic cups. I just throw it back in when I'm done in the kitchen.

11 cupcakes

Yum!


He has 6 teeth, but there are a few more coming in.


"I love you, daddy."

Carter is very affectionate. He loves to give and receive hugs and kisses.


Carter- Man's Best Friend
We have two cats, but somehow Carter has learned how to act like a puppy. I don't have a picture of it, but he likes to take his socks off and carry them around in his mouth.

He also...

begs for food every time he sees someone eating.


enjoys torturing cats.


And my personal favorite...

He chews on furniture.

This is one of the marks on his crib (that is supposed to last for all of our children). I have put a gummi strip on the crib now. Since the rail is very wide (and we don't have Babies R Us here), I had to order a special rail. Unfortunately he did quite a bit of damage while we were waiting on it to arrive. (If you have a wide crib rail, I would suggest ordering one to have on hand just in case.) He also liked to chew on his dresser knobs. That was a funny sight. I would be putting his toys away, and I'd look over and he's gnawing down on his dresser. I really felt sorry for him because I know his gums must have really hurt.

Carter's first friend birthday party

Carter and I go to Gymboree to play every Friday. One of the girls in his class invited him to her birthday party. (He really likes this girl, too. One day in class he kept trying to give her open mouth kisses on the mouth.) This was his first friend birthday party.


His favorite part of present opening time was watching the cars drive by.


"I love water! This is the greatest party ever!"



Carter was intently listening to a couple of dads discuss who was going to win the Heisman.



Carter and another one of his Gym friends. This is as close as he got to playing with another child. He is still in the parallel play stage.

Basketball Time Again

I love it when Lexie plays basketball. She is so much fun to watch because she becomes fearless on the court. Lexie is definitely a defensive player. Her first game this season was on Saturday. She is number 21 on the red team.

"Oh, I hope her team wins!!"

"I'll take that ball, thank you."

"A foul on me? No! I never foul anyone ;-)"

Actually, Lexie usually uses all of her fouls. Like I said, she's fearless.



Yay!! They won their first game!!

A Giving Heart

Lexie is a very sweet spirited girl. She is always wanting to help others --unless it's with the dishes ;-) Friday night we went window shopping so she could show me some of the things she wanted for Christmas. Half way through the night she told me she wanted to give 10% of the money we were going to spend on her to her church youth group. (They are raising money to buy water filters for African villages that do not have clean water.) I was so proud of her. Yes, she is a teenager and we do have days when we don't get along, but I am so proud to be her mom.

Slacker

I know, I know. I am a slacker. I haven't posted anything in a while. I have missed Carter's Baby Dedication, my niece's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas Tree decorating, Carter's 11 month birthday, and other random stuff. I find it hard to find time to blog. I don't want to (and can't) ignore Carter when he's awake, and when he's napping I have to catch up on things I HAVE to do. I am not able to just get on the computer for a quick minute and get off. It sucks me in like a black hole. For one thing, I am addicted to Picnik.com, and I play with every picture I have ever taken. (This is the greatest website; it is SOOO much fun!!) And, I have trouble blogging at night because the computer wires me up and I have a hard time falling asleep. Excuses, Excuses, I know.

I plan on catching up this weekend! Here's a couple of pics to get my family through until the weekend.

She's soooo funny!!

I decorated Lexie's bathroom a couple of days ago. When I went in there this evening, I noticed she had made a few changes. She cracks me up!!

It was supposed to read "SNOW". I took the "I" off before I took the picture; she changed it to "I SLOW."

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We went to Silver Dollar City over the weekend. I love going there at Christmas time because I love the lights. I wish I had enough time and energy to put lights like that on my house. When we got to Branson on Saturday, we decided it was way too cold to go to SDC. We just hung out and tried to find things to do to keep us entertained. (That is not normally a problem, but traveling with a baby made it quite difficult.)


The weather was much better on Sunday. We had a really good time. Carter liked all of the lights, and Lexie liked the short lines for the roller coasters. Carter fell asleep right before the light parade, so he will have to catch it next time. I can't wait to watch him watch the lights. The season is so much more magical with a little one around. Every thing is new and exciting. I remember watching Lexie's face light up at Christmas when she saw the lights on the tree and it was okay to rip paper. I can't wait to experience it all again.



Lexie is smiling in this picture, but she was thinking, "Mom put down the camera and help us think of something to do."






Carter was playing in the suitcase. Out of all of the things in the suitcase, he pulled out his two swim trunks. He carried them all over the hotel. I think he was trying to give us a hint of something we could do.






The Petting Zoo consisted of two goats :-(



Carter liked the Saloon Show. (He LOVES pretty girls!) This was my first year to see the Christmas Saloon Show. Something always happens and I miss it. One year Lexie and I stood in line forever to see it. Then when we finally got in and sat down, she leaned over and said, "Mom. I have to go to the bathroom." We had to leave the show before it even started. Fun times!! (I am sure she doesn't mind me posting that story. She tells it every year at Christmas when we pass the Saloon.)



Carter's first time to see Santa.


The good big sister is helping Carter put is letter to Santa in the mailbox.

I plan on keeping her locked up until she's 35.

I love the lights!!

First Haircut

Carter got his first haircut today. I was not ready to let him look like a big boy, but I must say I do like the way his hair looks. A bloggy/bunco buddy told me that her sister cuts hair, and they have an airplane for kids to sit in. They also have a TV for kids to watch. I was thrilled that I didn't have to take a road trip for a haircut. She did an amazing job! As you can imagine, cutting a 10 month old boy's hair requires patience. She did not mind chasing his head around as he turned to look at everything in the salon. She will be his hair stylist for many years to come. (If you are interested, her name is Heather and she works at The Kutting Crew in Farmington. It is not very far off of 540. I think they also had a pink, glittery chair for girls.)

***Notice: In some of the pictures you will notice a very large scratch on Carter's face. I promise I did not beat him. Tuesday, he fell and landed on a plastic food storage container. I have come to the realization that no amount of baby proofing is going to be good enough!!

Before Pictures

The Cut

The cape says "Baby's 1st Haircut." I thought that was a nice touch.

She's showing him his hair.

After pictures