Bittersweet

It's taken me a few days to get a grip and post this.

As of this weekend, Carter is officially weaned. It's a little sooner than I wanted (only by about a week), so I wasn't emotionally prepared AT ALL. He's been slowly weaning himself since February, and in the last few weeks we've gotten down to nursing once a day, first thing in the morning. My plan was to continue this until his 1st birthday, then make the switch. I had NO idea at the time, but Friday was it. Saturday morning he wanted nothing to do with me, he just wanted that darn bottle..... I was CRUSHED. I tried again later that afternoon and again Sunday morning, both times without success. So I made it official this morning. I knew I would be sad when the time came for it to be over, but I had no idea how sad I'd actually be. I just thought that I'd have to decide one day that it would be the last time. It never really occurred to me that Carter may decide when he's done, and that's exactly what he did. This weekend was rough for me, and this morning was VERY weird giving him a bottle as Eric was leaving for work. I'm sure it will feel normal in no time, but until then, I hope I'll be just a little less sad about this each day.

I am very proud of the fact, though, that I've never had to give him even one ounce of formula. In fact, I still have enough stored in my freezer to get him to his 1st birthday. That is a huge accomplishment, and I'm happy I could do that for my little man. Not to mention the fact that we saved an estimated $1500 dollars in formula costs for the year!!

Carter.... right now Mommy is sad this phase of your life is over, but I'm proud of you (and me) for sticking to it for one whole year. You're such a big boy, and I'm positive you're going to love WHOLE MILK!! =)

Happy Easter!!

I can't help but remember that last Easter weekend I was huge, swollen, and about to deliver a baby within 24 hours. We spent that Sunday day at my aunt's house with family before heading to the hospital late that afternoon to be induced. Carter was born at 12:36 pm on Monday.

THEN
This was the last picture taken of me before labor started. 

It pains me to look at this picture of myself... WOW!

This Easter Sunday was in many ways a repeat from last year. Same Aunt's house with the same family members and similar weather, subtract one ginormous baby bump, add one perfect and beautiful almost 1 year old little boy. The similarities from this year and last year are so meaningful to me given how special each of the times in my life were. ♥

NOW
We couldn't be happier!!! Love our little family!

Friday afternoon and all day Saturday were spent at Eric's parent's house with them, Eric's grandparents, sister, and our nephews. Carter had so much fun playing with the twins and spending time on the farm.

Playing around on the pier.
The boys did a little fishing, Mommy watched.

Splish splash

Carter and his great grandparents

Carter and his cousins go for a ride around the farm

Visiting the cows with Grandma

Stormie had to join them

More fishing and playing down by the lake

Carter had so much fun swinging

And crazy Uncle Eric chased the twins around.

They laughed and laughed... so cute!!

We had a great weekend spending time with our families. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter also!

Ewwwww.

We will now be making sure certain doors are kept closed.

Carter's Balloon

Almost 3 weeks ago, Carter went to Mia's birthday party and left with a big, pink balloon. The next morning it was no longer up in the ceiling, but on the floor instead. I cut the ribbon off, and Carter began playing with it like it was a ball. He has chased, grabbed, bounced, and thrown this balloon every day, all day, ever since. It brings him SO much joy, and I just can't bring myself to throw it away. It has been slowly shrinking and shriveling up. To say it is kaput is an understatement. I know his time with the balloon is coming to an end very soon, so this morning I took some pictures of Carter and his favorite pink balloon.

Yes, I know it looks red. But I promise it was dark pink when it was blown up big full of helium!

You can finally see his two little teeth in these last two pics!

(I think if you click on them, you can see the larger size)

So long, pink balloon. Carter will miss you!!

Little Explorer

Carter has discovered there's so much more out there for him to play with and get into than just toys! Here are some pictures I've taken lately of Carter exploring all over the house.

Mommy has since had to remove all of her Bath & Body Works smell good plug-ins. Oh well.

He has found where we've been hiding our stash of unused remotes (we have a universal)

Digging for remotes. Let's not forget about the magazines here. These are lots of fun to pull out and rip apart.

He loves to roam in the kitchen. The oven, dishwasher and trash can (yuck) are among his favorites in this room. I'm embarassed to say I never realized how filthy the floor gets in here. Needless to stay, it stays pretty clean now.

Emptying small trash cans is great fun, too. This was the office trash can. Nothing but paper and water bottles.... pretty harmless. Bathroom trash cans... yuck!

Ohhh... the bathrooms. We try to keep the door closed, but he always sneaks off in there when he finds it cracked open. The dark doesn't keep him away, either.

Toilet pipes are fascinating.

St. Patty's Day & March Madness

In honor of St. Patty's day yesterday, we all wore our green!

Here is a rare family pic of us from dinner last night. We went out to eat Mexican food with Travis and Mark, two of Eric's friends that came into town for a visit. I didn't get a picture of it, but Travis was wearing a GREAT shirt, too!

If you don't know what this is about.... see it here. I guarantee a GOOD laugh!!

This morning the three of them left to go to Oklahoma City to watch some of the NCAA Tournament basketball games. There are 4 games today and 2 on Saturday. These three guys are CRAZY about March Madness and their brackets. Male bonding at it's best. Mine and Travis' alma mater, North Texas, is playing Kansas State there this afternoon. I know they were excited to go to that game... because we had to make a special trip to a Denton bookstore yesterday  after lunch for Eric to get a UNT t-shirt, hat, and flag for his car! Have fun boys! I'll be keeping up with my bracket here.... all by myself.

To Daddy, With Love

Dear Daddy,

Thank you for making me my first pancake. I loved that it was just my size. My only complaint is that you didn't let me have syrup. But I still loved it.

Also, thank you for teaching me how to use my walker. I'm really starting to enjoy it now instead of being scared. You've only let me fall once, so far. Soon, I will be a pro!  

Love Always,

Carter  

Gotta Start Somewhere

Carter has been doing much better at taking little steps. He mostly does this while standing against the furniture, but he gets very insecure and fusses when he knows something isn't real sturdy.... like his walker. Eric has been working with him a lot to get him more comfortable with the idea, and he's done really well taking some steps and leaning on the walker for support, even though it moves. Yes, he's taken a few spills, but we're making progress! Baby steps... HA.

At the beginning, he is mocking Eric. His newest thing is to howl like a dog. Eric howls, then Carter howls. I guess he's seen our dog, Stormie, do it. Who knows? SO FUNNY!

To Mommy, With Love

Dear Mommy,

Thank you for always buying my diapers in bulk, for the box is my favorite part.

Sitting in it and playing is the best part of my day!

I ♥ sitting in my box to watch TV, especially SportsCenter.

Also, thank you for letting me play in the bath tub an extra long time yesterday. My hands and feet are just now back to normal.

Love Always,

Carter

First Tooth.... x 2!

FINALLY!

On Thursday, just two days shy of turning 11 months old, Carter got  a tooth  teeth. After a few weeks of gnawing on anything he could get his hands on, drooling that could have warranted a flash flood warning, a whole bottle of infants motrin, countless swipes of teething tablets and orajel, and a couple of pretty rough nights/early mornings, these tiny little devils decided to stop torturing my baby. Well, I don't think they've completely stopped bothering him, but the worst is behind us now... Until the next batch decide to pop in.

I tried to get a picture of them, but it turns out trying to take a CLEAR picture of the inside of an 11 month old's mouth is pretty much impossible. And besides, the teeth are just barely showing, so this is the best I could get.