Hangin' Out with the Chicks

The Greenies had a jam-packed weekend, with visits from friends, hosting a going-away party, and squeezing in some R&R. Will start my blogging marathon with Friday...

While I don't have any pics from Friday night, I gotta say, every time Robin and Kaleb come to town (from Oklahoma), we have a blast! We didn't fix them a proper meal, nor did we serve any proper drinks...come to think of it, I put Kaleb to work prepping for our "Fiesta" on Saturday and I put Robin to work feeding my kid... Good pal I am, eh?

However, looking back, the conversation was great and we ALWAYS enjoy their company. Who knows, maybe someday they'll move closer to Albuquerque or we'll move closer to Oklahoma? Then maybe we can wine and dine more often (or I can put them to work...)? Regardless, they're "good people" as we say and we're happy they make time for us when they come through our town!

Moving on to Saturday, Carter had a nice visit from one of his future girlfriends, Greta. Greta's mom, Amelia, was WAY too generous and gave us a HUGE tub of clothing, shoes, coats, etc. for Carter. We're extremely thankful for her generosity and can't wait to deck Carter out in style (Amelia's boy, Liam, is WAY more stylish than Carter!)! Thanks again, Amelia!

Greta is just past the 6-month mark and is unbelievably cute! She has the CUTEST chubby cheeks and danced around for us while she was here. Luckily, Carter wasn't "checking her out," instead, he was stealing her toys... That'sa my boy...

Few photos from their brief visit:
Such "innocence" as he chews on her hedgehog-teether:
Greta's got her dance moves on:Carter pondering whether he should join in on the dancing fun:
All in all, two great visits from pals in less than 24 hours! I really am thankful that we have such terrific friends! Thanks again, Robin, Kaleb, Amelia, and Greta for the great company!
~kerrie

Bath Time...with a Sippy Cup (?!)

One more post for the night (yes, I'm procrastinating and not cleaning house...plus, it's fun to listen to Carter snore while he's sleeping in the next room...).

We've been working with Carter on using a sippy cup so we can transition from the bottle. Also, it's a requirement to move "up" at school, so we're giving it a go at meal times. Must have not put the valve in correctly the other night, because Carter was pretty much soaked from all the water shooting out.

But, I thought it was pretty cute, so I snapped a few photos before I cleaned him up. If you click on the pics, you can see the pool of water that's left on his tray, plus his hair and jammies are soaked...but he was having a grand 'ol time getting a "bath" in at the dinner table:Having to do a little cup re-positioning here (mainly because he kicks his feet the entire time he's eating and drinking and occasionally he bounces his food/cup/etc. loose):
And finally, showing off the cup for Daddy:
And if you'd like to see the excitement in real-time, here ya go - 20 seconds of sippy cup fun (and, as usual, chatting up a storm while eating, drinking, and kicking - gets that from his mom...)!


What a goofball, eh?

Ok, I think I should go help Matt with some cleaning up... Why he puts up with me and my crazy whims, I'll never know. He should really get some sort of medal for just being married to me! :)

Have a great night!
~kerrie

Got Dirt?

Carter got a sweet set of John Deere one-sies from Grandma C and has been fortunate to have one in every size as he's grown up! Thought we'd get a few shots in his John Deere "Got Dirt" one-sie for Grandpa C to enjoy...

But once again, Carter was more into his toys than posing for the camera (and yeah, his face is still a little messy from lunch...):
"What do you want, huh, huh?"
Nice shot of his big 'ol belly (which, for the record, he's only in the 50th percentile for weight, so it's only an average belly):
Jumping up and down:
Tried a different pose - on the changing table:
And finally, a parting shot with those gorgeous blue eyes. That'sa my boy!
Well, Grandma, Grandpa C, I tried, I really did... Just know that Carter looks great in his John Deere clothes and wears them proudly!

Hope you're having a great week (and are staying warm inside)!
~kerrie

Future No. 1 Draft Pick

Prior to watching the Saints go marching on in for the Superbowl win, the Greenies did a little house cleaning (big "going-away" party for a co-worker coming up this weekend). We did take a nice break to watch the game and eat some tasty snacks.

Carter wasn't able to chow on the jalapeno poppers (which were SMOKIN' HOT!), but he did get decked out in his "Future No. 1 Draft Pick" one-sie (thanks Jim & Wendy!...but what's with the Steelers colors?!).

Instead of hamming it up for the camera like usual, he was busy playing around with his toys in his crib:
Tried to get a shot of the words on his shirt...not so much cooperation by Carter:
Think this next expression is hilarious (click to make it bigger):
One of those, "What NOW, Mom?!" looks:
And back to "running" away from the camera:
FINALLY, a few smiles for the camera:
And a parting shot - let's go watch the big game!
Hope you had fewer calories than the Greenies during your Superbowl adventures! And kudos to the Saints for their first-ever Superbowl win! Maybe my Chiefs can make it to a playoff game next year... Or maybe just WIN a game...
~kerrie

Carter is 11 Months Old!

Can't believe our little boy is nearing the one-year mark! Time sure files when you're having fun, eh? Little behind on blogging this week since the fam is fighting off the sickly bugs.

Carter is currently on a round of antibiotics (two types, actually), since he woke up on Monday morning with blood running out of his ear (ewww). Doc says it's nothing to be alarmed with and his tubes still are open and it's all clear behind the blood. Pheww. Guess when he gets a cold, the goo will take the path of least resistance and in this case, it was out the ear since his nose was quite stuffy. So, we have drops for his ear and an oral antibiotic and he should be good as new in 10 days.

And I finally caught the bug (from Carter? from traveling?), but I guess I can't really complain, since I've really only been sick once during his first year of life. I lost my voice on Monday night, got it back on Tuesday afternoon, and am WAY better today. Now it's Matt's turn...

Ok, on to our boy. Still around 22 pounds, WAY tall for his age, and still fitting into his 12-18 month clothes. We're going to start size-4 diapers here soon, so he's filling out perfectly and is generally a healthy boy. He's still babbling like crazy, cruising on the furniture, and is getting some great balance.

Carter has managed to eat pretty much everything we've given him (even the cabbage and bananas he smeared together a week or so ago...) and is doing well with his fine motor skills. Since he's not a fan of being fed with a spoon, we're taking a good hour for dinner. Works out ok since Matt is working overtime lately (our schedules seem to flip, which is good, since we both can't be on OT at the same time...). Funny, too, that he is QUITE a fan of his sippy cup and washes down the dinner all by himself. Before we know it, he won't need us (just our pocketbooks, right?) - only kidding!

Anyway, the important part, the photo cards. ONE MORE to go and then we're in the clear. We waited until just before bedtime to take some pics last night, hoping that he would be tired and just hang out. Not so much... Believe it or not, these next round of photos are actually sequential - he was THAT much of a busy bee!

Started off well enough - sitting on his rug, deciding which truck to play with:
Scampering away, caught by Daddy:
Wait a minute, those're just legs...
Taking the photo card and making a run for it:
Daddy brought him back over - not happy about it:
Ok, back to happy, even a little giggle:
Making a run for the changing table:
Climb INTO the crib?
Nah, make a run for it down the hall...
All this photo taking is tiring:
But there's still a little time for toy playing:
Try that crib-climbing again:
And to finish up the photo shoot, Daddy had to confiscate the card since Carter took a chunk out of it:
So we'll settle with these next two as his "official" shots for Month 11:
Hoping you're enjoying watching our boy grow up as much as we are!

And finally, we have quite a bit of excitement coming down the pike, as Grandma and Grandpa C will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary just 3 days after Carter's 1st birthday. Which only means one thing: TRIP TO KC TO CELEBRATE! Looking forward to seeing my folks and spending a little time with my brother's fam, too. Plus, there's a party or two involved, so let the excitement begin!

Have a terrific week!
~kerrie

Award Winning Taliesin West

As KU starts the overtime period against Colorado (bah!), I figured I'd type up a few blogs. Sitting here on my bum is as good a time as any since I'm a little behind in my blogging because I've been traveling a bit.

Over the weekend, I took a trip over to Phoenix for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Region Conference. Kicked off the Conference with a tour of Taliesin West, the famous architectural school and home of Frank Lloyd Wright in Scottsdale, Arizona. While I'm not very up on my architecture, I gotta say, Taliesin was AMAZINGLY cool! If you ever get a chance to visit any of his homes, go for it! You won't be disappointed!

First up - a shot of me at the entrance of the tour:
My SWE pals Elizabeth and Sarah:
A view from outside - this portion used to be the "home" for the architectural students (apartments along the top, dining in the front area, and the grass/pool were play areas for the kiddos):Another view from outside (note that the buildings are not very high, as Wright believed it shouldn't be taller than the surrounding cacti and trees):He even designed the totally sweet chairs (and this was a low table that you could review architectural drawings; and yes, that's a plant in the middle - nature was included in every part of the property):
A view of downtown Scottsdale - can't see it? That's the point - it's pretty far out there (and most of the plants were imported):
One neato aspect was the fact that there weren't any interior lights. The windows were all angled such that the 360-some days of sunshine would provide all of the light needed and at night time, the fireplaces (in every room) provided the light:
Maybe on my future travels I'll try to catch a few more Frank Lloyd Wright houses, as I think I caught the architecture bug!

For the remainder of the SWE Conference, I had a blast. Got to catch up with all of my SWE pals, sit in on a few interesting presentations, and enjoy the warm Phoenix weather.

However, the REAL highlight for the Conference was being awarded with the "Emerging Leader" Award for the Region. I had no idea that I won, so I was quite thrilled when they called my name! Here's a cheesy picture with my pal Deb (and I can't take credit for the photo and honestly, I'm not sure who snapped it...):
But now, I'm back in gloomy Albuquerque (it snowed today) and am counting the minutes until Spring gets here... At least I'm back home with my boys, so all is grand! (And KU just won the game!)

Rock chalk,
~kerrie

Spoon Man

As many other moms know, sometimes it's a tad difficult to get dinner ready while dealing with a curious, squirmy infant. So one trick that I like to use is to let him "drive" his Jeep around the kitchen. And when he's bored with driving, I usually give him some Tupperware to bang or some utensils to clang...and that seems to keep Carter pretty happy for a good 30 minutes. Or just long enough to get dinner ready and to the table.

Earlier this week (on KU basketball night, no less - in which they whooped up on MU!), Carter was having a grand 'ol time banging around a spatula and a big spoon. Below - a few shots from the fun... And for the record, we didn't "style" his hair, his teacher did. And also for the record, we would NEVER let our son drive without rear-view mirrors...he broke them both off :)

Ok... VERY difficult to catch a still shot, as he was winging those utensils all over the place (and if you click on a few of these, you can see the gross drool all over the Jeep...):

"Here, Mommy, you play!"Some deep concentration goin' on:
Dramatic pauses:
And then the banging begins:
And finally, my favorite shot:

And if only I knew how to add some music to this little video, you could REALLY enjoy his music making skills:


Rock on, little Jayhawk!
~kerrie