Bring on the fall weather

Mmmm, the fresh air smells so good. I've had the windows open for 24 hours now and the house just feels and smells cleaner, even though there are toys and clothes scattered around. It's such a great mood booster.

I got up a little earlier than everyone else this morning. Had some coffee, picked up a little, unloaded the dishwasher, made breakfast for us, and put together lunch for Carter for school today. I was quite productive and I think it was the fresh air wafting through the house. Carter woke up a little cranky but once he felt how cool it was outside he was all smiles. He was running around the back yard squealing. I kinda felt bad for the neighbors that sleep in, but that's okay - they let their dog poop in my yard so I think we're even.

Here's a picture of Carter and Brian in the backyard this morning. We took our coffee outside and enjoyed the breeze. It was surprisingly chilly, Carter asked for a jacket.

I'm doing some small projects around the house today. None that anyone would notice, i.e cleaning out drawers and closets. I also need to buy the boys their Halloween costumes. Oh and a raincoat and umbrella for Carter. Drop off at school was a little touch and go this morning. Along with the cool breeze was a little drizzle. Just picture me with a 2.5 year old, 8 month old, lunch box, back pack, and a small fashion umbrella. Carter insisted on holding the umbrella, but that left Cole unprotected from the cold rain. So I need to find some rain gear for Carter so I don't have to repeat this morning.

Cole wants to crawl

While he isn't actually moving forward yet, Cole really wants to crawl. I give him two weeks and I'll be searching the house for him. Here are some random shots of his attempts. You'll notice his temptation in this picture - some of Grandma's tea, my cell phone and a book. Ooh was he close.



Here he is trying to crawl up in my lap.

In preperation for the UT v. Tech game yesterday, I put the boys in their longhorn gear. Carter insisted on a picture.

Here is Carter doing a double "Hook 'Em". It takes some help from an adult, but he loves doing it.

And here he is trying to show Cole how to do it.

And here is Cole eating french fries. Goodness.

Fun times and sick times

Well I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I'm sick of my kiddos being sick. We just got over both boys having double ear infections. They were snot free for 3-4 days and picked up another cold. No ear infections with this one (knock on wood), but they have a cough. Last night they were coughing in tandem over the monitors. One would start, then the other would join in like a choir. Thankfully Brian and I have stayed reasonably well.

We've been busy going back and forth to the doctor's office. Between the frequent well checkups for Cole, the ear infections (which by the way, are always 3 ish days apart), and then having Carter's bumps removed from his chest, I think I see Dr. Hayes at least every other week. Insane!

We've managed to throw some fun in between the illnesses though. Brian had bought a nerf gun game for Carter, similar to laser tag but with nerf bullets and velcro vests. Well the box said 8 years and up, but Brian figured Carter would get the hang of it. Oh, the hang of it he got - Brian told him to shoot at him and shoot him he did. Check out the photos and notice where the bullet landed on Brian in the third picture ...

Brian realized why the ages were 8 and up. The bullets, while soft, have pretty good speed and can injure you if shot in vulnerable areas.

Grandmama and Cole were watching the festivities. I laughed so hard I actually fell on the floor and scratched my face with my thumbnail. Brian's gift backfired, no pun intended.

Carter loves bath time. I'm so glad Cole is able to sit in there now, they have the best time. Here is Carter's after bath photo.

We went up to the park this weekend and Cole got his first try at swinging. The seats are huge, so he just sits and watches Carter swing next to him. He seems to enjoy just hanging out.

I took this picture a few days ago while Brian was in charge of the boys. Cole got his first lollipop. Boy did he love it.

While pictures are tons of fun to look at, what is tickling my heart these days are the things Carter says. I've only thought of just a few from the past couple days, but I've told myself to start writing them down. His funny antics are what I don't want to ever forget.

This morning he and Cole were playing with my phone. I told him to please give me my cell phone back. His response, in a serious and firm voice, "No, it's my cell phone now." Hmm, sounds like something I'd tell him.

When tucking him in at night he doesn't like to be covered up, but I ask him any way because it gets pretty chilly in our house. His response to my offer, "No,that would be bad." Really? It would be bad to be covered up?

He's doing extremely well at potty training and I'd say he's fully potty trained now except for nights. While he normally wakes up dry, I still make him wear a Pull-Up for bed because I don't want to change sheets at 4:00am. But, he has it down. He'll generally let me know when he has to go, but whenever we leave the house I always make him go. If he's too busy to stop what he's doing he'll answer me with "No, I don't have to go. I just went potty the other day."

He absolutely loves school and asks me to go everyday even though he only goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They learned in school who all their new friends are (the classmates). So now he is always saying "Jacob is my friend" or "Luke is my friend" or my favorite yet "Mrs. Hewitt is my friend." That's his teacher.

Carter also loves to help me clean. While I don't get more done when he helps, I enjoy it so much more. He loves to vacuum and help me clean the countertops. When I've wiped them all down, he'll tell me, "You think we're done?" and then answer his own question with "Yeah, Probably." Too cute!

Brian has discovered Pandora - thank you Sissy. So now we've all been jammin out in the car to some good 70 and 80's music. Sunday we came home from dinner and were shouting out "Another Bites the Dust" Carter liked "singing" with us.

He's also been really interested in what exactly Daddy does when he's at work. It started recently when Brian left the house early one morning in a full suit and told Carter he was going to court. Carter then told me that "Daddy, is going to play tennis at the tennis court." We've been dicussing this alot lately, but he seems fixated on the tennis court. Then I told him he goes to the court house and talks with other lawyers and judges. Carter asked if the lawyers were in the pool. For those that don't know, the pool in our neighborhood is next to the tennis court. Oh, well - he'll get it some day.

And my all time favorite was this morning. When Carter wakes up these days he shouts from his room "Hey, Mommy. Come in here." It takes a minute or two and I'll come get him. Well apparently I wasn't fast enough. As he then shouted. "Hey Tera, get in here." "Tera, where are you, come get me." He's too cute!

Well that's all the cute Carterisms I have on the top of my head. There are so many more that happen in a days time. He constantly amazes me. His teachers love him. They said he is the sweetest and cutest thing. He participates in everything the do, but is surprisingly shy with the other kids. Although, there are 9 girls and 3 boys. I bet all the girls occupy the talking time :)

Cole is doing really well. He's on the verge of crawling. I'm on the hunt for the video camera charger as I suspect he'll do it in the next day or two. Before naps today he lunged forward and kept his belly off the floor. Before then he's been reaching while on all fours and then collapsing onto his stomach. He has realized he can move and get things beyond what Carter brings him. So it's only a matter of time. So be on the lookout for another post soon, I'm sure I'll get some videos or photos.

First Day of School

What a day! Carter had his first day of school today and it went so well. It was a little chaotic since there were so many moms and dads hanging around taking pictures and waiting to see if their child was going to cry when they left. But he didn't cry or even tell me he was scared. He went right in to Mrs. Hewitt.

We took a couple pictures this morning before he left. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get any when I dropped him off. I didn't want to make a huge deal when I left and I knew if I took a bunch of pictures he'd figure something was up.

He was excited to see me when I picked him up, but not as thrilled as I thought he'd be actually. He told me what all he did today, i.e. played outside, made a red collage, went to chapel, sang some songs, painted ... Then I took him for a sno cone and now he is napping - he was tired.

Now, not to be outdone in the picture department Cole decided he needed to give me a reason to take his picture today. On my way to my Grandmother's today - Happy Birthday to her by the way - I stopped at Pappadeaux for some lunch to go and when I got out of the car, I went to get Cole and he had stuff all over him. He was grinning ear to ear. Then I realized it was poop. Holy cow it was everywhere. I ran out of wipes, it was ridiculous. I had to call the restaurant and tell them I was in the parking lot and to bring me my food as I couldn't come inside with a half naked baby covered in poop. Of course, I took a picture with my cell phone as I just couldn't believe this happened. You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it, that is if you want to see the yucky stuff.