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!