Helping with the Housework....Maybe

My little helper! Here is how we do the house work.

First, I sort the laundry into piles on the floor in the laundry room.

Carter in an effort to help, realizes the clothes are on the floor. He has realized that when there are clothes on the floor in his room, I pick them up and put them into his laundry basket. Wanting to help mommy, he picked up two piles together at the same time, and reloaded them back into the laundry basket. For a split second I thought in my head, "Why did I bother getting up early this morning. Now I am going to have to resort all the laundry." But then I saw how proud he was to be helping, so I just let him continue mixing the piles as I quickly loaded the first untouched load of whites into the washing machine. When he was done, we dumped out the laundry basket again and I helped him sort them back into piles. Lesson learned. Don't bother waking up early and trying to plan how you are going to get the housework done because doing the chores with Carter is way more entertaining. I reserve the right to change my mind though If I happen to open the washing machine and find my light colored clothes all died pink....:)

Happy Days!

Today Carter went back to the doctor's office to have the second administration of the flu vaccine. As most of you already know, I really worry about Carter getting the flu shot with the research that the mercury in it could be linked to autism. I wouldn't have him get it if his pediatrician didn't absolutely feel it was necessary. But, man oh man, I swear that as bad as Carter screamed, it was just as hard on me to put him through it. This is defintely not one of the joys of parenthood. Anyway, here are a few recent pictures of Carter much happier than he was at 10:45 this morning.

Dump Truck

Now all we need to do is get a snow plow on the front of his truck and we will be in business.

Indoor Fun

I realized today it has been a while since my last blog, so I thought I should at least post a few pictures. Here in Wisconsin according to the news, this year we have had more snow than they have had in the last 10 years. I believe at this moment, we have about 3 feet of snow on the ground. I think about 2 feet actually fell and the rest has drifted in from the farm fields around our neighborhood. As cold as it is, 35 below with the wind chill, we get a lot of people asking us if we regret the move. But, even though we are really sick of digging out our driveway and can't wait for spring, we are still glad we made the move. Already we feel much more connected to our friends and family from the region. Carter has developed quite the relationship with Grandma and Aunt Heather. A couple of weeks ago we were able to go out to our friend Christine's birthday party for the evening and have Grandma and Aunt Heather babysit. We were a little nervous because the last time we tried to go out without him, Carter cried the entire time we were gone. We were pleased when we got back to my mom's house and he was sound asleep. He had so much fun playing with all the toys Grandma had for him, I don't even think he realized we had left. Since that worked out so great, Grandma has offered to babysit again for us in a couple of weeks so that Jeff and I can attend my high school reunion. I'm really excited to see my old friends. Already I have been talking to many of my old high school buddies. With the cold though, we have been getting creative with activities for Carter to do indoors. He likes to go out on outings so much that at least once a day he grabs his shoes and says go bye, bye Momma go bye, bye. We have been limiting our trips outside since it is just so cold. For Christmas Grandma got him a trike. So when he asks to go outside now, I just put him on his trike and push him in circles around the house. This seems to keep him content. Here are some pictures of Jeff putting the trike together and Carter trying it out for the first time. It has a little bell on it that he likes to ring.

Just lookin cute

Just like Daddy

Carter watched intently as Jeff was busy doing minor repairs to some of our belongings that were damaged in the move. He was so impressed with the drill that he just had to figure out how it worked for himself. Oh, and Jeff had to get a picture of the moment. Like father like son.

Best Buds

Carter and Aubrey have found a new way to entertain themselves. Carter sits on Aubrey's bed and Aubrey pulls Carter around the house.

Winter in Wisconsin

A little different scene then Texas, but pretty all the same. The first picture is of our new house and the second just a shot we took while driving down the road the other day. I thought it was pretty.

Welcome to Cheese Country!

We are finally moved into our new house here in Wisconsin and have had tons of snow. No surprise :) Today, Carter was in need of a little fun so we bundled him up in his new snow garb, strapped him in his new sled, and let loose. Here are some of the photos from his first time in the snow.

Thanksgiving at Grandma's

This year, we spent Thanksgiving with Grandma Lynne. Carter and Aubrey had a great time spreading out and having space to run. Since we have been in the hotel for the past month or so, both of them I think were dying to get out of that room for a few nights. When I was younger my job on holidays was always to chop nuts for various food. This year, I was so proud to pass on the role to Carter. He had a blast just as I always did when I was young.



This is Carter spreading out on the ground playing with Daddy's shoes.



Just being goofy in the hotel

Winterizing

This is Carter in some of his winter wear. Couldn't resist taking his picture. He reminded me of the boy in "The Christmas Story" movie the way that he just stood there like a puff ball. So cute!

Happy Boy!

Halloween 2007

I know it has been a while since I have updated the blog, but things have been a little crazy lately. We made it to Wisconsin and are still living in the hotel here until our house in Texas sells. It is challenging at times with the dog and Carter cooped up in this little room with naps and all, but we are managing since it is only temporary. I have to say I am enjoying housekeeping though :) This year for Halloween Carter and I drove to my friend Judy's house in the north side of Chicago. She has a great neighborhood for Trick or Treating and Carter had a blast. This year we dressed him as a turtle. We followed Judy's boys door to door, but Carter more or less was just interested in the freedom of running in people's yards. He was amazed by the leaves and the sounds they make when you kick them. In Texas we just don't get leaves like that. Needless to say, he was asleep before I pulled out of her driveway. What a great time we had. I can't tell you how nice it was to enjoy occasions like these with great friends now.

Enjoying Our last few days in Texas

Getting Slap Happy

In case you haven't heard already, Jeff accepted a new job in the Milwaukee Wisconsin area. He is very excited to get rid of the pager that he has had tied to his hip for the past 6 years. We are really looking forward to the move. The company has offered full relocation with the catch that he has to start work in three weeks. So as you can imagine, it is off to the races. We really couldn't pass up the opportunity since many companies no longer offer relocation packages. So please forgive me if we aren't posting as often as usual, as we just have been extremely busy and are about to get even busier.

Carter tends to get really slap happy right before bed. In this picture he was running around the house chasing Aubrey, laughing histarically.

I'm getting tired mom!

Dallas World Aquarium

Below are a few pictures from our trip the the Aquarium. We had a great time! The aquarium was very nice but some of the exhibits were a little hard for Carter to view. I think it will be better to return when he is a few years older. We still had a great time getting out of the house for a change of environment. Carter wasn't quite sure what to think of the drag strip racing we took him too. Some cars he enjoyed while others not so much because they were too loud. Lesson learned that if Jeff would like to go in the future, we will have to invest in some ear protection. There were many other babies there with special racing ear muffs. Oh well, at least we tried. I think Jeff has already started looking into purchasing some on the internet:)

Little Drummer Boy

This weekend we are heading up to Dallas to check out the Aquarium. There just happens to be a race car track on the way that Jeff has been wanting to check out so we are planning on stopping there as well. We'll see how Carter does with the loud noise. He doesn't like the sound of the vaccuum or can opener but didn't mind fireworks or fire truck horns over the forth of July. So we will just have to see how things go. I'll update next week with pics from Dallas.

Just Thinking Things Through

Just Around The House