Oranges

Carter: I love this orange SO much. I love it bigger than the moon. I love it bigger than the sky!

He proceeded to stick the entire orange on his thumb...

Carter: It's not a finger orange!

Silly boy!!!!

Carter's Debut!

Carter's Big Debut!

(in the middle, striped sweater - next to the kid in an identical sweater... lol)

How adorable! Last night was Carter's school's Christmas party. We didn't go last year, so we really didn't know what to expect. We were surprised when the kids were called up on stage to perform with little bells. Carter hadn't said anything about learning Christmas songs, practicing with the bells... nothing! Sometimes I wonder if he even notices what happens at school :) They sang a few Christmas songs, rang their bells, and looked absolutely precious! Especially MY little performer! Carter spent one entire song covering just his right ear... he later told us that he could hear himself better that way. What a rockstar :) He lost his bell in the middle (who knows where it flew off to!), and he gave the cutest pouty face... of course, mom ran over and got a new one from his teacher. All was well, once he got a new bell! He just loved being up on stage - I'm sure it won't be the last time!

So Proud!

Our family had a huge milestone to celebrate. After 15 months of HARD work, Chris earned his Masters Degree in Business Administration. What a huge accomplishment! We are so proud of the endless amount of effort and perseverance Chris showed while working towards his degree. He's not only brilliant - but he looks great with that cap on, too!

The Graduate!

So proud of his papa :)

Letters (and emails) to Santa

Chris and Carter were creating a letter to Santa. So cute to see Carter trying to think of the things he wants (yes, I'm aware that this is breeding a highly materialistic child...). About 10 minutes later, Carter was playing on Chris's iphone.

Chris: Hey, buddy. What are you doing?

Carter: Sending an email to Santa Claus.

Seriously. And Carter DID send an email from Chris's phone... to one of Chris's friends. Maybe he'll buy Carter's presents this year? One can only hope.

Quality Time

Carter has been a little cranky lately... Mom has been working too much, Dad has been studying too much, and Carter misses us! This weekend is Daddy's LAST weekend at school, and I thought we would kick off the weekend with some quality SLEEPING time. I let Carter sleep with me last night - which consisted of about 5 books, 2 songs, a cup of water, pulling my hair, rubbing my back, demanding that I rub his back ("Not like THAT, mommy! Do it THIS way!")... finally, at 12:30... when I was fast asleep, I was rudely awakened by a large thump on the ground. Sure enough... Carter had rolled right off the bed! I took that as a cue to put him back in his bed. Thankfully, even Carter agreed that it was probably best to sleep close to the ground :) This morning, he came back into my bed for an extra hour of sleeping together though - which was super cute. He rolled over a few times, touched my face and said, "I'm smiling at you!" Aw! Then, it was off to gymnastics and the donut shop... what a great morning!

Aunt Kiki's Visit

We were SO happy to get a visit from Aunt Kiki while she was home for Fall Break. We had quality sister time, and she even got to go with us to Carter's gymnastics class. Carter wasted no time loving on her - and was sad to see her leave. Only a couple months until Christmas!!

gymnastics

girl time - off to see JJ Heller perform

Pre-Halloween

Happy Halloween, early!

our future Doctor

Grandma and Granddad offered to take Carter up to the cabin for Halloween, so we celebrated "in-town" a week early. We met up with friends at a Harvest Festival and Carter had a great time! He especially loved the big Chick-fil-a Cow... and the chicken nugget samples :) He was mesmerized by the cover band, and sang and danced along to the music. Carter really enjoyed the bouncy houses... his favorite was the pretty pink princess house :)

moooo!

A Visit to the Cabin

happy boy

A couple of weeks ago, Carter and I (mom) headed up north to visit Grandma and Granddad at the cabin in Flagstaff. We were greeted by the beautiful sight of colorful leaves. The reds and yellows were just gorgeous. Grandma had fun teaching Carter (and me, too!) how to make an acorn whistle. He needs a little more practice, but maybe next year he'll get it! As usual, Carter loved golfing with Granddad. He's getting better and better :)

golf lesson

acorn whistles

Fall Break

What a wonderful way to spend a day! Grandma and I took Carter to Old MacDonald's farm to visit the pumpkin patch. He loved every minute! Carter especially loved his horse, Wendy. He had no fear, and didn't even need Mom to hold on to him. He's growing up fast! We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch, and Carter picked out the perfect Halloween pumpkin to take home.

My little Cowboy!

Will you be my friend??

Yay for Fall Break!

Where's Mommy's Money?

Last Sunday was a busy morning. We rushed to get ready and out the door for church, but we made it just in time! Carter was in the 3-year-old Sunday School room for both services, because I was serving in the Nursery (is there a better way to "help" at church?!?! Those tiny babies are too precious!). When I went back to get Carter to go back home, the Sunday School teacher handed me a credit card and a Harkins gift card - huh???? Apparently, they were discovered in my darling child's pocket - my little thief was rummaging through my purse while I was getting dressed in the morning, I guess!

Going to Minnesota - All by myself!!!!!

Silly baby! He must have really enjoyed our trip to MN... because today he packed up the necessities (dvds, stickers, a camera, and 3 baseballs) to bring with him for a return visit.  He told me, "I'm going to Minnesota.  I'm going all by myself!  I'll see you in two weeks!"  I asked what he was going to do in MN, and he told me that he'd go to visit Grandpa Erickson (I guess he doesn't realize that Gpa lives in Indiana...).  As you can see, he buckled himself into the wagon, and told me to pull him to the airport.  Oh yeah... and he wasn't wearing any pants.  Wonder what the other travelers would think about that!

In case you were wondering...

Play-doh and coconut milk do not mix.  Ever.  Carter thought it would be a fun science project (and I was obviously not watching him too closely)... maybe I shouldn't let him play with play-doh when there is food around?

The Wiggles!

Our little musician is SO in love with the Wiggles!  (For those of you who are out of the loop, it is a kids' show with a funny English band).  This morning, Carter was watching them on tv, as usual, and told me, "Sam is coming to my house.  He is going to play with me.  Murray will come to my house too.  It will make me so happy."  Aw!!!  So, I really don't have the heart to break it to him that the Wiggles definitely aren't coming over for a playdate... so sad.  However, it did prompt me to check online to see if the Wiggles would be coming out on tour soon - and, sure enough, they'll be here next week!!  Carter and Daddy are going to have an AWESOME time!  But... shhhh... don't tell Carter!  It is a surprise :)  We've recently discovered that the anticipation of exciting events makes it impossible for Carter to sleep... and I really don't want him to be awake until next Monday!

Our Visit to Nana's House

Silly Daddy!

Carter LOVES his Nana!

Look how beautiful and green it is!

more fun at the park

This post is obviously a LOT late, but we just finally downloaded the pictures from the camera, and it reminded me to write!  We visited Nana in Denver for Memorial weekend.  Of course, it was nice to be in the cooler weather... but mostly, we just love hanging out at Nana's house.  Carter sleeps SO well there - I'm not sure if Nana just wears him out, or if it is a combination of the super dark room and the amazing smell of essential oils (he sleeps in Nana's massage room), but we actually had to wake him up at 9 every day!  Ahhh... Chris and I finally got to catch up on our sleep too!

Carter had a blast playing with Nana and Poppy.  We went to the park, the bounce house, and played with the dogs.  Carter was super nervous around Nana's new puppy, Coco.  He kept yelling, "No, Coco! Don't eat my feet!" whenever Coco came too close.  He'd shout, "Mommy, I need a hug!" whenever he wanted me to scoop him up and get him out of Coco's path.  Adorable!  But definitely makes me think twice about getting a puppy...

Praying

I'm not sure why half of the super cute things that Carter does relate to God/church/etc, but it seems to inspire his most adorable behavior!

Here's the "transcript" of our conversation after church today:

me: What did you do in church today?

Carter: I prayed.

me: You prayed?

Carter: I prayed to God.

me: What did you pray about?

Carter: I prayed for juice.

Seriously?????

Ah, well... at least he's praying :)

Long Weekend at the Cabin

enjoying the drive up north

We had the best time in Flagstaff over the long Fourth of July weekend.  Lots of quality time with Grandma, Granddad, and Kiki.  Carter just loved going outside to "play golf" on the putting green.  We sure had to keep a close eye on him - he managed to escape the house three times to try and golf all by himself! Good thing he barely made it off the back porch before he got "caught" :)  

The little guy loved playing his harmonica and guitar outside on the porch swing... just singing along to his favorite songs for hours!  Who says he has a short attention span??  Carter was mesmerized watching the yard workers trimming some of the huge trees on the property - he exclaimed, "Look!  It's Bob the Builder!"  Later, at the park, he ran up to a dog with his hand outstretched, shouting, "Good dog!  Want to smell me?"  Love it!

Precious!

In a sing-song voice, scanning his bookshelf for a goodnight story - "Jesus... Where are you???"  Apparently he wanted a Bible story :)

Rocking Out

Carter's attention span is ridiculous - he can't sit still long enough for a tv show - barely even a book - but he stands mesmerized for 30 minutes straight to watch a band play.  My budding musical genius!  

Today, we met up with Aunts Paige, Maryl, Rosie and Jessica, Uncles Steve and Ryan, and Cousin Garrett for a little lunch a Duck and Decanter.  Honestly, I was a little unsure of the location choice.  Knowing full well that the place is FULL of breakables didn't sound great to me... kinda like a bull in a china shop, you know?  But, for the sake of seeing the family, I packed him a lunch (like I'm going to pay $9 for him to eat a sandwich that he will just take apart), and we made our way to the restaurant.  Of course, we were super early - and luckily just in time to catch the last 30 minutes of a live band.  Carter was in Heaven!  He stood just off to the side of their "stage" area, dancing and cheering for them.  After the set was over, he brought over his own tiny guitar to show off to the guys.  The band members humored him and let him play their guitars and mandolin.  One of them even hung out with Carter for awhile, tuning his toy guitar (thank Goodness!), giving him his first guitar pick, and playing a private concert for him.  Our little rockstar was thrilled with all of the attention, and has been strumming away at his guitar ever since!  Pictures to be posted soon...

The Mullet is Gone!

Well, our little guy is growing up... His beautiful little curls are currently laying on the hallway floor (yeah, I know I need to sweep them up... I'll get to it...).  We finally decided that Carter was growing a bit too old for the mullet (or maybe the mullet was growing too long for him?), so we sat him in the highchair, and I snipped away.  While I certainly don't have a future in hair design, I really did a pretty decent job.  And he suffered through the first hair cut with minimal protesting, until the very end.  What a good boy :)  

before

during

after

Not Meant for Adults...

I know we're all "kids at heart"... but somethings should just be left for the kids, you know??