A Meeting of the Cousins

While back in the Land of Oz, Carter met up with his cousin, Daniel, for the first time ever. Daniel's parents (my brother, Jason, and his wife, Katrina), were also able to meet our son and shower him with attention. Daniel was beside himself with glee at finally meeting "his cousin, Carter," see:

I don't get to see my family as often as I want to, so I got a little teary seeing my brother being so sweet with my kiddo (or maybe I had one too many beers...):
We spent the afternoon lazing around in the sun (albeit, cold Kansas sun...) and Daniel (almost 4 years old) was practicing his bike riding skills up and down the street. Daniel would "race" anyone who was willing to play and it was fun to wind up and [pretend to] go as fast as we could. A few shots from the fun - just Daniel:

A little push from Grandpa:
Just before another push from my brother, Jason (this one was before Daniel tipped over - no boo-boos, no worries):

And finally, racing Aunt Kerrie:

While Matt raced Daniel, I got to enjoy some time with my little guy:
We ended the afternoon trying to take a few photos of the whole family together. As you can guess, we took about 30 shots and while I could piece together a shot of everyone looking at the camera and smiling, these shots are much closer to documenting the fun:
Unfortunately, we had to return to our home in Albuquerque (and our jobs...) sooner than we wanted. Hopefully we'll have many, many more trips to see family and capture all of the great memories in our hearts and on our cameras!
~kerrie

Over the River and Through the Woods...

...to Grandmother's House we went (...and well, technically it's Grandpa's house, too)! That's right, the Greenies packed up the car and headed to Kansas for a long weekend. I think both Grandma and Grandpa C had a MOST wonderful time spoiling their grandson...just see for yourself:
And one shot with Mommy:
Grandma was thrilled that Carter got to have a meal (or more like 15) in her antique highchair. It's the same chair that was used by my mom as a baby, my brother and me as babies, my nephew (my brother's kid), and finally, Carter got to smear his peas on it! Here are a few photos documenting the momentous occasion:
Not to be outdone, Grandpa let Carter and Daddy take a spin on the "tractor" (or, to those over the age of 5, it's a riding lawn mower). After a brief instructional from Grandpa (and Uncle Jason), it looks like Carter enjoyed himself thoroughly riding around the yard and was ready to take the wheel (maybe when he's 30...):
We originally had planned the trip to Kansas around the wedding of my college buddy, David. The ceremony was GORGEOUS, as David and Kara were hitched at Overlook Park at Clinton Lake in Lawrence, KS. The view was fantastic and the happy couple couldn't have entered their marriage on a more perfect day (the weather was unbelievably fantastic...missing the 50 mph winds, rain, and crud by just one day!). Here's a couple shots from the ceremony - Greenies:
David and Kara:

We were very lucky to be in attendance and bummed that we missed out on most of the reception, as Carter turned pretty cranky (teething?) while we were out and we had to leave early...

While we were in town, we had an informal Open House, where Carter also got to meet some of my other college buddies (Mandy and her girls; Andy and Erin - expecting their first - congrats!; Jeff and Ashley - due any minute now with their son, Miles - congrats!), my mom's Godmother, Theresa, a great friend of the family, Jan (known me since I was born), and my brother's family (another post devoted to their visit). Unfortunately, I was a bone-head and forgot to take photos when everyone was there...d'oh! Next time!

Anyway, we're looking forward to Carter getting to spend more and more time with his grandparents and friends in Kansas...and letting Grandma and Grandpa C spoil him rotten! :)
~kerrie

PS Remember, you can always click on any of the photos, in any post, to make them bigger. I reduce them to save space...

Carter is 7 Months Old!

And boy is he getting big! Carter is still in the "tall and skinny" area on the charts, weighing in at nearly 19 pounds and I think he's nearly 10 feet tall (ok, closer to 2...)! Still in size 9 and 12-month clothes and still in size 3 diapers. So we haven't had to empty out the dresser drawers as frequently of late. However, our pals in Oklahoma are expecting a boy (congrats to Chris and Renae!), so we have a home for all of the stuff Carter grows out of!

He's getting stronger by the day and can just about sit up on his own. We joke that while he's nursing, he does these "baby crunches" to work on his abs. Before we know it he'll be sitting up unattended and won't be face-planting on the blanket. Here's a shot of him "sitting" up from his 6-month photo shoot back in September:
In other developmental news, Carter is just a weeee bit away from crawling. He can sort of commando crawl, but only backwards. And it will be Kitty-Kitty that will ultimately be the motivator to get him moving, as Carter REALLY wants to pull her tail (and/or chomp on it with his razor-sharp teeth)!

Speaking of teeth...still just the 6 (4 on top, 2 on bottom), but we think a couple more are coming in on the bottom. Carter has been spending most of his days as a drooly mess, with a toy or his hand in his mouth, like Exhibits A and B below:
While we battled another ear infection this past month, he's generally happy and healthy. He's eating like a piggy and has moved up to Stage 2 foods. Here soon he'll be asking for seconds, as it seems his appetite is insatiable!

The biggest highlight for us...Carter finally has some hair! There is still a bunch coming in blonde, but he's got some darker hair coming in and he no longer looks bald! Yay! Here's a shot from his 6-month shoot showing the back of his head (and thus, luxurious locks!):
Finally, let me post his "official" 7 month photo, taken with Grandma and Grandpa C while we were in Kansas (couple posts devoted to the trip, keep reading):
Hope everyone reading this is doing well and keeping warm! It's already getting chilly out there!
~kerrie

Ears and Jeeps and Jumping, Oh My!

Been a while since I've posted... 2 weekends ago we took another visit to Urgent Care for another ear infection (of course, it was on a Sunday...lil guy can't get sick on, like, a Tuesday afternoon, no?). Carter cried more because of this ear infection than he has ever cried to date. Completely inconsolable and completely unwilling to sleep...

Seems like the fun was passed around the Greenie family, too - mom with a sinus infection, dad with a weird, unnamed bug (complete with headaches, sleepiness, and uber-crankiness). But I'm happy to report that the whole fam is now happy and healthy (and I can finally get a post up!)!

To celebrate Carter's healthiness, he's been "driving" his Jeep with a big, giant smile on his face (and a little spit-up on his bib...eww):

And jumping around like a madman:
(here that is in real-time:)


Here are a couple shots of Carter and Daddy before we headed out for the weekend errands:
He's also really perfected the non-stop chatter and gets us a lot of looks when we're out on the town (the ladies at Costco just LOVED his babble on Sunday!).

Carter is still eating like a little piggy and enjoying the homemade fruit and veggie purees we've made for him. Unfortunately, with all of my travels and such, I'm unable to keep up my milk supply, so he's started a little bit of formula intake along with his solids.

Anywho, we'll be headed off on our first family roadtrip soon and he can finally have some in-depth conversations about antiques with Grandma C and, of course, a lesson in poker playing with Grandpa C. Photos coming soon (including Carter's first trip to my alma mater!)!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the cooler autumn weather!
~kerrie

Photo Shootin'

With work and traveling this week, I didn't get around to posting up some shots from last weekend's photo shoot until now. Had a fun time at the place and the photographer was quite nice to us. Had a couple different backgrounds and a couple different outfits for Carter, so here's a little sampling from the photo shoot. These are the un-edited versions - so few are off-center, etc. - all were fixed up before they went to print. And we didn't pay to print all these (but did keep the electronic files), I just thought I'd share a sprinkling from the shoot. Here goes...

I love this one, looks like he's flipping us off (and grinning about it), eh?This one is called "Check out my sneaker!":Up on the bean bag (oh, and the Kansas City tee is from Aunt Katrina - thanks!):
"Deep Thoughts" from a 6-month old:
The Greenies (in blue):Daddy and Carter:
Another family shot (ok, that MIGHT be an arm-shelf...d'oh):Mommy and Carter:
Carter in the black (and this is his preppy shirt from Jeremy and Liz):
Greenies in the Autumn leaves:
Carter distracted by the big blocks:
Carter and the C:
And finally, one more of Carter and the block (before he yanked out the backdrop curtain):

As you can see, Carter was smiling, attentive, and cute as a button (yes, I'm biased). Can't wait to frame up a bunch of these and put them up on the walls. Hope you enjoyed the show!
~kerrie

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Peas

(yes, another Muppet Movie reference, I can't help it...)

Well, our little boy is becoming a world-class eater. He's been enjoying sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, carrots, and his most favorite, PEAS! Took a few days on the peas, but by day 4, he was digging 'em. [Later addition to this post - forgot Matt took this photo with his phone while I was out of town - look at our boy enjoying his peas!]
Been a little lax on the photo taking during meals, but shot this one last night (with a little help from Matt) to show off his new top 4 teeth (which do nothing during meal time, as everything is just pureed goo) and can't seem to get a shot of the bottom 2, as he just sticks out his tongue:
Anyway, we're being a little lazy on this Saturday afternoon, so I thought I'd put up a couple posts. Carter's been doing a little swing-time while I pay the bills and peck away at the keyboard:
Dinner tonight with some friends, so hopefully Carter will be on his best behavior! Hope you're having a lazy Saturday afternoon, too!
~kerrie

Photo Op...

Since Carter celebrated his half-birthday this past week, we decided to get some professional photos of the whole family. I did the intelligent thing and went and got my hair lopped off the day before (thankfully, nothing tragic happened), as well as ended up looking like Rudolph with my red, red nose (thank you, sinus infection!).

Anyway, pleased with the turn-outs and when I get a free minute this week, I'll post a few from the various shoots (promise, no "arm shelves" - awkwardfamilyphotos.com reference...). Also quite pleased that Carter was VERY happy with the photographer (maybe because she was a lady?) and made it VERY hard to choose just a handful of shots.

Decided against the 'ol matchy-matchy thing and went with "wearing blue." Tried a few different shirts on Carter and loved the way the royal blue brought out the color of his eyes. When getting him ready, it really dawned on me that Carter looks (and dresses) JUST like his dad. As proof, here's "Mini Matt" - pose 1:
Mini Matt - pose 2 (sort of a "it's all part of the plllaaannnn" look about it, too):
Anywho, some random Greenie news...our garden has really produced a bumper crop of tasty treats for us. While we don't grow anything outrageous, we have found much success with our little "salsa" patch (we pretty much only grow tomatoes and chile peppers). Picked tonight, our tomatoes:
Big basket of green chiles:
And then I roasted the green chiles on the barbie (the big poblanos - not from our garden - were roasted at the same time so I could make Chile Relleno Casserole for dinner...yum!):
Carter doesn't know what he's in for, eh? As soon as this kid can talk, he'll either say, "Enough chiles already!" or "Bring on the heat!" Only time will tell...

Hope everyone had a nice, long, relaxing weekend!
~kerrie

Carter's New Ride

Been fighting a heck of a head cold (just in time for the 3-day weekend...ugh), so just now getting online to get a post up. Anyway, think I'm over the worst of it (just in time for work!), so here goes some weekend news from the Greenies...

Apparently at school, Carter's most favorite thing to do is go nuts in the walker. So, we broke down (pardon this early-in-the-story pun) and bought him a walker...in the form of a Jeep Renegade. Behold Carter and the hurrah (check out the concentration - 10 and 2!):
Funny pic, as I caught him between spinning the wheel and sitting back down...looks like he's ready to say, "What you lookin' at?"
And finally, a short video on Day 1 of Jeep ownership. The boy could only figure out how to turn the steering wheel to the right, so not sure what he's trying to tell us:



As for my punny opener, he can't figure out how to go all that far yet, so he's kinda got a broken down Jeep. Give it time, we know...

Beep! Beep!
~kerrie

Sock Champion

Carter's newest trick is "Sock Removal." We recently bought the tallest socks we could find, yet, within 3 minutes, they're off his feet...

Well, yesterday I had him in the crib while I was putting his laundry away. He was chatting up a storm and I paid no mind. I peeked over (we have these new mesh bumpers to look over, since he's rolling in the night and was sticking his feet between the rails...and promptly complaining about it...)...anyway, I peek over and he's got a sock held between both hands, up in the air, and going on like he just won the World Series. Quite proud of himself and advertising it for all to see.

Unfortunately the camera wasn't nearby, so I couldn't capture him in all his glory. Instead, I'll post one of my favorite photos of him from back in March. I called this one "Ate Too Much":
Hope everyone has a fun, long weekend!

~kerrie

Carter is 6 months old!

Yep, it's Happy 1/2-Birthday to our boy, Carter, today! And you know, they say that time flies, well, they ain't kiddin'! I can't believe he's already 6 months old! Before we know it he'll be walking, talking, running, and chasing Kitty-Kitty around the house! (And an aside, Kitty finally has the "cone" off her head and is doing much better!)

Here's Carter's "official" 6-month shot (tried to get one on his back, but he kept grabbing the sign and rolling over - note the chew marks in the corner...):Anyway, at Carter's 6-month check-up, he weighed in at 16.5 pounds and was 27.5 inches tall. That puts him right smack in the middle of the "tall and skinny kid" area on the charts. He's on to size-3 diapers (for 16+ pounders), just about out of his size 9-month clothes, and pushing the limits on his size 12-month footie-PJs.

Bottom 2 teeth are definitely in (and I'll vouch for that during feedings...nursing + teeth = bad evolutionary trend) and the top 4 should be poking through this weekend. Looks like we've cleared the hump of his crankiness with these 4, so maybe the rest can all poke through at once and get this all over with?!

He's eating well, sleeping well, and even got to try out some sweet potatoes for the first time tonight (we figured birthday cake might be a bit much...). Few photos from the experience below.

Pre-solids shot - "Starving Kid":
First bite:
Not so sure about the sweet potatoes:
And well, come to find out, he ate the whole bowl in record time and continued on with a little oat cereal. Full, satisfied, and happy about the whole experience (and would have probably eaten more...):
So next week at school he starts a "lunch" feeding of vegetables and hopefully he'll be just as eager to clean his plate! He's really got a great disposition and is well known as the "happy kid" at school. Such lucky parents are we!

Hope everyone has a nice, relaxing Labor Day weekend! Take care!
~kerrie