Make sure you spell my name correctly on my Mother of the Year Trophy...

So we have moved into a whole new world of mobility...climbing.



Carter climbs on everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. The first thing that we saw him climb on and stand up on was his Mater car. Sure, he refuses to ride it as God intended, by sitting and pushing with his feet, but it makes a great step stool! I have yet to capture a picture of him standing on that, as he generally leaps/hurls himself off very soon after he reaches the top. I have been trying to keep my camera nearby to capture the moment of whatever mountain is the lastest climb.

This adorable chair....

...is not used for much more than another perch. Again, no pictures yet of him standing in it, as he swiftly moves from the chair to the coffee table or to his new toy shelf, which he apparently views as a jungle gym.



This is the box from the new toy shelves. Before I could take it out to the trash, he turned it over and spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon standing on it, taunting Libby.

Yes, he hurled himself onto the ball just after this...

Its a stage! For Libbers to watch me dance!!

Then he moved onto the couch. He commissioned the use of a small footstool and one of his push toys to climb onto the couch, then continued his way up to the back of the couch, where he laughed giddily at his accomplishment.

Things!! Things I am not supposed to touch!!

Aunt Karen told me Tuesday she looked over to see him sitting on her fireplace, which is not exactly close to the ground, and also not exactly composed of a soft material.

I realize this is all typical toddler behavior, but I am sure its a little frowned upon for a mom to sit back and laugh, regardless of the possible injury that is about to take place. But really, how many times can you say "Sit down ,Carter!" before you just decide to watch and see what happens. His crib is also about to be in great need of being lowered another level, since I have seen him throw his leg up in the air in an attempt to climb. He has had 3 minor bloody lips in the past 2 weeks, mostly from doing things he is not supposed to.

All this activity leaves me exhausted. He is also having some sleeping issues at night, not sure if its another round of teething or perhaps the ears still/again. Whatever it is leaves him coming out of a dead sleep to screech as though someone just snapped him with a rubber band. Usually he doesn't really wake up, but the other night he went to bed fairly early, then at 11:45 decided it was time to play. The cry it out method was failing me, so I turned to what helps me sleep....good ole Benadryl. Yeah, yeah, he's not a dog, he's a kid, but technically its ok for him to have it due to the residual itching from the rash or whatever he had.

Wednesday I had another Mom Fail, when I packed shorts and a t-shirt and sandals for him to wear, when it barely got above 60. I blame the Texas weather because Pete Delkus told me that the high was going to be 76. And then tonight he was practicing going up the ladder of his slide, and I taught him to go down head first and backwards also. See, I probably should not be encouraging that kind of behavior, since it is a serious offense on our playground at school.

But this kid....

Doesn't seem to be too affected by my motherly blemishes. Not yet at least. Check back in 17 years...

One Year Pictures

I forgot that I haven't shared these pictures yet. Sorry Nana! And I promise, we will print some out for you! Our friend from church, Alison, is working on improving her photography skills, so after church a few Sundays ago we went to Harry Myers Park and she took some amazing pictures of Carter! She got some great shots, despite the gale force winds(what is it about the winds, every time we try to take outdoor pictures?) and my child being the most uncooperative child ever when it comes to picture taking! It is very hard to capture him smiling, or doing any one thing, because he is such a spaz that he moves CONSTANTLY. But here are a few of my favorites.

Life Lately

Well, I am a liiiiitle bit behind here.....obviously we have had a full calendar since spring break! And unfortunately, a lot of it was not all fun and games, just crazy busy life stuff. I feel like Carter and I live in my car these days. And my car looks like we do....anyone down for a free car detail?? Desperately. Needs. Cleaning. I also feel like at the end of the day, my brain is so tired that I cannot form complete thoughts. It started when I had 2 migraines within 3 days, and hasn't gone away, so now I am beginning to wonder if I have brain damage or something. Although I am sure that its nothing a few good nights of sleep couldn't fix, but we all know THAT ain't gonna happen any time soon. And speaking of health issues(valid ones, not hypochondrial ones) (is that a word??), poor little dude has been sick for a few weeks. He was given a clean bill of health at his one year check up, and then a week later we were back with another ear infection. They sent us to an ENT for a consult about tubes the following week, and meanwhile he had developed a rash that I thought was a reaction to antibiotics. The ENT confirmed he needs tubes, and also that he has allergies, most likely a milk allergy(although I am not convinced it isn't seasonal allergies). He recommended we switch to rice milk and no dairy, and also put him on Singulair. Last weekend we were at Chelcie's baby shower and her aunt, who is a nurse, saw the rash and thought it might be Fifth's disease. Google it. But by Wednesday, his eyes looked so bad, at times like he had been punched, that I took him back in to see Dr. Ewert. She believes that the rash is a strep rash, although the strep test was a little iffy. But since his ears were already flaring up she put him on ANOTHER antibiotic, and added Zyrtec for allergies. Looks like he takes after his mama in the health department! Hopefully once we get the allergies under control and gets tubes put in, he will not be so sickly! A catch up of the latest pictures! (FYI- this was not intended to be a giant paragraph, but for some reason it will not separate when I click "Publish"!)

St. Patrick's day green!

Over spring break we met Brooke and the boys at a place called Going Bonkers. Its a giant indoor playground that has a toddler area too. The boys had a blast, which totally made it worth the test of my sanity being in a contained place with about 5 bajillion kids. This picture makes my heart smile! I am loving that the boys are finally at ages where they interact with each other! Jack catching the Carter and Brannan at the bottom of the slide This place rocks, Mom!

Ok, serious mom fail. But this cracks me up! Brannan's foot was stuck in the weaving, and I can't remember why Carter was crying, but it was so funny!

Fast forward a few weeks....

The Baylor girls basketball team played 2 games in Dallas, so of course we went! Carter got to come along in my papoose carrier thingy.

I took this one night last week after he had been asleep like this for a long time.

I finally broke down and got Carter's hair cut! All the sudden it got very scruffy looking, and he was beginning to get a baby mullet. I had a hair appointment today, so Mindy just cut his hair when she was done with mine. It made me so sad! And now he looks like a little boy!

Before....

They bribed him with a Blow Pop to see if he would sit still

And...he was done! Thankfully Mindy has a 2 year boy, so she is familiar with this!

We tried out the Bubble mower for the first time! Although I had trouble getting the bubble part to work. I am certain it is user error though....that and the extreme wind!

Teasing the dog

We've also done a few other things that I didn't get any pictures of. Last weekend Carter and I stayed the night a Matt and Brooke's, and briefly saw Meagan, Chay and Bentley. We also went to Chelcie's baby shower at her house, where Brooke and I discovered that we are officially outnumbered. We came barreling into the party with a parade of small tornadoes, and Chelcie's going to need to re-sanitize the baby's room now. Carter was begging for food from everyone and throwing ice across the kitchen, Brannan yanked curtains out of a window, and Jack kicked Chelcie's niece's beach ball into the neighbors yard. Although that one was honestly an accident. I told Chelc to feel free to ask us to leave at any time. But sweet girl that she is, she just sat back and laughed at us. Here in just a few months, she will add a 4th boy to our crazy parade!