Carter loves...

his changing table! Here's some pictures of his many fun faces while on the changing table.





And this is one of the things that makes him smile most!! :)

In other news...

I am taking the next year off! Aaron and I have been praying about this for a while and we finally reached a decision. There will be a lot of changes in the next year but we really think it will be benefical for Carter. We can't go back and make Carter a baby again...and he's already changed so much in almost 3 months. Don't worry, my school has to hold my spot for a year so it will be waiting. I left with no classroom, who knows what I also won't have when I return!?!?! Please pray for us...I am trying to make a few extra dollars from home. I check out part time jobs on Craigslist daily. If know you of something I can do from home, let me know! :D

Carter's 1st Trip to Virginia

Carter & Aaron's dad


Carter & Aunt Rachel


Carter has banks in Roanoke


Playing with Grandma-Great


Playing with Grandma & Rachel



Last weekend, we went to Virginia for Aaron's family reunion in Richmond and spent the night at Aaron's grandparents in Roanoke. Carter did well on the 3 hour car rides except for the fact that we had to feed him in the gas station parking lot, in the backseat and at my parents(on the way back). Carter had a really good day at the reunion with about 30 new people...I was impressed!!! Sunday, he almost made it through the whole church service too. He has been struggling at our church because we attend 1st service which interfers with his nap time. This upcoming Sunday, we plan to put him in the nursery for the first time. It's not him that I am worried about, it's the workers. He can be needy! :) We had lunch and then hung out at Aaron's grandparents for the afternoon before heading back late Sunday night.

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Grandparents


Great Grandparents

Catchin' up on July

A few weeks ago, we helped Lissa and Jeff celebrate their upcoming wedding in Novemeber with a party at Mary Frances' house with Meredith girls! :)




Carter with Aunt Lindsay ;)

It was so good to get everyone together! And our oreo truffles were a hit!!Here's the recipe if you are interested!!

Oreo Truffles
1 package regular Oreos (Regular not double stuff)
8 ounces of softened Cream Cheese
1 pkg white chocolate melts

Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor, reserve for later use.
Crush remaining cookies into fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese and mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1 inch in diameter. (We put the balls into the fridge for about an hour to harden to hold shape better before adding the white chocolate!) Melt white chocolate Dip balls in melted candy and place on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs right after dipped. Refrigerate until firm, about an hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.


That same weekend, we met for lunch at NoFo.

The next night, I was left home alone to enjoy the homerun derby. Aaron had a church board meeting so I dressed Carter up in a homerun champ onesie and I put on my Josh Hamilton's Reds shirt in hopes of celebrating a victory for Josh. As I was watching, I started to get worried when guys were putting up numbers like 4 or 8...WHO KNEW I would witness Josh hit 28 HOMERUNS IN THE FIRST ROUND!!! I was texting Aaron and told him to call me right then...because I could not tell him in a text. He called like 20 minutes later!! Though Josh did not win overall, he shocked the world with his amazing performance!!!


The next weekend, Julie & Ben came over for dinner. It had been about a month since they last visited with Carter.


We also enjoyed some trips to the pool...

Happy 50th Birthday Mom

On July 9th, my mom turned 50! :) My dad and I were trying to secretly organize something for her but dad wanted to make sure she was ok with it. It wasn't until July 7th that mom finally agreed to coming to our house for dinner. Well I couldn't start getting things together until Tuesday because Monday we had friends come over. Needless to say, I was a little stressed. Luckily, I had several people offer to bring things so I wouldn't have to cook so much. We had about 15 people over for dinner & YUMMY cake & icecream. It was nice to have some family together! Derrick even came from the boro! :)






Carter & his great-aunt Deborah

Carter & Noah

Noah & Carter (Carter was not happy!)



Me, Lauren, John,
Carter (bounced to sleep), Aaron, Olivia, Noah & Matt


Last Monday, Matt, Olivia, John & Lauren came over for dinner. This is the first time we've been together since the arrival of Carter & Noah (Matt & Olivia's baby). Noah was due April 29th but did not arrive until two days after Carter, May 9th! When he was born, he only weighed a couple ounces less than Carter. As you can see, Carter weighs 2 pounds more than Noah! Early on this day, Carter got his 2 months shots and at the end of dinner became very unhappy. He was so miserable!!! There wasn't anything you could do to get him happy. Aaron eventually bounced him to sleep on his knee. That night, we put Carter to sleep on his belly when he first went to bed since he had not had a nap earlier that day and based on how unhappy he was earlier due to his shots! Carter slept soooooooooooooo much on his belly! This has become Carter position of choice. He sleeps about 6 hours in a row on his tummy! In the beginning, I was soo apprehensive about the belly sleeping because I teach "Tummy to play, back to sleep" because of SIDS. Carter's doctor let me know that Carter should be ok since he's got a good amount of weight on him and since he's not around people who smoke. I find myself staring at him to make sure he's still breathing.

4th of July

Mini Me


Rumikub


Grandma


Great-Grandma

On the 4th, we spent the morning at the pool with some friends from church. We enjoyed some sun, ate the bbq buffet & got to float in the crab float. I had orginally bought this float but it looked too big so I returned it. Another mom in the baby pool let Carter use it and it fit him perfectly! :) Later that night, we had dinner, homemade icecream & played some rumikub at my parent's house. It started to rain just as it got dark but my dad & Aaron still managed to set off some fireworks.

Carter's first trip to Charlotte

Life has been busy...
We traveled to Charlotte two weekends ago to visit Aaron's family. Carter tends to eat on a 3 hour schedule and it takes about 3 hours to get there. Carter slept till we were 5 minutes away and woke up screaming. We fed him a few ounces at a gas station to hold him till we arrived at Aaron's parent's house. Carter spent the weekend meeting new family members...his uncle Ryan, aunt Ashley & cousin Cooper and his great-grandparents from Roanoke, VA. Carter did not have a good Sunday as he was a bit overstimulated with all the newness of everything...new people, new place! But he did sleep well away from home. We enjoyed seeing our nephew Cooper too! He is getting so big and is at a playful & really fun age. It's hard to remember him in the NICU back in November weighing 4 lbs 7 oz, which was exactly HALF of Carter's weight! Carter is not too far behind him these days! Ryan & Ashley let us borrow their swing and Carter loves it! It has come in handy on some of his fussy nights!!!

Carter is 2 months old!!

So Aaron and I have been parents for 2 months now! :) Carter is such an amazing little boy and I LOVE spending time with him. His smiles melt my heart! We went to the doctor yesterday and Carter received 3 shots & 1 oral vaccine. The shots didn't phase him too much when they happened. He did his normal loudest scream and turned bright red. I'll update more on that later in another post.

2 Month Stats:
Weight A HEALTHY 14 lbs 6 oz: 94% percentile
Lenght 24.5 inches: 93% percentile
Head 40.5 cm: 85%percentile



We've got a big boy on our hands! :)