Up Close And....

Had a lazy weekend around the Greenie house, as Carter is cutting teeth...and not one, not two, but FOUR teeth are coming in!!! Been fun for the whole family, too! And since he had a bit of a, um, nasty temperament, we ended up canceling most of plans this weekend.

However, we did get a brief outing to the zoo. Saw some lions, crocodiles, monkeys, and briefly caught the polar bears before we took Mr. Cranky Pants home for a nap.

Here are a few family shots: 1) Matt, Carter & the Monkeys; 2) Kerrie, Carter & the Polar Bear; 3) Kerrie & Carter; 4) Polar Bear; and 5) Matt, Carter & Crocodile.

Ended up on Sunday being REALLY lazy (except we had a fun outing to CostCo...weee!) and then Mr. Chatterbox demonstrated his much, much happier self. While trying to catch him on video chatting up a storm (which is hilarious because he has one volume...LOUD!), he got pretty close to the camera:



And part 2 (and stay through all 15 seconds for the surprise ending...hehe!)


Ok, we were just being silly with that one :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend and I'll post again this week for the "official" 6 month post...and I'll try to get a close-up of those choppers!
~kerrie

An August of Adventures

Been a while since I posted, so this one will contain some randomness from the month of August...

Already posted about some travels, but the good news is, I think my jet-setter days are over (until October...)! August was exciting around the Greenie house, so let's get to it!

Up first, the Greenfelder Luau...Had a great time with our friends, co-workers, and neighbors! Biggest turn-out yet for a Greenfelder party! Quick snap-shot from the "Ugliest Hawaiian Shirt Contest" (and no, my KU shirt doesn't qualify - but that KSU one sure does!!):
Congrats to our winners, especially for the hideous "tacky tourist" ensemble!
Then there was the "Limbo Contest"...Matt tried his best, but not quite as flexible as the under-12 crowd... Moving right along... Carter has really perfected the "look at me roll to my belly" maneuver and thinks he's just hilarious when he's peeking out over the playpen:
It's also quite hilarious to him when he rolls over when you're changing up his diaper (this one just after bath time):
And finally, we've moved on to the size 12-month jammies, and here's a quick pic in the "spaceship" set:

Hope everyone is doing well and I'll write more when we pass the 6-month mark (next week! ahhhh!).
~kerrie

A Travelin' Fool

I've been east this week (Clovis, NM), west (Phoenix, AZ), and now I'm up north (Whidbey Island, WA)...I'm already a weary traveler and missin' my boys...

But, I won't lie, the scenery up here in Washington is gor-gor-gorgeous! After a mega flight delay (at 6AM, no less), my pal Jennifer and I made it to Whidbey Island (about 2.5 hours from Seattle) around 5PM local time. Just before we reached our destination, we passed over "Deception Pass" which is a beautiful bridge across a large expanse. The sign said it was originally built in the early 1930's and was built for less than $500,000...it took more money than that to just PAINT the bridge in the 1990's. Crazy beautiful, eh? Picture (from my phone) doesn't quite do it justice.

Whidbey Island is home to a US Naval base, so we're staying on the base in the Navy's hotel right off the ocean. It has sort of a hotel-meets-barracks-meets-dorm feeling... And with this view of tonight's sunset, no complaints here (you can't really see it, but way in the back ground was a submarine that had surfaced)!

Well I have a long day of meetings tomorrow for my conference (for the Society of Women Engineers, of which I'm a region officer), so I'll sign off here with a couple cheesy pictures of me. It's fun seeing my SWE-pals and catching up. Seems to bring out the immaturity of us all :)

Have a great night!

~kerrie

Roll, Roll, Roll Your Boat...

Looks like I'm going to have to get a subfloor camera, or pretty much every shot from here on out is going to look like this:
I kid, I kid! Mr. Rolly Pants has really perfected the back-to-front roll and just gets such as kick out of himself! He can't quite figure out how to get back to his backside, but it's sure adorable watching him try. Here's an up-close shot from this afternoon:
Tried to get a short video of the whole process and here's what I captured (and sorry, it's a little Blair-Witch-Project-ish):



It'll only be a matter of time before we're chasing him around the house...oh boy! Have a great night!
~kerrie

PS I've posted a few extra blogs tonight since I'll be all over the map this week and I like to look at my boy when I'm on the road. I'll capture a few pictures this coming weekend when I'm out in Washington. Maybe I'll even take a picture when I'm over in Phoenix mid-week (that is if my camera doesn't melt....). If you're traveling too, be safe!

Watch Out, Michael Phelps!

Today was a beautiful day in Albuquerque...not too hot, not too windy, just perfect! While Matt finished up the backyard (and his rock-sifting extravaganza), Carter and I chilled out in the pool. I mentioned previously that that baby pool just wasn't cutting it...so we got a bigger one so I could sit in with him.
It was just about impossible to catch Carter with a smile on his face with the camera, so we got a lot of deep-in-concentration shots:
The most fun part of the "swim," was laying Carter out in the water on his belly (holding him securely, don't worry...). He LOVED it and tried really hard to swim over to Daddy (who was sitting outside the pool, trying to keep the camera dry from all of Carter's splashing, kicking, etc...):
Few more shots of the belly time with that deep concentration across his face:
Hope you got a little R&R in the sunshine too!
~kerrie

You Feel Lucky, Punk?

Picked up Carter from school on Friday afternoon and one of his teachers "styled" his hair up in a mohawk. Truly funny, because that's about the only hair he does have...a small swath right down the middle!

Anyway, snapped just a few pics, and this one made me laugh...the boy takes after his mother, and has that great squinty-eyed, smiling, mug. Enjoy!
~kerrie

PS Got to see Amelia & Shawn's new baby girl, Greta, this weekend...SUCH a cutie!!! And so tiny! Carter was never that tiny! Congrats again...she's a keeper!

Mom, My Teeth Hurt...

I previously posted that Carter's bottom 2 teeth are comin' through...well, it's made him a tad, um, cranky at times. We're still pretty blessed, as he has quite a happy disposition, but this teething thing is chiseling away at that happiness (for all of us...).

Main source of comfort for Carter is jamming his fingers in his mouth. Exhibit A (and note the huge jean shorts...size 9-month one-sie looks snug and the size 6-month shorts look like gangsta baggy pants!):And if the fingers aren't available, the toes will do. As shown here in Exhibit B (check out the adorable baseball socks!):
In other news, been working on some back strength and doing a little sittin' time in the bumbo seat. Fun all around, see:
But sometimes, when the teeth keep pokin' through, Carter gets a little pouty (check out the size of those cheeks!):
Maybe chewing on the fingers will help?

Or this stuffed giraffe?

Or perhaps the feet...ah yes, that's the ticket:
Until all of Carter's teeth come in, we'll just grin and bear it. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!
~kerrie

Dr. Teeth and the Carter Mayhem

Happy to report (well, maybe "happy" is the wrong word) that Carter is cutting his first two teeth!! Yep, the bottom two are poking through and we're experiencing the joy of teething at the Greenfelder house! He's getting a little relief by chewing on everything in sight (including being able to put all 10 fingers into his mouth - which he demonstrated for Paul and Eileen on Saturday night).

Until they pop all the way through, I won't be able to take much of a photo. Instead, I'll leave you with this exciting video of the dude and his jumping skills!



Adios!
~kerrie

PS Certainly only the die-hard Muppet fans will catch my punny reference...I am just SO witty, eh?

Carter is 5 Months Old!

Wholly moly! I can't believe Carter is already 5 months old!! In just a short amount of time, the lil' guy has REALLY shown that he's got a super-sunny disposition! The teachers at Carter's school even tease me when I pick him up on Friday afternoon that he "cried once on Tuesday." He's just such a happy kid! ...even now that he's started teething!

Here's a quick run-down of Carter's highlights from the month:

• As I am typing this, he just rolled over from back to front! Oh lordy, he's getting mobile!

• We just boxed up his 6-month clothes and he's in 9-month sizes (and his PJs are getting quite snug since he's so tall...I'm guessing he'll be in 12-month PJs next week...)

• He's on his last pack of size 2 diapers, so will start size 3's this week (for 18 pounders...he's just shy of that mark)
  

• He eats like a horse and is now into the "big" bottles (5 oz... minimum...per feeding)

• He's sleeping through the night (except with this ear-infection crud, he wakes up coughing here and there...and well, since he's up, might as well eat...ugh!)

• He's already an expert hiker (see previous post from the Sandia Mountains)

• He's solved the world's climate problems and is eliminating noxious gasses (oh wait, he's EMITTING noxious gasses...definitely Matt's kid! Just kidding...only seeing if you're reading...)

• He's successfully eating 2 tablespoons of rice cereal (yum!) each day and will start a second feeding tomorrow

• Finally, he's mastered the jump-a-roo and can squeal in delight for a solid 15 minutes!

Couple quick pics before I call it a night. Here's the "official" 5-month photo (in his John Deere one-sie, just for Grandpa! And those pigs represent the only farm animals we have around this house...):
And a quick series of photos showing some jump-a-roo action (luckily it has a nice round base, or he'd be flopping all over the living room! And ignore the background junk...that's my sewing station):


Hope everyone is keeping cool and enjoying the end of the summer months!
~kerrie

Chill Out, Dude!

Another interesting weekend with Carter and another visit to the doctor's office. This time, we were dining with some friends (I say "dining"...but we really crammed the food in our mouths and jetted within 5 minutes of being served...very, very bad guests are we!)...anyway, Carter started feeling a little warm, so we checked his temperature at Jim & Wendy's. The lil' guy was around 102...

Here he is looking a little bummed about it:
After some Tylenol, his fever went down and then broke around 10PM Sunday. I worked from home on Monday and toward the afternoon time, it shot back up to over 103. So we took him over to Urgent Care.

While they won't officially blame anything on teething, they said that part of the reason it was so high was indeed from teething...until they peeked in his ear. Yep, he has an ear infection. However, the whole time we were in the patient room, Carter was kicking around like a goon having a good 'ol time. The least he could do was ACT sick, eh?

So we've got him on his first-ever round of antibiotics and it seems to be working perfectly. Carter slept through the night and seems to be on the mend. Here he is feeling a little better about the whole situation:
In other news, getting some great rain storms here in Albuquerque for the end of our monsoon season! Our garden is getting out of control (need to look to see if my cantaloupes are ready...the bunnies ate all of my peas...*sniff*) and the astro-turf lawn is looking as green as ever! We're getting some fun stuff together for the Luau in August. Check out this sweet parachute I'm sewing - rough edges still, but should have it done tomorrow - it's for the kids and tossing the ball all around like grade school! Kitty-Kitty has been enjoying the slickness of the fabric, too:
Time for some shut-eye! Hope everyone has a terrific night!
~kerrie

Beautiful Day for a Hike!

This morning the whole fam went out to the east side of the Sandia Mountains for a hike along the Bill Spring Trail. We joined a group from work as part of their annual summer exercise challenge. The weather was beautiful, although the humidity was slightly up due to yesterday's rains.

Matt balanced the weight of his water pack on the back by carrying Carter on his front. While the lull of the hike put Carter to sleep for most of it, he was awake for some of the more scenic vistas.

Couple family shots for you, a few shots taken along the hike (a random cactus area and shot of a nice vista showing the Sandia foothills), and finally a shot of the whole group (includes Heidi, Kelly, Marie, Destiny, Ed, Maggie the Dog, Piper the Dog, Ella the Dog, and Richard took the pic for us - he's in the background of the shot with Matt and Carter above).




Amazing that we have such pretty places to hike just 30 minutes from the house, eh? With the monsoon season wrapping up, we'll be able to do a lot more hiking since the weather will start to cool off. Figure we should get Carter to love the outdoors as much as us as soon as possible, right?

Have a wonderful night!
~kerrie

Jump! Jump! Jump Around!

Carter has reached the point where he can hold his head up plenty fine on his own. So we decided it was time to bust out the 'ol jump-a-roo! Let's just say that the jump-a-roo was QUITE a hit with Carter!

Grandma C must have pegged him as an expert jumper WELL before he was born (...which was when she bought him said jungle contraption ...we love toys that take up half a room! Only kidding! It's hilarious to watch him squeal in delight and play with all the different gadgets!!)

A few photos from his first "outing" as the jump-meister (Above - big smile to show Grandma how great it really is! Right - action shot..."look at me!" Below - funny face trying to figure out just what the plastic bee - black and white polka-dot thingy - is all about!)


As soon as he REALLY gets a hang of the 'ol jumping part (he's just a tad too short to really get a good footing), we'll get a video up here. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
~kerrie

PS If you haven't figured it out yet, you can click on the photos (in any post) to make them bigger. I always reduce the file sizes so I don't use up so much space.