The Firebaughs

Museum of Life and Science--Carter's 1st Preschool Field Trip

2011-09-20T11:05:00.007-04:00

I'm currently stalling while Cameron grabs a little nap. She got up early for the dr this morning and then needed some quiet time in her bed. Triples at HT started last Wednesday and I couldn't get motivated to get all my coupons organized so I passed. But something came over me this morning to want to get some things together and go, so I'm letting Cameron get a little nap in before heading to HT. Hopefully it's worth my trip and effort since its the last day of the sale.

My mom had a few days off from work around Labor Day so she wanted to do something with us during the day. So I suggested the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. It's kinda pricey but I was able to catch a B1G1 coupon online. We headed out to Durham and made a day of it.
Carter's first Preschool Field Trip :)

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs
Here is Carter using a large scale microscope to see small insects

Animals: There are lots of barnyard animals. Cameron is a fan of cows but she was rather scared of this one. There is also a dinosaur trail and live bears and wolves. The bears were hiding but I was able to spot 2 wolves.

Picnic Lunch & playing music

Carter was super excited to ride the train! The train costs extra but was a fun treat when we returned from our picnic lunch.

Touching "clouds", Measuring himself & rolling balls

15 months

2011-09-20T10:56:00.002-04:00

This morning, we got up EARLLLY (so we could go during 1st block planning so Aaron could join us) for Cameron's 15 month check up with Dr. Langdon. Carter was super chatty about wolfpack football, telling her that the bad guys lost, about the fireworks and tunnel and marching band, etc. We had to ask him to be quiet so she could talk. Cameron is growing, growing, growing...

Cameron at 15 months:
Weight: 27lb 7.5oz (96%)
Length: 33.25inches (off the chart)
Head: 46.4cm (60%)

I looked back at Carter's numbers and Cameron is almost 2lbs heavier and 1.25 inches taller.

Cameron got 2 shots & a flu shot and Carter got the flu mist for the first time.

All is well with our healthy children. :) Praise the Lord!

I want a drum for Christmas

2011-09-19T15:20:00.005-04:00

That's the discussion that has taken place after the first 2 NC Football games this year. Carter wants a GIGANTIC bass drum (like the kind that you wear on your chest) and he wants Cameron to get some cymbals. I think this new love all came about after the band played right in front of our tailgate spot.

He's not just partial to the band...he loves the football team and the cheerleaders and mascots too. Carter is really enjoying the games this year, even this weekend's game which was cold and rainy.

Be intentional

2011-09-07T14:43:00.004-04:00

Cameron on our trip to the Life & Science Museum in Durham

I'm tryyyyyyyyyyyyyying to be more intentional about things...one of them being updating this blog. Ahhhhh!
I was doing an online survery about Cameron's development for her upcoming 15 month appointment this month and one of the questions what asking if she said more than 4 words other than Mama & Dada. So I started thinking of them...

Here's a few things about Cameron at 14 months:
*Says Dog, Bow, Fish, Bye-Bye, Hey, Ball, Book, Baby, Pack Pack (for Wolfpack!), Door, Down, No & Mine (These last 2 she's been saying for a couple months!), Nana, Papa, Rock Rock, Tickle,
*Signs Thank you, More & Please (and sometimes says the words along with the sign)
*Counts along with Carter-more like humming along
*Cameron sleeps about 12 hours each night
*Naps for 2.5-3 hours
*When she wakes up earlier than I want her to, she willingly plays in her bed with her babies.
*Loves to read. Sometimes you'll find her reading a book by herself somewhere
*Loves animals. Her favorites(for sound making purposes)are dog, cat, horse and cow.
*She's a great eater. But so was Carter at this age. And she has her mommy's sweet tooth. Sometimes you'll see her dancing in place at the sight of something yummy.
*Wears Size 4 diapers & Size "18 months" but most of her clothes are 12-18/18-24m.
*Recently became interested in blowing a kiss
*It so neat to watch Carter & Cameron interact. In the car, Carter likes to ask her questions just to get to her say No repeatedly. One night he kept asking if he could have some icecream when we got home over and over again. Everytime he would ask, she would start out soft saying no and then she was eventually yelling no at him.

Happy Birthday Derrick!

2011-08-29T16:06:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, we headed to Greensboro to spend the afternoon with my brother on his birthday. My dad & Aaron were there...just not in any pictures of these pictures.
Despite very short naps in the car, the kids did well during lunch at Mellow Mushroom & then we headed back to his apartment for cupcakes and icecream. The kids enjoyed yummy desserts, running around, jumping off the fireplace and wrestling with Uncle Derrick!

Carter's First Day of Preschool

2011-08-29T16:00:00.006-04:00

On August 29, we embarked on a little adventure we refer to as Preschool...at home. :) This is another area that I must be intentional. Carter is a very smart 3 year old without someone sitting down and forcing him to learn. He learned most of his letter with the help of an alphabet puzzle with individual letters. If he couldn't remember the name of the letter, he could remember a word that started with that letter.
With the resources of the Partnership for Children of Johnston County, we've found some great stuff. I've also had a friend pass on lots of workbooks and a huge binder of A beka K4 materials. Now I have to figure out when I want to "plan". For me, I must have a plan to feel intentional. As a former teacher, I was able to "wing it" if I needed to but I want our time together to matter. So there have been intention days thus far and there have been not so intentional days. We do preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but there have been days were Carter requested to do school on a Tuesday or Thursday so we still do activities together then too. One day, he even requested to do school after naptime.

Looking like Handy Manny

So far, we've focused on the letters: B,C,D,E,F,M,N. We practice writing the letters, picking out words that start with that letter, do flashcards for each letter, do activities on starfall. These letter were chosen based on the kits available to check out at the Partnership. We've spent time on a few colors: Yellow, Blue, Red. Carter struggled with wanting to know his colors. Like most kids, he went through a phase where everything was Red, or Blue or Green. Occasionally, he'll now confuse orange and yellow. We've worked out sorting bears based on color and shape and even used a scale for fun, an interview about his grandparents for Grandparent's Day, made a birthday card for Minnie, Did alphabet puzzle matching game. We've talked about jobs and cereal. When talking about cereal, Carter would roll a di and he would have to count the number and pick out that many pieces of Fruit Loops to string on a necklace (and I would tell him which colors to choose). We've done activities on rhyming words and worked on coloring pictures that feature different shapes. It's interesting to observe Carter. On our first day, I had tons of activities planned but then I remembered he's getting one on one tutoring so things go a lot faster. There have been times where he'll ask me to color the Mop for M because he's tired. :) Not sure how that would go in a regular preschool setting. It would probably result in him not completing the exercise and instead pretending his crayons are football players. :)
Speaking of crayons, they have legs. I think I've already lost an entire box of 24...unless Cameron is hiding them somewhere.

Trying to keep Cameron entertained

Starfall.com

Enter to win...

2011-08-15T21:39:00.003-04:00

Hey friends. I love blogs, I love to win things and I love to share cool things with people. Sooooo...I suggest you check out the blog Prayer of Hannah today! There just recently updated their page and are offering a giveaway full of 15 preschool activities. If you don't have a preschooler, you could enter and send me the prize if you win! ;) You have until Thursday at midnight...so check it out! :)

Aaron's last day of summer

2011-08-15T21:17:00.007-04:00

We found ourselves running an errand in Fuquay (3 years late) and I was reminded of people rave about yummy icecream at Sunni Sky's so we stopped in for lunch! ;) I can't give a real personal opinion as I am still on the soft foods diet (for some reason I ordered a waffle cone) so I guess I'll have to plan to go back again soon.

Cameron sharing a sample with Aaron

They love each other!

She gets all into her icecream

/>Forcing a smile...my mouth still hurts.

Hanging out outside

Partnership for Children

2011-08-14T22:02:00.004-04:00

We recently purchased a membership at the Partnership for Children of Johnston County after hearing a friend rave about this place. For $20 a year, you have access to tons boxes full of games, books that teach on a variety of subjects, or toys, books, movies, games, etc. for infant, toddler, preschool, & elementary school age for up to 3 weeks at the time. You can check out 3 boxes and 4 other items at a time (or 7 items total). You also have access to their die cut machine (bring your own paper), laminater ($1/foot), and copy machine (can't remember price). You can also attend the Tots and Tales (Literacy Program) that meets the 2nd Thurs of the month at 10:30 and your family gets the featured book of the day to take home, and you may attend the parent workshops, etc. Great resource!! We are currently enjoying boxes on insects & bees(since Cameron, Carter and myself have all been stung in the past 3 weeks) and a box of baby dolls for Cameron and a couple other books on bugs. We will use this resource as we do preschool at home starting this fall. :)

This past Thursday, we went for the first Tots & Tales. The featured book was Are you my Mother? We already have the book, but now we have the English/Spanish version. ;) We read the book and then colored a bird/put feathers on the bird. There was also a flannel boards for the kids. All in all, it was a fun time and Aaron joined us since he goes back to school...tomorrow. :(

Believe it OR NOT, I am currently caught up so I plan to go back and highlight some of our fun times. Plan...haha.

Watermelon Slices

2011-08-14T21:36:00.004-04:00

My mom has made Cameron a couple outfits for this summer and we wanted to get some pictures of her in one while eating watermelon. :) She LOVES watermelon. Watermelon has been a great treat for her when she's teething.

Coordination

2011-08-14T21:21:00.002-04:00

I find much enjoyment in coordinating the kid's clothes. I guess it's as close as I'll get to dressing twins! ;)

I'm just too wise!

2011-08-13T16:17:00.005-04:00

At the beginning of August I started having some wisdom tooth pains and it kept getting worse to where my ear hurt, my throat hurt, my neck was swollen, I couldn't open my mouth to eat so I headed to the dentist. He said I was having pain from the way the tooth was coming in and that I would continue to have pain until they were removed. He gave me some antibiotics to take. So at check out time, I said I just needed to go through with the process and get them removed. Flash back to when I was a teenager: My parent's dentist told me I should have them removed...for some reason I didn't believe him. And now I am paying for it twice...financially & physically. After get married and finding this dentist in Clayton, they have recommended I have them removed but they didn't do anesthesia in their office and gave me some places I could contact...and of course I didn't. :) Ok, back to last Wednesday--Now our dentist office offers anesthesia so while I was there, I went ahead and signed up to get them removed...9 days later! and Boy, did I become anxious. The surgeon saw me that day and made sure to give me some anti-anxiety meds to take before the surgery (and they worked!). So on August 12, at 9am I had them removed. I remember them starting my IV...and next thing I remember was throwing up on the kitchen floor when we got home. So for the next few hours I was so nauseous and in a lot of pain and had no appetite. By about 8:30pm last night, I was hungry and was able to keep some mashed potatoes and icecream down. :) I slept great last night and today I was finally able to take a full pill of pain meds. I'm feeling ok, still feeling some pain but I've made sure to rest all day. :) My mom came over around lunch yesterday so Aaron could go to vball practice and then she took the kids to her house after nap and they stayed there last night. So I've enjoyed a restful 24+ hours! :) I'm looking forward to returning to a normal diet soon...but of course I don't want to return too early and be in pain. :)

Before

After & I don't even remember taking this picture! :) haha!

Carter's 1st VBS

2011-08-12T21:16:00.005-04:00

August 3-7th, I had the pleasure of accompanying Carter at our church's vbs. This is our first year allowing 3 & 4 year olds (I talked our children's pastor into doing it) to participate and each child had to have an accompanying parent. Carter is slow to warm up to "new" things so I knew the first night would be a challenge. Our theme was Wildwood Forest and we rotated to different stations after we all kicked off in the sanctuary with an intro, skit and group song. The different rotations included more songs, skit, experiment, games and snack. Can you guess Carter's favorite time? The games outside! :) The first night during music, I had to help him do the hand motions while holding his hands. By day 2, he was all into it. Carter learns songs very quickly, is very interested in learning and doing all the hand motions and sings great! :) The kids learned songs from Seeds Family Worship which is a group that all the songs are straight scripture memorization. So this week he learned: Psalms 34:10, 40:1-2, Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 62:1-2 & Psalm 34:18! Cameron has even picked up on some of the songs and motions too!

During the skits we learned about Gideon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Paul & Silas, Elisha & Mary & Joseph and that God is undefeatable, unmatchable,uncontainable, unpredictable, unforgettable. Our experiments included making a balloon fly like a bird, making a bag explode, walking through an index card, playing with slime, mentos explosion.
On Saturday night, we had VBS at the White Deer Park with dinner. I spent the next 2 hours icing my hand as I got stung by at bee at dinner.
The game time was a little unorganized at time since we were dealing with 3 & 4 year olds but they just enjoyed running around! :)

Our VBS concluded on the stage during our Sunday Morning service. Carter did a GREAT job sitting quietly on the stage for 1 hour! :) And did a great job on singing the songs. He did need my help on the Romans verse--its long with a lot of motions to remember. Aaron took a video...maybe one day I can get it on here. :) I also took one on my phone...that should be easier to upload.

The dreaded month of August

2011-08-03T22:54:00.004-04:00

August is already here and that means volleyball is already here. Volleyball isn't quite as fun with 2 little ones and the biggest downfall is Aaron being so busy. With practices 3 days a week till 5, and games till 7 or 8...it makes for really long days for Aaron and minimal family time. But, it does provide some extra income and 2 tickets to NC State football games...so...we (yes, we) stick with it. Here are a few pictures from this year's volleyball camp. Because Aaron was teaching summer school, the hours of the camp were moved from 9-12 to 1-4. Attendance might have taken a hit because of this, and/or the economy. Either way, he made 1/3 less than he has in the past. THANKFULLY, Aaron was teaching summer school so that helped make up for the low camp numbers.

Punkin'

2011-07-28T14:26:00.002-04:00

My grandma has nicknames Carter-Pumpkin but it sounds more like punkin' and Cameron-Sweet Pea. My grandparents have a garden so they bought some pumpkin seeds to plant with Carter so we'd have pumpkins in October. Here's a couple pictures of Carter, Papa Don and Aaron planting about 25 pumpkin seeds.

Boyce Family Reunion

2011-07-28T13:50:00.003-04:00

Saturday, July 23rd we headed to Richmond for a family reunion with Aaron's mom's side of the family. The 3 hour trip there started out a little tough as we weren't traveling during Cameron's naptime and she was kinda cranky but we made it. We always meet at a local Italian restaurant that has a room big enough to fit all 40 plus people and has a little arcade to keep the interest of the little ones. We headed back around 4. Though it was a quick trip, it was nice to see family we only see once a year and also to see Aaron's mom, dad, brother & sister. :)

Boring Weekend recap

2011-07-17T21:45:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we had a productive Craigslist selling day, did a little cleaning in the garage, washed cars & played in the water. Now if I knew how to upload pics off my phone...I guess I gotta hook my phone up to the computer first. Oh well for now. I hope to come back with pictures to add to the post. Otherwise, I assume its pretty boring! :P
Today I ran to the Kids Exchange 1/2 off and it was nuts in there! Now I know why I volunteer! I discovered a 2t girls row that I NEVER saw on Wednesday night...but that's probably a good thing. I walked through there and Carter's section but nothing good jumped out to me. I had 2 books in my stroller but just decided to return them. I wasn't even in the mood to wait in a 10 minute 5 items of less line for $2. Oh well. Gotta head back tomorrow to pick up my unsold items. Pretty sure my infant carseat is still there. I wasn't planning on just selling it for cheap. Oh well-next sell or another local sell?
We went to a joint birthday party tonight for 2 kids in Carter's preschool class at church.
I'll try to add some pictures of our BEAUTIFUL kids tomorrow since you haven't seen them since March! :P

A Saturday with "nothing" planned...yet

2011-07-16T09:47:00.002-04:00

Morning! It's a little before 10. Aaron is about the wrap up swim lessons, Carter is relaxing on the couch watching some videos on my phone (he loooves to do this) and Cameron is still quiet in her crib. Today there is currently nothing on our schedule...to be productive or unproductive around the house is the question?!
I survived my Kids Exchange working shift yesterday! :) And had lots of fun. Reminded me of my Old Navy cashier days. My schedule was 8:30-6:30 with a 30 minutes lunch. We didn't really start working till after 9, but the time was flying by because we were so busy all day! I had no idea it was already 1:15 when someone came to relieve me for lunch break. I opted to just sit down for 30 minutes instead of shop! :P It was crazy because I thought I saw everything in Cameron's clothes sections but I still checked out people with cute girls stuff in Cameron's size that I never saw. I enjoyed chatting with the shoppers and everyone was so pleasant too. It was funny to chat with first time shoppers and how overwhelmed they were! :) I remember those days! I finished with my last customers at 6:29 and headed home. Sure, yesterday was a long day but I enjoyed it, I worked hard and I enjoyed my benefit of shopping at 3pm on Wednesday. So I'll plan to do it again! :)
Last night we enjoyed pizza for dinner & had snoballs at Pelicans. (: Carter doesn't really like snoballs. He's maybe good for 5 bites and then he's done.
I hear Cameron starting to cry...I squeezed in another quick update. Happy Nothing To Do Saturday! :)

Other people's blogs

2011-07-14T17:17:00.002-04:00

Today, a friend sent me a link to read some random person's blog...and I found myself really enjoying it. And then I remembered, I have a blog myself?!? So...attempt #1,000 to update semi regularly this blog. (; Wish me luck!
I must start with the present...and go to the past if time allows.
This week has been super busy for Aaron and myself. Aaron is teaching summer school for the first time and running the high school's vball camp in the afternoon. Talk about long days and then I've had him out and about after those hours. Monday, he joined me at the Kids Exchange to help me put out all our stuff. It took both of us 1 hour & 20 minutes. I treated him to some Bojangles for his help! Then yesterday, he left camp 30 minutes early to shop with me as a super worker for the sale. If you are unfamiliar with the Kids Exchange, you've got to check it out! It's so overwhelming, and fun and full of great deals! We found Cameron a play kitchen for Christmas and some plates and such to go along with it. I wasn't "sold" on the kitchen but it was a great deal and I knew I could resell for more if I found something I liked better. I was excited about the cute shoes I found for Cameron and I always love finding cheap sperrys for Carter. The 4T boys section was tough with stuff I didn't like or prices I didn't like but I went through the entire section. My method of shopping is if I think I like it, through it in the wagon and inspect it later while you rest! ;) Then I had to attack the 18, 24m & 2t girls sections. Mommas of girls are proud of their used clothes! I think some people forget this is a consignment sale. (: I say all that to say that I shopped for 7 hours & 45 minutes. We got in line at 10:45pm, after I entered the building at 3pm. Crazy--I KNOW! :) We scored a $20 carseat for my parents for Cameron, Dulpo legos, Patsy Aiken dresses, Gymboree outfits, State polos & hoodies just to name a few fun finds. We were also on a mission to find a list of things for some friends and were successful for them as well. So after waiting 45 minutes to check out, we left the building at 11:30pm...all the while Cameron was wide awake at my parent's house (but happy) and Carter was running a fever and later through up before we headed home. Yesterday was a very long but FUN day! I love good deals! :)
I work tomorrow as a scanner. I'll let you know how that goes.
Now off to dinner at a friend's house! :)

Thankful for the sunshine!

2011-03-10T17:58:00.003-05:00

When its sunny outside, we've been out trying to get a dose of Vitamin D. We've enjoyed playing in the backyard and headed to Lake Wheeler one afternoon with Nana.

Snuggly

2011-03-10T17:21:00.004-05:00

Aaron's parents came to visit the weekend before Valentine's Day so Aaron and I went out for dinner. When we came back, Cameron sat right beside me on the couch and fell asleep sitting up. Poor Baby recovering from RSV.

So of course I had to snap a picture of Cameron being snuggly.

Gigi & Grandpa came to visit

"I wanna write about Baby Jesus"

2011-02-22T16:05:00.002-05:00

Carter just woke up from nap. He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was writing a story about Cameron. Carter then said, "I wanna write about Baby Jesus." I said, "Can you tell me about baby Jesus?"
Carter: "How about Tracy can dunk it." Carter Firebaugh is obsessed with sports and he LOVES the WOLFPACK! I will be writing a whole post dedicated to Carter's obsession. :)
But back to Baby Jesus...
He just told me that Baby Jesus was in the manager. His mommy & daddy are Mary & Joe-fas (haha).
After the Christmas flag got taken down, Carter from time to time, looks out the window and says, "Where's baby Jesus?"
He's now playing a baseball game on my phone and not talking...

Cameron's moving out

2011-02-22T14:58:00.004-05:00

Last Friday, Feb. 18th, Cameron slept in her crib in her room for the first time at night. :) There's something about a baby sleeping in the room that makes me think of them as still being a "baby". So 1 day after she turned 8 months old, we kicked her out. Just Kidding. I was a little torn over it, but we did it.
Part of the reason we waited so long was:
1. Carter slept in our room till he was 6 months old, so Cameron was going to stay at least that long. ;)
2. Cameron was sleeping through the night after the first month but then in December, when lots of teeth started coming in, her sleep got interrupted. It was nice to just roll out of bed, change her and feed her. I know it sounds like her room is really far away but Aaron was more in tune (when she was in the room) to her being awake at night so he would fix her a bottle, so I never had to leave the room.
3. Aaron's parents got us a video monitor when Cameron was born so we had been using it in Carter's room. In January, I decided that we would take down his rails so I wanted to keep the monitor in there for a few weeks so I could peek on him. He only fell out a handful of times.
4. It has been a cold winter! We've kept her vents closed in the summer so we weren't cooling that room and closed in the winter so we weren't heating that room. We've had problems with our air conditioner and the man has said that we have "too many vents" and to close ones we can.
5. Really the #1 reason-I still wanted her to sleep in our room. :)

So I had Aaron drop the mattress and move the monitor to Cameron's room. All last week, she was dealing with RSV so it was nice for her to be in our room so I could check on her since her coughing was causing her to wake up. There was 2 nights that after 3am, she was not going back to sleep in her bed. So I hung off the side of the bed from 3-8am. She had been napping in her room for a couple weeks so we ran the humidifier during naptimes. By moving her to her own room at night, we could run the humidifier for her all the time.

Cameron has done well with her change. :) She's slept through the night but has woke up around 6:45 a couple mornings. She's been sleeping at least 1 nap a day half sitting up/half bent over. I'll post some pictures soon.

Valentines Pictures

2011-02-15T10:58:00.003-05:00

I got a gift card from my brother to Picture People for Christmas so we got Cameron's 6 month pictures taken there, just a month late. I like Picture People but I find myself only like one or two of the pictures, which is a good thing for budgeting purposes. :)
Then the next week, my mom and I took both kids to Portrait Innovations to get Valentines pictures. There were some good ones, of course! We got the $9.95 package but I couldn't pass up on one of each kid. Carter did SUCH a great job as compared with Christmas pictures! :)

Kids Exchange

2011-02-14T22:43:00.003-05:00

I'll have to come back and re-read this post as I am sure there are typos and its random and jumbled. I was trying to type before we headed to bed. :) Yay for 3 days in a roooooooooooow!

Kids Exchange comes twice a year and its my favorite!! July 2010, I convinced Aaron to work a shift so we could shop early. He actually enjoyed himself so we both scheduled to work the January 2011 sale so we could shop even earlier. Aaron was orginially scheduled to work security on a teacher workday with the "snow" caused the county to move the workday so we had to change Aaron's job to tearing down the building...a little harder task. My job was on the last night of the sale as a sorter...aka going through all the madness that was still left and sorting it to be picked up or donated! We got to shop on Wednesday at 3pm and I think I could have shopped all night! We first attacked the double strollers and found a joovy one for $20...and it's red! ;) The only thing is it was missing the front tray but umbrella strollers don't have a tray either. We also purchased one for some of our friends that were coming to shop at 5pm. After strollers, I was off to attack the 4T boys section. I touched every piece there...and had tons in the wagon. Michael counted and there were 44 pairs of plaid shorts! HAHA. I was just grabbing what I thought I might like! After going through the section, I went along the side and had Aaron sort the items while I started looking at the 18 month girls for Cameron. No, we didn't buy 44 pairs of shorts, but I was able to check for stain, brands and prices to make the best purchases. This is what really is the time consuming part. It's getting tougher to shop for Carter as boys are so tough on their clothes. I noticed some moms take a lot of price in the used clothing as some of the items were priced really high. That makes it easier for me actually. So about 8pm, they are making calls to reference they the last call may be coming soon. I was trying to move quick as the 18 month girls section was more disappointing than Carter's section. If you know the store layout, I never even made it from the back of the store to the row of infant toys. At 9pm, they asked us to get in line to check out. After check out, our average per item was $2.86!! :) I'm ok with that! Carter is set...but Cameron needs a little more. Today, I noticed that most of the stuff in her closet for spring/summer are all sleeveless. I guess I was remembering how hot it was last summer!

One thing I really like about the sale is that its sooo huge and draws such a huge crowd. This helps my items to sell! I like that I get paide so quickly after the sale and I usually tend to make about what we spend. We got our check from the sale last week and I made right at $250!! :) I wanted to make some quick $ off the leftover stuff so I took some clothes, books & toys to the Children's Orchard (Kids Consignment Store that pays cash upfront for items) and was very disappointed that she wanted to give me only $13 for 37 items (9 books (brand new!), 8 outfits, 7 shirts, 2 hats, 2 bathing suits, 7 oneies, 2 shorts). Needless to say I did not accept her offer! I think I may look into another local consignment sale for the unsold KE items.

Sign Language

2011-02-13T10:35:00.004-05:00

Back on January 18th, right at 7 months, Cameron signed more! I kept repeating more and she kept signing and smiling. She was proud of herself and I was too! Funny thing is over time, she has gotten lazy and decided to sign more so it looks more like milk & byebye. We haven't even tried to teach her milk. Sometimes it sounds like she actually trying to say more. We are currently working on thank you. No progress yet.
She enjoys self-feeding but still struggles with releasing the cheerios from her chubby hands! :) We've worked with Carter so he knows when he can put another one is her mouth before I've seen her with 3 in her mouth before. He's mommy's big helper!
Solids started off as a big challenge with Cameron but she's doing great now.

During month 7, Cameron:
-signs more
-can sit up in her bed by herself!
-is crawling but not too far
-can pull up
-has her 7th tooth coming in
-is wearing diapers bought by mommy & daddy. We made it to 6.5 months with gracious diaper gifts from family and friends!! Thanks!! :)
-Wears Size 3 diapers
-Wears 12 month clothes, but still wears some 6-12 month
-Had her 2nd sick visit-this time it's RSV.

2 days in a row?!?!? ;)

2011-02-13T10:21:00.004-05:00

I'm home from church with Cameron, who is napping, so I thought I'd write some more about our wonderful kids & life!! :)

Aaron's parents came in town last night on their way back from Richmond so they stayed with the kids while Aaron and I went out for Valentine's Day! We don't eat out often so when we do, it's a TREAT! :) At Christmas, one of Aaron's students gave him a NICE gift card to LoneStar...so we eat dinner for less than $7 last night! Wahooooo! Then I asked could we go to Kohl's and Target. I have a leftover gift card at Kohl's (I'm really good about holding on to these waiting for the right time to use them! I have atleast partial 1 from Christmas 2009 & 2 partials from my bday 2010) so I went to search for Cameron a white picture frame instead of paying for it at Target! ;) And then of course a trip to Target included buying baby food and formula with LOTS of great coupons!!

Recently, I've had a lot of friends sharing baby coupons with us, and it's a blessing! And the formula checks that I can't use, I just trade them on Craigslist for the ones I can! :) With Carter we just used whatever brand of formula, both Similac and Enfamil after breastfeeding, but Cameron is a little pickier! ;) We use Good Start with her because the dr said it is the closest to breastmilk and it really helps with regular bowl movements. {Here's the TMI part: They have been explosive especially in conjunction with the daily doses for amoxicillian for Kidney Reflux. Though, now with solids in her diet the explosions aren't as often}

If you ever get any baby coupons, be sure to share those with those in your life that can benefit!! I never thought coupons are something that I would get so excited over!! :)

Cameron is crawling...

2011-02-12T14:16:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday, Feb. 5th, I figured I'd better go ahead and saying Cameron was crawling before someone else told me. At this point, she's not moving very much. A knee more or two but after she moves she's roll over and then sit up and eventually change directions. So in order words, Cameron is mobile. I'm actually rather sad, aside from the you can't leave her unattended for very long, but I just keep thinking about how quickly she is growing.

As of now, Cameron is still sleeping in our room. Having a baby sleeping in your room makes you think you still have a "baby". Well, we had a couple different reasons. One: I still wanted her to sleep in there! :) What other reasons do you need! Two: It is freezing in her room. We use a space heater in Carter's room at night and we need to get one for Cameron's room too. Carter has started to like and use his covers when he sleeps so now I feel more comfortable moving the heater to Cameron's room. Three:Carter and Cameron's rooms are next to each other, so I was also concerned about how he would sleep if she where crying and how she would sleep if he was loud playing in his room. Four: Carter was still using the video monitor Aaron's parents gave us when Cameron was born. Mid January, I decided to take Carter's rails off the sides of his bed so I still wanted to keep the video monitor in there so I could see him. He only fell off a hand full of times. At least twice, he just kept sleeping on the floor. This week, I decided it was time that I didn't need the video monitor in his room so I had Aaron try to find a place to set it up in Cameron's room. We still haven't found a place that I like, but its in there. I also had him drop the mattress since she's now pulling up on stuff. So starting this week, she's been napping in her room. I guess her time to move is coming too as she'll be 8 months next week. But with her being sick this week, I wanted to keep her in the room with me.

Thank you Christian Radio!

2011-02-12T14:03:00.004-05:00

Carter loves to sing! :) I would post a video from Christmas of him singing tons of Christmas songs BUT hard drive went bad and we weren't able to access those files. :( So maybe we'll just have to record some in February. Some of his current favorite songs to sing are songs that we listen to on the radio or on my phone like:

Chris Tomlin: I will follow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnwz3xx_yGs

Chris Tomlin: Our God is greater
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SAtWjBDFeM

Lecrae: Background
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHnZRZiCYHE

He only knows the chorus but its a start! :) Its the sweetest thing to hear him sing these songs.

We went through a time where Carter protested praying at meal times so thankfully one day he wanted to start singing his meal prayers like they do at church. {Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, for our food, for our food, and your many blessings, and your many blessings, Amen, Amen.-to the tune of Are you sleeping?} And one of my best friends is the head over the toddler class and I've been fussing for a while now about them teaching some content in his class. I know its tough with the age range from 16months-3year but she told me on Friday that she taught them a verse on Wednesday for the first time. We were out to dinner with my mom last night and Carter randomly starts saying, "In the beginning, God, who loved us"...(and then a bunch of stuff I didn't understand). Well, he was close...but I would say most 2 years don't use words like create or heaven(s) and earth. We'll start working on that so he can get Genesis 1:1 down.

For now, we are just waiting for May for Carter to turn 3 so we can go into the preschool class where they have weekly lessons. :)

Last night, we were at an event with FCA at the high school. During the opening prayer, I felt Carter's hand on my shoulder and then he put his hand on Cameron's back. :) He melts my heart!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-12T13:51:00.005-05:00

I'm procrastinating cleaning...so I thought, I'll update the blog during naptime! :)

We took Cameron to the dr yesterday and she has RSV. Sounds scary but its just a name for bad cold. Not I'm not downplaying it, she does have a really bad cough and runny nose but this could be worse if she were smaller or a premie. She's slept well-Praise the Lord! :) And aside from some occasional fussy moments, she's handling it well. She's been drooling a lot as she's been having to breathe through her nose so we've soaked at least 7 bibs in the last 24 hours. We're just letting it run it course as we elevate her bed, run the humidifer, use saline solution, Tylenol/Ibprofen...Now if we could just keep Carter from putting his hands and mouth all over her.

Christmas Pictures...well Picture!

2010-12-14T22:38:00.003-05:00

I love pictures...
but at this point in my life, I don't love taking my kids to get their pictures taken together. Shew! I don't know if it's Carter's age, the fact that someone else is in the picture now or what, but it is a chore trying to get Carter to take a good picture. Yes, below you will see a good picture and oddly enough this was the first picture that was taken! I am thankful for only a few good pictures because this makes it easier to choose just 1 pose! :) In a couple weeks, we will have Cameron's 6 month pictures taken...and I'm leaving Carter at home! :D I can only hope the whole process will be much more enjoyable! I'll give Carter a break until its time for Easter pictures! ;)

Disney on Ice

2010-12-14T22:21:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday, my mom, Cameron, Carter, my friend Jennifer & her 2 year old Gabe went to see Toy Story on Ice at the RBC Center. I originally ordered 4 tickets so that Aaron could come along too but then I realized he had a youth group event that he was expected to attend so I gave Jennifer the extra ticket! I kept putting off ordering tickets and I'm glad I did, because we got a nice discount code! :) I had never been to Disney on Ice before so this was a fun treat! The first half before intermission was a combination of Toy Story 1 & 2 with the 2nd half being about Toy Story 3. I caught Carter a couple times with his mouth open. He laughed, cheered, clapped & had a great time with his buddy Gabe. Thanks Nana for treating us to this fun event!

Carter's Favorite-besides Buzz & Woody...Lotso

We went to the 10:30 show so this was during Cameron's naptime...but she was angel! ;)

The whole gang

Jennifer & Gabe

Nana :)

Visiting Santa...

2010-12-08T22:22:00.002-05:00

As I aim to go back and post on happenings from months ago, I gotta stay up to date too! ;)

So...today I saw a friend post that her daughter was singing with her middle school chorus at the mall. So I texted Aaron and told him to take the afternoon off and go to the mall with us to go see Jessica sing and to see Santa! We enjoyed some Christmas chorus tunes...reminded me of my days of singing at the mall too! I even got a little teary!
When we went to see Santa, the cameras were broken so they were stalling by sending Santa to come talk to the people waiting in line. I think this was good for Carter. He has just recently started to be interested in interacting with characters. When Santa walked back to us, Carter just sat in the stroller and wouldn't even look in his direction. They never got the cameras working while we were there but they did allow us to visit and take our own pictures and Carter was ready to visit when our time came. Even though Carter didn't talk to him, he didn't cry!! YAY! We had been talking up the Santa visit and even asking Carter what he was going to tell Santa he wanted. He had been planning for weeks to say "Buzz and Woody" but just yesterday, I told Carter he needed some gloves for Christmas and he started saying he was gonna tell Santa he wanted two gloves. Then that turned into Buzz and Woody gloves. But he didn't even talk to Santa. I thought it was funny that Santa didn't even ask him what he wanted for Christmas. Guess they ask that anymore??
Cameron did good...she stared at him a little too long and started to cry some so she cut out visit short! :)

We're still here...

2010-12-07T14:56:00.004-05:00

I wish I could say I planned to take a 6 month break...but it just happened. I am much better about updating my facebook so I'm sorry blog & blog follows for neglecting you. I may have to set an alarm to remind me to update the blog...but we'll start with where I left off.

Soooooooooooooo...Cameron is here! :)

I just found a draft that I started writing so some of the pictures are the same... :)

Cameron Blake Firebaugh arrived on Thursday, June 17th at 9:32am weighing 9lbs & 21 inches long. Cameron was born via c-section after Dr. Harden tried the turn her through the version. Wow--that was a painful experience but I just stared at the ceiling while he oiled me up & dug his fingers into my belly. She moved...a little. But when he stopped trying to turn her, she returned back to her breech position. With all that being said, I wouldn't go back to do it any different. The c-section wasn't THAT bad...I just have a fear of the unknown and I had no clue what I was about to experience. Luckily for us, it was a really slow day so we had lots of extra hands available so pictures could be taken of the event. When you have a c-section, there's not really a fun or interesting birth story...sorry Cameron...well actually it was your fault! :P A few things I remember about that day...I was in paaaaaaaaaaaain! Shew! And in pain for many, many days to come. Since it was slow around the hospital that day, our initial postpartum nurse was able to upgrade our room to the biggest one available (and they wheeled me down the hall while I was uploading pictures to fb)! :) (With Carter, our room was the size of a closet!)
I just asked Aaron what he remembered about the day Cameron was born and he said, "Wearing scrubs, putting the dog kennel's in the kitchen (it was really hot and stay in the garage when we are not at home so we didn't want them to die while we were at the hospital), coming home to get snacks."
We had visitors while we were there: Pastor Brian, Pastor Josh, Pastor Doug, Matt G, Chris & Sara, Aunt Deborah, Stacey & Melissa, Grandma, Papa, Derrick, My mom and dad, Aaron's mom & dad, Rachel, Adam, Julie, Teenna & Nick, Jennifer, Hannah, Derek, Jessia, Alley...
While I was in the hospital with Carter, I never left my room, but after this c-section, I had to keep "active". I remember fearing getting out of bed the first time but I knew I had to move so I could quickly recover. Every couple hours, Aaron and I would take Cameron on a walk so I could keep moving.
Cameron was a great baby while in the hospital. She nursed well and our lactation consultant was great! She did enjoy staying awake from the hours of 2-5am but enjoyed snuggling with me in bed during those hours.
Carter did a decent jobs during his visits. He would not climb in bed to sit with me so I had to get out of bed and sit in an uncomortable chair to sit with him. And of course, I was totally scared he was going to jump on my stomach! Carter enjoyed kissing Cameron on the head, getting presents, visits from family and hanging out with my parents while we were still in the hospital. To look back at those pictures now 6 months later, he looks soooo grown up. It's crazy!
We left the hospital knowing we would be battling jaunice and gaining weight which provided us with daily visits to the dr our first 4 days home. We left the hosptial and Cameron weighed 7lb 13 oz so she had lost a significant amount of weight!
Aaron was so helpful with EVERYTHING! Taking care of 3 babies is tough and we were so thankful that Cameron arrived during summer break. My mom was great too!

Check back soon...I've got a lot to post! ;)

Happy 2 weeks Cameron Blake Firebaugh

2010-07-01T15:20:00.005-04:00

Cameron Blake Firebaugh arrived 2 weeks ago, Thursday, June 17th at 9:32am via C-section.
When we went to the dr. on Tuesday, June 15th to see Dr. McKenzie, I was 40 weeks & 2 days. He checked me and said I was 2-3 cm...no real change. He asked if I wanted him to strip my membranes to try to get something going and I said sure. This process caused him to question Cameron's position so we were off to the ultrasound room. My mom was able to meet up with us for Cameron's last ultrasound to determine that she was breech. Dr. McKenzie talked with us about her positioning and what could happen next. He told us about the process of the version (method used to turn babies into head down position) and as I listened I thought that I would be interested in giving it a try. We checked the calendar and the best version dr (Dr. Harden) was scheduled for Thursday at the hospital so we planned to attempt the version, then if successful move onto induction and if not, then c-section. The ultrasound told us that she was 8lb 6oz (+ or - 1lb). My nurse reassured me that if anyone was turning my baby, that it was Dr. Harden. I left feeling ok but yet overwhelmed by this new shocking news. Dr. McKenzie told me there was a 50% chance that she could be turned and obviously it would be more difficult if she was on the bigger side. I left the office and we went to dinner with my mom. I called a friend on the way and cried a little...not much. And to come to think of it, I hardly cried in the days leading up to the trip to the hospital (though I really wanted to!). On Tuesday night, I stayed up reading and watching videos about the version and c-section. I have always feared the c-section bc of the recovery...and now here I was...having to get one myself.
The night before, we met my mom for a final dinner at Ragazzi's since I wasn't going to be having many good meals in the coming days. Then we sent Carter onto spend the night with my parents. We didn't go to sleep until around midnight and got up around 5:15 to be at the hospital at 7:30am. My mom met us there and luckily she did, bc I couldn't remember where I packed my memory card.
So we were off to Triage to get ready for the version. I was the only patient this morning and we had lots of nurses volunteering their services. Everyone was great! Dr. Harden checked Cameron again to make sure she hadn't turned into the correct position on her own and then we started to show. (Side note: all the nurses said Dr. Harden was the dr to turn babies!)...

Cameron Update

2010-06-16T12:06:00.002-04:00

Cameron was due this past Sunday...
At week 36 I measured at 1/2 cm (McKenzie)...
At week 37 I measured at 1-2 cm (Harden)...
At week 38 I measured at 1-2 cm (Wheeler)...
At week 39 I measured at 2-3 cm (Harden)...
At week 40 I measured at 2-3 cm (McKenzie)...

Dr. McKenzie also determined that Cameron is breech. We did an ultrasound to confirm...and she is. The ultrasound said she is 8lb 6 oz (+ or - 1 lb). We talked about the different options. We are opting to try a version (a procedure where the dr tries to turn the baby). If this is unsuccessful, then I am schedules to have a C-section following that. The version is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30am and the C-section at 10:30am. We are praying that Cameron will turn herself before tomorrow or the procedure will work.

Our nurse yesterday told us that if Cameron was gonna turn that Dr. Harden is the dr to do it. Today at swim lessons, Aaron had a mom tell him the exact same thing (she's a postpartum nurse at WakeMed). Thats encouraging. Dr. McKenzie said there's a 50% chance this will work...but I didn't want to say I wish we would have tried this.

Check back tomorrow for another update!

Last of April...beginning of May...

2010-06-09T08:59:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed steak and time with family for my birthday! My brother was able to come too!

Carter has mastered shooting on the small bball goal so Aaron attached the goal to a chair until we could get Carter a new goal for his birthday. Looks kinda redneck if you ask me! ;)

Carter has been to a couple Clayton softball games this year. Here’s a picture from the West/Clayton game. He likes to yell out, “Girl hit it. Girl catch it.” Now he thinks anytime we see boys playing baseball that they are girls.

The day before Carter’s 2nd birthday, I took him to Tiny Tots at our gym. It’s a class for 2-3 year olds with music and exercise. He was a bit freaked out so I stayed with him. He really only wanted to participate when it was time to play with the balls.

Red & White Game!

2010-06-09T08:43:00.006-04:00

Carter is still afraid of mascots. Here he is not wanting to get close to Ms. Wuf.

He didn't cry during the picture...just looked at her.

In April, we enjoyed a Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium watching some Wolfpack football. The week of and since then, Carter has daily said he wants to play a football game. He had a great time watching football and enjoying the CF atmosphere. We’re looking forward to taking him to a game in the fall!

Lunch with Ben & Julie

2010-06-09T08:40:00.001-04:00

Since Carter isn't the best at lasting long at a restaurant, Ben and Julie came over for lunch one Sunday! We had lunch and hung out, while Carter played! :)

Friend's Birthdays

2010-06-09T08:24:00.003-04:00

In April, we celebrated Devin and Lucas’ 2nd birthdays. Devin’s bday party was at a bounce house and Lucas had a bounce house at his house. Here’s pictures of Carter and his friends.

Opps, I skipped the month of May!

2010-06-09T08:12:00.002-04:00

Here's some last pictures from our Easter trip to Charlotte.
While there, we also enjoyed easter baskets, going for a walk to the park with Brian and Lacey, playing in the pool and playing with Cousin Cooper.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-20T04:03:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed another Easter Sunday in Charlotte with Aaron's family. After church, we all went out to lunch and then had some family pictures and dyed some eggs after nap time.

An yucky excuse to update :(

2010-04-20T03:56:00.002-04:00

Currently, its 4 something in the morning and I'm awake with an all of a sudden stomach bug that is hitting pretty hard. I took Carter to the dr for a rash on his feet that developed on Sunday and turns out he has hand, foot and mouth but is doing find with it. I actually told Aaron I thought thats what it was...I'll add Doctor to my resume now! :) We were leaving Party City after the dr with my mom, and I got sick in the parking lot. I just thought it was because I hadn't eaten in a while. Then I got sick while at dinner and we had to get our food to go. Since then, I haven't been able to keep anything down. Therefore, I would say its not pregnancy related. I slept from about 10-1am...but its been off and on since then. So I decided I would get up and do something productive that doesn't require much energy. I am a little more comfortable typing in the recliner. My mom offered to come help with Carter tomorrow, and I am going to plan on taking her up on that offer. I already called Kelly (the girl I help home school) and told her not to come too. Just looking to feel better soon. This bug is pretty rough while 32 weeks pregnant. :(

Easter Egg Hunt in Charlotte

2010-04-03T15:47:00.003-04:00

Shooting the eggs

Carter was scared of the Easter Bunny. He said Bye Bunny when he got close or No bunny.

Today, we went to the Easter Egg Hunt at Aaron's parent's church in Charlotte. He was more interested in playing on the playground instead.

Good Friday

2010-04-03T15:18:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, we headed to Charlotte for Easter. Carter is obsessed with playing outside...

6th year in a row...

2010-04-03T14:39:00.005-04:00

Prom!

With Christina... our only teen from youth group at prom this year

One of my favorite teacher friends! Jeffie!

Ya know, as a high school student, I didn't look forward to the prom nor did I "enjoy" it. It was ok. But I must say that I have managed to enjoy it for the last 6 years, as a teacher/teacher's wife. On April 1st, we attended our 6th CHS Prom! Aaron is a junior homeroom advisor so we had to stay the whole time (but we got to take home pretty flowers at the end of the night!) :P His duty was to monitor the parking lot/front lobby so I didn't hang out with him the whole time as I needed to sit occasionally! This year, the students that were freshmen during my last year of teaching are now juniors, so it was fun to see some of them again. Soon, I'll know no one when I go to the prom--that's kinda sad. Luckily, I enjoy people watching and free food, so prom is just the place for me! :P

My date 2010

Flash Back to Prom 2008 (pregnant!)
I think I look a lot better this go around !:)

Pink...

2010-03-27T22:01:00.004-04:00

Cameron's room is painted and pink! :) My parents helped paint the room on Friday night/all day Saturday.

Here is a before picture. Not sure why I didn't take a picture of the guest room when the bed and other furniture were still in there. This is our extra futon mattress that we are currently selling on Craigslist. Let me know if you are in need! :P

This is the now...the crib is currently the hold all for randomness. The dresser is tipped over because it was injured today during the last 20 minutes of painting. My handy dad is all over the repairs! :P Prior to the injury, my mom had just commented about the length of time we had been using that dresser...for the last 9 years! :) (and 20 minutes later the leg breaks!) The other furniture will be moved in tomorrow...I still haven't figure out how I want the room arranged. Cameron's room is smaller than Carter's so it looks like it will be a tight fit to move all his old furniture to this room.

And this is a picture of Cameron's bedding. We choose a light pink to paint the room since there's lots of pink in the bedding!!! :)

I'm in love with Spring! :)

2010-03-25T14:10:00.003-04:00

This week has really flown by! We've enjoyed a picnic and playtime at the park as well as warm playtime outside. Since Friday when Andrew came over and rode Carter's motorcycle (that he got for Christmas and hasn't wanted to ride), Carter insists on riding that motorcycle daily. Glad Andrew helped spark his interest. Carter enjoys passing the ball to me in the cul-de-sac, then I shoot and he chases the rebound. We do this over and over again. A couple times he's says "Carter's turn" and expects me to pick him up so he can shoot. The only bad part about playing outside is when its time to come in. Today, we came in at lunchtime and he was not happy. I asked him what he wanted for lunch, he took out the ketchup and said chicken. Then he was in a better mood. Afterwards, he played in the bathtub for a while! Another one of his favorite things!

Nap update...the past two days Carter has fallen asleep on his own in his head. Though I have had to read books and then he requests that I lay down. I lay down for a few minutes and ask if he wants some milk and give him a little in his cup and leave. He stays put and goes to sleep.

Carter is such a big helper. Last night, he stacked all the clean cups from the dishwasher for Aaron to put him. His job is to load the silverware! :)

We are planning to paint Cameron's room this weekend! :) Painting the baby's room makes things seem more real! 80 more days?!?!

Carter playing outside after Church on Sunday

Wearing a princess pull-up (Huggies sent a sample with a boy and a girl pull up!) He pooped in this one so he didn't wear it long! :P

Playtime!

2010-03-20T14:26:00.003-04:00

It's nap time and I'm trying to procrastinate...
so here I am! :)

Last night, Carter had a play date with Andrew (who is 6 months older)and his mommmy while Aaron and Andrew's daddy went to a men's event at church. The weather is beautiful here so we enjoyed playing outside after dinner till almost 8pm! The boys insisted on playing in the cul-de-sac where Carter scrapped his knees and forehead. Boys will be boys. He got up after falling without crying and just asked me to kiss his knees. :) He's tough.

This morning, all three of us ventured off to our indoor pool where Aaron gives swim lessons while its cold outside. He's not teaching this session but is scheduled to sub next week. One of the class is for babies 6 months-2 or 3. Since he's never taught the class before, the teacher invited us to come participate. Turned out someone else needed a sub this morning too, so Carter and I participated in the class and then played while Aaron taught some other lessons. (Therefore we got no pictures on this trip) Carter's class was just about getting the kids used to the water. Carter is a fish and loves the water so he's a bit advanced for the class.

Sweet Dreams

2010-03-20T14:18:00.003-04:00

I find myself peeking in on Carter to see him sleep. Here's some pictures:

These are pictures of Aaron trying to get Carter to sleep...instead Carter wanted to play!

Big Boy Bed Update

2010-03-18T21:35:00.003-04:00

Well, naps have continued to be a struggle but I think we have mastered bedtime. Carter just wishes we would read more than 2-3 books before bed, but besides that I think he's doing well. Home school is still going on during nap time which makes getting him to bed harder since Kelly and I usually work on the subjects where she needs assistance during this quiet time. On
On Tuesday, I had a Dr's appt at 3 (which is nap time but we try to schedule them so Aaron can come too!). Aaron came home a little early so we could ride together and found Carter wasn't asleep so he climbed in bed with him. I walked in to find them sleeping like this.

Everything went well, just waiting for results of my glucose test. I think it would kill me if I found out I have gestational diabetes since I've had really sweet cravings this pregnancy. We are now going every 2 weeks...CRAZY how quickly this pregnancy has flown byyyyyyyyyyy! I've gain 18 lbs so far in 27 weeks--not bad....hoping to keep it down around 25 total (which would definitely beat my total last time of 44lbs with Carter)! Cameron is much more active than Carter. I never really felt Carter move very much so really any movement is a change!
We finally decided on Cameron's bedding. We chose a set from Pottery Barn and the goal was pink!! Now we can pick the paint color (pink!) and start getting her room ready. Having a room ready just makes it all seem more real. :)

Night #4--Sunday Night

2010-03-14T21:09:00.002-04:00

After books and prayer, we put Carter to bed at 9pm. Carter stayed in bed...but cried for mommy for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, I went to check on him. He was sitting at the end of the bed, but never got out. I picked him up and held him for 30 seconds. I saw in the mirror that his eyes were closing so I laid him down. I rubbed his hair and his eyes closed. When I got to the door, the floor creaked and he started crying. I stood at the door for 2 minutes and then walked back in and rubbed his hair and he was out. Even though it took him 30 minutes to go to sleep, he never got out of bed. I would say that's an accomplishment! :)

Now, I'm looking forward to nap time tomorrow! :P

Night #3--Saturday Night

2010-03-14T14:17:00.003-04:00

Aaron just left for rap practice...He is rapping a remix of the Send me song below with some youth group kids. I was cleaning my closet and felt like procrastinating. Since I've given up Facebook for lent, I figured I'd come update the blog. :P

Saturday's nap took place at my parents house because Carter was there while I went to the quiz meet (and Aaron was already there).

Saturday night, Aaron and I tackled bedtime together. We were at my parents house watching the state game till around 7, had dinner at home and then called Aaron's parents so Carter didn't head to bed till 9pm. This night's adventure started with reading 3 books and praying. Carter wanted Mr. Wuf to sleep with him but eventually asked Aaron to put him back on the shelf. In total, we only put him back in bed 5 times (I think). Aaron suggested that we make him climb back in bed...and that seemed to work well. He eventually decided to stay in bed though it took him a good 30 minutes to fall asleep. I heard him singing some of his favorites: Send Me I go, and a Casting Crowns song Until the whole world hears (He just sings choirs and the O's). I love that guy! Since we were springing forward last night, Carter woke up at 7:10 (which is really 6:10 in old time) so Aaron put him in bed with us and he went right to sleep and slept till 8:30. We had decided the night before to base our service attendance around when Carter woke up. So we went to 2nd service today.

Attending 2nd service had us finishing lunch today around 1:30 so we headed Carter onto a nap around 1:45. Aaron suggested that we close his door for nap time and just leave him (though at night we leave it open). Well it's been 45 minutes and he's still awake. He cried at first and then I heard books flying to the floor. Eventually he calmed down and played with puzzles. I was in the linen closet and I saw Carter sticking his fingers under the door. Then he started throwing something against the wall so Aaron went in and made him get back in bed. Since I've been typing I've heard him say:Dada school, Chanting "Wolf" "Pack", Ei Ei O, Dada hold you,I wanna pee-pee potty. I really wish I had a video monitor just to see what's going on. It sounds like he's playing with legos right now...I'll update later hoping that he does decide to take a nap! :)

I'm back...Around 3pm, I heard a loud bang and Carter started crying like he was hurt. He flipped over his wood chair but appeared to be fine. I asked him if he wanted to read a book in bed...he threw TEN books in bed for us to read. By the time we got through the books, Aaron came home and we were never successful getting Carter to sleep. So no nap took place today. :(

Night #2...

2010-03-12T21:37:00.003-05:00

This is more like what I expected. I'll start by saying Carter gets his flexibility from his daddy and his stubbornness/stall tactics from his mommy. These 2 clashed tonight and flexibility lost. He hasn't been so flexible adjusting to the big boy bed. Here's how tonight looked.

Aaron was away tonight on a youth group trip so Carter got a bath and got ready for bed. At 8:30, we climbed into bed with 3 books. We reach each one 1 time except we read I love you through and through twice. Carter requested to read another but I told him only 3 books and stuck to it. So at 8:45, we prayed and I crawled out of bed. Carter was not happy. Below is how the night went...

Attempt 1---I couldn't even get out of the room before he was standing up crying and walking towards the end of the bed. Frightened he was gonna walk off, I grabbed him and laid him back down.

Attempt 2---Same as first but I just stood at the door as he walked to me crying. I went and sat on the cube/chair that I sat on last night and held him in my lap for a minute. He requested a blanket so I grabbed one of the ones he used to sleep with in his crib. Then tried to lay him down, but he fought that and crawled out.

Attempt 3-8---All looked similar...Carter cried and climbed out, poked his head out from the door and said hey. Every time he walked to the door holding that blanket (and he's never been attached to anything before) I walked him back to bed and we did it all over again.

Attempt 9---This was the first time he put his head on my shoulder when I picked him up. He was getting tired of fighting me.

Attempt 10—--I tried to pretend like I didn't see him when he poked his head out. He didn't leave his room, just said a friendly hey.

Attempt 11—--Requested More milk, None given. Just laid him back down.

Attempt 12—--I stood in his room about 30 secs rubbing his back...Left without him crying.As he hears me coming to his room, he hides along the wall but never tries to run away.

Attempt 13---I asked him to get back in bed..he stood at the door holding the blanket. Said "Mommy hold you."

Attempt 14-I patted him on the back and rubbed his hair for 15 seconds and left quiet, he asked me to sit but I left.

Attempt 15—Asked me to sit, I did, he asked to be covered up, I rubbed his hair, he requested milk, No milk given

Attempt 16—I heard him talking in his room.

Attempt 17—Hands me his blanket to put on him

It's 9:30
Attempt 18—Requests milk, I told him I would bring it to him if he was in his bed. He was in his bed when I returned with milk, I heard him talking. I didn't see him for 3 minutes...scared to go peek. He then started singing "send me I go."

Well, its been 30 minutes...I'm gonna assume he's asleep! :)

Only took 45 minutes! :) And I was all alone and very patient!

Nap #1

2010-03-12T14:00:00.002-05:00

Today Aaron took off work so we ran some errands and went to the SPCA. Carter enjoyed barking at all the doggies. (And no we're not dog shopping, just going to look with Carter) On the way home Carter fell asleep in the car so Aaron put him in the bed and he stayed asleep. So we haven't gotten the chance to fight with Carter to go to sleep. But I'm sure our time is coming. I think I'm gonna go take a nap now myself! :)

Send Me, I Go

2010-03-12T09:38:00.002-05:00

Here's a few songs Carter likes to sing by our favorite Christian rapper 116 Clique: Send Me, I'll Go

I'm a Saint

Night #1---7:45am

2010-03-12T09:27:00.004-05:00

I woke up this morning around 7:30 and wondered what Carter was doing. He was quiet so I grabbed the camera and opened his door to see how he was sleeping.

He slept till 7:45am. I heard him trying to open his door (but couldn't) and then he called for me. Night 1 was successful...even though getting him to sleep didn't go as I envisioned.

Mess

2010-03-12T08:29:00.007-05:00

Putting clothes on the doggies

Daddy put some dry ice in the tub that was left over from school

Putting on random clothing items

Enjoying a warm day in March at the park

Playing in his tent

Playing on the potty

Some of Carter's favorite things include:

TV Shows: Super Why, Clifford, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Family Feud :)
He watches about 3-5 minutes at a time. He requests to watch these shows on the computer but of course wants to watch 1 minute and then go onto the next for a minute.

Toys: Basketball Goal! I think he pretends he's shooting around at the RBC Center because he chats "WOLF" "PACK" while shooting. He is learning how to dribble. Right now his dribble is with 2 hands and the ball is barely off the ground. He's recently tried with 1 hand and he can bounce with 1 hand 1 time.
Puzzles!! & Reading!!
His favorite books are: I love you through and through and a Nursery Rhyme book.
Its cute that he's already memorizing the pages.

Song: The wheels on the bus. We've added a few more verses: Carter's says Milk, Milk, Snack, Kelly's say ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ (she likes to sleep), Dada's say school, school, school, Nana's say Who loves you, Papa's say 'this random noise my dad makes'

Putting on other people's shoes

Coloring and Writing--He's learned to say circle while drawing one and he's still a lefty

His vocabulary is great! He is making sentences...small ones, but they're sentences! :)

Words/Phrases: "Mommy hold you" (aka Mommy hold me)
Man trash (aka Trash Man), He says slide and fries when we ride by McDonald's.
"Girl shoot" Our new neighbors (boo) put a goal in the cul-de-sac so Carter watches the kids play from his window. He likes to encourage the girls to shoot! :)
Touch Horsey Our fence backs up to a farm so recently Carter and I went to touch the horsey but he was scared. When we got in the house, he kept requesting to touch horsey
"Call _____"
Mess & Clean Up At the gym nursery, he is known by the girls for being a big helper cleaning up. :) One EARLY morning, Carter and I were in bed watching Mickey Mouse and he spilled his dry cereal bowl. He went into the kitchen and brought me the broom. :)

Other stuff:
He had his 3rd haircut last Friday, March 5th. One of our friends, Laura, did it as our normal lady is retired and hanging out in Hawaii.

He likes to take clothes out of his drawers and closet. Sometimes he'll make a nice neat stack on the floor, sometimes on the back of the chair, and sometimes its just a big mess. When he had his old dresser, he would pull all his PJ's out of the bottom drawer and just throw them on the floor. After moving the dresser to Cameron's room, he went into her room and put a pair of his dirty pj's in his old pj drawer.

On this day, I was resting on the couch while Carter would walk into the living room and show me random items on hangers. He would say "cool or "cute". This was the fun mess I found.

2nd big thing...a BIG BOY BED! :)

2010-03-11T21:51:00.003-05:00

We've been looking at bed for about 6 weeks,knowing that Carter was going to have to give up his furniture to his sister soon. :) During our 2nd trip to Rooms to Go Kids, we learned that they were having a floor sample sale and we were there for the last day of it. I was really disappointed to be shopping on the last day but we were able to score the dresser that I wanted! So after looking at a couple different places and talking with Aaron, we decided on a bed and it was just delivered today! The delivery was scheduled between 2-6pm. I kept wondering if they would come during naptime...so we skipped naptime today. Typically, I lay Carter down around 1pm and he cries for 2-5 minutes and then falls asleep. Well this week, I noticed that he was trying to climb out before I left the room. So this bed could not have come soon enough. Our lovely delivery guys arrived at 6:40pm...but it gave us time for uninterrupted dinner and time for my mom and Aaron to take apart the crib and move it to Cameron's room. :) We then spent the next 2 hours watching Carter play on his bed, moving around furniture, making Carter's bed, cleaning up his room, and putting together the bed rails. My mom left around 9pm. Aaron and I then prayed with Carter but he refused to lay down. He was really upset after my mom left...and then with the combo of no nap...I was dreading how night #1 was going to go. Aaron laid on the floor beside the bed and Carter laid on top of him and fell asleep. Aaron tried to lay him in the bed, but he woke up. I held him for about 5 minutes since Aaron had to get back to tutoring Chemistry online. So total time, he was in his bed within 20 minutes...even though he didn't fall asleep on his own. Aaron is taking tomorrow off,I guess that mean's he's willing to help when Carter wake up really early or refuses to take a nap tomorrow. I put the door handle lock on the inside of his door so when he gets up, he can't open the door. I just have a fear of Carter wandering...this way, I'll know when he's up and can hear what he's doing.

Trying the new bed out!

Snugglin with the bed rails

The room is still a work in progress :)

Big things are happening in March

2010-03-11T21:43:00.001-05:00

First...
Last Monday, I spent all day tackling potty training. Prior to Monday, Carter was comfortable on the potty, he would let us know when he went "shu" and would ask to "pee-pee potty" during every diaper change. So Monday, I asked him every 15 minutes and he willing would go and at least sit on the potty. I created a potty chart and he got Thomas the train stickers for peeing and Dora/Diego stickers for trying. He also got 1 M&M for trying and 2 for peeing. During the 2nd potty trip of the first day, not even thinking, I just pulled down his pull up...and out flew a few balls. It just made me laugh since the day before I was talking with some friends and they were sharing the tip to check before you pull. :) That time, I said "Oh golly" and that has become a new phrase used by Carter after a bowel movement. Day #2, Carter wasn't his normal self and wouldn't go to the potty when I asked. I didn't pressure. By the end of the week, Carter was now asking and asking frequently to go to the potty. So that day of asking every 15 minutes made him more conscience of his need to use the bathroom. This week he even pooped on the potty! So our sticker chart is filling up quickly. I'll have to post a picture. I'm proud of Carter. If I could just get him over the fear of large toilets in public places. I'm scared he's gonna pee on me or himself and he's scared he's gonna fall in! :P

Febuary 2010

2010-03-05T09:14:00.002-05:00

We have busy weeks...In January & February, Aaron taught swim lessons at our pool on Tuesday and Thursday nights. On Mondays, he teaches Chemistry to 3 sisters from our youth group and then Wednesdays are church. Wouldn't you know, he signed up to help with Upward Basketball at church and his team practices on Friday nights. So yes, it's always something to do.
The first Saturday of the month, Aaron has Saturday school to make up a snow day. It wasn't that big a deal since he has already been off 2 full days that week.
February 12-13, our church hosted a youth talent competition so we were busy with that! We even had snow that weekend. Carter was with Nana & Papa for the weekend. We enjoyed a dinner out together by ourselves for Valentine's Day on Saturday night and then went out on Valentine's Day with Carter! :) We all enjoyed several hours of nap time and just hanging around the house.
We went to State games in February. One was a Wednesday night after church and another on a Saturday. We took Carter to the Saturday game and he LOVED it. He screamed, pointed, cheering, and put up his wolves. He was the loudest person in our section! And we won! :) We have some new friends at church that gave us tickets to a few games and we've enjoyed it!

Merry Christmas in January!

2010-03-05T08:55:00.004-05:00

For Christmas, Aaron's parents got us tickets to the State/Carolina game! So we got to use our present 1 month later. Though the outcome wasn't what we wanted, it was still fun to be in the atmosphere of the RBC Center for that big game! :)

End of January

2010-03-05T08:04:00.004-05:00

2010 has proved to be a busy year so far. Even though I still owe some stories and pictures from 2009, I'll take advantage of this "down" time to update a little. Not sure if I've mentioned before, but I help homeschool a Senior girl in our youth group. Her name is Kelly. Kelly is here M-Thursday so on the morning of my "free" day, I'm going to update!
Since the ultrasound, my mom and I have been on a search for great deals on pink! On Jan. 21st, I tackled both the girls and boys sections of the Kids Exchange consignment sale in Raleigh. Carter's sizes generally do not offer the best stuff, but I did find some stuff to play in. After looking and his stuff for about 2 hours, I headed to the girls section and was overwhelmed. There's probably 10 girls clothing items for every boy item. I couldn't even slide the clothes on the rack to look at them. After looking for about an hour, my arms were starting to hurt so I headed to look at a couple other sections. After 5 hours, I was in and out with some decent deals. My mom and I have done some different shopping to find some fall/winter deals and we're hoping we're getting the right sizes.
At the end of January, we had another snow. Luckily for Aaron, the snow started over the weekend so there were less days to make up for school. We enjoyed 4 straight days of hanging out at home!! It was nice!

We went outside while it was still sleeting on the first day...not fun! And we didn't last long!

Carter had fun trying to climb into my boots

At the end of Jan, Carter starting to act strange (not sleeping and eating well) and was running a fever. After 3 days of fever, we took him to the dr and he had his first ear infection. That day was our first sick visit to the doctor for Carter. We've been so blessed to have such a healthy little boy! So the antibiotics knocked it out quickly and he was eating and sleeping normal within 48 hours.

It's a...

2010-01-18T13:51:00.002-05:00

girl! :D

19 weeks

Last night was the first time I've had a dream about the sex of the baby, and it was a girl in my dream. I went into the ultrasound expecting it to be a girl, and it was. My mom met us there and even had a present for Cameron Blake. She said she knew it was a girl. Aaron's great-grandma's name is Blake and she just turned 100 in October 2009 so we're naming Cameron after her. :) Cameron was our girl name from the last go around. :)

We enjoyed lunch outside at North Hills but then headed home so Aaron could get ready to teach Chemistry on his day off since he has a meeting at church later tonight too. Carter, mom and I are planning to head out to check out all the pink stuff. :P

Welcome Home Pinkkkkkkkkkkk!

Nite Nite

2010-01-06T16:04:00.002-05:00

The newest discussion around here is transitioning Carter out of the crib. My initial thoughts have been to put him in a toddler bed. Carter is just 20 months...I like him at this size. Anything bigger than a toddler bed just seems HUGE! Aaron like the idea of a twin or larger. No decisions have been made yet...
But Carter does like his crib, and he especially likes the bumper. I went to check on him one night this week before we went to bed and this is how I found him. :0)

His face is propped up on the bumper and his knees are bent at the other end. Doesn't look very comfortable. I called Aaron in to see Carter...and also to turn in back into a normal sleeping position.

Peeling to ring in 2010!

2010-01-06T15:49:00.004-05:00

Since I am in the middle of updating events from last year, I should probably start updating from this year or I'll be in the same situation again! :)

On Thursday, New Years Eve, I had a quick drs appointment and ran a few errands while Aaron and Carter started taking down wallpaper from the kitchen. There was only 1 wall (and it was fairly small) completely over in wallpaper besides between and counter tops and cabinets. In the rest of the room, there was just border. They peeled and took a lunch break to meet me and get Carter's hair cut. Then later that night, we resumed wallpaper peeling. We finished around 11:30pm. What a fun way to spend New Years huh? Actually, it was nice to be at home. We had been traveling for the last week! On Friday morning we ran to Lowes to get the paint and supplies and then my parents came over to help us paint during naptime. We turns out that one wall completely covered with wallpaper needed some extra loving so my dad ran to Lowes and bought something to help get off the hidden glue. We worked for a couple hours and then painting resumed again on Saturday. Saturday night we were finally finished. I'll have to post pictures later because the room looks like sad with nothing on the wall yet. I've been looking for curtains but haven't found any to match this color green.

Carter helping :)

18 month vocabulary explosion

2010-01-04T21:47:00.004-05:00

Going into November 2009, Carter had a few choice words...like Mama, dada, doggies, ball, Nana, Papa, Hey, Bye, Sit/Sit down. I am sure there are more...just not coming to me at 10pm.

2 days after he turned 18 months old, the words started coming. I remember at his 15 month check up, I was getting worried when looking over paperwork. It said he should have 150-200 word vocab by 2. At that time he had 10 maybe. His newest word that caught me off guard was please. We worked on that word often so it was so cute to hear him say. In the last 2 months, the vocab has exploded. I am sure I am forgetting words but here's what he says on a regular basis.

People: Mama, Dada, doggies, Nana, Papa (for my dad & gpa), Derrick (I'm not 100% sure how he pronounces it), Gigi (Aaron's mom), Papa (for Grandpa-Aaron's dad), Ad-a (Adam-Aaron's brother), Fu-fur (Cooper-his cousin), Papa (for Papaw-Aaron's gpa), Kelly (the girl I homeschool), Ne-Ne (for Sydney-our friend's daughter) & Carter

Things around the house: chair, phone, goal, seat, Hat (pronounced hot), Book, tree, star, lights (yites), bath, color, Please, No, baby, shoes, socks, shirt, pants, Pray, Amen :), pen (for pen or pencil), paper (not shure how he pronounces it), slide, pool, Hot (for temperature), Cool, Night Night, Sit/Sit Down, Excuse me, box, clock,

Toys: bus, car, choo-choo (for train), Super Why (His favorite show!), Manny (for Handy Manny), blocks

Food: snack, milk, water, Cheese, Candy, Cookie, Chip, Fries, Chup (this is my favorite for Ketchup), Nana (for bananna), eat (said as eat-eat), fork, spoon, plate

Places: church, outside

Animals: Moo (for cow), horse, teet-teet (for bird), duck (said as duck-duck)

Body parts: eyes, chin, nose, mouth, hands, arms, hair, ears, teeth

Numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10! He's even! :P

Several ABCS

29 lbs & counting...

2010-01-04T21:35:00.003-05:00

I'm pretty sure I've failed to update Carter's stats...even dating back to the 12 month check up! Yikes! :)

So here goes...

12 month check up (May 2009)
Weight: 24 lb 10 oz--75% percentile
Height: 30.75 inches--75% percentile
Head: 47 cm--70% percentile

15 month check up (August 2009)
Weight: 25 lb 10 oz--70% percentile
Height: 32 inches--75% percentile
Head: 48 cm--75% percentile

18 month check up (November 2009)
Weight: 29 lb--90% percentile
Height: 34 inches--90% percentile
Head: 48 cm--50% percentile

Carter continues to see Dr. Langdon for his appointments and she's great! He's such a show off for her too. He got his flu shot, H1N1 & H1N1 booster in the fall. Carter has yet to have a sickness that has required any sort of medication...Just the common cold. We are very blessed! :)

Carter doesn't have much of an appetite. We were worried about that but Dr. Langdon said he'd let us know when he's hungry! I'd hate to think how much he would weigh if he did have an appetite. :)

Hill Ridge Farm

2010-01-02T10:08:00.003-05:00

We headed out to Hill Ridge Farms in Youngsville, NC for a fun couple hours. We enjoyed a hayride and pumpkin picking, mazes, bunnies, slide and corn pit. There was tons to do, but it was approaching nap time so we headed out!

October 2009

2010-01-02T09:58:00.002-05:00

I found out on October 2nd that we were pregnant...but kept it a big secret. That same day, I headed off to SC for a youth group retreat and Aaron headed to Asheville for men's retreat. Carter stayed with Nana & Papa. The first night of the retreat, I ran into a teenage girl from the beach that I've known for a couple years. As soon as she saw me, she put her head on my stomach and said she heard a heartbeat...yea, STRANGE. Especially considering the fact that I just found out that day. Needless to say, I tried to act like she was crazy! :)

Homecoming was also in October so we enjoyed an afternoon at the parade.

Aaron's parents and brother came to Clayton and stayed with us one Sunday night and then went to tour NC State. Aaron's mom, Carter and I visited the Farmer's Market and then joined them for lunch in the wolves den on campus.

On the 14th, at 17 months and 1 week old, Carter got his first hair cut. It was more of a trim because I just wasn't ready to lose his PRECIOUS curls yet! :) Janie cut his hair, this is a lady that has been cutting my gma's hair for yeeeeears, cuts my gma's and has cut mine from time to time. She was retiring this week so we squeeze in the visit just in time! :) Carter did great. He sat in my lap and never moved.

Aaron's mom bought us pumpkins at the Farmer's Market so we enjoyed a fall afternoon outside painting. Carter is a lefty...so it was messy! He tried to eat the red thinking it was ketchup.

September 2009

2010-01-02T09:48:00.003-05:00

In September, we welcomed Matt & Lindsey's new baby Peyton to the mix! Chelsea and I went to visit them! :)

And Saturday, Sept 5th Carter peed in the potty for the first time!! We've had the potty in the bathroom for a month or so just to get him used to it. This was nothing we pursued, just when he was interested.

We met some of our old teachers friends, Brandon and Jessie Mitchell, at Krispy Kreme. Jeffie also joined in on the fun. Brandon and Jessie moved away at the end of the school year in 2008 to take jobs in Ohio.

We also took several impromptu weekend trips to Charlotte starting in September to spend time with family.

Homeschool also started in September. Carter loves school...and school supplies. He's just like his mommy! Carter has since learned how to say Kelly! :) He likes to get in her chair every time she gets up as well as sit in her lap, mark on papers and books. Sometimes it work to keep him out of the way. We got to the gym twice a week so he's gotten accustomed to visiting the nursery there. It took a couple months for him to go in without crying. He's funny though, even though he cries when dropped off, he acts like he doesn't want to leave when I come to pick him up. I enjoy peeping in the window to see what he's up to, and I really enjoy watching him help clean up when time to go. :)

Wolfpack Football

2010-01-02T09:44:00.002-05:00

August kicked off football season as we flew to the first State game vs. South Carolina after Aaron's volleyball game. This season Carter didn't make it to any games...we planned to take him, but it just didn't work out. Next fall, we can take 2 kids! :) It's quite difficult to enjoy a game with a 1 year old. We didn't make it to as many games as normal this year. We were out of town a couple weekends and busy around here the others.

August 2009

2010-01-01T09:10:00.003-05:00

August marked the beginning of Volleyball and Back to School for Aaron. I don't help out as much as I use to because its difficult to watch a game with a 1 year old. I still make an appearance at tryouts, share my opinions, organize stuff for the girls, and try to keep them out of trouble. The season was ok...finished 6th, which is disappointing considering their talent. But girls are just a different group of people to coach.
Back to school is my favorite time of year. I LOVE setting up a classroom and getting ready for the first days. I should start a service so that teachers can pay me to set of their classrooms. :) While I "worked", Carter played with cars and carts. :)
Also, in August I had a family in the church contact me about helping home school their high school senior. At the time, Aaron and I had been praying about the time to have another baby. I wanted them to be two years apart, and this would be the time we would need to start trying. We had decided to wait but then this home school opportunity came about with weekly pay. Kelly, the girl I help home school, has been in youth group 7-12th and we've helped during that entire time and we were also her 5th grade Sunday School teachers. Needless to say, we've always had a close relationship with Kelly. This opportunity is great for Kelly and her family and also benefits us with extra pay and a confirmation to start trying to have another baby. We do school Monday-Thursday from 8:30-12:30 but for the past months, it been till at least 2:30. The only bad part is that it's a job, which means something I must commit to everyday. Therefore it limits the freedom that Carter and I have. Since Carter naps around 1...and sometimes for up for 4 hours, I can't go anywhere during the day till after 5pm.

Zoo & Panthers

2010-01-01T09:02:00.002-05:00

On August 7th, we headed to the Columbia Zoo with Aaron's family. We enjoyed a hot day of animals, picnic and more animals. Carter and Cooper had a great time! :)
On Saturday, I went to the Charlotte Mothers of Multiples Sale with my sister in law Ashley and her family. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was no where as big as the Kids Exchange in Raleigh. Since I had been to the sale in Raleigh the month before, I wasn't looking for too much at the Charlotte sale. After the sale, I met Aaron's dad, Sister Rachel and Brother Adam at the Carolina Panthers Fan Appreciation Day! The event featured a HOT open practice with lots of fans. It was quite difficult to keep Carter contained at the stadium. Luckily there was no one sitting next to us so he could wander down the row.

A night out with friends

2010-01-01T08:51:00.003-05:00

Our new bible study, which we call cnet, had a night out with no kids. In our group we (now) have 3 girls and 3 boys 2 and under. We enjoyed dinner at Kaze, bowling, cookie & icecream and Cranium. It was a fun jammed packed night. :)

Dinner in Richmond

2010-01-01T08:48:00.002-05:00

In July, we also took a trip to Richmond for a little reunion with Aaron's mom side of the family. There were about 40 or more of us in a local Italian restuarant. It was good to see everyone but it was a quick trip!

Carter's 1st Trip to the beach

2010-01-01T08:44:00.003-05:00

Pictures to come later...

Carter, Aaron and I took a trip to the beach for a few days at the end of July. This was Carter's first time and he seemed to really enjoy it. He has a love for the water and a new love for getting covered in sand. yuck. We didn't stay right on the beach which meant we had a lot of stuff to lug from the car and back. not fun either. The more I type, the more I am reminded that I'm not really a beachy person. I mean its nice...for a day. And nice probably isn't the word. I just don't like sand at all. But I knew Carter would enjoy it, so I toughed it out for him! :)

We're still here...

2010-01-01T08:09:00.002-05:00

Its a new year so time to take care of things you've neglected, right? Well, the poor blog got lost for the last 4 months so I thought this would be a great time for it to make a come back! :) Theres lots to catch up on...which stresses me out. For today, we'll start with something big...
Carter is going to be a BIG BROTHER in JUNE 2010! :) We've kept the secret long enough right? I'm sure you already know this exciting news but I had to document it. Carter's brother/sister is the reason I am awake at 8am while everyone else sleeps. I tend to have the hardest time going back to sleep after using the bathroom...which happened at 7:20am. With last night being new years, we stayed up till after 1am...crazy people I know, which is why I will desperately need a nap later today. As crazy people last night, we spent the night at the house peeling off wallpaper from the kitchen. During nap time today, my parents are coming over to help us paint. We've lived in this house for 4.5 years, and just recently I got the desire to change the kitchen. When we bought the house, I was ok with all the color choices in the room bc they worked with all our existing stuff. But over the years, we've slowly made different changes from paint to laminate flooring. I'll be sure to post pictures. :P
Geez, I just don't even know where to start...I guess I'll have to go through my facebook photo albums to job my memory of whats been going on in our lives. Well, I better save this now before Carter wakes up and I "forget".
Blessings to you and your family in 2010! I plan to update more regularly so come back soon! :)

Slowly...

2009-07-29T11:28:00.003-04:00

I'm catching up...slowly.
My schedule has been off with Aaron home everyday. He goes back in less then 3 weeks. It's been really nice to have Aaron home and we will miss him when school starts back. Volleyball tryouts start on Monday so his schedule is starting to change too. A few more "large" posts and we should be caught up!

Cow Appreciation Day

2009-07-29T11:13:00.004-04:00

On July 10th, we went to Cow Appreciation Day at Chickfila. Those that dressed up like cow received a free meal! We went with a couple guys from youth, Justin and Tyler. Outside we enjoyed watching 30 kids dance in the parking, Carter being afraid of small girl cow and lots of random pictures.
After lunch, I went to the thrift store with some youth group guys to get ready for the mall scavenger hunt at the mall. A week earlier, Josh and I took pictures of random things in the mall and groups had to find the items and take their picture. Also, the seniors were dressed up and hiding in the mall for the groups to find.

Volleyball Camp

2009-07-29T11:01:00.003-04:00

Every summer, Aaron hosts a half day volleyball camp at the high school for girls ages 9-15. This year there were 52 campers and 13 high school players helping with the event in addition to the JV coach. Carter and I stopped by a few times. While there, he was put in the ball cart and got to shoot some hoops on Coach Lee's bball goal in his office.

4th of July

2009-07-29T10:39:00.004-04:00

On the 4th, we went to our pool for free lunch! :) While at the pool, my basketball obsessed child saw a floating pool basketball goal. He tried to play with it in the baby pool but the kid wouldn't share. His parents put the goal outside of the pool and the other kid lost interest, but not mine. He loooooooooooove a basketball goal. He played with this goal for at least 30 minutes straight. Needless to say, we went out in search of it after that day. We went to 5 different stores and finally just ordered it off amazon. You'll see pictures later where we play with the goal outside, inside and at the pool too.

My parents (well my dad) were busy building a deck at my grandparents house so we went out to dinner that night with my grandparents. After dinner, we went to Pullen Park with my parents. This was the first time we've been there with Carter while the rides were open. Carter has been with my parents a few times. This was Carter's first ride in the boats and he did not enjoy it. The four of us spread out around the water to catch him if he tried to jump out. He did jump out while the ride was going and the nice man gave us our ticket back. Later that night, we shot off a few fireworks at my parents house. My dad and Aaron went around to the front of the house to shoot off some fireworks. Just as they did, a police man came creeping down the road and stopped several feet from them. They nonchalantly walked back towards the house as the police man called out to them all the while I am walking quickly to the backyard to tell the neighbors not to shoot off fireworks since the police were out front. The police man didn't say anything about the fireworks because he was looking for a "missing" person. Shew. I was worried we were gonna get slapped some large fine.

3rd of July

2009-07-29T10:29:00.003-04:00

Since I was in middle school, I've gone to watch the fireworks in Garner every 3rd of July. While in school, our youth group would go watch then together now our youth group runs concessions at the events. Tons and tons of people come to the event but we hung out behind the concessions tent where its not so crowded and we have girls that like to hold Carter. Last year, I assume Carter was with my parents...seems like such a long time ago that I don't remember. Carter did great with the fireworks this year. He smiled and watched intently. He even crawled between Aaron and I and laid on his belly to watch. We spent that morning at the pool. Carter loves the pool drain...just staring into it.

Other June Happenings...

2009-07-28T22:09:00.005-04:00

Carter and I attended Clayton's graduation while Aaron "worked" it. We went to see Heather graduate. Heather was in my class as a freshman and we invited her to church and she never left! :P And she's going to Meredith to be a teacher! :D

In June, we've enjoyed pool days. Carter gooooooooooes crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy over a basketball and basketball goal. He yells and repeats the word ball over and over again. So he insists on playing on the goal everytime we go to the pool. Well, since this picture was taken, they have new goals that are much higher to play on so that makes it difficult for Carter to shoot and score.

Carter is a fish!

He loves blowing bubbles...even in the bathtub!

Carter likes to help with laundry!

We enjoyed a yummy cheap! lunch with Ben and Julie. They got engaged a couple months back so it was fun to catch up with them! :)

Father's Day

2009-07-28T21:43:00.004-04:00

This year, we celebrated Father's Day and my Grandma's birthday at my Aunt Gwen & Uncle Mike's house. We enjoyed dinner and yummy dessert and family too!

Carter with my grandparents

Carter and Nana

The fam...
My face is in response to the following:
My aunt said, It's about time for Carter to have a brother or a sister?!
Aaron then asked Carter if he wanted a brother or a sister?
And he motioned "More" in sign language.

Uncle Derrick

Carter & my Papa

Meeeee & dad & Derrick

Carter & His Papa

Creation Fest 2009

2009-07-28T21:00:00.005-04:00

On June 24-28, Aaron and I were able to go our the summer trip with our youth group. Carter stayed with Aaron's parents Tuesday through Friday and then my parents Friday through Sunday. I found myself calling everytime I could borrow someone's phone to check on Carter (there was no service for At&t customers). This was the longest car was away from both of us...prior to this, it had only been a weekend. He did fine and so did his grandparents! :)
Prior to our church, the kids (I call them kids but they are teenagers!) did several local missions projects before we headed to Pennsylvania for . Creation Fest is camping out in tents, speakers and jamming Christian music. While we were there, everyone had jobs that helped the event run smoothly from traffic to crowd control to selling vendor merchandise. A few kids were with Aaron and I cooking the meals. While there we saw Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Third Day, Casting Crowns and Lecrea. Well some of the kids saw others, but these were the ones I enjoyed. We spent time hanging out in the creek and just enjoying each other's company. This was a great group of kids and I'm really going to miss these seniors. We also celebrated our 5th anniversary while jamming to David Crowder and Third Day! :)

Welcome to June

2009-06-16T13:07:00.005-04:00

Now that Carter is starting to walk a little more, he's started using his lawnmower from Cousin Cooper.

And he LOVES the dishwasher. He gets so mad when I close it!

There is a church in Clayton that has an indoor playground open to the public. The church is in an old Winn-Dixie warehouse beside my eye doctor, so we went to visit the playground last week after my appointment. Its great on hot or rainy days. On this day, we had the playground to ourselves! :)

Hanging out upside down!

2009-06-16T13:03:00.005-04:00

I just love to hear this boy laugh!

First Couple Steps

2009-06-16T12:59:00.005-04:00

For the longest time, Carter has been taking little steps. Here is an old video of some of those first steps.

5 Year College Reunion

2009-06-16T08:23:00.005-04:00

On the weekend of May 15-17, I celebrated my 5 year college reunion. Here is a picture from dinner at Cafe Luna. I really didn't take many pictures because EVERYONE else was taking pictures.

Mary Frances, Kathryn, Laura, Ruth, Kelly, Lindsay & Lissa--Lived with these girls Freshmen & Sophomore Year

Lindsay & Lissa--Bridesmaids

Becca--We go on dates together! :)

Paige & Kelly--great friends! Hope you moved closer soon Paige! :)

DJ CJ

2009-06-15T16:02:00.003-04:00

Aaron does sound and video for youth on Wednesday nights. Here's Carter hanging out with him after our service.

First...

2009-06-15T15:31:00.009-04:00

SpringFest at Church

He refused to get on that horse!

Krispy Kreme (mini) Donut

Trip to the SPCA

The pool is open...

2009-06-15T14:48:00.005-04:00

I LOVE taking pictures so you will be treated to many pictures from our many trips to the pool this summer! Here's some from the first day the pool was open...

Strawberries on Mother's Day

2009-06-15T14:30:00.004-04:00

After family left & naptime, we headed out to pick some strawberries! Aaron probably picked twice as many as me because I'm kinda picky about my fruit, I guess? Carter tried to help pick...by picking the leaves. And that wagon is fantastic. It fits great between the rows at the patch! We've use the wagon at games, the park, the pool, friends houses. Its great! And my favorite part--seatbelts! We went to visit my parents & grandparents later that night too...with lots of strawberries.

Mother's Day 2009

2009-06-15T14:10:00.003-04:00

My first Mother's Day was spent in the Pediatrician's office for Carter's first doctor's visit. This year, we enjoyed a morning at church with Aaron's family and lunch at Outback. Here's a few pictures before they headed back to Charlotte.

Happy 1st Birthday Carter!

2009-06-15T13:19:00.007-04:00

On Thursday May 7th, Carter turned one! I have no idea where the last 365 days have gone, but it sure has flown by! We have lots of pictures from the weekend so be sure to click on the links below.

We celebrated Carter's birthday on Saturday May 9th with a party at our house. We had lots of family members and a some friends here to celebrate. It was extremely hot so spent majority of the time inside. During cake time, Carter started out slow but was really into the icing (just like his mommy!). He enjoyed sharing his cake with Aaron when we squatted down for a picture. Carter likes to put his hands in his hair while eating so our course he ended up having blue icing in his hair. His last trick was flinging icing all around the room. After that, we proceeded to the bathtub before present time.
He was not interested in the presents but he did receive some clothes, money, books, lawnmower & vacuum, helicopter, awesome sippy cup labels, PB Kids Anywhere chair and a prayer bear. Thanks to all those that attended Carter's 1st Birthday! He's a lucky boy!

More pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043768&id=47300811&l=8760caff87
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043769&id=47300811&l=e8f53396a1

Water Baby

2009-06-14T22:35:00.004-04:00

Carter LOOOOOOOOOOVES the pool! Here's some pictures from backyard pool time. He enjoys sliding and climbing up the slide. And going down head first! More pictures to come of Carter's first visit to our pool of the summer...and more to come throughout the summer!

A trip to the park

2009-06-14T22:17:00.003-04:00

Since February, I have been helping plan a Mother/Daughter Retreat for girls in high school and their moms. One of our planning meetings took place at Lake Benson Park. This park is great because it has a huge cover over the playground. They have a pretty scary slide too. Carter and I went down together. When we visited, Carter was just starting to take some steps..which just reminded me that I haven't blogged on Carter's first birthday yet. Thats what I get for creating an entire folder of his birthday, instead of putting them with all the May pictures.

Playing catch up

2009-06-14T22:00:00.003-04:00

I'm way behind...so sit back and enjoy. :P

Carter sporting his peeps sunglasses

Carter falling asleep behind the wheel

Cheryl was in town to see her mom graduate. This was Cheryl's first time meeting Carter. I actually haven't seen Cheryl since her wedding back in November of 2007.

Carter grabbed a bag of pretzels off the table and SLUNG them!

Out to lunch to celebrate my 27th birthday (with my parents)

Great & Grand

2009-05-13T15:52:00.004-04:00

We are blessed to have 1 set of grandparents and 1 set of great-grandparents super close. (We miss Aaron's family!) About once a week, we go visit Carter's great-grandparents during the day! It pretty funny to see how different your grandparents become once they become great-grandparents!

Carter just recently found the stairs at my grandparents house!