Happy Birthday Carter!

It's official! Carter is 2 years old! The birthday party was a big success, thanks in part to good weather. We invited a ton of people and being able to go outside made all the difference. We were so happy to share the event with all our friends and family, but for those of your who couldn't make it (or if you're just interested in the party details), here's the low-down...

Decorations

The theme was transportation. Planes, trains, and automobiles are all favorite toys for Carter so I tried to incorporate all of them into the party. I hung sky blue and white balloons (no helium) from the ceiling to make it look like the sky. Then I put my grade school skill of folding paper airplanes to use and hung some of those from the ceiling too. For a tablecloth, I ordered a bunch of transportation die-cuts from Little Extras, and arranged them randomly on top of a sky blue tablecloth. Then on top of all, I laid a huge piece of vinyl (available at fabric stores) to hold the die-cuts in place and make for easy cleanup.

Activity

You gotta have something for a bunch of kids to DO at a party, right? Since we had kids of various ages attending, I thought long about an activity that everyone could do. Something easy for little kids, but also fun for the older ones. I decided on The Great Paper Airplane Contest, with prizes for the best decorated and the best in flight. I gave the kids prefolded planes which they covered with stickers and decorated with crayons. Then they threw them off the top of the deck outside to test their flight skills. I designed the prize boxes in Adobe Illustrator.

Cake

I was inspired by Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. For the middle cupcakes, I made red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Then I used royal icing to make the letters. On the outside, I had chocolate chip cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting. I added a yellow dashed line and gummie cars to make it look like a road. The cupcakes turned out okay...maybe a little dry. But I had baked them the day before the party so maybe that had something to do with it. Both frostings were very tasty though!

Goodie Bags

I received many compliments on the goodie bags, but I have to come clean here. The idea was not mine to claim. I found the idea here and made mine to be pretty similar. The suitcases were made from cereal boxes, spray painted brown and embellished with yellow bands and travel stickers. The luggage tags were my own creation (Illustrator again) though. They turned out great and tied in nicely with the theme. The guests picked them up from the "Baggage Claim" table as they left.

More photos can be seen on Facebook. Click this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=225952&id=1012296258&l=68d16c6c42

Month of Milestones

This has definitely been a month of highs and lows...and it's only half over!

Highs
Nora has mastered the skill of rolling over. It's practically an automatic response if you lay her flat on her back. She seems to like the view of the world from there since she'll sit there for a while before getting frustrated. Unlike Carter who cried immediately after roll over.

Carter has finally talked! I was beginning to worry a little. Within a 24 hour period, he said "Ma-ma", "Da-da", and he sort of counted to three. He still mainly jabbers in his nonsensical language, but if I say, "Can you say Ma-ma?" he nearly always replies with a smile. It's so cute and also weird...before my eyes, he's becoming a different little boy than the one I've known.

Carter's birthday party is in a couple weeks! It's been fun planning and getting things ready for the big celebration. We're going with a transportation theme since Carter is obsessed with all things vehicular. We've been practicing blowing out candles, but he's too interested in the flame to actually blow it out. Typical boy I guess. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to post later.

Nora had her 4-month checkup and she is the picture of a healthy baby. She weighs 15 lbs 14 oz (92%) and measures 25.5 inches (91%). She's a chunk. I continuously hear phrases like "She's a good eater, isn't she?" from complete strangers.

Lows
The last couples days have been rough since Carter contracted a case of croup. It was a bit scary at first when he had such a high fever (104F!), but after a couple days he is mostly back to his normal self. We did go to the emergency room when the fever spiked just to be safe. It was the first time to the ER for one of our kids...really tough to see my little guy listless in a huge hospital bed. But the news was good and he's on the mend now.

We think Nora might be teething. After several weeks of blissful sleeping through the night, she now wakes 1-2 times and also seems crankier than her normal self. We can just barely see the whites of her teeth beneath the surface so we might be in for a few more sleepless nights.

Couple new pictures posted on facebook. See the link in the previous posts.

The Summer of Trains

Time seems to be flying even faster than ever these days. Nora is already 3 months old and next month my little boy will be 2 years old. They are both growing so fast!

It pains me to say that I am no longer the love of Carter's life. He has found a new passion and it comes in the form of a little blue steam engine. Thomas the train has taken over Carter's world. He absolutely loves playing with the wooden train sets that are covering the family room floor. If we didn't make him stop to eat, Carter would probably play with those trains all day long. We even got him a new tricycle, but nothing tops the trains...he's happy pushing them around and around (and around again). A couple weeks ago, Grandma and I took the kids to the Museum of Transportation. Carter was in heaven...real trains everywhere! It was actually one of the best museums I've ever been to.

Nora seems to be the opposite of Carter in nearly every way. Where Carter was long and lean as an infant, Nora is a chubby butterball. Her cheeks literally hang off her face. She so cute and cuddly though and she always has a smile for me. No signs of rolling over yet, but she has slept through the night several times, for which Mike and I are especially grateful.

It's been especially hot here lately, which I both love and hate. Hate it because it's hard to really enjoy any outside time with the kids. Within 10 min of playing at the park, Carter is covered in sweat and Nora's face has turned pink. But with the heat comes the bounty of fruit at the farmers' markets. We have been gorging ourselves on peaches and watermelons. Carter's face might be stained red permanently with all the watermelon he eats. Sadly, our garden never really had a chance this year. We just haven't had the time to take care of it. Instead we've provided the local deer and rabbits with a steady diet of greens and I can no longer differentiate the vegetables from the weeds. Oh well, we'll do better next year.

Hope everyone's doing well and staying cool. More pictures are up on my Facebook page so click here to see them:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=214942&id=1012296258&l=c0623b2cda

Forehead "Kisses"

Thought I would try a new blog design on for size.

I am typing this in a hurry while both kids are napping. I consider it a miracle when these moments happen and I try to make the most of the time. I really should be napping myself, but there's so much stuff that needs to be done all the time!

Nora just had her 2-month checkup with the pediatrician. She's doing really well! She weighs 12 lbs, 6 oz (87%) and measures 23.5 in long (89%). I can't believe how fast she's growing. Soon I'll have to swap out the newborn clothes for the next size up. Every time I look at her, I marvel at how perfect she is. When she's awake, she will follow me with her eyes. She even smiles and coos when I talk to her. She still lacking in the hair department, but her little eyes have sprouted some eyelashes (although she's got nothing on Carter's lashes).

Carter is adjusting well to being a big brother. He still needs to learn some patience at times but he really loves his baby sister. Whenever I ask Carter for a kiss, instead of puckering up, he leans forward and presents his forehead to me. I guess this is because when I hug him and say I wanna give him kisses, I always smother his forehead with smooches. So if I ask him to give Nora a "kiss", he bends down and touches his forehead to hers. It's too cute!

No new pictures just yet. But soon! Hope you all are well.

Summer Fun Begins

Lazy blog post again

Things we've done in the past couple weeks...
1) Lunch and ice cream at the historic Bob's Drive-In. Loving their chocolate & banana milkshakes.
2) Missouri Botanical Garden. Carter LOVES the children's garden there and I got to play with my new camera snapping shots of the flowers in bloom.
3) Date night for the parents! Yay! Mike and I tried the deep dish pizza at the Blackthorn Pub. Top notch! We'll be going there again.
4) Hike at Babler State Park. While it was great to stretch our legs, I had forgotten how miserable mosquitoes can make a walk in the woods.

New pictures added to the Summer 2010 album on Facebook. Click the link below to see them.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=214942&id=1012296258&l=c0623b2cda

Photo Switcheroo

Wow...time seems to be going by so fast these days. I can't believe how far behind I am in blog posts and picture uploads. It took me a couple days but I think I am finally caught up for the moment. I recently bought a new camera and I've been happily snapping away, but I've been a bit lax in getting the pictures off the camera and onto the computer. I've decided to simplify things as far as picture posting goes. You may have noticed that the clever-looking photo album thingy on the left is gone. I will no longer be putting photos on the Flickr website. Since I am (and some of you) are active on Facebook, I will only be posting photos there from now on. I was trying to post photos on both Facebook and Flickr but I had trouble finding the time to keep up with both sites. Those of you who do not have a Facebook account, don't worry! Each time I post new photos, I will put a direct link in the blog here for you to see them. Here are the newest additions to my photo album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=214942&id=1012296258&l=c0623b2cda

Nora is growing so fast these past couple weeks. I am trying to make sure she wears all of her cute little outfits at least once before she outgrows them. Every day I try a new one on her and take some photos...it's like our own little fashion show.

Carter is adjusting to life as a big brother. He often whines with impatience when I can't do whatever he wants me to do when I'm feeding Nora. But he gets the biggest smile on his face when he gets a chance to touch her little toes or pat her on the head. He loves to hold his foot up against hers to compare sizes. It melts my heart (and almost makes up for the constant whining).

Mike and I are hanging in there...most days we're half zombies after waking up with Nora in the night, but things are sort of falling into a regular schedule. We are definitely looking forward to sleeping through the night again, but until then, we'll keep rocking in the rocking chair with a warm, snuggly baby girl.

2 Under 2

I can't believe Nora is almost a month old already. The time has really flown by! We've had so much help in the way of grandparents and neighbors (thanks!). I've only actually been on my own with both kids for one day, mind you it was a very challenging day!

Nora is doing really well. Her face and body are starting to fill out and look chubby. She seems to be going through a growth spurt right now as she powers through bottle after bottle. So far she's been fairly predictable with her sleep/eat patterns. While we feel sleep-deprived after getting up with her in the middle of the night, at least we know what's coming most every night.

Carter has taken to Nora like a good big brother. He's tries to "help" when I change her diaper and he seems concerned when she cries. I think he's most interested in her little features like her tiny hands and feet. He pats her head and tickles her feet, all with a big smile on his face.

Pictures will be up on Flickr soon!