Happy 50th!!!

SURPRISE! : ) Mimi and Grandaddy both turned 50 within a couple weeks of each other, so we had a surprise party for them.

What's a party, without Carter ending up with a bow in his hair?!?!

Carter had Chili for the 1st time and loved it!And Mere even used her potty...go Mere! : )

Happy Thanksgiving

Carter wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed spending time playing with our little guy and watching the parade. Later that night, Matt's dad brought dinner to our house since his mom wasn't feeling well. And the next day we celebrated with my family. We are so thankful for everything God has blessed us with!

1st Waffles & Carousel

I made Carter waffles for the first time this morning (without the butter and syrup- I don't think we're quite ready for that yet!) and he loved them!

We are so animated these days! : )
Carter also enjoyed his 1st carousel ride this afternoon.

Carter's 1st Birthday

Carter's party turned out great! He had such a fun time with friends and family and received lots of wonderful gifts! He wasn't crazy about the birthday cake when he first tried it, but had some again later that night and decided he loved it! : ) Here are some pictures of his fun day...

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers during Carter's 1st year!!!

Party Plans

Well, we are about ready for Carter's 1st birthday party on the 16th- just a few last minute things to take care of. I can't believe how quick the past year has gone...it has been so amazing though!!!
Back to the party- I changed the cake plans yesterday- we had planned on ordering Gigi’s cupcakes, but I found the neatest pirate cake from Publix, so we're going with that instead.

We also found out that the cute little pirate t-shirt that we had ordered Carter weeks ago, will not be coming. We finally had someone call us back last night and per the guy on the phone "they are basically out of business"...at least we get our money back.

I can't wait to post birthday pictures and I'll try to get the Halloween pictures posted soon too.

Ready for Halloween

We had our family pictures on October 25th and we can’t wait to see how they turned out! Mere and Carter did so good- we even got some pics of them in their Halloween outfits! : ) Later that afternoon, our Uncle Fred had a mild heartache. He was able to go home from the hospital earlier this week and thankfully his tests today went really well (this was an answer to our prayers!)…he will be starting cardio rehab soon and can gradually return to his normal activities.
Carter has been so funny lately…he makes us laugh so much! I was telling a friend how quick the past year has gone- his 1st birthday is kind of bittersweet- my baby is growing up so fast! : ( At the same time we are loving his developing personality! He is so amazing and funny and smart- I love playing with him and reading to him…and just watching him, I could stare at that precious baby forever! We love trying to teach him new words…it’s so sweet, he tries so hard to say them! : ) Recently we’ve been trying to teach him where his head, nose, ears, and eyes are. He doesn’t always point to what we’re asking him, but usually he will start sniffing if we ask him where his nose is…so funny! : ) Mere used to do that too and now she will bat her eyes if you ask her where they are…soooo cute!!! Speaking of Mere, Shanda & Matt found out that she has a fairly severe allergy to eggs yesterday. The poor girl can’t have anything with egg in it and they have to carry around a little epi-pen with them at all times. She goes back in 6 months for more tests, but hopefully this is something she will outgrow.
This week Carter has tried soy beans and pinto beans…let me tell you, this boy loves his beans! : ) Next, we may try pieces of potato or green beans. So far he has loved everything we’ve given him! However, the last couple days he has started throwing his noodles and corn…guess he’s getting tired of those.
Unfortunately, we still don’t have any good house news. Our real estate agent, Barry, sold his company and has joined another real estate group. He said everything would still be the same, just the name on the sign would change- can’t even remember what it is at the moment. We’re still praying about what to do everyday- we don’t feel led to take our house off the market, but at the same time I don’t want to be stupid and leave it on at a time when our economy is doing so bad. It’s crazy…we know we don’t want to be in this house for the long haul and Carter is going to be walking soon and it makes me so nervous with the steps! Maybe God is working on our patience…it’s very possible, I could use some help in that area!
We’re excited about getting Carter dressed up in his Halloween outfit on Friday and taking him around to see grandparents, great grandparents, and a few neighbors. This is my baby’s LAST 1st holiday!!! I’m sure I’ll have lots of pictures to post this weekend! Other than that, we don’t have a whole lot going on this weekend- craft fair at church on Saturday, nursery at church on Sunday morning, and we definitely need to go birthday shopping for Carter! We’ve only bought him one gift so far, so we’ll have to see what all we can find! Oh, and Matt has some major studying for the CPA exam…he had taken a break for a while, but really needs to get back to it! It’s so hard for him to fit it in though with work and traveling and spending time with me & Carter. I totally understand the time he needs to put into it though. Maybe one day I’ll get back around to it too...it’s still a goal of mine, but with Carter here it’s further down on the list.
Thanks for checking in.

Smart Boy!!!

It’s amazing how much Carter has learned within the last few weeks- he is such a smart boy! My mom showed him the apples in our kitchen on October 3rd and he started saying it that night and has been saying it ever since. It’s so funny to hear him- he says it so clear and repeats it over and over and points into the kitchen until we take him to see the apples. He started saying Dada on October 12th (which Matt was absolutely thrilled about). And then started saying Nana the very next day. He loves going into the garage to help Matt take care of the dogs. As soon as we get home he points to the garage and says “pa” until we take him out there. There’s been several occasions within the last couple weeks where we had actually forgotten about Maggie & Lola, luckily Carter remembered - the puppies are very thankful for Carter! He loves being around them and watching them play outside, but he is still scared of them…he clings on so tight to us and even cried one day at the black covers on Matt’s golf clubs because he thought it was one of the puppies beside him. : )
He points at everything and wants us to tell him what it is- it’s so cute! He has been such a daddy’s boy lately- he wants Matt to carry him around with him wherever he goes! : ) He loves balloons lately too…last weekend he was fussing for one at Publix so the nice workers there gave him a free one. We ended up buying him another one when we went there this past Sunday. He is so funny with it…he carries it around everywhere! He even held onto it the entire time he was eating dinner last night.
He’s been eating more table food the last few weeks also…corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, chicken, noodles. He has been doing so great and seems to really like feeding himself.
He’s cruising all over the place, but not taking any steps yet. A couple times this past week, we noticed that he would let go of whatever he was holding onto and would stand for a couple seconds. He loves his little walking toy (it was passed on from Lauren Edman to Meredith and now to Carter)…he thinks he is such a big boy now! J I’ll have to post some pictures.
Slept through the night from October 7th to October 9th…that is a huge accomplishment! The last week or two he hasn’t slept quite as good…we think his 3rd tooth may be trying to come in.
He had his first flu shot on October 15th and he didn’t even cry…we were impressed! : ) He’ll have the second part when he goes back to the doctor for his 12 month check-up on November 17th. I still can’t believe that my baby will be 1 in less than a month.
Still waiting on 9 month pics…I’ll post the link when we get it! We’re anxious to see how they turned out…both him & Meredith needed naps! As long as the weather cooperates, we’re going to have family pictures this Saturday…my mom is having the lady that took Mere’s (and will take Carter’s) birthday pics come out and take some fall pictures of our whole family.
Hopefully I’m not forgetting too many details…it seems like he does something new every day!

Carter Update

Matt was out of town for two weeks in a row, so I got a little behind on updates. We’re so glad he’s home now…Carter & I miss him so much when he’s gone! Matt gets pretty homesick too after a couple days. It is so hard to handle Carter, the dogs, the house…everything by myself when he’s gone. I’m so thankful my mom spent the night with me one night so I could get extra sleep. She also took off work the next day, so Carter got extra special playtime with her too! Matt is going out of town again in November for two weeks, so I’m already dreading it.
Carter is all over the place now…he started crawling on August 17th. And just a few days later was already trying to climb the stairs. This weekend alone, he climbed up four steps in seconds, pulled the door stop off the office door, tried to pull out the night light and stick his paci in, and found the power strip and started chewing on cords that were plugged in…that’s just a few highlights! He keeps us busy these days…he’s so funny too! LOVES: playing Peek-a-boo, his new book Llama, Llama Red Pajama (which I must admit, is my new favorite too), splashing like crazy in the bathtub, strolling outside, cruising around furniture, when daddy tickles him, when mommy dances him around the den, bananas, puffs, squash, and his new favorite- Cheerios! NOT A FAN: Bedtime, Diaper changes, having his nails trimmed, when mommy leaves his sight, and being put in his highchair (or anything that confines him). He still loves playing in the kitchen and now knows how to open the cabinets…the first day he learned how, he pulled out all the Tupperware and climbed inside…it was so adorable, but a mess to clean up (see pictures in the September monthly pics folder).
Carter’s second tooth popped through on September 9th. We keep forgetting to get a rail cover for his bed, and yesterday he started gnawing on his bed. Luckily I saw him on the monitor, so he didn’t do too much damage…it’s also a good thing that he only has bottom teeth, so the marks are on the inside of the bed.
Carter makes lots of noise and loves to babble. He says Mama really good now and also says “My Baby”…apparently I say that a lot and he picked up on it. A few weeks ago we just thought he was babbling and it just sounded like that, but now it’s definitely something he says often…so cute! He says “Ba” for ball and when he’s waving bye, “Pa” for puppy, puff, and papa. He also says mimi sometimes (which is what my mom is going to be called…that will be much easier for the babies to say than meepmers)- not sure if that’s what he means when he says it, because he also says mammy and maw maw! : ) He moves his mouth like he’s repeating words after us all the time, and sometimes he whispers words too.
Carter had his 4th haircut on October 3rd. He was tired & was kind of fussy, but not too bad.
I finally updated the growth chart section from his last visit. He was a little over 18 lbs, but we’re pretty sure he’s already over 20 lbs now.
Carter’s 1st birthday is coming up very soon…I can’t believe how quick the past year has gone! I can’t believe how much my little man changes every day and how quickly he learns things! He’s going to have a pirate party on November 16th…arrggg matey! : ) We looked all over for a cool location…we really wanted something near the lake in Hendersonville, but a lot of things close after labor day and the other locations were either way too expensive for a 1st birthday party or were outside, which probably won’t work for a mid-November birthday. We finally decided to have it in the new addition at our church. We have reserved the photographer that Shanda & Matt had at Mere’s party…she takes great pictures, so we’re really excited! We ordered the invitations yesterday…I can’t wait till they come in!
Now we just need to finalize decorations and food and figure out what Carter is going to wear! Oh, and I think I’m going to make his cake…I bought a jumbo cupcake pan this weekend, so I just need to try it out and test out some recipes! I thought that would be really neat. I had wanted to take a cake decorating class, but never looked into it and it’s too late for that now. Not sure what kind of cake we’ll get for all the guests…Matt wants a Maggie Moo ice-cream cake…we’ll see, we’re both addicted to it!
Shanda, my mom, & I went to a scrapbooking event at our church called ScrapPINK this past weekend…it was so neat and they were able to raise a lot of money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. A local doctor’s wife had breast cancer and passed away about a year ago, so he donated all of her leftover scrapbook stuff to raise additional money. They have a son who is now 3, so we all put together pages, using the items she had selected for her son’s scrapbook. I bawled my eyes out when one of our Creative Memories consultants was telling us the story…how special those pages would be to the dad and his son. I’m so behind on Carter’s album and only managed to complete about 2 ½ pages before I had to leave, but I guess that’s 2 ½ pages closer to getting caught up! : ) I wish I had more time to work on his album and his baby book and his 1st year calendar. Luckily I keep a journal, so I have all the important dates written down…I just don’t have much time to put the information in his books. Hopefully I’ll be able to take some extra time off around the holidays and get lots done! We’re also going to a Croptoberfest on October 11th and we’ll be putting together a mini album, so after Halloween I’ll be able to add Carter’s pictures and it will be done very quickly…I can’t wait!
We recently found out lots of friends are having babies…congrats to The Proctors, The McDonalds, and The Baggotts!!! We’re so happy for them all…yeah, new friends for Carter and Mere! : )
Matt’s birthday is coming up on Saturday, October 4th…Happy Birthday sweetie! I tried to get him Vanderbilt/Auburn tickets, but the price has gone up way more than I should pay. Oh well, at least he knows I tried. He may just have to settle for dinner and some Maggie Moo’s ice cream! : ) We have been trying to have more date nights lately…we used to have date night every Saturday, but it doesn’t happen as often now. It’s important to me that Carter see us make time for each other and spend time together. Anyways, guess I better run!
Thanks for checking in!

Catch-Up Journal (Again!)

Ok, so it’s been a while since I posted a journal. I’ve managed to stay pretty up-to-date with pictures though. Can you believe Carter is almost 9 months old?!?! I can’t…it seems like my baby just arrived!
Within the last few weeks he has become very independent…although he still wants someone to be close (pretty much at all times), he doesn’t want to lay down and snuggle in our arms as much (which is still hard for me to get used to). He’s very squirmy when he’s in our arms and tries to climb up us! His favorite thing is for us to hold his hands and walk him around. His legs are really strong and he has always loved standing! He pulled up for the first time on July 18th and has done it several times since then! Still hasn’t crawled yet…we were beginning to think he would skip that since he hates being on his tummy. Last night while sitting up playing, he went over onto his tummy 3 times by himself. Still didn’t attempt to crawl, but it’s a start…at least he got on his tummy by himself! Even though he’s not crawling or walking yet, he scoots all over the place…and manages to stretch his body all the way across the room! : )
Lately, he loves playing in the kitchen floor…he slobbers everywhere and paints the floor with it! : ) He scoots around the kitchen and tries to open and pull up on the kitchen cabinets (thankfully, hasn’t learned how to open them yet)…he also loves to play on the refrigerator. It’s stainless and he likes to make faces in it…last night, he was even licking it! I’m a neat freak - and a germ freak when it comes to him, so I quickly moved him to another area! He here’s the word Dirty a lot…I’m always telling him everything is dirty…we joke that it’s probably going to be one of his first words! : )
Carter says Mama all the time now…and loves to holler and talk loud (especially when we’re out in public)! : ) The only other thing he says sometimes is “Ba”…sometimes he adds it to “Ma” and will start saying “MaBa”. No other words yet…we’re still working on DaDa!
His first tooth popped through (again…we think it’s here to stay this time!) on Friday, August 1st. He’s having fun using his new tooth to bite down on his spoons and he's been sucking on his tooth lately too…it’s really funny!
He had his 3rd haircut on Monday, August 4th (I know, it’s crazy- at this point most babies haven’t even had their first one yet). He fussed a little, but was really good when Amy used the clippers on him (that was his first time with the clippers…I was a little worried, but the noise seemed to calm him)- he just sat there and stared at himself in the mirror! I only took a couple before and after pics…I can very easily get carried away with taking pics of my baby. I did have the camera in my purse in case he did something really cute…and I did have to hold myself back from taking pictures when they put the cute little animal print cape on him. I just reminded myself that I’ve already been that crazy mom taking tons of haircut pics TWICE now…
He’s doing great with his food…I’ve been posting pictures of a lot of his firsts. He’s a good eater…he didn’t like peas at first, but my grandmother has been working with him and he’ll eat them now (but you can tell he’s still not crazy about them). Bananas are his absolute favorite! Lately, I’ve been trying to make some of his food…he still doesn’t like different textures, so I have to make sure it’s blended really good! He was on a milk strike (from his bottle and sippy) this past Monday and my mom was worried he was going to get dehydrated, so I told her she could try some juice…he had some of Meredith’s pear juice and absolutely loved it! He loves sweet stuff! : ) I don’t plan on giving him juice very often, but at least we were able to get some liquids down him while I was at work. We also let him try a couple of Mere’s peach puffs (he wants everything she has and she wants everything he has)…he did really good with them, but we’ll probably wait a little longer before we give them to him all the time.
We take him for his 9 month doctor’s appointment on August 20th…we are so thankful that he has been healthy and hasn’t had to go to the doctor very often! I’ll update the growth chart section once we find out his stats…we haven’t weighed him in a few weeks, so I have no clue how much he weighs (we had been checking his weight every week, but have slacked off lately)…he’s definitely catching up to Mere!
We took him to the Farmer’s Market yesterday and had a great time…I added a new picture page of our favorite pics from the day! And last night he slept the best EVER…I put him down around 8pm and he didn’t get up till 2:30 this morning and then again around 7:30!!! I got over 8 hours of sleep total- that is the most I’ve gotten since before Carter was born!
Oh, I almost forgot...he started giving the sweetest kisses on August 7th!!! Well, I guess I better run…my baby hasn’t been up for very long and I can’t wait to go snuggle!

Catch-up Journal...

So sorry for such a long break in website updates…I've actually tried a couple times and was having issues with the website! I can't believe how far behind I've gotten! : )
Since my last posting…lots has happened...I'll try to catch you up. Carter was dedicated on April 13th and it was a wonderful ceremony…I, of course, cried as soon as they started playing the slideshow and continued as the pastor read his life verse and prayed that God would bless his life. We had all our family over to our house to celebrate afterwards…lunch was excellent- Hog Heaven barbeque and chicken, sides made by my mom, Nana, and Shanda. And of course a yummy Sweet & Sassy cake. Thank you to Justin Kropf for videoing the ceremony and Ron Sealy for taking pictures…the scanned pictures will be uploaded soon.
Carter rolls over as soon as you put him on his stomach now…he gets so excited and gets the biggest smile when he lands on his back…it's so cute! I added a new section of pictures to show him in action. And he said Mama for the first time on April 16th…can you believe he started talking at 5 months! A few days before the 16th he started going mmmmma…he would scrunch up his face and stick his lips out and you could tell that he was trying so hard…adorable! : ) He was saying it a lot and then on the 16th he finally said it…not as clear as you or I would say it, but it was definitely MAMA! Within the last couple days he has started saying it really clear and says it all the time. When he was going to bed last night, he started crying and saying Mama…usually I'm ok with letting him cry for a little while before he goes to bed (because I'm usually running around trying to get ready for bed and get everything ready for the next day), but it was so hard letting him lay there and cry for me…I just wanted to run upstairs and scoop him up!
His bottom teeth popped through on March 27th. Although he still occasionally has fussy teething days, there seriously hasn't been any progress, you can barely see them!
He has a favorite stuffed toy now…his taggie Lion! He loves putting his arm around it or holding onto it tight…once again, adorable! : ) He has started playing in his exersaucer more lately and seems to really like it…I'll have to post some pictures in the monthly picture section. In several of the pictures he has his arms spread out across it and is playing with one toy on one side and another toy on the opposite side…multi-tasking, he says he learned that from his Mommy! : )
He goes back for his six month shots on May 22nd…I can't believe he's almost six months old! These have been the best six months ever…Carter has brought us all so much happiness! He is also having his six month pictures at Morrison Photography on May 24th.
Matt & I celebrated our 4 year anniversary on April 24th (we had a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot…our fave!), and Shanda & I celebrate our 27th birthday on May 16th! This Saturday, May 10th, all the ladies in our family are going out for a Mother's Day Lunch to the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Bakery & Café in Gallatin, TN (we went for the first time last year and it was fabulous). We are so excited…we love spending time together! Mother's Day is going to be so special this year…both Shanda and I were pregnant last year, so this will be our first "real" Mother's Day. I can't even describe how wonderful being a mother is…I am truly blessed, I thank God every day (multiple times) for entrusting us to raise Carter!!! I have such a desire to raise him to be a strong Christian boy! I'm reading a wonderful book right now called "That's My Son: How Moms Can Influence Boys to Become Men of Character" by Rick Johnson. One of the chapters I just finished reading described the differences between boys and girls (from how our brain develops, to our natural tendencies, and what each one struggles with)…so far it has been so enlightening…not only learning about how my son will learn, think, and communicate, but how my husband does too! I'm not too far into the book, but so far it has been great!
House Update…still for sale, unfortunately! A lady has looked at it 3 times and her agent still insists she is going to make an offer, but it hasn't happened yet. In the meantime, we lost the house on Emily Drive. A cash buyer came in and, of course, could close sooner than us. We were only slightly bummed…although we are ready to have the house sold, we know now that isn't where God wants us. We are still going to keep our house on the market (we're actually having an open house May 17th and 18th) that way when we find what we want, we can buy it. If our house sells sooner, we will just move into the Windsor Green apartments at the entrance of our subdivision. On the upside, there are still two empty lots on Emily Drive that we could possible build on…we've talked to the builder already, but want a contract on our house before we proceed. If it was meant to happen, then it will all work out…if not, then we believe God will lead us where He wants us!
Cousin Meredith update…9 months old, crawling all over the place, pulling up on everything, and gives the sweetest baby kisses! The girl is adorable and we just love her to death! Carter & Mere are going to be buds for sure…right now, she just wants to get his hair and take his toys away! : ) Shanda is working on planning her 1st Birthday party…it is going to be an event let me tell you…I won't give away the details, but it will be party for a princess, for sure! : ) Check out Mere's updates at http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site?pg=178925 (password BabyHayes).
I’m sure I've left out tons of details. I'll try to do better! : ) Thanks for checking in!