It's a Lemon

And the final post for the night...

So there I was, chopping up some lemons the other night to go into a pasta sauce. Thought I'd give a piece to Carter to see what he thought:
As expected, he found it to be quite tart:
But then he thought it was hilarious that I found his squishy-face so funny, so he kept chowing on the lemon:
However, I decided that our boy needed a little bit of actual NUTRITION, so I swapped it out for an apple. MUCH, much better:
The boy loves him some fruit. What can I say?!

Hope you have a terrific weekend ahead of you! The Greenies will be getting some MUCH needed R&R!!
~kerrie

Uh Oh!

Carter has been QUITE the giggly guy lately and I tell ya, life is just getting more and more fun with our little family!!

Snapped a quick pic while he was giggling at the changing table after getting his bath:
He'll also try to push the side of your head to make it ring like a bell. And when I say, "Dong! Dong! Dong!" He nearly goes wild with laughter! It's adorable, I tell ya!

But really this post is about his new "catch phrase"... Must have picked it up from hearing me say it all the time when I drop things (which is, like, ALL the time).

Presenting, Carter, and the "Uh Oh!" (yes, 8 seconds of joy coming up here):



Everybody say it at once: "Awwwwww!"

:)

Yes, our little chatterbox is starting to figure out how to use actual words. Any minute now, we're doomed. It'll be a competition between Carter and Mommy as to who can talk more...
~kerrie

Walking With Dinosaurs (In a New Seat)

Now that Carter has reached the 1-year mark (and is over 23 pounds!), it was time to move him into his new car seat... Which allows him to see where we're GOING, not where we've BEEN!

At first, he was just in awe of how great the whole new-seat-thing really was:
And then it sunk in that he gets to STAY facing this way! He was all smiles!
So we took him on a little trip up to Rio Rancho (neighboring city to Albuquerque - heading north). Our wonderful neighbors, Kristin and Justin, got us free tickets to "Walking With Dinosaurs." It's a live arena show with ACTUAL dinosaurs! (Ok, they're not really real, but wow, they were quite life-like!)

Couldn't use a camera flash, so I tried to snap a few photos when the lighting was at it's best (click on the pics to actually see them...). Here's our buddy, Stegs:
Another pal - Brontosaurus:
A whole slew of dinos:
Again, Bronto - one of my faves:
Some replica pre-historic flowers:
Triceratops (or something like that - I should call Noah to confirm, eh? He's 5 and knows all of them by heart...):
And the King - T-Rex:
Tyrannosaurus - shouting at the crowd:
And then I took a little video of the "action" so you can "walk" with the dinosaurs too - check out these 20 seconds of fun (the mom T-Rex was protecting her baby T-Rex from the "bad guys"):


We had a blast at the show and really owe Kristin and Justin a big THANKS! Wasn't sure we were even going to make it with all the sick bugs we were carting around, but we pulled through and really enjoyed the experience! Carter sat still for nearly all of it and then started to doze off toward the end.

All-in-all it was a great weekend...until KU lost to Amelia's boys (Northern Iowa U). Sheesh. Maybe next year, eh?

Rock chalk,
~kerrie

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

To continue my saga...

After Carter finished off the "stolen" apple, I thought he fell asleep at the scene. Guess it was all a ploy, because when I wasn't looking, he opened up his eyes:
He peeked around to see if anyone was looking:
And realized he had gotten away with his crime scot-free!
As soon as Mommy left the room, Carter found his way into the treasure trove of Tupperware:
He did a thorough inspection of each and every piece, just in case....
Went back in to check out the other pieces (yes, we have a boat load of Tupperware, I know...I know...):
Might as well spread them all out and take a closer look:
Maybe chew on a few since they're out?
Nah, it's much more fun to scoot them along the floor and make as much racket as possible!

Hey, whatever works, eh? Looks like our lil' trouble maker is off to a good start. Here's hoping you had a terrific St. Patrick's Day and filled yourselves with lots of corned beef, cabbage, and green beer! We sure did!
~The Greenies

Apple Thief

Well it's been nearly two weeks since I last posted a blog. Since then, I've battled a sinus infection (which led to bronchitis), Matt got the crud, and Carter had his first case of pink eye (maybe...they weren't sure - it didn't look like pink eye, it didn't itch like pink eye, and it had very few similarities to pink eye - but that's what they diagnosed him with...whatever - it cleared up in just 2 days with some lovely eye ointment...).

Happy to report that the Greenies are nearly all mended (except Matt, he's still got a little of the crud left) and I can finally take a few minutes to blog without one of us hacking up a lung!

But I digress...

Let's go way back to St. Pat's Day. Before I write up my official "Happy St. Pat's" post, let me tell a little story about an Apple Thief. He goes by the name of "Carter."

You see, folks, I came home from the office and grabbed an apple out of the fridge for a snack. I put it down for just a mere second and Carter swiped it from the table! The nerve of him!! He then proceeded to eat nearly HALF of it without sharing! Here are a few pictures to prove his guilt:
Tried to win me over with those innocent, blue eyes (it worked...):
And while I was distracted, he worked on polishing off the evidence:
Lookin' a little sleepy from all the thievery:
Bit of energy left to keep eating:
And then he crashed at the scene of the crime:

Or did he? Keep reading for more...
~kerrie

Congrats to Andy and Erin!!

Just a quick little post for my college pals Andy and Erin (who still live in Lawrence)....

Starting with a big....Their little boy, Owen, has arrived! Can't wait to meet the lil' guy in person - hopefully in October when we're back for my 10-year KU reunion. And after seeing a few photos on Facebook, he is ADORABLE! A big congrats to Andy and Erin and here's to him being a classmate of Carter's (as a future Jayhawk, of course)!!

Heartfelt congratulations from the Greenies and here's to a few rest-filled nights!
~kerrie (& matt & carter)

Zoorific!

It was nearly 65 degrees today in Albuquerque with only a handful of clouds in the sky. The Greenies took advantage of the beautiful weather and had a tasty New Mexican lunch at El Patio (even sat outside, yay!). We then headed off to the Rio Grande Zoo (along with the other half of Albuquerque...)!

Carter bypassed naptime altogether this morning/afternoon and enjoyed a delightful trip around the zoo on Daddy's shoulders:
We spent a fair amount of time at the zebra exhibit since they were quite animated today. Also gave us time to show off Carter's newest (and most favorite) skill: pointing at everything interesting over and over again!
Carter started to get a little drowsy from all the fun, so Mommy decided it was time to pack it up and head home (just in time for the basketball game!):
But not before a quick stop to see the beautiful swan swimming around the zoo pond (sorry, buddy, we didn't have any bread with us - next time!):
Thinking the Greenies will light up the grill tonight and enjoy the great weather as much as possible! Here's to Spring (and well, March Madness!)!
~kerrie

Wagons and Winners

Prior to hitting the monthly library book sale this morning, I tried to snap a few photos of Carter playing around in the living room. I tell ya, our lil' guy has gone from the potted-plant-stage baby to the busy-bee toddler in the blink of an eye!!! He wouldn't pause for a photo for anything!

He was pushing his new wagon (thanks again, Kristin!) back and forth and was having quite a good time:He then did a switchover to his walker toy:
Quick turn around and walked back the other way:
Ok, another switchover back to the wagon:
Seeing that in real time - here's a quick little (and a tad shaky, sorry) video of Carter pushing his wagon around:


Spotted some toys at the other end of the room - off to check it out:
Ah yes, it's the barnyard toys (...another musical toy from Grandma C...):
Then I gave up with the camera, as he was on to 5 other things! Let's see if this 'ol mom can keep up in the coming months, eh?

And yes, for the record, I only decided to snap the photos this morning because Carter looked so cute in his KU gear. Gotten enough crap for posting "other" collegiate teams on this blog, so I'm showing a little more love for my Jayhawks! Let's beat up on some Wildcats today! Rock chalk!
~kerrie

Foaming at the Mouth

Just a silly little post about our boy eating some tasty dinner and being goofy. Sometimes when he's JUST about through eating, he'll get a little goofy and will try to spit out his food...all while keeping his lips closed. Wouldn't think that he could project the bits very far, but you're wrong...

Here's a quick shot of our happy eater chowing on some peas and cottage cheese:
And from the title of this post, you can see what the cottage cheese looks like when he's trying to closed-mouth-spit it out (and yes, in just these 17 seconds you can see how wacky our child really is...). And, at the end of the video you can see Carter's new favorite thing to do - point!


Time to flip on the game (KU vs. KSU - for the Big 12 championship title!)! Back in a bit with a couple more posts!
~kerrie

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary!!!

The Greenies packed up our bags last week and flew off to Kansas City to celebrate a VERY special milestone reached by my folks...that's right, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary (!!!!) on March 5, 2010. We thinks it's simply OUTSTANDING that they've been together for 40 years and STILL all googlie-eyed for each other! They've set a wonderful example for my brother and I as to what a happy marriage is all about! Hopefully we can mimic them and be wrapped up in wedded bliss for 40 years (that's Matt with I and Jason to Katrina)! So CONGRATS again to my folks, Gary (or "GW" as he goes by) and Paula!

To begin my congrats saga, I want to post a few photos of my parents. This is one of my most favorite photos of my folks, taken while we were on a cruise in the Caribbean (circa 2004):
And then my MOST favorite photo of them, smooching in the backyard during a luau party (circa 2001):
To make their 40 years even more special, their kids and grandkids threw them a little party with some of their best and closest friends! But first, we rested (Carter did great on the plane - enjoyed fiddling with the tray table more than anything else!):
But after we rested up, we partied!! About 30 or so of their pals came out to party and it was great seeing so many friendly faces from growing up. I'll only put up a few photos from the festivity guests, but here's a sprinkling - starting with Steve and Linda: Wes and Shirley:
Tom and Linda (who I conveniently captured while eating...):
Ron and Suzie:
Ron, Jan, and Theresa (who is my mom's godmother):
The "Queen," Connie, and Leo:
My brother (Jason), his wife (Katrina), and my nephew (Daniel):
Of course, Carter had to eat, so here's a shot of Daddy and Carter:
George and Joan:
And finally, Andy, Logan, and Chris:
And one of the most fun things I got to do before the party was go through all of my old photos. I found a couple hundred different shots with/of my parents and together with my mom, we made a photo collage for the party (click on it to see it better):
And how could I forget the activities BEFORE the party?! KU whooped up on some Mizzou boys in their final regular season game!!! Steve was showing off his heinous MU jacket despite their horrible loss that afternoon to the Jayhawks:
But I got him back by tricking him into posing for a photo with me while I secretly slipped on a KU hat:
Connie, being a devout MU fan was none too thrilled when I snapped a photo of her in my dad's KU hat either:
All in all, the party was a smashing success!!! For their 50th, I'm taking them on a cruise, so expect those pics up here in just 10 more years! I'll end the party summary with a photo that says it all:
And to wrap it up, the Greenies had to come back to Albuquerque... Carter was zonked from all of the attention and spent pretty much the entire flight asleep in Daddy's arms (click to see it better - lights were off on the plane):
Mommy, on the other hand was suffering from a horrible sinus infection and didn't quite enjoy the flight home as much... Alas, we get back to the grind and start getting ready for some March Madness!
~kerrie