Carter's First Pictures!

Well, the lucky little guy received his first camera today.  Can you tell the we finally got tired of Carter trying to grab (and break) ours at every opportunity?  The new one is totally indestructible, and even has a view-finder, like Mom's!  It doesn't take the greatest pictures, but that really isn't the point, is it?  Here is one of his first shots - well, he might have had a little help from Nana...

Some Carter-isms

Carter has had some particularly cute moments during the past few days... here are a few favorites:

"Aw, I love her!" said while hugging every animal, blanket and toy that we own.

When we were reading Noah's Ark, we asked Carter, "What did Noah do?"   He promptly replied, "Ho! Ho! Ho!"  Hmmm... I know they both have a white beard, but really?

"Oh, goodness! Oh, goodness!"  repeated endlessly, whenever we are changing a poopy diaper.  Apparently the smell even bothers him!

Carter grabbed his favorite stack of books (all bible stories - Thanks Gma Jan!), and sat down, saying, "Jesus?  Yeah, Jesus!"  And when he accidentally knocked one of the off the couch, he said, "Silly Jesus!"

Pillows, Blankets... Little People! Oh, my!

Carter has just discovered the immense joy that comes from hiding his toys around the house.  Often, this means that he wanders around, very sad because he can't find what he is looking for... and can't remember just what drawer/box/closet he stuck it in.  Last night, as Chris and I had just turned out the light, I hear Chris- "What the..?"  Well, sure enough, there were at least 5 Little People thoughtfully stowed away inside his pillowcase.  Comfy!!

My Little "Helper"

I decided to make banana muffins with Carter this morning.  He is finally getting to the age where he likes to help stir and mash and all that fun stuff.  We were SO close to finishing the batter... I was just giving it a final stir... when, my darling child comes up from behind and shakes a bottle of GARLIC POWDER over the bowl.  He was so proud - "Carter put the sauce in!".  Apparently I shouldn't leave the spice cabinet unattended...

YUM.

... don't worry... you can't even taste it :)

Jingle ... Hair??

Carter is at such a funny age.  He is starting to create his own song lyrics set to the songs he knows.  Today, he found some Christmas ornaments in a box, and proceeded to sing, "Jingle Ball, Jingle Ball..." for the ball ornament... then "Jingle Frosty".  Later, while I was holding him, he was playing with my hair, singing, "Jingle Hair, Jingle Hair, Jingle all the way!"  So musical :)

Christmas Pageant

Grandma and Granddad took Carter to the Phoenix First Assembly Christmas Pageant yesterday.  It is the most amazing show - singing, 'flying' angels, real tigers, elephants and camels.  Carter was in awe of it all!  He is still talking about the angels - "Carter touch the angels?  Noooo!  Angels are up high!"  Precious :) 

October - At the Zoo

So happy!

Carter and Mommy on a Camel Ride

Carter loves the Tractor!

He has a total fascination with pumpkins... maybe next year we'll actually carve one??

We have a pass to the zoo, which we have been using a lot lately.  Carter can't seem to get enough of the animals!  He loves to bring the wagon, but he doesn't always want to sit in it.  He prefers to be Mr. Independent and just walk.  These pictures were from an October visit - thus the pumpkins :)  

So cute!

I've been stalking my friend, Janelle's blog for the past couple of days, hoping to catch a sneak peak of our photo session.  Sure enough, tonight I found a super cute pic of my two boys - I love it!  Carter had been practicing his "cheese" and finally got it just right :)

If you are ever in need of an awesome photographer, check out Janelle's website - www.janellezeller.com

Thanksgiving Weekend

I am so happy that we had visitors this weekend!  Grandma Jan, Grandpa Larry, Uncle Steve, Steven, and Brad all came out to see us on Friday and Saturday.  Uncle Steve and Grandma Jan taught us how to play Pinochle (my new favorite game), and we enjoyed two delicious dinners together (thanks, mom!).  Here are a couple of pictures -

Golfing With Brad

Snuggles with Gma Jan and Gpa Larry

Hanging out with Uncle Steve

Cousins

Carter is so lucky to have 2 cousins so close in age - Josh is just 27 hours older, and Elle is 15 months younger.  Now that we have moved back to Central Phoenix, we are much closer to them, and we love to get them together to play.  

Little Engineers

Silly Dinosaur, Elle!

Teamwork!

Definitely the adventurous one!

Good Morning!

5:30am is way too early to wake up on a Saturday morning... but apparently no one told Carter that!  We heard him yelling, "Up with Daddy!  Want to go play now!", and I tried to ignore it in hopes that he would just go back to sleep.  Luckily, Chris was being especially thoughtful, and told me to keep sleeping while he got up with Carter.  They seemed to be really quiet, until about 7:15, Carter came into the room with two donuts on a plate for me - yum!  These boys sure know the way to my heart!  Chris had taken Carter on a little adventure - he let Carter pick out new DVDs and "sprinkle" donuts (think he's got daddy wrapped around his finger?). 

Election

Another thing our family is thankful for - the upcoming change of power in the White House.  Thank the Lord that change is coming! 

I just downloaded some pictures, and found this one that I took a couple of days before the election.  I LOVE the "YES WE CAN" shirt that Carter had on... it survived crushed raspberries, spaghetti, and lots of dirt - still looks great!  I think it'll definitely be a keepsake :)

Thankful

I'm always amazed this time of year - it always seems like the holidays are so far off, and then *poof*! Here they are :)

I'm up early today... thanks in part to my early-bird baby, and the need to bake 4 pies before dinner.   The pies are well on their way to completion, Carter is occupied with Elmo, and I have a minute to think about why I'm thankful.

1. I have a husband that, after nearly 8 years of marriage, still sees the importance of working to make our relationship better everyday.

2. I have a gentle and sweet little boy - who always makes me smile.  Even as I'm writing this now, I had to take a break when he asked me to hold him like a "tiny baby" and sing to him :)  It doesn't get any better than that.

3. My beautiful sister - so thankful to spend a couple of days hanging with my favorite girl :)

4. I have a job that has given me amazing friends and a great sense of fulfillment.

5. Certainly not last:  The Grace of God - in every aspect of my life.

Sending lots of love and wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving for you today - 

Oh Boy!

I thought I was being so proactive... I checked on Carter late last night, just to make sure that he didn't undress himself (I definitely didn't want a repeat of the past few days!). He was sleeping soundly, with his pants on, phew! What I failed to notice was that my little stinker had actually taken his pants/diaper OFF, then just put the pants back on. Sooooo... when we woke up this morning, Carter's pajamas were filled with.... yuck.

Code BROWN

Seriously... the worst thing to hear in the morning, especially when I only have 40 minutes to get up, make breakfast, get Carter ready, and out the door... Chris yelling - "We've got a code brown in here!!!"  Without going into the glorious (smelly) details, I'll just say that stripping my child, his bed, and running a bath put me seriously behind schedule.  Ahhh... the life of a toddler's mother :)

An afternoon of "Cheese"!

I am so lucky to have an amazingly talented friend, who takes the most precious family pictures. So, after lots of hassle - shirts ironed, Carter's hair combed (sort of), juice cup filled, extra diapers packed - we finally got out the door this afternoon to make the trek up to Anthem. We met Janelle at the park, and started taking our pictures - we only had 30 minutes, and didn't want to waste any time! Of course, Carter refused to put his juice cup down, and so it made it into the first dozen pictures. Carter wasn't really thrilled to be forced to sit still, so we tried to distract him by looking at the train and the ducks - it worked for a couple of minutes! It was so cute to watch the silly face he made everytime he said "Cheese!"... not really close to a smile, but pretty cute anyways. I think we are going to be getting some fantastic photos back. I can't wait! Hopefully they'll be ready in about a week, and I'll post some (maybe I will have told someone about the blog by then?).

I want to be cool, too!

So, it looks like everyone has a blog these days... including me! I guess the difference is, no one knows that mine exists. Maybe that is why I only put two entries in it before I totally forgot about it. But, after looking at Summer's blog last weekend, I feel re-inspired to continue to chronicle life in the Erickson family. Let's just hope I can keep it up more than a week this time...

Stupid Ear Infection

Poor Carter - he has ANOTHER double ear infection.  Ugh.

He managed to go 23 months before getting one, and in the past month he has one that just won't go away!  So, even though we just finished a round on antibiotics, we had to go to the doctor again today to have those little ears checked out... and sure enough, the infection is back.  

We've been doing everything we can - lots of vitamins, garlic ear drops (smelly, but supposedly effective), and even the dreaded antibiotics... but this is a stubborn one.  Hopefully the new prescription will finally get rid of it!

Totally Inspired

I just saw a blog that was created by my friend, Rachael that was all about the happenings in her family... and it inspired me to create my own.  Who will read it?  Probably no one...

Of course, that won't stop me from trying to write a little bit about our crazy, happy family.

The center of our universe is our little boy, Carter.  Everything we do is for him - as it should be :)  He just had his 2nd birthday, and it is crazy to see him growing up so fast!