Wasting Water to Stay Cool

Andrew loves spraying Carter with the hose and thinks he's doing something that Carter won't like!! Carter loves getting sprayed so everyone wins!!

Date Night

Chad and I went out to dinner, movie and ice cream Saturday night while Leanne stayed home with the kiddos. This was a huge step for me, leaving them both and not doing dinner, bath, bed, etc, so I was super proud of myself for leaving it all up to her. She did great with them and said "it was really no big deal"...... is it just so hard for me because I do it every night after being with them all day? Chad says the same thing when he has the kids for the night, kinda makes me feel like a complainer! Anyways, we had a great night out and the kids survived without us!

Our Summer Savior!

What would I have done without Leanne this summer.......... umm, had to hang out with my kids a lot more! I was given a list of babysitters by my friend Leigh and I just randomly picked one since she highly recommended all of them. Leanne happened to be the one I picked and thank the Lord I did! She has been the perfect fit for our family, the boys LOVE her, I love her and she seems to enjoy hanging out with us?!?! I can't say enough great things about her and how she interacts with my boys, but unfortunately she had to go get a real adult job since she's finishing up her masters this week. Hopefully she'll still do weekends for us but it just won't be the same. I have enjoyed my time this summer so much, whether it be time alone or one on one time with Andrew while she watched Carter. We're gonna miss you Leanne. Any takers to watch Carter for the Fall/Winter???

Around Here

Life with 2 crazy boys! We've been staying indoors most of the time so the boys are having to be creative to entertain themselves...

Carter has mastered the art of opening anything with a lid (all spices, toothpaste, water bottles, makeup) I can screw them on as tight as possible and he can still get them open, it really is unbelievable. FYI: Andrew still can't open any of these things :-) Carter was actually hitting Andrew with a jar of spice in this picture, he's so mean to him!

Andrew found a J popcorn during snacktime
Carter loves getting a drink after I hose him off in the sink
A little game they play where Andrew rolls himself up in the rug and Carter finds him, then rips his hair out!

Andrew has collected as many Shrek happy meal watches as he can and wears them ALL at the same time. I guess this shows how many Happy Meals I buy! He dressed himself, by the way

Summer Nights!

We had our friends-neighbors over for a cookout last weekend and made some smore's afterwards! Their baby, Dru, is 2 weeks older than Carter and is so sweet! He stayed up late with us even after we put Carter to bed and he was such a great sport. We had such a fun time.... I'm loving having this patio more and more all the time!

Not sure if Andrew is trying to kiss him or lick marshmallow off his face

Andrew has become Amanda's little buddy (I think he has a little crush), he wanted her to do everything for him!
of course, Carter has to have a bruise on his head!

Love those blue eyes

Vacation "Gobble" School

Andrew went to VBS for the first time this past week, and he loved it!! He's still asking me today when he can go back because he misses it so much. Our awesome babysitter goes to church there and offered to volunteer in whichever class he would be in so he would feel comfortable. As if this wasn't enough, she actually went out of her way to come pick him up every morning and bring him back home. The fact that we would need to leave during Cart's morning nap made this even more of a help. I don't think she'll actually understand how much she helped me out until she has her own kids! She was able to take some pictures on the last day so I could see where my little guy had been going all week (while I was at home enjoying 5 cups of coffee in the peace and quiet!)

Campfire's, Smores and Dancing!

We had quite the little family party last Saturday night on our patio! We've had a traditional Mr' T's pizza Friday night thing going on for a while, but we keep adding more fun things to it (per Andrew's request). Now, we let him stay up late and watch Friday Night Lights with us and this past weekend, we stayed up super late roasting marshmallow's and listening to music. Chad and I had so much fun hanging out with him that we didn't want to put him to bed (Say What? I know that never happens with kids!) Chad was teaching Andrew some new dance moves (poor little guy, too bad Mommy can't dance either!) and then we just let him play while we talked and tried to catch lightning bugs.... aaaaahh summertime!!!

As those of you who know Andrew might imagine, he wasn't a fan of how messy this was, so he would give up eating smores and opt for a piece of the chocolate!

Boys Will be Boys

Nothing too exciting going on at our house this week, just recovering from fevers and croup and praying it's over for a while. Apparently Carter has taken after his big brother and will be a croupy kid.... at least I already know how to deal with it I guess. Carter went for his 1 year checkup yesterday and did great. He's slimming down and getting taller (21 pounds 12 ounces and 31.5 inches) and healthy (all I really care about!) We'll be going to see an allergist in 2 weeks because he's allergic to eggs and peanut butter, so until then we've been told not to give him anything with those ingredients. No more cake and vanilla wafers for a while, sorry Cart!

"scuba diving" in my bathtub

dumping out cheese its for the 4th time this week!!
he actually did this to his own hair with mandarin orange juice in his hands!

Carter's 1st D'Day Party... Elephant Style!!!

My baby boy turned one and I can't believe all of the changes that have come with it. When adults are asked if they feel any older on their birthday, the answer is usually "no", but if Carter could talk, I think he would say "YES"! I took his bottle away and started him on whole milk (he's done great with the change), he's gained 2 pounds in a month and looks a few inches taller too! He can do so many things that he wasn't even close to last month, like throwing a ball, getting on his riding toys by himself, giving hugs on command, waving, and understanding so many things. I really can't believe how fast this year has gone by and how much JOY this baby has brought into our life. Grandma Bonnie came in town and helped me get ready for the big party, I couldn't have pulled it all together with out her help. I also have to give LOTS of credit (okay, almost all the credit) to this fantastic-creative woman, Jen, whose ideas I used from her blog. She was even nice enough to mail me leftover elephants she had from her son's 1st B'day!!! Who does that? Mails things for free to a complete stranger?!?! She also has some adorable ideas for a shark themed party! Also, my friend, Kathleen, went out of her way, (with 3 kids) to go to Ikea in Chicago and get me some more of these elephants that I was desperately begging anyone who lived or was visiting near an Ikea to get for me!

Before Carter was even born, we bought him an elephant lovy because Andrew loved (loves) his frog one so much. Carter is now totally addicted to the nasty lovy and won't do anything without it. So, when thinking of ideas for his party, the only thing I could think of that he's actually "into" is his elephant. I went to Shutterfly and made a book with pictures of him and his lovy during the span of his first year of life. I couldn't believe how many there actually were, it was like Waldo, that lovy popped up somewhere in every picture! I placed the book (with some blank pages in it) on the gift-favor table so guests could write b'day wishes in it as a keepsake for Carter.

the infamous Ikea elephants! So cute on top of the favor boxes full of animal crackers for the baby guests!
I also included a lift the flap counting book about elephants for the younger guests

party favors for the adults with gift tags made by the most wonderful Etsy site I've ever found. Her name is Beth and she was super helpful, talented, fast and could make any special order you need! She also did the cupcake toppers, banner, and confetti. The tags say, thank you for coming to my very 1st b'day party Love, Carter (wish I had a close up picture)
custom water bottle labels from another fantastic Etsy site. She also has a blog you can check out. She has the cutest melamine platters and plates that are great gifts (if anyone is looking for things to buy me!)
The banner, so cute in person, this picture doesn't do it justice!

Cutest party hat ever from yet another Etsy site or you can look at her blog. She makes hats, banners, wands, and several other things all from felt! I wish I had that much talent! I loved this hat and couldn't wait to put it on Carter, than I completely forgot. Yep not one picture with this hat one, now it will forever live in a keepsake box!
I bought super cheap fabric at Hobby Lobby to dress up the table a little
cupcake toppers ( I take all the credit for baking and icing all the cupcakes! I had to do something myself, right!?!)


I bought candy molds with some colored chocolates that I melted and made into candy on a stick and covered oreos


Dru, Carter's buddy from across the street
Dru's beautiful Mommy, Amanda
Sweet Ava, Carter's other buddy
my niece McKenzie (always posing!)

our neighbor and buddies, Shanon and Tyler
my sweet boy

Carter went for his cake before I could even buckle him in his high chair. This was his first time to ever eat cake, and he wasn't too sure at first. Apparently he's not a fan of fondant but loves buttercream!!
Another shout out to someone who took the fantastic pictures for me so I could relax and enjoy the party, my friend Stephanie. She takes amazing pictures and will do your kiddos' too if you want to send her a message!!




Daddy was a good sport, actually, he loved the attention!!
before hosing off the boys
this picture says it all about the difference between my two boys. Andrew would NEVER consider sticking any icing on him and would have a fit if anyone else did!

My family, Love them to pieces!!
hosing off the birthday boy!

Carter loves balloons, I can't believe he went all day without popping one

he also loves Capri Sun's
and his Daddy, see the way he looks at him!!
I opened one card, Carter took it and ran off, never saw him again, he walked around with that card the rest of the time I opened his gifts!!