Mile Marker 1245: At Mimi's House

We made it to our final destination and Mimi seems pretty excited we are here. We are enjoying some relaxing time watching Carter play with some of his new Christmas toys. It is so fun to watch him discover what the new toys do. Whether they squish, squeak, rattle, or roll he explores them with such concentration until either the toy makes a noise or until he figures out a way to get as much of the toy as possible into his mouth. Once he succeeds, his face lights up with a big smile.

Over the past couple of days Carter has become quite the roller. Before he would roll from tummy to back and play for awhile or roll from back to tummy and play for awhile. But now he will roll from tummy to back then to tummy and then to back again - he is really covering some ground. I think some serious childproofing might be on the 'to do' list when we get home.
The weather yesterday was amazing and we enjoyed strolling through our alma mater and taking a few pictures with our little man in front of Samford Hall.

Happy New Year

Adam and I rung in the new year a day early. The original plan was for Carter and Mimi to have a date on New Year’s Eve and for Adam and me to go out to a nice dinner and celebrate. But plans changed. At first we’d planned on a big night out. Then we thought we’d just enjoy a nice dinner out on New Year’s Eve. Finally, age and parenthood trumped any exciting plans—we settled on dinner out on New Year’s Eve Eve. That’s right, December 30th.

Happy New Year to all. Hope 2009 brings you blessings and joy.

Milemarker 1179: Poppa and Nana’s

We have had a couple of relaxing days at the lake – with unseasonably warm weather. It was so nice yesterday we had lunch outside on the porch. It’s always a treat to sit on the porch and look out at the water – you just don’t expect to be able to enjoy such a treat in late December.


After watching his very active cousins for a few days, it seems that Carter is playing harder than ever. He now grabs any toy in sight and flings his arms up and down as fast as possible – all the while grinning away. The grin stays until he accidentally flings the toy into his head. Then he pauses, picks up the toy, and does it all over again.

It is not unusual to see deer at Poppa’s house – but have you ever seen a reindeer as cute as this?

A Christmas Craft

Aunt Susan got an idea from a friend of making holiday platters with kids' hand and/or footprints. The original idea (which didn't quite work as planned) was to paint a reindeer with Robert's foot as the head of the reindeer and Jack and Carter's hands as the antlers. But, we ended up with the cute handprint Christmas trees above. We hope the cousins' grandparents will enjoy these for many years to come.

Mile Marker 907: Cousins and Santa

We arrived on Tuesday and were greeted with lots of joyful noise from Carter’s 4 year old and 15 month old cousins, Robert & Jack. In previous visits Robert and Jack were more interested in Carter than Carter was interested in them. But, this trip Carter was totally impressed by their talking, walking abilities, and toy playing. Similarly, Granddaddy was totally impressed with Carter’s many new tricks. Granddaddy smiled and giggled and just loved watching Carter in action – sitting, laughing, rolling, etc.On Christmas Eve we traveled to Adam’s uncle’s house for Christmas with Gramma and family. Here is a picture of all four generations. Christmas morning was full of excitement. Santa found Carter at his cousin’s house – pretty impressive, huh? Here is our sweet little Carter on Christmas morning with one of his new toys. I love this picture. By the way, Carter turned 6 months old on Christmas day. What a wonderful 6 months it has been. Our first Christmas with the little man has been so special and fun.
On Christmas morning we attempted to get a picture of the three boys in their adorable matching pjs. As the boys were gathering around Poppa for the picture, I said, “be sure to watch Jack’s hands” as I was afraid they might find their way to Carter’s face. But, Carter surprised us all and grabbed two handfuls of Jack’s hair and pulled. Looks like we have to watch out for Carter’s hands in the future too. We had a wonderful visit with Carter's cousins, aunt and uncle and of course his Granddaddy and GG. Oh, and we can't forget Cody - it's always a treat to hear his tales. Many thanks to Aunt Susan and Uncle Warren. We took over your house, ate all of your food, and even extracted free babysitting. You are always too generous and we greatly appreciate it.

Next stop...Poppa and Nana's.

Tunes for the Season

A few years back Adam and I started a simple little tradition: we buy one new Christmas CD at the start of the holiday season. Here are our past three choices...we recommend them all.

1) Vince Guarldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas

2) New Orleans Christmas

3) Josh Groban - Noel

Mile Marker 663: The Bowen Bunch

We enjoyed a quick visit to see the Bowen Bunch – my mom’s brother’s family. This family of five cousins is hard to keep up with as they are typically scattered around the country. But, we were fortunate to see 3 of the 5 and enjoy some hot chocolate.

Over the past few years they have always traveled to my mom's whenever we were in town, so we were glad to be able to see their beautiful new home and I think they enjoyed the Carter visit too.

Next stop, Aunt Susan’s house.

Card Shenanigans

Have you ever played Shanghai Rummy? If not, I recommend it.

We played a couple of rounds with my mom after Carter was sleeping soundly. Mom skunked us several times the first night. She would say: “Why did I get that card?” “What am I going to do?” with a furrowed brow. Next thing you know she is out and Adam and I are counting our many cards. She would actually huff when she drew the card that would make her go down and out. Perhaps this is part of her secret to always shooting the moon as she used to do while playing Hearts.

Last night, Adam pulled a sneaky trick. The game was nearing an end and he had a strong lead. Instead of taking lots of cards and trying to lay down his hand of 3 Runs, he just focused on having a hand of 7 low point cards so when either mom or I went out he would only be left with 35 points. Pretty smart move, but neither mom nor I approved. Tonight, during the hand where the objective is to have 2 Triples and 1 Run, mom was working on 2 Runs and 1 Triple. By the time she realized her mistake, I had laid my cards down and only had one card left before going out. Neither Adam nor mom had laid down their cards, so instead of trying to correct her mistake, she discarded ‘rummy on the board’ and I was able to go out. This left Adam with lots of points in his hand. Adam didn’t think it was as funny as we did – I can’t imagine why.

Mile Marker 597: At Gram's House

We arrived safely to our first destination – Gram’s house. We left home Thursday afternoon around 3:00 pm and arrived very tired at 1:30 am. Originally we planned on breaking the trip into two days but we had the brilliant – or not so brilliant – idea to drive as much as possible during the late night hours while Carter slept. The brilliant part about the idea was that the 9 hour drive only took 10 ½ hours because Carter slept during most of the traveling. The not so brilliant part of the idea was that we stayed up too late the night before wrapping presents and were exhausted by the time we arrived in the late night hours. Adam drove the entire trip – I offered, but he never took me up on the offer (thankfully!).

We have had a fun and relaxing time at Gram’s so far. We took Carter to see his great grandparents and they loved holding him and watching him and listening to his joyful squeals. Last night Gram cooked a delicious roast beef dinner and Carter enjoyed his cereal time with gusto which gave Grandmother and Granddaddy many smiles.Here is a picture of all four generations. Look at Grandmother – she couldn’t take her eyes off of Carter long enough to smile at the camera.

Project Complete

Several weeks ago I wrote about a pair of Santa pants I was sewing for Carter. I completed 95% of the project that weekend but never hemmed the legs. I had every intention of hemming the pants before we left for our trip, but somehow it kept getting pushed farther and farther down the 'to do' list. So, I threw the pants and a spool of thread in the suitcase and decided the hem could be hand-stitched during our travels. Yesterday Gram completed the hemming for me - thanks!!! Here is a picture of the completed pants...they are a little big, but Carter wears them well.

Carter, Meet Presents

We had our family Christmas last night...here are a couple of shots of Carter trying to open his first present.

We also opened a wooden nativity set earlier in the week from Aunt Marcia...Carter wasted no time enjoying that gift too.
Frankincense? Myrrh? Carter offered his most precious gift: drool.

Over the river and through the woods…

…to Gram’s house, and then Granddaddy’s house, and Aunt Susan & Uncle Warren’s house, then to Poppa & Nana’s house, and finally to Mimi’s house we go.

We leave today for a nine hour trip south to visit family for the holidays. The car is full of gas and the trip odometer is set to zero, but the suitcases are still in the closet. We stayed up late last night finishing our present wrapping and the current plan is to head out late this afternoon and do most of the driving during the night while Carter (hopefully, all fingers crossed) sleeps.

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We hope to post of our adventures as we travel, so stay tuned!

B&B Open for Business

We have had the pleasure of two overnight visits from our friend Nick. He has been traveling to our neck of the woods for business the past couple of weeks and needed a place to rest his head. I thought it was sweet that he planned his arrival times to be sure to see Carter before his bedtime. It was fun to have the company and Nick we hope you come visit again soon (be sure to bring Janelle too - Carter misses her)! For that matter…if any of you find yourself in our area…please come visit.

This is December?

We are enjoying some unseasonably warm weather around here. This afternoon I managed to slip away from work early and we went for a jog around the neighborhood. Carter has always enjoyed the stroller (you may recall our late night strolls in July). And the trend continues. After fifteen or twenty minutes in motion, the little fella is out cold.

We have multiple incentives for jogging. First and most immediate is my waistline. Tracy's Dessert Factory continues to produce more sweets than a household of three could (or should) possibly consume. But, ever the supportive husband, I have enjoyed more than my share. Obviously this is not the best thing for long-term health, but it is also not the best thing for my short-term wardrobe. If I keep up my current pace, I'm not sure what I'll wear to work in January.

Secondly, we've decided to run in a 10k together this spring. We've both run road races before (see Tracy's vintage Peachtree Road Race t-shirt at left), but this will be our first run together. It will be great fun, and it will be good incentive to get in shape.

Holiday Cheer

We've had quite the festive weekend in our neighborhood...here is a quick recap by pictures.

Saturday was the annual Christmas on MacArthur event which included craft vendors set up on the street (my favorite!), music and face painting, and of course pictures with Santa.
I was able to check several gifts off my list with a quick purchase at one of the vendors. I can't say too much as it would ruin the surprise for some of you that read this. But, I do love supporting local crafters/businesses and I would like to receive this gift so it was a win/win in my opinion.

That afternoon we hosted a small holiday party for several friends in the neighborhood. Adam and I had fun cooking and decorating on Friday and really enjoyed entertaining for the first time in our new home. It was common during the warmer months to chat with our neighbors several times each week as everyone got home from work. But, the colder temperatures and early nighttime makes those enjoyable conversations a little more difficult so it was fun to catch up with our friends on the block. There was even talk of a possible block party once it gets warmer again...doesn't that sound like fun!

Here is our attempt at a fun party activity...but you are looking at the only two gingerbread cookies that were decorated (the left by Adam, the right by me). I think a few ate the cookies without decorating them but no one else took a turn behind the icing. Oh well, we still had fun with our decorating.

Carter handled the party pretty well. He looked a little puzzled at one point with all of these new people in his play area and eventually fell asleep on my shoulder. Carter's "favorite directly across the street neighbors" (as signed in the Christmas card) gave Carter a fun musical toy that played Christmas music. Carter was mesmerized.

Before the night was over we snapped a few family pictures in front of the Christmas tree. Then we let Carter grab at all of the branches. Probably not the smartest thing to teach him how to do, but it is just so cute, how can you resist?

Hope each of you are enjoying the holiday season. We are having fun continuing some old family traditions as well as starting new ones. I plan to write about some of our favorite traditions throughout this next week and would love to hear some of yours too.

And the stockings were hung…well, almost.

Some of you may remember these three stockings. They hung on our mantle last year and we used a picture of them on our Christmas cards to announce we were expecting. It is amazing to think about how much has changed since just last year. For starters, these stockings are hanging on a new mantle, in a new home, in a new city. I am no longer working as an accountant, Adam is no longer a student. And the best change of all, our precious baby boy.

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I wanted Carter to have a special stocking so I purchased a cross-stitch stocking pattern with a Santa face. I made it about 100 stitches in and realized that at my current pace the stocking would not be complete until Carter’s 10th birthday or later. I decided to call in reinforcement. My dad is a fabulous cross-stitcher and I was hopeful that he would pick up where I left off. He agreed instantly and I mailed the unfinished product off to Granddaddy’s house. When I would talk to my dad he would give me updates…working on his nose, moving on to his beard, almost done. Then came the dreaded backstitching. For those of you that don’t cross-stitch, backstitching is the very time consuming detail work at the very end of the project that can take hours. For me, the actual cross-stitches are fun because you see progress as you work. But once your overall pattern is finished, I always want to skimp on the backstitching. Not dad. He worked right through it and completed every last stitch.
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When the stocking arrived I was thrilled. As you can see, it looks amazing and I know Carter will treasure it for many years to come. However, I am sad to report it will not be hanging this year. I had planned on binding and lining the stocking as well, but am fearful of any mistake I might make to dad’s wonderful work. So, after a few calls around town, I have found several professionals who can complete the stocking so Carter can enjoy it for many Christmases to come.
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Thanks Granddaddy for the many, many hours you put into this. It is perfect and I can’t wait to hang it on the mantle so Santa can fill it with lots of toys.

a picture for emphasis

Here is a quick update from yesterday's rolling in the crib discovery:

Carter slept pretty well last night. He needed and outfit change around 9:30 due to a very wet diaper and outfit. But, once we settled him back down he only woke once more for his 11:00 bottle. But, when we went to get him this morning, he was on his belly. Who knows how long he had been like that?

I took this picture yesterday afternoon. I originally placed Carter tummy up in the center of his playmat. Less than 10 minutes later, he had lost a sock and was completely off of his playmat on his tummy. I think some sort of switch was flipped yesterday. He was so much more active and adventurous. For example, in his exersaucer he usually focuses on two toys that are side by side and takes turns putting them in his mouth. Yesterday he had both arms stretched out as far as possible to either side and would spin to put one in his mouth and then spin to put the other one in his mouth. The monkey on the exersaucer that used to be difficult to grab was now doing backflips over and over again. Fun times ahead...can't wait!

“I have a new trick…

…and it is more fun than sleeping” – Carter, Thursday afternoon naptime

We have been teaching Carter how to soothe himself to sleep with a graduated version of the cry it out method. At nap/bedtime we still swaddle Carter from the waist down, rock him for a few minutes in our arms, then lay him down in the crib calm, but not asleep. USUALLY, the thumb goes in the mouth and he babbles a bit before he falls asleep. SOMETIMES, he stays fussy for a good bit. We let him cry for 15 minutes and then evaluate. If the fussiness seems to be calming down, we let him try to work it out a little bit longer. If the fussiness seems to be elevating, we go comfort him, rock him till he is calm again then start the process all over again.

Today, I did just that. We had a good play time and he was showing tired signs. I swaddled him, rocked him just a bit, and then laid him down in the crib. He started to suck on his thumb and fuss a bit. So, I decided to leave the room to let him try to soothe himself to sleep. The 15 minutes came and went and the fussiness was still pretty loud, so I went to go check on him. I was a bit shocked when I didn’t find him where I left him. He had rolled over and was now perpendicular in the crib with his sweet little head pressed against the slats. I immediately picked him up and tried to soothe him, but he was a bit too worked up. After a good bit of soothing, I tried to put him back down in the crib. I sat outside his room for 5-10 minutes and he would get quiet for a minute or two, then start babbling again. So, I decided to just peek in to see if he was still lying on his back as I left him. Nope. He was on his tummy again pushing up on his arms and he had the biggest grin on his face when he saw that I had come back into the room. After consulting Aunt Susan for advice, I decided this nap time was shot and we would try again the next time.

I have read that new milestones such as sitting up, crawling, walking, etc. can cause sleep interruptions and I fear we might be on the verge of one. Perhaps the eight hours of sleep we got last night was preparation for a couple of longer nights ahead, but I sure hope not!

Two New Firsts

We have a couple of new firsts to report. Carter is starting to sit on his own just a bit. We usually keep our hand around him to catch him when he starts to tilt too far, but lately we have been removing all hands while Carter is on our bed to see how long he can last. Depending on what toy he has in his mouth, he will sit for 15 - 30 seconds before toppling over. Sometimes the toppling over is the best part. He always looks so surprised when he ends up on his tummy or his back. Then he starts smiling really big. It is fun.

The other new first comes from the teeth department. We can see the first white speck on his bottom gum line. The increased drool (soaked through 2 bibs in one playtime today) and crankiness tells us it must be close. I realized I may not get many more chances to snap toothless photos, so we took a few new shots today - check out the new December album on the left for more.

The 100th Post

How about that?

Thanks to all of our faithful readers.

Have a wonderful week!

The Very Multi Purpose Table

During a recent discussion about our home furnishings we realized the only items we have purchased include 2 beds, a couch, and a table. I purchased one of the beds, the couch, and the table for my first apartment out of college. The rest of our furniture has come from generous hand-me-downs and family pieces we have snagged from various grandparents.

The table I mentioned above came from a discount furniture store and I paid $150 for the table and four chairs. Over the years it has been a dining room table, an office desk, it has lied dormant under a couch with no use, and now, it's latest use? my new craft desk!!! I am very excited. Our neighbors have recently renovated their kitchen and asked if we had any use for their old kitchen cabinets that were salvaged. Since we gladly accept all hand-me-downs we quickly said yes and stored them in our basement. However, just recently, as we were trying to find a place for me to sew other than our dining room table, we had the idea of putting the table top on top of the kitchen cabinets so I could have a taller workspace with some storage. The finished product is not ideal (the drawers don't work) but it will be very useful and the price was right.

PS - those are Carter's almost finished pants on the table...just need to hem them.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

Well, we got our tree this week. An organization sells trees at the nearby elementary school, so getting one was easy...although we managed to complicate things. Given a busy schedule (for mommy and daddy) this week, Wednesday morning was our only time to go get a tree. But, we didn't consult Carter's calendar. As it turned out, he was scheduled for a long nap Wednesday morning, so we had to adjust.

Tracy is, well, particular when it comes to trees. So she went to pick out a tree while I stayed at the house with Carter. At the tree place, though, she was two bucks short and not confident in her ability to tie the tree onto the roof of the car. She put the tree on hold and drove home. I, then, drove back to the school, paid the tree man, put the tree on the car, and headed back home to set up the tree.

Despite Carter's scheduling challenges, I was supposed to be in a suit and on the road to school. Shortly after the tree was standing, I threw on a suit and hit the road, pausing just long enough for a photo.

Tracy (and Carter) hung the lights and most of the ornaments, but they left me a few to add when I got home. Now we just need some presents for beneath the tree. One present made an early appearance, but did not stay long. Tracy gave me season five of The Wire for Christmas/Graduation, and she was kind kind enough to let me open it early (while I actually have some time to enjoy the DVDs). As you may know, I mildly enjoy this HBO series. And, of course, by "mildly enjoy" I mean "This the greatest television show ever!" It is not everyone's cup of tea, but I am a big fan. The only problem now: It's hard to get out and actually purchase presents to go under the tree when you've got a warm house, a comfortable couch, and an entire season of The Wire to watch.

Sneak Preview

Christmas is coming and it is coming fast. I am more behind than ever with shopping, decorating, etc. Only 23 days left...yikes!

I took some pictures of Carter today for our Christmas cards...here is a sneak preview of some of my favorite shots.

Adorable Adorable Adorable

Carter’s Gram (my mom) came for a visit this weekend. I lost track on Saturday how many times she used the word 'adorable' referring to her ‘adorable’ grandson. It is good to have another unbiased opinion to confirm that Carter is such a cutie. She was smitten within an hour of her arrival on Friday evening when Carter smiled at her and hugged her neck. She was bursting with adoration when she got to give him his evening bottle and he fell asleep in her arms.
On Saturday Gram, Carter and I ran a few errands to try to take advantage of a couple of good shopping coupons. Then we returned home and became a house divided to watch the Iron Bowl. Gram was outnumbered with Carter in Auburn gear and mommy and daddy pulling for the Tigers, but the Tide pulled out a victory anyhow. I sure hope Carter experiences an Iron Bowl victory next year. We planned on venturing out to church this morning, but Carter slept an extra hour this morning so our morning got off schedule (not that I am complaining about the extra hour of sleep!) We enjoyed some visitors this afternoon. Our friends Scott and Kelly stopped by on their way home from their Thanksgiving travels. We sipped hot apple cider and watched Carter smile at all of us.
I have enjoyed several days with daddy at home as well as Gram’s company this Thanksgiving week. So many special moments to remind me how much there is to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving

We were on our own for Thanksgiving this year but we were determined to have a full spread. Four cookbooks and one e-mail from Gramma later we had our Thanksgiving meal planned out. Adam gets most of the credit for the delicious meal we enjoyed today. I wasn’t feeling too well this morning, so he encouraged me to take a nap. A couple of hours later he had most of the dishes prepared and the house smelled fabulous. Here is a quick run down of our menu: roasted turkey with homemade cranberry and pineapple chutney, Gramma’s dressing and gravy, citrus sweet potatoes, seared green beans, and rolls. As I write this blog we have a blackberry cobbler in the oven. The only downfall to this wonderful day of eating? We have no ice cream in the freezer to enjoy with the cobbler when it comes out of the oven. Tragic.

After lunch we took a stroll through the neighborhood while Carter took a nap in his stroller. We reflected today on past Thanksgivings that we have shared with both of our families. We were sad to not be with you today, but we were also thankful for our new family and our new home. We have much to be thankful for this year.

Carter was full of new noises and lots of smiles today. Here he is entertaining himself while we were working in the kitchen.