DANCE DIVA

She did it! Lexie made the junior high dance team for next year!! We are all so excited and proud of her. She has worked so hard all week, and her hard work has paid off. I am looking forward to going to all of the junior high football and basketball games and watching her perform. It was funny when we found out she made it. We started screaming, clapping, jumping... Carter started running in circles and screaming. He wanted to be a part of the fun.



Good Luck Goodies




The way they announced the new members was so much better than when I was in school. We went to the school website, and they had a link for us to click on. Much less drama this way.


Lexie has already made so many new friends just during the tryout process. It seems like a group of really nice girls. (Hopefully it stays that way.)

On the phone, spreading the news!

WAY TO GO LEXIE!!

New Blog

My sister and I have started a new blog together. If you are like Monte, you are thinking, "You don't even keep up with the one you have. Why are you starting another?" Well that's simple. My sister and I are always talking about recipes we make for dinner and we often say, "Will you email that to me?" So we decided to start a blog to share our recipes. This should be easier to update because it's much easier to pick out a picture of food than it is to pick out a picture of your child, plus it requires little or no thinking to type in the recipe. (I am not promising that all recipes will have photos.)


Hopefully between the two of us we will be able to update it regularly. The recipes we post are going to be recipes we have tried, our families have liked, and they are quick and easy to prepare.

Here it is:
itssupersimple.blogspot.com

Easter Weekend (finally!)

Saturday we dyed eggs. This was Carter's first time to participate, and he enjoyed it. Unfortunately he wasn't very good at dropping the egg gently into the color. He either tossed the egg into the cup (Hey, it does look like a ball) or stuck his entire hand in the cup. Which reminded me of Easters growing up. We would always have on our pretty new Easter dresses, and our hands would be dyed like a rainbow. Fortunately the dye now comes off much easier than when I was a kid.

Lexie picked out the tie dye egg kit for her eggs. She is much more creative with her eggs than I was. She takes the time to actually draw pictures and things on her eggs.

"This is fun!!"

"Look, I'm turning into a Smurf."

Unfortunately the weather on Easter was bad, so we didn't get to hunt Easter eggs. We plan on making it up at our next family function. Even though we didn't get to hunt eggs, we still had a nice Easter. We went to my brother's church instead of our own because both my sister-in-laws got baptized. Then we went to my parents' house for lunch. Then we ended the afternoon at Monte's parents' house. It really was a relaxing, yet fun, day.

"What is in my bed?!"

"OOH! A microphone!"

Checking out the goods. She had been fasting from meat and junk food, so she dove right into the candy.

Carter LOVED wearing the bunny ears! I wasn't expecting him to keep them on because he will not wear a hat or sunglasses.

After last year's traumatic events, Lexie was not going to wear the ears.



Granny, Poppy, and all the grand kids

Carter and Lydia shoving in the M&Ms before someone takes away the candy.



Colin taught Carter how to make the coffee table a race track for cars. They made many laps around the table.

Carter watching the big kids play Ping Pong: wishing he was big enough to join them.

Uncle Dan shared his Key Lime Pie with Carter, and Carter loved it!

Carter and Lydia are finally at the stage where they play together instead of side by side.

Lexie is relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa Moore's.

Carter liked to put the little eggs inside the bigger eggs.




We hope you all had a happy Easter, too!

15 Months and What He's Doing Now

"It's okay mom. I get chocolate pudding for breakfast. Lots of kids would give up their teeth to be able to do that."

"What do you mean they won't come back until I'm 7?"

Carter went for his 15 month check up and he is doing great! When the doctor asked if he walks, I said, "No. He runs, that's why he's missing his teeth." The doctor thought it was funny and said at least they were baby teeth. He looked in Carter's ears and guess what?!?! No infection! YAY!!! I know you are all dying to know how massive Carter is, so I won't make you wait any longer. He is 30 inches tall (between the 10th and 25th percentile- we are moving up!) and 20 pounds 4 ounces (between 3rd and 5th percentile). I asked the doctor about his weight because I was getting concerned. Carter eats like a 16 year old boy, and he doesn't gain much weight. I am serious, the boy can eat. The doctor assured me that he is fine. He said it is normal for active children to slow down on the weight gain at this age. I guess since Carter is ALL BOY and very active, he can eat and eat and eat and not get fat. (I wish I could.)

Carter got a new tooth in. (One step forward and two steps back!) One of his bottom back teeth came in. I am unsure what to write on his calendar, so I just wrote "new tooth". Is it still the 11th tooth even if he only has 9?

What he likes to do this month:

*Carter is the official garage door opener of the family. He loves to push the garage door button.

*He has a car he likes to ride on. When Monte pushes him on it, Carter yells, "Go! Go! Go!"

*He loves to ride the carousel at the mall. He can't contain his excitement. He squeals, and says, "Oh boy" as he goes up and down. He also waves at all the people in food court as he goes around, and he loves the ice cream cone he gets afterward.

*He loves to stack things, and he is getting really good at the shape sorter toys.

For some reason he likes to stack everything he can on his garage. This day it was all the toys in his ball and car baskets. (The back side of the garage is stuffed with balls. The diaper ointment and his cup are also jammed in there.) Sometimes he fills the garage with his diapers. It is also fun to stuff it full of Lexie's shorts when I am trying to fold the laundry.

*His new favorite thing to do is not environmentally friendly. When I open the refrigerator to get something out, he runs over there and takes everything from the door shelves and sorts and stacks them on the bottom of the refrigerator. Then he puts them back in the door, and the whole thing starts over. He also likes to stick his magnetic letters in the meat drawer of the freezer. And yes I will admit that I do let him play in refrigerator sometimes, because hey the dishes have to get done somehow. I know it's not green, but I do other things to help the environment. (He really doesn't do this often, but he loves it when he gets to.)

It also makes for a nice chair on hot days.

*He likes to put things in drawers and cabinets. We could not find my main set of keys for a few days. I finally opened one of the cabinets he plays in, and there they were. Basically we have learned if we can't find it, look where Carter plays.

*He actually jumps on the trampoline. It is so cute! This is something Lexie has taught him. Also, she will put him in the middle and then run around the perimeter of the trampoline. Then she will sit in the middle, and he will run around her.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

My mom, sister, and I had a girls' day, and Carter and Lydia got to meet the Easter Bunny.

My goodness! They could be twins ;-)
Just kidding.


Carter liked the Easter Bunny especially since he got a free cookie from The Cookie Company. He was so happy to get the cookie! Today was the first day he could have real food again. (He's been eating pudding, milkshakes, and creamy soups.) He ate a whole baggie of crackers this morning, and he hummed the whole time. It was like he hadn't eaten in years. He is doing great now. I think the swelling is pretty much gone. From the outside you can't tell anything happened. Unless he smiles really big, you don't even notice he's missing teeth. We are also pacifier free now! Bedtime has been tough, but last night and tonight he did okay.


He has started doing funny things with his space. He will stick his tongue through the gap and blow raspberries. (This is particularly fun when he has a mouth full of pudding.) He also sticks his tongue out and says, " th, th, th, th..." I guess it feels funny because he gives me a big smile when I look at him. And I must say, it is a very cute smile!

All I want for Easter is my two front teeth!

Well, well. What an exciting Sunday evening we had! Those of you that know Carter know he RUNS everywhere. We are constantly telling him to slow down even though he has no idea what we are saying. We have baby proofed as much as possible, but he still manages to get hurt. Last night Carter was running into the living room from the kitchen (it's basically one big room), and he fell and landed face first on the tile floor. I picked him up, and took a good look.
"It's bleeding. He busted his lip. Oh, it's really bleeding. Oh my gosh! His teeth are missing!!" It started out a calm statement and ended in crying hysterics. Only one tooth actually fell out, but the other one was pushed so far back it looked like it was missing until I got a really good look. Monte and Lexie found the missing tooth, and we loaded Carter up and took him to the ER. We were all crying on the way to the hospital. Carter was screaming. It was so heart breaking to watch him cry from pain and not be able to do anything to help him.

The ER doc checked him out. He said the tooth was tight enough that he wasn't worried about it falling out and Carter choking on it, so he left it in for the pediatric dentist to evaluate. The only thing they could do for Carter last night was give him Tylenol with Codeine. Carter loved the codeine. By the time we left the ER he was waving and flashing his snaggle tooth smile at the nurses. (They were all very good with him and us.)

Carter had a hard time going to sleep because he couldn't have his pacifier. I finally took him for a drive and he crashed for the rest of the night. We put him in the pack and play in our room so we could watch him closely. I don't think Monte or I slept all night. I got up several times to check and make sure he was still breathing. I was worried that the tooth would come out or he got too much codeine.

We went to the pediatric dentist this morning, and they had to pull the other tooth. We took the missing one with us, but they informed us that they don't replace baby teeth. They said the success rate was very small and the risk of infection is very high, so it would increase the chance of damage to the permanent teeth. They did tell us that when Carter gets more back teeth (around age 3) that they can give him prosthetic teeth. Right now I would say we will definitely be doing that, but we'll see how things go between now and then. He might like the tough guy look and not want new front teeth.

I did get a picture of him this morning, but it was too sad to post. Once all the swelling and bruising goes away, I will post a picture of his new cheesy smile.

We survived!!

Last night was the first night in 1 year 2 months 3 weeks and 6 days that Carter and I spent away from each other. (But who's counting?) I am happy to report we both survived. I knew he would be fine, but it was still hard to leave him. My parents kept him, and the kids always have a blast over there. They went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, and my dad let Carter walk around the store. (Obviously with both my parents next to him.) My dad said he has never had so many responses from people in Wal-Mart. Carter waved and flashed his cheesy smile at everyone. They also played very hard at home, and Carter ran laps around my parents house. Lucky for them, he got up bright and early at 6 am. Needless to say I am glad he was at their house when he decided to be an early bird. He usually gets up between 8 and 8:30, but I guess he just couldn't wait to have more fun with Granny and Poppy.

Monte and I also had a nice date night. We went to Crabby's for dinner, and then came home to watch Quantum of Solace. (I told Monte that we would watch whatever he wanted since it was his birthday.)

I was a little sad when we went to bed and I didn't have to turn the monitor on. I also woke up a lot because I kept having dreams that I lost Carter or I left him somewhere. When I went to pick Carter up today he was very happy and having fun watching my dad play Ping Pong with Monte. Monte was already there because we were having a party to celebrate his and Lynn's birthday. (Monte worked for a little while this morning, and I had errands to run so we met there.)

The party was fun! I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures. Lynn taught Carter how to play Ping Pong (without paddles), and he loved it.

Disney- Epcot

Warning: A LOT of photos ahead!

We spent 1 1/2 days in Epcot. My favorite pictures from Epcot are on our Photopass disc (more on that in the tips section), and we don't have it yet.



We really enjoyed the countries in Epcot. I will admit I thought this was boring when I was a kid, but they have added some things to make it more interesting.




Mexico

Here we are on the boat ride in Mexico. We were on the front row.

The rest of the boat. Notice, there are no other people in the boat. (I am proud of this. I used my mad Spanish skills.) When we were getting in line to ride, the guy directing line traffic said something to us. Probably 'hi'. I said something back in Spanish, and then we talked a little in Spanish. He asked Monte what Carter's name was. Monte told him 'Carlitos" because that's what the nanny in Cali called him. The guy then filled out a VIP certificate for Carlitos, and we got to go to the front of the line and have our own boat like VIPs. (If only that would have worked on the Rockin' Roller Coaster!)

The boat rides always made Carter sleepy.


Canada- or Canadia as Lexie calls it

Japan

Carter using his chopsticks on his muffin.

"Here mom, try this muffin."

Monte showing Carter the fish pond outside the sushi restaurant. Hmmm...they did say 'fresh fish'.


At least Lexie wasn't crying. Carter didn't want to be picked up. He was having a blast running around and looking at the fish (and smiling at the people).

Lexie pin trading in Sweden.(I think.) She really liked the pin trading thing. I thought she would be too old, but there were people of all ages pin trading.

Lexie's pin says 'first visit.' It wasn't her first visit; she wore it to get special attention. It worked!

The Flower and Garden Show was going on while we were there. It was beautiful. I was amazed at some of the things they created out of flowers. Lexie took a ton of pictures of flowers!

In Epcot they have a Kim Possible mission game. They give you a cell phone and send you clues. Here Lexie is getting her first assignment. It sends us to China to find a jade monkey that has been stolen.

Getting clues



A clue inside a fortune cookie. How lucky were we! This was actually really fun. I felt like we were on The Amazing Race. We had to go to a cashier in one of the shops and say a certain phrase to her. When we did she handed us this cookie.

The jade monkey was not really stolen at all. It was hidden in a safe spot.

Our next mission took us to France.

Beauty and the Beast

Rock Band- African style


Mickey Mouse--in person!!!

I have a Disney Visa, so we got a private meeting with the characters. We got to go in this room by ourselves for a few minutes. It was great because Mickey and Minnie both got on the ground and played with Carter, and Goofy harassed Lexie. This is where I wish I had the Photopass pictures. There is one of Carter the second he saw Mickey, and it is priceless. I thought he would be scared, but he loved the characters.

In the same building that had the characters, they had a lot of technology things. They had a Segway demonstration and you could drive one. We didn't, but it did lead to one of the funniest moments on the trip. The second time we were in Epcot, Lexie and I did a few things while Monte took Carter to a cool place to nap. While we were gone Monte got in line for our private time with the characters. He sends us a text telling us to hurry because he is close to the front of the line. When we walked in the building, we got behind a group of people walking SO SLOW and side by side so they took up the whole walkway. (I discovered on this trip that that is one of my biggest pet peeves.) I see a small opening, so I hop through the wall of people and Lexie follows. They say, "Wow, are you really in that much of a hurry to ride a Segway?" By this point I'm speed walking through the building. I turn around and say, (keep in mind comebacks have never been my strong point) "No! We are next in line to see Mickey Mouse!" I think Lexie died of embarrassment right there on the spot. Realizing I just sounded like a complete moron, I add, "And you're taking up the whole lane!" Lexie is in charge of the comebacks from now on.

Here Lexie is making a video game. They recorded her making several movements, and then we got to go to a computer and play a game with her has the hero.

We saw this "comedy" show. Don't bother. It was not funny.


We loved this place! You could taste different coke products from around the world. My favorite was the coke icee from the U.S.

I love this picture. We were in line for Spaceship Earth. (Inside the Epcot silver ball.)

"Hey! Whatcha doin' up there?"

"Look over there, sis."

I think Santa will have to bring Carter one of these. He loved it! He actually tried to steal the train. (I know he has no idea what he was doing.) He was playing with it, looked up at me, waved and said 'bye-bye', and then he took off running out the door. Don't worry, we stopped him and returned the stolen merchandise.

This actually was a very funny street show in England. They pulled a guy off the street to be part of the show, and he was hilarious!




Lexie and Monte enjoying their fish and chips. (A very popular meal for our family while we were there.)