Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
Carter woke up to find that Santa came while he was sleeping. He couldn't wait to open presents so we let him go ahead. He had a blast opening presents from santa and everyone else. Audrey was more into eating the paper than ripping it off the boxes so Carter was happy to help. We had the Grahams and Stricklands over for an early Christmas dinner. It was nice having the company. I forgot to get a picture of the group and to have one of them take one of us. So here's our family Christmas picture taken with the timer. Thank you to everyone for making this Christmas another great one. The kids (and us) were spoiled again! More pictures to come.

Santa X2

A couple of weekends ago Moms & Tots had their Christmas party. Carter enjoyed playing with the other kids and all the yummy snacks. They even got one of the internal med residents to dress up as santa for us. Some of the kids really thought is was neat and others couldn't run in the other direction fast enough. The following weekend we went to the mall to get a nice picture of both kids with santa.

Carter's cookie masterpiece. Yes, he ate the whole thing too. Can we say sugar high!?!

Carter wouldn't sit on santa's lap but he did tell him what he wants for Christmas and gave him a hug.

Audrey wasn't sure what to think

Here's the picture I got with my camera at the mall. Audrey once again wasn't sure about it but Carter was excited to give him his list we typed out.

Christmas decorations

The first weekend of the month we put up our Christmas tree and decorations. We even put lights up outside for the first time this year. Carter really thought that was neat. He was a HUGE help with the tree putting up 90% of the ornaments. We just had to spread them out a little afterwards.

Audrey checking out the tree. Of course the tree and ornaments ended up in her mouth.

Carter hard at work. He would empty a box and tell us he needs more ornaments. He did a great job and best of all it keep him busy for quite some time.

Audrey pulled the nutcracker ornament off and played with the hair on it.

The next morning Carter noticed that St. Nick came. He is hugging the bumblebee stickers he got.

Other happenings

We have had a nice fall this year being able to spend a lot of it outdoors. Carter loves the park and Audrey is at the age that she can start enjoying it too. Here she is liking the swing.

Carter posing at the top of the slide. What a ham!

Audrey is quite the character these days. One of her favorite times of day to goof off is dinner time. I captured one of her silly faces. Tita Angela liked making a face like this when she was little. :)

Audrey likes to play with her sippy cup rather than drink out of it.

Taking advantage of another nice day we took Carter across the street to ride his tricycle. He had his hood up because he said that makes him a super.

Sweet big brother

Carter is such a good big brother. Even though he occasionally has a hard time sharing some of his toys he is really sweet and caring. Here are some moments I managed to catch on camera.

Carter loves to sit in the glider and read to Audrey. After diaper changes he tells me that Audrey wants him to read to her. It's really cute to hear some of the stories he comes up with. Audrey enjoys looking at the pictures and sometimes tries to steal the book from him.

While I was getting their clothes so we could get going Carter decided to help out. I came back into the room to find him brushing her hair and trying to put her bow in. So cute!

My two monkeys enjoying a morning snack out of their snack cups. Carter wanted Audrey to sit right next to him.

Carter is all excited that Audrey can crawl now. He's been wanting her to be more mobile so she can play with him more. This particular morning Carter put all these toys on Audrey to make her into a monster. I think he wanted her to chase him. So this picture is more of an example of how she puts up with him but it's still cute. :)

Here he is trying to help her drink out of her sippy cup.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving almost a week late :) We had a potluck with the Grimms, Grahams and Spanns (other surgery resident families). We had a ton of food and it was nice spending the day with the other families. It was a lot of fun to see how much the little ones have grown since the last time we were together and watch them interact.

We managed to get a family picture which doesn't happen very often. We snapped it just in time too. Chuck had to go back in shorty after taking it.

Carter fed Lee and Audrey puffs and cheerios. It was so funny to watch. They were like little birdies sitting there with their mouths open. If Carter wasn't fast enough they would try and reach for them themselves.

A group picture
left-right:Ashley Spann (Matt wasn't there he was on-call), the Grimms (Meredith, Lee & Little Lee) us and the Grahams (Paul, Noah & Laura)

Audrey is chasing after boys already! She kept climbing on Lee and Noah and patting their heads. They weren't too sure about it trying to get away each time.

Sneaking a taste of dessert :)

Grandpa's retirement

The first weekend of Nov. Grandpa George retired from the Navy. The good news is that Chuck was cleared by the doctor to make the trip. The bad news is that Audrey got a fever the day before the trip and I ended up having to stay back with her. Chuck and Carter had a good time seeing everyone. Carter always has a blast at Grandpa & Grandma's house with the dock, movie room & Mater there. :) Here are a couple of pictures from the day of the retirement.

Carter looking so handsome in his suit

Carter & DAddy

Carter & Grandma

Carter & Auntie Kate

Group picture with Grandpa, Auntie Kate, Uncle Len, Grandma, Uncle Brent, Daddy & Carter

Happy Halloween!

Carter really got into Halloween this year and was so excited to get dressed up. So, we made plans to trick or treat with the Howard family since no one really does it in our neighborhood. This was the weekend Chuck ended up in the hospital with pneumonia so he had to miss out. The kids had a blast. It didn't take them long to figure out the whole trick or treating routine. After only a couple of houses they were off and running yelling, "next house! Next house!"

Daisy, Carter and Ginnylu. The girls are the monkeys that were jumping on the bed. Daisy has gauze wrapped around her head because she's the monkey that fell off and broke her head. Carter is bumblebee the transformer. (no he hasn't seen the movie he just thought the costume was cool)

Since Carter was a bumblebee Audrey had to be one too. But if you ask Carter she was just a bee.

By the time I got Carter by Audrey he had already taken off all the pieces and Audrey managed to get her shoe off.

The Howards had the perfect neighborhood for toddlers. The people really got into the decorations and there were mostly little ones walking around. There weren't any big kids to trample them down or scare them.

Amy & Peter's wedding

The kids & I went to Denver for a long weekend for Amy's wedding. It was a jam packed weekend but we had a good time. The wedding was cold but beautiful & everyone enjoyed the reception. Here's a couple of pictures I was able to get.

Carter enjoyed climbing on the rocks during the rehearsal. He would collect all the little rocks and say it's bug food. Here he is posing with Tita Angela.

The ceremony was outside the mansion with the mountains in the background. It was the perfect setting for a Denver wedding. Amy & Peter are rehearsing the kiss :)

Angela, Mom & IAmy & Peter with his sister and brother-in-law. They flew in all the way from Austria.
Me and my handsome little boy. He is the cutest little ring bearer. :)

Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins early this year since we were going to be in Denver & we didn't want to have to rush before trick or treating the following weekend. Carter was much more into it this year and tried to do more with the actual carving.

Audrey posing with the pumpkins in her baby's first Halloween onesie while we got everything ready.

Chuck helped Carter carve his pumpkin into a spider on a web (what else did you expect him to pick?). Of course Carter enjoyed the painting part more than the carving. He was really happy when he got to paint Audrey's pumpkin too. He's painting both at the same time in this picture.

This is my sad attempt at getting both kids with the finished pumpkins. Carter cooperated but Audrey was too interested in eating the leaves and sticks. I tried everything to get her attention but nothing worked. Oh well.

Updates coming soon...

I know I've been neglecting the blog the last couple of weeks and sorry for that. After the kids and I got back from Denver Chuck ended up getting sick. So sick he ended up in the hospital for a couple of days with pneumonia. He started out with the flu and it developed into pneumonia. He's home now and on the mend and thankfully the kids are healthy. So once things get back to normal and I can get caught up with everything I'll have many posts to share with all of you. So stay tuned. Thanks for your patience.

Who's birthday is it anyway?

Chuck was able to get off of work early the day before my birthday so we decided to celebrate then. Ever since Chuck told Carter my birthday was coming up Carter kept asking me if I want to share my birthday. More than happy to share my day with him we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. Carter gobbled up his lunch and had a blast playing all the games. Audrey was entertained by all the commotion & didn't sleep until we were getting ready to go. He was so excited to be at Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time. I think the grin on his face says it all. He had such a good time we'll have to take him there again some time.

Daddy had just as much fun playing all the games.

When we got home Carter opened my presents for me. Audrey had a good time playing with the paper and ribbon.

Carter acted like daddy was singing to him and blew out the candles for me. Yes, that is a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Yumm! :)

Thanks Chuck for a wonderful birthday and spoiling me with fabulous gifts. :) Since this day was more for Carter than me Chuck got a babysitter and took me out to a wonderful dinner that weekend. I enjoyed sharing my birthday with Carter :) (notice the frosting on Audrey's fingers)

Pumpkin Farm

The first weekend in Oct. we took the kids to the pumpkin farm. It was a gorgeous day and the kids had a great time.

Carter picked out a new halloween shirt for the day. Audrey wasn't festive because everything halloween in her size was long sleeve. I couldn't find anything short sleeve anywhere. Oh well, some of the flowers on her outfit are orange.

Cheesy but we had to do it :)

Carter loves to pick out all of the little pumpkins. He only liked the ones that he can carry himself.

Mommy and Audrey enjoying the hay ride to the patch.

Carter loves the big slide they have in the play area. Daddy gets a work out carring him up to the top.