Hot Diggity Dog!

Here's Carter dancing to the Hot Diggity Dog song on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. How can you not love this kid?!

Carter My Dear

I'm not sure how it's possible to love someone so much, but I do. You have enriched my life and continue to do so each and every day. I just wanted to take a minute to tell you all the things I love about you - an 18 month old angel with a mind of his own.

I love that you dole at kisses and hugs at the slightest request without a moments hesitation. I especially love the unprompted sugars, because it brings me so much happiness to know that the thought "I think I'll give Mommy a kiss" just popped into your brain all on it's own. I know one day it will be gross to kiss your dear ol' Mommy, so I'm soaking in as many as I can now.

I love that you have a ferocious appetite and will make a bee line for any type of food and stand there mouth open like a little birdy saying "bIIIte, bIIIte, bIIIte" until you get just a little taste. I also love that you cram way too much in your mouth at one time, because you think if I hurry up and eat this and then sign "more", Mommy will go ahead and give me more.

I love that you love books and would rather sit and read a book or be read too than watch TV or play with toys. I especially love when you're not quite ready to get up in the morning because you want to sit in your crib and read a book. Hey - everyone has to wake up in their own way - I get it, trust me.

I love it when daddy tries to tickle you and after laughing this infectious, pit-of-the-stomach laugh you immediately straighten up, shake your finger at Daddy and say "No, No". Everyone has boundaries and I'm glad you are comfortable expressing yours. Really - who likes to be tickled anyway?

Oh, but Carter, it's not all hugs and kisses, laughs and tickles. I even love when you get so mad the tears start flowing and you hurl yourself onto the floor, feet flailing about like the world is ending right this moment and all you need to save it is that cookie or box of raisins. The overwhelming anger and frustration has to come out somehow so you bite your own little finger, cry harder, and then bring it to Mommy to kiss all better. While these little tantrums can be trying, it shows passion and a sheer determination in you that I love.

I love that when you've just hit Mommy in the head and then shaking your finger say "no, no" and gently pat Mommy's head as if to say "this is the way we touch, not hit". You're learning sweet boy; we just need a little more practice on the no hit and gentle touches rules.

You are amazing and I love you - good, bad and ugly - with all my heart!

Welcome Winn!

It finally happened - Winn is here and he's stolen our hearts.

After hearing the doctor's recommendations and doing some serious thought, Heather and Chap decided a C-section was the way they would meet their little boy. So, on Thursday, November 12th at 7:47 a.m., Winn made his grand entrance. Which by the way, Chap video taped and my mouth fell to floor upon watching. Even seeing it on video was so amazing!

I figured I wouldn't really get to spend much time with them in the morning since Heather would be in recovery and all of that so, I planned to go to RH around lunch. However, I was rethinking this plan about 8:30 am as I'm hearing about Winn being born and wishing I was there with everyone. Due to blood pressure issues, Heather had to stay in recovery for longer than expected, so I guess it worked out better the way we had planned anyway.

Once I got there, I met sweet Winn and got to see all of the family. He is pretty precious. We hung out a little bit and then somehow that afternoon, it ended up just being the four of us (Heather, Chap, Winn and Me) for a couple of hours. I really enjoyed getting to spend that time with them. (And YES, I did ask if they wanted to have some "family" time, because I could make myself scarce for a little bit, but they said no-so I stayed)

Heather wanted me to help her with the nursing thing, so that was the perfect opportunity when everyone was gone. It's amazing how much you forget about nursing a newborn. Eventually (and it doesn't take long) the baby figures out what he's doing and it gets considerably easier. I almost forgot what it was like (and how hard it is) to try to get a newborn to latch on - I'm sure Heather was thinking that I had no idea what I was doing and probably even wondered if I had even really nursed at all. But, I promptly asked the nurse if the lactation consultant was in and if she could come by. After some GREAT help and advice from the lactation consultant, Heather was on her way! Chap was so excited when Winn started nursing - it was great to see him so supportive of Heather. Keep it up Chap!

Right before I left, I got a call from Scott to tell me that Carter had puked on him not once but twice and he needed me to come home because he didn't really know what to do. I hated to leave Heather and Winn, but my little boy needed me so I had to get home. I was sure now she completely understood. The whole way home, I was just sick about the fact that Carter was puking and I had just been in the hospital holding little Winn who wasn't even 8 hours old. I was certain of two things: Carter was not sick that morning when I left for work and if Winn got sick, I would not be able to forgive myself. Thankfully, Winn didn't get sick and Carter's puking was limited to those two instances. When I got home Carter looked fine, was playing fine, had no temperature - WHEW!

Heather is already so in love - I love being able to see her and Chap be parents. Being a mom is the best job in the world to me and I know Heather will love it just as much. Chap and Heather - I'm so proud of you guys! You are going to be wonderful parents! I hope you know how much Winn is already loved by so many people - including yours truely. I can't wait until the next time I get to see your new family!

Halloween - The Results Show

Halloween was so much fun this year. We had supper club, which was also a costume party, on Friday night. Here I am (Octo-mom) with Jon and Kate.

On Saturday, we went trick or treating with our friends and their daughter Macy. We actually were able to get Carter to wear his beagle costume. He did amazingly well, considering it was 80 degrees outside and that thing had to be hot. Here they are showing off their costumes. Macy was a "scary" bat. You probably can't tell, but she had on some killer purple Converse to go with her costume. Too cute!
We took Macy's wagon for them to ride around the neighborhood, which was a BRILLIANT idea Chris & Mary!

It was nice to have Macy there to show Carter the ropes of trick or treating. It didn't take him long to figure out the process - knock on this door and someone comes out and puts stuff in your pumpkin. He caught on VERY quick!

And here he is checking out his loot!

Halloween

I'm pretty excited about Halloween. I just love the fall and Halloween is just one of those fun things that happens in the fall. It started on Wednesday night when we had some friends over to carve pumpkins, a long standing tradition since we moved to Columbia.

Carter hopefully is going to be a beagle for Halloween. I got his costume out last night, and I think it scared him. He cried and cried when I tried to put it on him. He was supposed to take his costume to school today for the Halloween party, so I sent it thinking "good luck!". About 10 this morning the day care called and said he had a fever, so I had to go pick him up. He didn't get to wear his costume at school, but since we've been home, I've been loving and kissing and playing with the beagle costume in an effort to get Carter comfortable with it. I guess we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Carter may be dressed up as a cranky little boy for Halloween. Some costume, huh!? Oh well, it is what it is!

Tonight we have supper club, which is actually a costume party too. I'm going as Octo-mom! It should be pretty funny. I'll have to post pictures in my costume.

Tomorrow, we have trick or treating with Carter which should be an experience, since he doesn't really understand any of this. But it will be fun regardless. I'll be sure to let everyone know how the costume situation ends up. Wish us luck!

Boys will be Boys

Carter has officially been inducted into the "I'm a rough and tumble boy" club. Several weeks ago, we got a call from the day care saying that Carter has fallen on the playground, has a pretty good gash on his forehead, and needs us to come take him to the doctor. Unfortunately since I was at a company training thing that day, I didn't get the call right away. When I realized I had missed calls, there were 2 from the day care and 1 most recently from Scott. Figuring Scott knew what was going on, I immediately called him first. He explained what happened and let me know that he had already picked him up from day care and was taking him to Dr. Castles office. Scott also said that Carter was acting fine and there was really no reason for me to come if I needed to stay at work. I thought about it for about 2 seconds and was like nope, I'm outta here! I drove as fast as I could to the doctor all the while working myself up to the verge of tears in case I got stopped by the police.

It was going to go something like this:
sob...son hurt, daycare....sob sob, sniff....busted forehead....sob, gasp of air....lots of bleeding....sob sob, wail...doctor, now, so sorry....sob sob!

Fortunately, I arrived without incident or having to test my acting abilities. When I walked into the exam room, they had just finished putting in his stitches, 3 total. He immediately reached for mommy and was not interested in letting go anytime soon. Everyone said he did GREAT getting his stitches.

We we arrived home, he acted completely normal. He's a tough kid, that's for sure. Six days later, we went back to the doctor to remove his stitches. He cried while Dr. Castles was removing the first stitch and then quit crying suddenly when he realized "hey, this doesn't hurt!" I guess now he'll have a little scar on his forehead to match Mommy's and Granny's. I guess it was inevitable....how else would we mark him?

In more recent news, Carter has another ear infection that won't go away. Here's how one doctors visit went:

Doctor - (looking in Carter's ear) wow! that ear is full of puss!
Me - really?
Doctor - Has he been sleeping?
Me - oh, yea no problem
Doctor - You have a good baby, I can't believe he's been sleeping with this ear the way it looks

After 1 round of oral antibiotics and 2 shots of antibiotics, it's looking better. We go back next week to see if the second round of antibiotics he's currently on will knock it out completely. We've literally been to the doctor 4 times with a 5 on the books in about a 4 week time period. I see tubes in our future.

Vacation - It's a Family Affair

A couple of weeks ago, we had the annual Rankin family vacation. (not to be confused with the Griswold's family vacation!) This year we were off to Hilton Head for the week. After attending Smith and Addison's birthday party on Saturday, we got on the road in what we were hoping would be an enjoyable car ride. After several shoulder tightening, stress inducing, solo car rides with Carter, I decided to borrow a DVD player from a friend in hopes that it would keep him entertained and perhaps he would choose not to scream/cry at mommy the whole time and mommy wouldn't have to sing for 2 hours straight to keep her head from exploding. It didn't work. BUT, Scott was with us, so at least we had one parent to drive and one to constantly feed new toys to the back seat to shush the whining.

We finally arrived and enjoyed some awesome family time. I don't get to see Scott's family very often, so it's always fun catching up and seeing how all the kiddos have grown. I really think I'm building up a tolerance for all the noise that comes with a family that large. I'm not sure if having a child has anything to do with that, but I'm sure it does.

We went to the beach every day that I was there. Carter loved the water and the sand, although after about an hour he was ready to go inside for some snoozing. It was definitely a little bit different than my typical vacationing where I take a book and my Ipod and lay out on the beach all day. We also took a brief outing to the outlet stores which is always fun. We had wonderful dinners every night, because each couple was responsible for a different night of dinner. We also got some amazing family pictures, because Sean has taken up photography as a hobby! YAY! For a novice, he really has a amazing eye for pictures.

We normally vacation during the first week of August every year which happens to include Ardy's (my mother-in-law) and my birthday. So on Monday night, we shared a birthday dinner, had two cakes, and received lots of sweet cards from the family. Scott's mom even made me an Ardy Rankin original bracelet for my birthday! I love her jewelry making hobby too! (Such a talented family!) Then on Tuesday morning, Ardy took all of the girls out for coffee and pastries at a local bakery to celebrate my birthday.

Tuesday night I had to leave to return to Columbia for work. Since I've only been in my position since January, I don't have a lot of time off saved up yet, and I didn't want to use everything I had in one shot. You never know when you'll have a sick child and have to stay home, so I wanted to keep a few days in reserve. I had been dreading this since the plans for the vacation had been finalized. I was going to come home, and Carter was going to stay on vacation with daddy. Up until this point, I hadn't even spent one night away from Carter. And here I am going to be without him for FOUR nights. Needless to say, I was a little bit of a mess when I was telling them both goodbye. But I got got on the road, called a friend and dried up the tears.

I had something planned for every night, so I wasn't just sitting at home missing my baby. I actually did pretty well I think. Scott and Carter came home on Saturday morning. I smiled a little on the inside when Scott was recounting the remaining days of vacation and telling me how difficult it was by himself because Carter didn't want anything to do with anyone else (I've definitely been there on more than one occasion). He also thought that Carter was missing his mommy and boy I can relate because I was missing that little guy too.

But all in all, they survived, I survived, and it was a great vacation. Next year though, I'm staying the whole time, even if I have to take unpaid leave. We'll just have to deal!

Carter's First Haircut

I HAD to do it. I didn't want to cut his cute little curly hair, but it was getting in his eyes. Who wants hair in their eyes all day? Scott and I took Carter to get his first haircut Thursday after work. He was really unsure about the lady touching his hair and got a big frownie face and started whimpering a little. But for the most part, he did pretty well. There were no tears, no tantrums, no hits....pretty good if you ask me.

Here he is getting the first few snips.

This was after he'd been sitting for a little while and was getting increasingly freaked out with the woman messing with his hair. It was like "help me, mommy!"And here is my little baby with his little boy haircut, still a little sad about the whole ordeal.

I was putting off getting it cut, but I'm really happy with it. I think it turned out pretty cute, and he looks like such a little boy now!

Summer Fun

We've been doing a lot since my last post. Here are a few pics from our summer fun. Sorry about the funky layout, apparantly it's been a little too long since my last picture post!

Carter took his first ride on the boat Papa gave him. He loved the boat - hated the life jacket. I'm sure he'll get used to it.

My sister Holly and her children came up and we met Krissee and the twins at the zoo for the day. It was soooo hot, I'm really not sure what we were thinking. Everybody had fun though. Smith and Carter wanted to ride beside each other and play and nap. What buddies! Here are all of our babies at the gorilla exhibit.

Carter went to his first wedding (I think). He loved listening and dancing to the band. This little girl was dying to dance with him, but Carter was having none of that.

He had so much fun dancing to the music!




















We've had some fun in the sun at the pool this summer. Here are Carter and daddy just floating their cares aways. (I wish I could say Carter just relaxed and enjoyed floating, but that was not the case.)
















Scott and I took Carter to a nearby park that had these baby swings. Carter had never swung before, so I was interested to see if he would like it. He loved it, as you can see!

Finally, this past weekend Carter and I went home to see everybody. I was sitting in Papa's chair with Auntie Holly and everybody wanted to join us. I know it doesn't look like Carter wanted to be up there, but trust me, he had a fit to get up there. He was a little jealous someone else was snuggling with his mommy!

Amen, I mean excuse me!

So we're in church on Sunday and Carter is sitting on Scott's lap. The priest just gets done saying a prayer and it's really quite...until Carter farts really loud! The people two pews in front and behind us were cracking up and we were about half way through the next hymn before I got it together again. It was hysterical!

I know My Husband Loves Me

I know this because he tries to make me happy even when it doesn’t make him happy. Let me explain. We’ve had a leaky toilet problem in my bathroom for several months now. After draining, drying, replacing bolts and caulking SEVERAL times over the last couple of months, it still leaks. Scott even got a friend to come look at it to see if he could do anything for the sick potty. To no avail, the potty was dying and was going to have to be replaced by a younger non-leaky model.

If you’ve ever seen my bathroom, you would know it’s about the size of a shoebox, for a pair of flats at best. I can stand on the rug and touch every wall, you get the idea? Being that I have such limited space, I’ve commandeered the potty as my vanity stool. I sit on it in the mornings as I put on my make-up and dry my hair. It’s taller than a regular toilet, so it’s the perfect height for me to see everything in the mirror. You can probably see where I’m going with this.

Scott makes a trip to Lowe’s and I think to myself that I should ask him to get a tall one, just like the one that was in there. I call him, but it’s too late. He’s already purchased the potty and is heading home and it’s not tall. It can’t be that bad; I’ll just have to live it, right? So, our friend comes to install the toilet the next day. I get home from work and seriously it’s like I’m sitting at the kids table. I can’t see the mirror anymore, and my morning getting ready routine is just going to be miserable like this.

You know how you feel utterly ridiculous when you you’re trying to ride a bike that you’re too big for? That’s how I felt trying to get ready on this toilet. Needless to say, I hate it! I know Scott loves me; because even though this is going to cost more money, eat up of more of his time and be just a pain in general, he’s fixing it, for me. He’s not happy about it, but he IS fixing it. And that says a lot. How did I get such a loving, caring husband?

The Blues

I'm so sad today. I think I just need a really good cry. Which could potentially happen at any second. I know I need to update my blog with the latest happenings of the Rankin family, but I'm so unmotivated. I think the blahs started this morning when I dropped Carter off at day care. Since they are closing, all of the kids in Carter's class have already found some where else to go, so this morning I dropped him off and he was the only kid in his class. I felt so sad for him. I know now (after picking him up) that he played in the 2 year old room all day and did "pretty well". But still, this is going to be a big adjustment for the kid.

I did get a call from the new day care and they can take him the second week in August which works out pretty good I guess. But, I'm still just so sad over the closing! I know he will adjust, but I love that day care and his teacher!

Also, I found out today that Krissee and Daniel put in an offer on a condo in Pawleys Island. While I'm so happy for the two of them, this also makes me sad. Krissee has been such a great friend and is one of my best friends. She was my only friend when I moved to Columbia (although I've made great friends since being here). We have so much fun together and we got to share our pregnancies together and enjoy being at home with the babies together. It just won't be near the same not having her here. Not to mention my two God children-I'm going to miss those cute little faces like crazy. I had completely convinced myself they would be here for a while because it would take a while for their house to sell, now they have a plan and could be moving very soon. I know we can go visit and all of that, but it's just not the same as being in the same town. You just don't get to see each other near enough. I know this because I've done this before....except the last time, I was the one leaving. (which didn't make it any easier by the way)

Anyway, I'll get over it. I just need some time to be sad about it. K & D -I'm going to miss you & the kiddos so much! (Also, I hope I didn't put too much of your bizness out on the street, but it was on Facebook so I figured it was ok)

Odds and Ends for $800 Alec

Here's a bunch of random stuff that we've done over the last month or so that I wanted to share. Some, just because the pics are cute. Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever be in another picture; the camera just automatically turns to Carter. Oh well, enjoy.

One of Scott's friend is a landscaper and this amazing coy pond in his back yard, so we took Carter by one day to look at the fish.

He definitely wanted to get in the water, but I was scared one of those fish would bite his little hand off. They were crazy! (kind of like those fish who jump all over each other when you buy food out of the gumball machine thingy to feed them-like at Broadway at the Beach)

Getting mo hawks in the bath, especially when daddy is giving the bath

Visiting Uncle Sean in the hospital and swinging on his handle bar thing. He looks a little scared, but he really did like it.

Swimming with Smith and Addison in their baby pool - Although he didn't do anything but cry when he first got in because the water was too cold (never mind that Smith and Addison were playing just fine in it), but sweet sweet Krissee got some warm water to add just for Carter. He was just fine after that. We're going to have to fix this aversion to cold water before we take him on the lake!

One Birthday, Two Cakes, Lots of Kids!

This weekend we had Carter's first birthday party. We decided to keep it really simple and have cake, ice cream, and bubbles. I didn't know what to do for a one year old's party, but I thought bubbles was something that Carter and the older kids would all enjoy. I got the cake from Publix which gives you a free "smash" cake if it's a 1st birthday. Basically, it's just a small cake for the baby to play in, but it was great. Anyway, I ordered the cake, bought the ice cream and balloons, and got lots of bubbles. I bought this outfit for Carter hoping Granny would put something cute on it for his birthday and she didn't disappoint. Now, to just get it clean so he can wear it again on his actual birthday (Wednesday).

On the big day, lots of family and friends came to help Carter celebrate. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends who would care so much about our child. We set up everything on the back porch so the kids could run around (or crawl) and we didn't have to worry too much about them. Here is Carter just strolling around with dad holding tightly to his bubble wand. Next, it was time for cake. Carter looked a little concerned when everyone started singing happy birthday to him. It was almost like, "Mom, what the heck is going on?!" We sang and then gave him his cake which took a little coaxing to get him to try at first, but once he did he was licking every finger.

Then we got to come inside to clean up. I mean, how cute is this little mouth smeared with icing?

All in all, it was a great party. That's not to say that I wasn't exhausted and in desperate need of a beer when it was over. But it was really great. I can't believe my baby is one! He's almost not a baby anymore.....so sad. Let's see, how many more years did Scott say we had to wait......

3 peas in a pod

Carter and I went over to Krissee and Daniel's the other day and Carter got to play with Smith and Addison. Playing these days is a new adventure. It's all about, I want what you have, gimme, gimme, gimme. But they are all so cute. We remembered that we took a picture of the 3 of them soon after the twins came home in the chair in the twins nursery. We thought it would be fun to see the difference 9 months down the road. Time sure does fly and these babies are growing way to fast. As you can see in the first picture, Carter looked like a giant compared to Smith and Addison, but that's all changed now. Smith and Addison have all but caught up to Carter...actually I think they are all right around the same weight give or take a pound or two.

They look like little people now, don't you think? They are going to have so much fun growing up and playing with each other.

Mother, Mom, Mamma, Mommy

This will be my first Mother’s Day as a mom, and I’m really quite excited. Having Carter was such a defining moment in my life where I realized that I was BORN to be a mom. I thought I would enjoy motherhood, but I could have never guessed that I would enjoy it this much! I love everything about it, even the not so fun stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, there are those moments when I want to scream in frustration or run out of the house, jump in my car and drive away with the music blaring. But most of the time I love every single minute. Being with Carter and seeing him grow and changed makes me so happy. If we could afford it, I would have five more! OK maybe not FIVE more, but definitely several more!

Being a mom has changed the way I look at everything…..movies, politics, news stories, music, dining out, bed time….mainly because now I automatically think how these things affect my son or I imagine myself in those situations (like with the news). When I became a mother, I thought WOW my mom and dad love me this much. It’s an amazing perspective that you’ve never had before.

I have always had a special bond with my mom. I can truly say she is my best friend (although she did not raise me as an “I want to be your best friend” kind of mom-if you know what I mean) and I can count on her for her support anytime I need a little help or encouragement. I hope that my children will grow up to love and respect me as much as I do my mother. Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms and moms-to-be out there!

The New Babysitter

Carter has discovered the doggie door lately and has been absolutely fascinated by it. He'll sit there for seriously 30 minutes just playing. It's really great when I'm in the kitchen doing something and he can just play right there with the doggie door. It's a little inconvenient for Calhoun and Belle since sometimes they get trapped on the other side. Belle can normally sneak through, but poor Calhoun doesn't want to jump through on Carter so he just sits outside and waits. And sometimes mommy even gets trapped outside especially if I've gone out to check the laundry or something. Thankfully someone has always been there to move him out of the way, but I can see a time when either I have to crawl through myself or pull him through (the more likely option). Carter's only fallen all the way through one time, which I think is pretty amazing since most of the time he's hanging half way out.

Easter and More

We had a wonderful first Easter with Carter. We went to my parents’ house Friday after work, and Carter just spent the whole car trip looking at himself in the baby mirror and laughing. Saturday me and mom went to the mall and just paled around. It was so must fun just hanging out and doing whatever we felt like. We also went to the outlet stores where we hit a really good sale at the Carter’s outlet. Of course, Carter and Noah got a few new items.

Sunday was really fun! We all got up and Carter had to check out what the Easter bunny left in his basket. He was a huge fan of the yogurt melts. Yummy! Really he’s a fan of any food, but he seemed to particularly enjoy these melts. After that, we all got ready and headed to church. Me, mom, Scott, Carter, Holly and Teagan all went to church at the church we grew up in. It was a great service and we even got a few pictures of us all dressed up in our church duds.
After church we headed back to mom’s where we met up with the rest of the gang for dinner. Mom and dad fixed ham, potato salad, green beans, deviled eggs…..all the delicious Easter favorites. It was so very very good! Then of course it was time to hunt Easter eggs. I think everybody took a turn hiding the eggs for Teagan. She loved trying to find them all. Anyway, while I was helping Teagan find the eggs, Holly was holding Carter and she says to me, “I think he feels kind of hot”. So, she takes him inside to take his temp and sure enough 102.2. GREAT! I’m telling you, we just can’t catch a break

Carter had a doctor’s appointment on Monday anyway to see if his ear infection was gone, so that did work out pretty nicely. Scott took him to the doctor on Monday and the good news was that his ear infection was finally gone. The bad news was that he had a highly contagious virus. My poor baby….he just can’t seem to get over the hump. So, not only did Scott stay home with him Friday because the daycare was closed on Good Friday, he also had to stay home with him on Monday. I really didn’t know what to do, because Scott really needed to get back to work and I had to take more days than I actually had when I was sick a couple of weeks ago. I could take unpaid leave, but who can afford that, really?! I called home and Dad said he could come to the rescue! So, Papa came up to keep Carter on Tuesday (and possibly Wednesday if he still had a fever). They got along GREAT. Papa said Carter did wonderful and he had no problems whatsoever! I was a just a little worried, because up until this point Carter cried every time Papa held him. But I guess when it was just the two of them Carter straightened his act up.

Anyway, Carter is doing much better and actually went back to day care today. So thanks Papa for bailing us out of a jam. You’re a lifesaver!

Minute Clinic

Have you guys heard of the CVS minute clinic? Well, I am now a HUGE fan. As you know, I'm still sick, and I had the sneaking suspicion that this crunk in my head had turned into a sinus infection. So, I just needed a doc to give that wonderful cure-all antibiotic, but I didn't need to miss anymore work because seriously I just started and missed a ton last week. Anyway, the CVS near work has a minute clinic with a real doctor where they can treat things like seasonal allergies, strep throat, sinus infections, etc. You know the real common stuff. So today at lunch I run over to the minute clinic. There was no wait so the doctor took me right in. She asked some questions; looked in my ears, nose, throat etc.; took my payment (which is just your normal co-pay) and bingo bango I had a prescription for my antibiotic. Then the best part was that she sent it electronically over to the pharmacy so they could get to work filling the script. I was in and out in about 30 minutes and then just had to go pick up my meds at the pharmacy. It was GREAT!! I'm now a huge fan of the Minute Clinic.

Still Sick

This week has been a doozy! It started off Monday with a huge allergy attack that just led to more and more congestion. Then I ended up getting the chills and body ache and fever and all that jazz. NOT a fun week. I had to miss 2.5 days of work, which I don't think I've even got that much saved up yet. Plus, on Thursday I had to take Carter to the doctor about that ear infection that we can't get rid of. Of course, the ear infection is still not gone and he had to get a big shot of antibiotics in his leg. He was not too happy. Now we have to take another oral medication and go back to the doctor in 10 more days. Hopefully, it will be gone by then. On a bad note, Carter and now Scott has caught the cold that I had. I HATE the pollen, I HATE not being able to breathe, I HATE IT, I HATE IT, I HATE IT.

In other news, Carter's day care is taking school pictures on Tuesday, so I'm super excited about that. I have the cutest outfit that my mom bought for him that he's going to be sportin' on picture day. I'm also really looking forward to Easter. We're going to be going to MB and spending Easter with my family, and I'm so excited to get to spend some time with them.

Also, it's now officially public...my best friend Heather is pregnant after months and months and months of trying. It seemed like forever, but YEA!!! FINALLY!! I know that her and Chap will be amazing parents and I can't wait to help them welcome this little one! For some reason I automatically think it's a boy...I'm not sure why. But, we'll see in time I guess.

Where's the ark?

Carter and I went home this weekend to see baby Noah. He is sooooo tiny. Right now, he’s 6lbs. 3oz., and he’s doing very well. I almost forgot what it was like to have a baby that small. Of course, Carter was never that small, not even at birth! But, mom cooked a delicious meal and we all got to just hang out and spend time together. All of us but Dawn and Teagan, that is. Poor Dawn and little Teagan were exiled to Dawn’s place because Teagan was running a fever. Of course, Teagan didn’t need to be around Noah or Carter if she was sick, so Auntie Dawn took care of the sick babe!

On Sunday night, Scott was running Carter’s bathwater as I was trying to get his bottles ready for the next day when something went dreadfully wrong. Scott yells for me to come watch the baby because he’s not getting any hot water and needs to check on the water heater. Scott goes down and screams back up, “We’ve got a BIG problem”!! Carter and I go down to check it out and sure enough the hot water heater is busted and our downstairs is now flooded! I mean squish squish squish when you walk across the carpet flooded. Perfect! What else were we going to do with the tax refund we just got back?

Anyway, Scott calls a plumber who helps him get the water heater drained. Meanwhile, I’m heating up water on the stove so I can bathe Carter. Now normally he could just skip his bath and that would be fine. Of course tonight at dinner he had to get his little hands greasy and rub them in his hair. So now he looks like the poor baby from across the tracks and I cannot send him to day care looking like this. AND, this morning I had to run to our neighbor’s house at 7am to take a shower. But the plumber came back and replaced the water heater this morning, so now our only problem is getting all the water out of the carpet….and we’ve borrowed a shop-vac and Krissee has a shampooer she is loaning us. Hopefully we’ll be successful with all those implements!

Now as if that wasn’t enough, the day care called today and Carter has a rash on his legs and one arm and need the doctor to check it out, although it doesn’t seem to be bothering him AT ALL. He’s playing fine, eating fine, and sleeping fine. But they want to make sure it isn’t contagious or anything…and I’m thinking….if it is contagious, where do you think he got it (probably DAY CARE)! Classic! So, I’m off to the pediatrician this afternoon to check out this rash that is probably nothing. But I’ll definitely keep you posted.

Update: As I’m removing my foot from my mouth, the pediatrician is telling me that Carter is having an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin he’s on for his ear infection. This means he can never ever ever have amoxicillin again as it can (but doesn’t always) cause a fatal reaction. WHEW – Thank God it was just hives this time. Carter’s ear infection is still not better, so the doc had to give him some other type of antibiotic. Hopefully this will work and Carter will be feeling better soon!!

Doctor Doctor, Gimmie the News!

I forgot to mention in my marathon post that Carter also had his 9 month well visit with the pediatrician last week. His stats are as follows:

Weight - 20 lbs. 6ozs.
Height – 29 in.
Head Circumference – 19 in.

Carter was in the 50th percentile for his weight and head circumference and in the 75th percentile for his height. Maybe we’ll have a tall boy! Anyway, the doc said his hemoglobin was low and wanted us to start giving him a daily vitamin. I was thinking something along the lines of a chewable Flintstones vitamin. Weren’t those great? I used to tell my mom that I didn’t take my vitamin that day when I actually already did just so I could have another one. I mean, he HAS teeth and this boy will eat anything so I’m sure he could gnaw up a little vitamin. This is NOT what the doc was talking about. He was talking about the liquid infant vitamin. Let me just tell you….it’s brownish yellow, looks like cough syrup, and smells disgusting, but Carter takes it like a champ. That boy will eat anything!

The doc also said we could start Carter on some table food and try to phase out the baby food by the time he’s 1 year old. We had already started letting him taste pretty much anything that we were eating. Now, every night this week he has had ALL table food for dinner. NO baby food! He’s doing really great with it. We’ve given him chicken, rice, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, spaghetti, steamed carrots….he loves it all.

I also talked to Carter’s teacher at day care and she said he is doing much better. In fact, he’s gotten quite attached to another little boy in the class, Will. Will is the only other baby that’s crawling, the rest are already walking. Anyway, she told me Carter follows Will around the classroom and she even puts their mats beside each other when it’s nap time because they try to talk to each other when they’re trying to go to sleep. How cute is that?!! Carter has a friend at school…I love it!

The Fun Never Ends

There’s been so much that’s happened lately, I’m not sure what to write about. This is the problem when you don’t blog as frequently as you should. It’s hard getting back into the working routine and Carter’s daycare routine. I find I just don’t have as much time to do things like blog. By the time I get off work, pick up carter, fix dinner, bath Carter, and get him in bed, all I really want to do is just lay on the couch and decompress for a while. (and watch lots of mind numbing reality TV!) Oh well, I’ll try to give you a recap of the events of the last few months.

First of all, Carter went to his friend Matt’s 4th birthday party. It was really cool. We all met at a little ice cream store and then walked a couple of blocks down to the fire station. After a tour of the trucks and a demonstration of their features, we all headed back for cake and ice cream. Carter had chocolate and loved it!

After that, it was off to the circus. The circus came to Florence in February and Granny wanted to take carter and Teagan. So, we met in Florence, had Chucky Cheese for lunch, and headed off to the show. Carter was mesmerized by all the flashing lights and loud music, but eventually he tuckered out and had to take a little nap sometime during the elephant performance. But overall, I think he really enjoyed the show.

Now, let’s get to this past weekend. We just HAD to get out and enjoy the fabulous weather. Saturday, Uncle Sean called to see if we wanted to take Carter to Frankie’s Fun Park. We said, absolutely! We rode go carts, hit some balls in the batting cage, and even Carter slide down the big slide and rode a little kiddie ride. On Sunday, we still wanted to take advantage of the weather, so we decided to walk Carter to the park down from our house. Carter played in the mulch, hung on the rings, crawled on the play equipment walkways, AND he even slide down the slide by himself. I’m not too sure he loved that though according to what Scott said his face looked like coming down, but he didn’t cry! Here are the cute cute photos we got at the park. I hope I haven’t bored you to tears, and I’ll definitely try to post more often to avoid these novel entries!

And personally I just love this picture!