2009 Greenie Halloween Costume Party

On Saturday night, fun was had by all at the 2009 Greenie Halloween Costume Party! Turn out was less than usual, as it seems the cold and flu bug is hitting Albuquerque a little earlier than usual. But, we had a fun crowd of about 30 and the costumes were AMAZING this year! (However, a little too much spandex for my taste, but it was truly all in good fun!)

Let's start with the Greenies...otherwise known as Papa Smurf and Smurfette (and yes, there is a Baby Smurf costume to go with it):
Next up, our "Award Winning" costumes - The Robots (glow in the dark, too! - click to make it bigger, and actually see them...):

Sonny and Cher:

And finally, Chris Farley:

GREAT costumes, huh?! DEFINITELY deserving of the coveted prizes at the Greenie house!

As mentioned, a tad too much spandex, as we had an array of rockers, see:
Our 80's Rockers:
Bret Michaels and Lita Ford:

We had a few fellow cartoon pals - Charlie Brown and Lucy:
Raggedy Ann and Andy:

We had a Cow and the Gay Farmer (ha!):
The Cowgirl and the Construction Worker:
Some TV stars - Lara Croft from Tomb Raider:
Dorothy and the Tornado:
Mel Gibson from Road Warrior:
And our Pulp Fiction fanatics:
And finally, a few non-catagorized costumes - the Vampiress and Jailbird:
The Ghosts:
The Evil Jester:
The Fisherman:
The Lobo Fan (and Chris Farley again):
And finally, last but not least, The Streaker:

I think this was one of the BEST rounds of costumes yet! We're already looking forward to next year's party to see if these can be topped!

Happy Halloween!!!!
~kerrie

Commando Carter

Well, life as we know it is about to get REALLY interesting... You see, Carter has ventured into the beginning stages of CRAWLING!

Right now he's in the "commando" phase (where he sort of just inches across the ground with his arm strength, without actually using his legs). It's only a matter of days before he realizes that all he needs to do is get his back end moving in sequence and well, we're screwed...

Tried to capture a few photos and videos of this new development and he was lovin' the camera attention. See for yourself (and check out how big his choppers are getting!):

Now here's a video of him "commando crawling" across the floor to me (sorta puts a smile on your face, eh?):


Guess we gotta start baby-proofing the house, as here soon he'll be crawling and getting into everything! Oh boy...
~kerrie

While Mommy's Away...

...the boys will play! Been doing a bit more traveling this month (including a whole 5 days in Long Beach, CA, for a conference) and the boys got a little rowdy while I was gone...

Matt did REALLY well being a single parent (except the one time when Carter, ahem, pooped all over the place...have a feeling I'll be making up for that ten fold....). Our little family wouldn't work as well as it does without Matt's unwavering support, so I hope he knows how thankful I am that he supports my career and the traveling it requires!

Anyway, while I was in California, it looks like the dragon came out for a little wranglin' time:

But alas, the dragon went back into the toy box, Mommy came home (and boy was Carter happy to see me!), and we took a quick snapshot to document the reunion (and that's a sock Carter stole out of the laundry basket...he wouldn't put it down for the photo...):
Five days was the longest stretch we've been apart and I won't lie, it wasn't fun being away for so long. Luckily, I don't have any trips scheduled until Thanksgiving and for that trip, the whole fam will be traveling together!

Now I'm catching up on a few posts since I have a little free time. Hope everyone is enjoying their final days of October...gee this year is flying by, eh?!
~kerrie

The Best Rest Stop in Oklahoma

On the way back from Kansas, the Greenies took a detour in Oklahoma to visit our friends, Chris, Renae, and their daughter, Hannah. Renae was so sweet to fix us a non-greasy, non-paper-bagged lunch (ugh, fast food is disgusting, eh?) and we got to catch up on life.

Chris even took a long lunch break to hang out with us (we weren't expecting to see him, so yay!) and got to hang out with Carter. And check out his eyeballs - glasses free (lasik, I'm SO jealous!):
Hannah (now 2 years old) was just a little ham and showed off in her new tent. I think she's ready for her baby brother to start playing with her!
And Renae, expecting her baby boy in February, got to cuddle and love our boy for pretty much the whole time we were there. Here's a cute shot of them together:
We miss having Chris and Renae next door to us in Albuquerque, but love that we can stop in any time we're on the road and get a free lunch (I kid, I kid! We're so thankful for it!). Hopefully we'll be back to see them in November and Carter can crawl all around in the tent with Hannah and have a grand old time!

And now, back to the grind...
~kerrie

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