FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Today was Carter's first day of school. He technically starts on Monday, but he visits today and tomorrow for two hours each day. I had to wake him up this morning, so he started the day off a little cranky. Like the rest of us, he is much happier if he wakes up on his own. We had breakfast, got dressed, and played a little before heading out the door. I took pictures of him before we left the house because I didn't want to torture him at school anymore than I already had to.

I made the drop off short and sweet. (Based on my teaching experience and the separation anxiety articles I have been reading, that was what I was supposed to do.) Of course he cried as I left the room, and I cried when I got to the car. I had a few errands to run, so I took care of that while he was at school. I must say it was much easier getting things done when I was by myself.

Two hours later (a very long two hours), I picked him up. There is a huge window in the classroom that allows parents to watch from the hall. I stood there for a second to see what he was doing. He had a truck in one hand (surprise, surprise) and a teddy bear in the other. He was making the truck do laps around the table top. He looked so cute and big. I was very happy to see that he was having fun. When he saw me he didn't cry, and he yelled, "mommy!" and ran over to me. I squatted down, and he gave me a big hug. The lady told me that he only cried for a few seconds after I left, and I believe her because that is what happens at church. He waved and yelled, "bye!" to the teachers. He was very happy. Hopefully tomorrow will be easier.

I know that he really needs to interact with kids his age. He has started getting really clingy to me lately, and even at Gymboree he wants me right by him when he is playing. I think he is at a really good age to start preschool, but it is just so hard for me. I researched and visited MANY facilities in the area, so I am very confident in my choice. The teachers are all very friendly, and the children are all happy. They also have events for the family similar to what they have at elementary schools. Next week he will be there during nap time, so we will see how that goes. I don't plan on taking him all day every day until I start working, but I want him to go enough to stay in the routine. Plus, hopefully I can finally get completely unpacked since I'll be home alone. (Lexie is at her dad's house, so it was an extra sad morning.)

"I'm going to school!!"

This is my favorite. He looks so big showing off his toothless smile and holding his backpack. (He has to wear tennis shoes to school. He normally wears a really cute, I mean handsome, brown sandal with this outfit.)

"What do you mean you're not going with me?"

Showing off his new back pack. It has a cow on the zipper, and he loves to show it to me and say, "cow, cow, cow..."

Playing with the new car mommy got him for being such a big boy at school.

BRANSON (with the family)

A couple of weeks ago Monte and I took the kids to Branson for some shopping and fun at Silver Dollar City. The weather was great! It was definitely hot, but not unbearable. The best part was that it was not crowded, so we didn't have to wait in line for anything! We saw the Veggie Tales show, and both kids loved it!! Lexie still likes Veggie Tales-- she has their songs on her iPod. "You just can't help but smile when you listen to 'I Can Be Your Friend'," says Lexie. Carter danced and clapped through the entire show. We had a great time!




This was Carter's first time to play in the ball area. He had so much fun putting balls in the vacuum hose.



Lexie and Monte enjoyed it, too!




Don't let her face fool you, she loved it!

Carter loved the bouncing frog ride and the butterflies. He cried when he had to leave that area.

I don't know which one enjoyed it more. Lexie also loved the butterflies. I know I say it all the time, but she is so good with Carter. She loves to watch him have fun, so she is always willing to do kiddie stuff just so he can laugh.

Daddy's turn to ride! (Carter is pushing the up/down button. He pushes it most of the time. The problem is he doesn't know to hold it in and he repeatedly pushes it, so they spend most of the time bouncing up and down around the bottom.)

I know this is a blurry picture, but I had to put it on here. If you can see, Carter is pointing at me. It was so cute... He was riding around, and all of a sudden he noticed me. He pointed at me and yelled, "mama!"

Carter was just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

Lexie going solo on the frogs. Don't worry, she did get to ride the roller coasters several times. We didn't spend the whole time in the kiddie area.

WEE!!

Lexie kept talking about having a water balloon fight. I thought she meant we would stand there and throw balloons at each other. When we got over to the barn area we saw these house things. It was so much fun. You would sling shot the balloons at each other. If you hit the bulls eye then a big tub of water would spray the other person. We would love to have one of these in our backyard. Maybe Jared will build us one ;-)

They got soaked!

It was a hot day, so I decided to play, too. I wasn't very good. In this picture I just launched the balloon and it landed halfway between us. She was thinking, "Hello, I want to get hit!"

Day Two: Carter on the frogs... AGAIN!

The flooded mine. Monte won...by a landslide.

TIME FLIES

It seems like just yesterday that I found out I was going to have a sweet, precious little baby, and now he is 18 months old!! He is no longer a baby and is officially ALL BOY (as if the missing front teeth didn't already let you in on that bit of information)!

I am happy to report that our little buddy is in the middle of a growth spurt. When we went in for his check up, he weighed 23 pounds and was 31 3/4 inches tall. Yes, I know he is still on the small side, but we are getting much closer to the 50th percentile. When he got the tubes put in his ears he weighed exactly 22 pounds with a diaper, clothes, and shoes. His check up was 3 weeks later and he weighed in at 23 pounds completely naked. They also remeasured him a couple of times because he had grown so much since the last visit. His feet have also had a growth spurt. In April he wore a size 5 extra wide, and now he is in a 6-6 1/2 XW. I said in the middle of a growth spurt because based on the way he is sleeping, I don't think it's over. He usually sleeps 11-12 hours every night, and takes a 3 hour nap during the day. (I know that should leave me plenty of time to blog, but I have discovered that I am lazy.)

Here is a little about what he is doing now:

- He loves to dip carrots in ranch dressing, and french fries in ketchup. Actually he will pretty much eat anything he can dip in something.

-He loves to play/sing:

*Row, Row, Row Your Boat- He repeats "row, row" the entire time. I also guess he has finally learned that I can't sing because often times he will tell me "no" half way through because he wants to sing by himself.

*Ring Around the Rosy- He loves to fall down.

*Itsy,Bitsy, Spider- He has got the climbing up the water spout and washing the spider out movements down pat.

* Old MacDonald

* BINGO

*If You're Happy and You Know It- He does all of the motions and shouts "Hooray!" He also pinches his cheeks when I say "and your face will surely show it".

*To say he loves to play with cars and trucks is an understatement. He almost always has a truck or car in his hand. In the car he will push them up and down his legs and make the "vroom " sound. He also like to push them down the slide.

*Anything that has buttons on it he can push will keep him entertained for a while. We just got him some trucks at Sam's that have buttons he can push that make noise. Needless to say those are his favorites.

*He still likes to push around a doll (or real) stroller. He will gently put anything in it and push it around. Right now his stroller has a truck in it :) When he puts a baby doll in the stroller, he will say 'baby', give it a kiss, and put it in the stroller. (I always give him a kiss before I put him in the stroller or car seat.)

-He is developing quite the personality! He is very strong-willed. I think I am going to have to pull out my Dr. Dobson book on raising a strong willed child. He is also reaching that independent stage. He pretty much wants to do everything himself, and it has to be his idea. Although he is strong-willed, he is very affectionate and loving. He loves to give and receive hugs and kisses. Sometimes he will be playing on one side of the room, and I will be sitting on the other. He will stop what he's doing, come over and give me a hug and a kiss, and then go back to playing. He really is very sweet.

-"Monkey See, Monkey Do" is his mantra right now. Last week Lexie was practicing dance moves in the living room, and he stood next to her and started doing everything she did. We were all laughing. He has the turn, kick, bow combination down pretty good now. He will even walk around the house saying, "kick" and then kick his leg. And of course Lexie LOVES teaching him things! She has always been an entertainer, and now he is her little apprentice.

-He is already practicing for his career as a Wal-Mart door greeter. When we go anywhere, he greets EVERYONE! I'll be on an aisle at the store, and as soon as another person comes on the aisle he yells, "hi!" (and will usually repeat it until he gets a response). Of course everyone thinks he is cute, so they stop and talk to him. (Which means I never can make a quick trip to the store.) Then as soon as one of us leaves the aisle, he yells, "bye!" He definitely is a friendly child.

-He can pretty much say/repeat anything except "Lexie". I think he refuses to say her name just to irritate her. A few of the words he says on a regular basis are: hi, bye, baby (referring to anyone under 3 feet tall), buddy (what we call him), eyes, ears, mouth, nose, cat (he is constantly reminding Tinkerbell what she is just in case she forgets she's a cat), all done, boppy (Poppy- my dad), ninny (Granny- my mom), shoes, cheese, freeze, ball, bubbles, pop, please, mommy/mama, daddy/dada, cow/moo, duck/quack quack, no, boo boo (he usually has one), botty (potty), cookie, thank you (sounds like day do), uh oh, bath, see you later, I love you (more like I lu ooh),and cracker. I am so happy that he finally calls me "mommy". For the longest time I was "mom". And I don't just mean mom, I mean a cross between an angry teenager and an Italian mob boss yelling mom.

-I know I am going to jinx myself by posting this, but ever since we moved into our new house Carter goes potty in the potty 2 or 3 times a day. He was waking up from nap dry, so we tried it and he did it. He actually acts like he thinks it's fun. His favorite part is getting to flush the toilet and washing his hands afterwards. I am sure we are far from the point of him telling me when he needs to go, but at this point I am very excited that he pees on command. He has also pooped in the potty three or four times. This was a total accident: he was trying too hard to potty. Sometimes he makes a fist and holds up his arms and grunts really hard; I'm pretty sure it doesn't take that much effort to pee, but whatever makes him happy. Don't worry, I am not pushing him. As long as he is interested we try it. Occasionally when he wakes up he is clingy and doesn't want to sit on the potty, and I don't make him. It is completely up to him. I always clap and cheer when he goes potty, and he does too. Now if he follows me into the bathroom, he will clap for me when I go potty.

- One final thing before the pictures. Carter LOVES shoes. He is definitely my child. When we walk in his closet he will point to his shoe rack and say "shoes". He will keep saying it until I hand him the pair he wants. He also likes to bring us our shoes and tell us they're shoes. He is really smart too. He brings Monte his shoes, and brings me mine. He also likes to walk around in daddy's house shoes.

He usually hangs out with me in the kitchen when I fix dinner or clean the kitchen. We made a playroom for him in there, but on this day he found joy in my mixing bowl. It is also a great shot of his missing teeth!

This is an old picture. (The Survivor finale is on the TV.)


On his 18 month birthday at the doctor's office. I know he looks angry in this picture, but he was actually having fun. It was nice having Lexie with me at the doctor appointment. He wears me out!


He loves to sit in chairs and kick his feet.

He likes to watch Monte mow the lawn. He will stand there and watch him the whole time. He also yells, "Daddy....Daddy....Daddy" the entire time. I think he is trying to get Monte's attention. Monte will come over and wave at him when has to empty the grass catcher thing. Then Carter gets really excited like he's just seen a rock star. I guess daddy is his rock star.

Monte is teaching Carter how to mow the lawn.

GYMBOREE--

I know I mention Gymboree a lot (or maybe on Facebook), but it is Carter's favorite place (next to the great outdoors). It is the highlight of his day. And now that it is summer, Lexie gets to go with us. It is so much fun to watch them play together. She is so good with him, and he adores her!

"The Noble Duke of York" lap ride. This is fun!! Lexie had so much fun doing this with Carter that she now plays it with every little kid she knows. Carter really likes it too, but it's hard to tell in this picture.

"I've seen this done at football games, but it didn't look this hard."

Lexie enjoying parachute time. Carter hates it for some reason. The only thing he likes about it is he knows he gets bubbles when they drag it out.

Girls' Nights

One of the things Lexie and I used to enjoy doing in California was going to concerts. We had three major venues within 45 minutes of our house, so needless to say we were able to go to a lot of concerts. We have not been to a single concert since we moved back to Arkansas. Over the next couple of months we will be making up for that. The first concert on our list was David Archuleta and Demi Lovato. (For those of you that don't have tween/teen children, she is a Disney star.)

The season David Archuleta was on American Idol was the first time we had watched the entire season from beginning to end. (I usually watched the really bad people trying out and then the finale.) It was really neat to see how much he had changed. I remember how shy and insecure he seemed on AI. Now he seems much more confident, and he was even dancing a little bit! We didn't know many of Demi Lovato's songs, but we had heard of her and David, so we decided it would be fun to go. And my wonderful husband got us great seats! We were on the first row of the non-floor seats, at the front. There were only two floor seats between us and the stage that goes out into the audience. It was great! We could actually see the sweat dripping off of the performers faces.


We had a blast! We laughed the entire car trip. I am happy to report that I didn't get lost (on the way there).

Waiting for the fun to start.

Using the lighter app on my phone.

Why am I holding her snow cone?

KSM-

They were the opening band. Don't worry, we had never heard of them either. Turns out we did know a couple of their songs. If you watch or have seen a preview for the ABC Family show "10 Things I Hate About You", they sing the theme song. They did hang around after the concert to meet anyone willing to stand in line for a long time, and they gave out a free CD single of the theme song. We actually really liked them. They are kind of a girly punk rock band.

David Archuleta-





Demi Lovato-







Lexie up close and personal with KSM. (The girl to her right looks a little strange.) They loved Lexie's shoes. They kept commenting on how cute they were.

Lexie's adorable shoes.



LEGALLY BLONDE
Legally Blonde:The Musical came out to San Francisco for a few weeks to practice before they opened on Broadway. Lexie and I were fortunate enough see it. The comment we made when we left the theatre was that we had to meet my sister in NYC for a girls' weekend and go see Legally Blonde. Well that never happened. Around Christmas Monte noticed that it would be here this summer. (Did I mention that I have a wonderful hubby?) So he called Jared, and they got the three of us girls tickets to go see it. It wasn't quite NYC, but it was great (and we didn't get mugged-haha)! Lexie and I sang loudly the whole way home. These two days of girl fun gave me many more wrinkles, but since they are laugh lines I can live with them. Next week we are having girls' days in Branson with Angie, Lydia, my mom, Lexie, Carter (I know he's not a girl, but he goes where I go), and myself. I cant' wait!!