A Year Ago Today

This time last year I was very pregnant. With my due date only 2 days away I had been convinced for quite some time that I just knew that I would go over my due date and end of having to be induced and all that. I'm not sure why I thought this, I was just convinced with my luck this would happen since I really didn't want to be induced. It was really looking like this could be a highly likely possibility since I hadn't even started dilating yet or anything. I had my doctors appointment scheduled for the next day and I was really hoping I had done something from the week before but wasn't holding my breath. Looking back I think I had a few mild contractions but they didn't feel like definite contractions at the time, so I didn't think to much of them. I had gone to the grocery store and bought somethings to make some meals the next day that I could put in the freezer for later (yes, I know cutting it kind of close but like I said, I just knew). That night I think Lance and I just watched some tv or something. My bags had been packed for a few weeks along with my list on top of last minute things to grab. The list also included "take a final picture" which I somehow didn't see and forgot to do. I'm still mad and bitter about that! Mostly because the last picture I have of myself was from about a month before I delivered so I don't really know how big I got. So if anyone happens to have one of me in August, send it my way. Anyway, some point that evening Lance's mom called, it think around 9-9:30 to make sure we weren't going to be having the baby in the next few hours, so she would have her September baby. We assured her nothing was happening. We went to bed like any other night, little did we know it would be our last childless night. Just before 2am I woke up and felt something. At frist I wondered if I'd peed my pants, hadn't happened before. But I didn't think it felt like that so I thought maybe my water had broken. This had also been one of my concerns, having my water break in bed and ruin our mattress (I'm weird I know). So many months prior I had laid big plastic garbage bags under the sheets on my side of the bed. Anyway, I got up to the bathroom, and could then tell that my water had broken. I called to Lance, who shot out of bed and when I told him I thought my water had broke, he went into speedy mode getting dressed and getting things loaded in the car. I remember debating about eating something because I knew I wouldn't be able to once I got the the hospital and I had always told myself I would eat before I went in but nothing sounded appetizing at all so I didn't (like I thought I would, I later regretted it!). I called up to Labor & Delivery to tell them I thought my water had broke and I was on my way, which they gave me a little bit of a hard time about because they were really busy and there were no rooms. Lance soon had everything in the car and I stood at the front door looking down the list and missed the "take final picture" one. ARRRGHHH!!!! Like I said before, I'm still really mad at myself about it!! I had Lance grab a towel to put on the seat under me for the car ride, in case I started leaking again, and we were off.

Real Haircut

I took Carter to a friend of ours who cuts hair so she could fix the attempted whack job I did on his hair. Here is the before... and the after.

Throwing a Ball

Here's Carter's latest trick. We never worked with him on it, he just started doing it this weekend. We all know he loves to chase after his ball but now he throws it and then chases after it. It's pretty entertaining to watch him and he just keeps doing it over and over again for the longest time.

Family Reunion

Carter and I were able to spend a weekend with Lance's family a couple weekends ago, sadly he had to work. We went to this great place called Tifie Ranch that's near Morgan, UT. It's a super nice place with places to camp, plus it has real bathrooms and showers and a full kitchen and playground for the kids. So not really camping except the sleeping outside part but perfect for a big family reunion! It was fun seeing everyone and watching the little kids play. It was also Carter's first time camping and sleeping in a tent. He did good other than it got kind of cold at night and even with his fleece pjs and a couple of blankets, he got a little cold. It didn't seem to bother him but it bothered me. I decided to just let him sleep with me so he'd stay warmer but he just wanted to sit there and talk and jabber at me and kept moving around so after a while of trying to get him to actually sleep, he went back in the pack n'play and I had to just be sad that his cheeks got cold. I'm going to have to get some more pictures from my SILs because I didn't realize until I got home how few pictures I took. I didn't even remember to get a picture of me with Carter. I'm a little mad at myself! All 13 cousins. For those who remember me talking about it, this is the side of the family that the cousins go girl, boy, girl, boy etc every other one. Pretty impressive! Lance's mom is pretty proud of that fact too. Carter with the boys. Carter had fun pushing his stroller and Preston was a great older cousin and kept an eye on him for me while I was packing our stuff up.

Fun in the Sun

At the beginning of the month Carter and I went to my parents house in southern Utah. We had lots of fun but we missed daddy. Grandpa watched Carter a couple of nights so my mom and I could go see a couple of shows. We saw Tarzan at Tuachan, awesome show!! We also say a play at the Shakespeare Festival which was also good. Thanks for all of the fun mom and dad! Someone climbing, what surprise! Carter had fun climbing all over the playground at the park near their house. He also had fun going down the slides. Don't worry I was standing right behind him. There is also a fun little splash park there. Carter would switch from being brave and going into the water and other times wanting mom and just watching from a way back. This would be one of the brave times when he was trying to grab the water and splashed mom in the processes too. He loved chasing after whichever feature the water was coming out of at the moment. We also went to their local pool which is a very fun pool! They have this great kiddie area. They also have a lazy river, which Carter enjoyed. Getting ready to go down the slide. He loved the slide but didn't really like getting splashed in the face at the bottom. He had lots of fun in these little bouncy swings. Carter had fun pushing things around on this little car. And he also had fun putting things inside the seat for their "ride." Carter learned to play the piano with grandma. Whenever she would set her hands back he'd grab them and put them back on the piano. Apparently he liked hearing her play more than himself. He had fun with the stacking toys. Love his face in this picture. He's demonstrating more of the fun stacking toys. He also enjoyed climbing straight through this funny square book case. He loved sitting and being pushed around. He even figured out how to climb up on the seat.

Fun To Do

Here are a few of Carter's favorite things to do: He recently discovered how fun it is to climb under our little table. And climb inside his toy box. He's loves playing with the drawers and knows which couple dad hasn't gotten the safety latches on yet. He likes pushing the vacuum around. And climbing in his carseat and rocking back and forth in it. And using his carseat to try and climb onto other things. Last night he was on the couch with us and was trying to climb up on the armrest. Needless to say we have a climber! If we let him, he loves circling around the fan, over and over and over again (it's off and unplugged). Loves putting toys on top of his table so he can give them a ride. If they fall off he's good about stopping and picking them back up and putting them on top again. This is hours of entertainment for Carter as well as mom and dad. You'll also notice the tongue sticking out. A lot of people in my dad's family do this when they're concentrating. Loves sleeping on his tummy with his pacifier and his little bear/blanket thing. Loves pulling himself up on people's legs and then tries to "push" you so he can walk with you. Still really loves his doors and opening and closing them.

Too smart

I wanted to write down this funny story before I forget about it. A few weeks ago I was packing all Carter's outgrown clothes into big totes to get ready for storage. About the time I had the tote filled to the top Carter thought it looked like fun to pull the clothes out to play with. Well I didn't think it would be as fun so as he'd grab one, I'd take it back from him and say "no" while shaking my head, fold it back up and set it back in place. He'd start whining and occasionally kind of stomp one of his feet (yes, he apparently has already learned the art of tantrums). After a few rounds of this I decided to just keep my hands over the clothes so he couldn't pull them out. He really didn't like this new tactic and whined and pouted some more. After a few seconds he stopped looked up at me, looked at my hands and proceeded to gently reach down, picked up one of my hands, and moved it over to the side. With this accomplished he tried grabbing the clothes again. I admit I had to smile at how his little minded figured out a solution to his problem. So many times I think he is way too smart for his own good. In ending to this story, the lid went on the tote, and we went and found something else to play with.

11 Months Old

(You'll notice a different chair because we were at my parents on his 11 months b-day) Every day Carter is looking more and more like a little boy and not my little baby. This past week he looks like he is getting so much taller, however when I measured him this month he was still about the same as last. Hmmm, interesting.

• 19.4 lbs
• 28inches
• Still loves pushing anything and everything around
• Has really started climbing up on things, especially to get to something else
• Has learned how to "click" his tongue
• Says, "mom" "Ace" "da-da" and occasionally says things that sounds like words but usually doesn't do it again. Jabbers all the time as well as high pitched squealing.
• Has learned how to put toys inside other toys or boxes/laundry baskets and pull them back out. He's loves putting everything in and out!
• Just over the weekend finally figured out how to drink out of his sippy cup and does very well at it!
• Takes two naps a day for an hour or two
• Is usually in bed by 8/8:30 and continues to usually wake up around 5 and then goes back to bed until around 7
• Loves to mimic sounds and noises we make.
• Still wears mostly 9 mo onesies/tops and pants and shorts however also fits into some of his 12 mo stuff. He's right in between with the 9 mo pants being to short but the 12 mo being to long and big in the waist. He starting to outgrow a few of his size 3 shoes and starting to fit his size 4 ones
• Is fascinated by the floor fan in his bedroom and any other fans he sees
• We usually find him when he wakes up with everything that had been in his crib thrown out on the floor
• Can walk along things or with us one handed but still prefers two handed. Can stand by himself - but not by choice and he quickly squats down to the floor when we try to make him stand
• Will only eat things he can pick up himself or that we put in his mouth with our hands. He only likes spoons to play with (maybe due to the fact that spoons use to contain purred mashed up "yucky" food). He enjoys eating pieces of bread, cheerios/puff snacks, most fruits including his favs of blueberry's, nectarines, peaches, grapes, and pears. He loves cheese and little pieces of most meats. His veggies are always hit and miss depending on the day.