Columbus Trip

Carter, Danielle and I went on a trip to Columbus last Friday to visit my sister Cathy and her family. It was the first time we had met David, her newly adopted son. Carter enjoyed playing with him very much!!! It was fun watching them interact. Here are a few pictures of David and Carter during the first moments they saw each other. Carter LOVES toast, and immediately showed David how to make this special treat. :-) Too cute!

After we got settled in, we took the kids over to the park to burn off some energy. Since Carter was still a bit tired from the long drive, he didn't have much energy to burn off! In fact, he almost fell asleep in the swing!

Ethan LOVED swinging and was the most photogenic of the bunch! I couldn't get enough great pictures of him. He was having such a good time.

This was Danielle's first ride in the swing. She seemed to enjoy it. I'm sure I'll have her in the swing a lot more since we have a playground in our condominium development in Olmsted Falls. We're also looking forward to seeing how she likes the pool! I can't wait!

Here's a great picture of the two of my kids. Carter looks completely bored! Lol. Oh well - he'll enjoy it more when he's more awake.

Sammy, my sister's furry feline friend, gets the royal treatment. Here she is waiting for her filet mignon at the dinner table.

Carter always loves whatever my sister prepares for meals. He gets treated like a big boy at his Aunt Cathy's. Here he is using his first straw cup. He did well with it and actually didn't play with it, which he usually does at home. We bought some of these cups later in the week for him. Can't say that he's been using them correctly ALL of the time. He likes to take a sip and then let the water dribble down his mouth. :-( This does not make me happy and I usually take it away and give him back his old sippy cup. Oh well. He must just be on his best behavior for his Aunt Cathy.

Danielle was WAY overtired. She didn't nap much on Saturday, so by the time 7:30 p.m. rolled around - she was a complete bear. She started crying while I was giving Carter a bath. My sister rocked her to sleep in her arms. She is so good with kids and never ceases to amaze me. I was so grateful she was able to calm her down. It made my night a lot easier. Danielle slept through the night!!! She woke up at 5 a.m. Carter also slept great in the pack n' play. He's getting so big, so I wasn't sure how he'd do in there. Thankfully, it was a peaceful night.

Sunday we took Carter and Lauren outside to play for a bit. Carter wasn't too interested in the sidewalk chalk, but more so in the lawnmower! He wouldn't let go of that thing. It was cute watching him play - except when he tried to take it out in the middle of the street!

I diverted his attention to playing in the grass for a bit. He got his first taste of mulch and even tried to eat a rock. How fun!!! Lol.

It was a fun trip. I'm so glad we made it out there. David was such a sweetheart and we were so happy to meet him! We're looking forward to our next trip out to Columbus to visit.

Another Busy Week!

After being comletely exhausted by the end of last week, I was hoping this week would start out a little differently. It's not turning out that way at all. Now that Danielle is almost 4 months old, she is not sleeping as much during the day. Less time asleep for Danielle means less time for me to get things done. It's been quite a struggle. Sometimes I feel like a contestant on the Amazing Race because I'm constantly running! Her daytime sleep habits have changed a bit and also her nighttime sleep schedule. She USED to sleep through the night. Now she is waking up at least once to eat. Even though she falls right back asleep afterwards, it is still exhausting having to get up in the middle of the night. I think she must be going through a growth spurt. We will be taking her for her 4 month well baby visit with Dr. Lim in the coming weeks. Carter is also due to get some vaccinations.


We had a plumber come by last night to work on the leaking outdoor faucet. He had to access the pipe by ripping out the dry wall in our foyer closet. He was soldering some pipe together and the insulation in the wall caught on fire! The smoke detectors went off. I was in the other room nursing Danielle when all this commotion started. Next thing I knew Ken was yelling for me to get out of the house! I almost ran out of the room with my boob exposed I was in such a hurry. Lol. I got the kids out. Thankfully, it was only a small fire and it was contained quickly. Ken and the plumbers doused it with some water and it went out. He had called the fire department and they showed up right away. Since I was standing outside freezing in my barefeet, one of the firemen put his coat on the ground for me to stand on. What a nice guy!!! I got the kids in the car and drove them around town for about 35 minutes or so before returning home. I wanted to give it a chance to air out. It smelled like someone had a bonfire in our living room. The plumbers came back today to finish the job. I'm so glad it is all done. I'm exhausted.


The kids are both napping now and I'm SO thankful for a break. I took a little nap myself. Those have become rare nowadays for me.




Carter got out to play with his buddy Connor last Friday and his dog Bugsley. Connor lives a few units down in our complex. He's about the same age as Carter. I don't know if they really enjoy each others company just yet. They don't "talk" to each other too much. They just keep to themselves and check out each others toys. Carter is a little shy around new people at first, which surprises me. He's so animated at home. I would think he'd be all over other kids. Maybe after they play together a few more times he'll open up a bit. We're hoping to have his friend Marissa over to play this weekend. Carter REALLY loved getting all kinds of kisses from Bugsley.

Childproof Insanity

It seems that once we get one area of our home childproofed, Carter finds something else to get into right when we think we've outsmarted him. Frankly, I'm tired of it. It's not funny anymore. We've already had to practically tear down our entire living room and turn it into Carter's play room. Now, the few things that we have left down there that are ours, he's trying to destroy, or break. Welcome to having a toddler, right? Ugh! The piece of furniture he's most interested in playing with is the television. To keep him away from it, Ken mounted it on the wall. Now he likes to stand on the couch and reach to touch the buttons! We moved our couch last night and rearranged the living room ONCE AGAIN. This morning, he found a way to get at it! I can't believe him. It's like he's trying to get attention. To make matters worse, I'm coming down with yet ANOTHER cold - so I really don't have the energy to deal with all this today. Why is it that once you have kids you can pretty much bet on being sick at least once a month - in my case, twice. I'm tired of being sick. I don't know what it's like to feel normal anymore. Lol. I always either have a cold or have some sort of ache or pain. I guess this is called getting old. Maybe the warmer weather this weekend will lift my spirits. God knows I need something to put a smile on my face.

Here's a fitting video for today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUeLrbxjq5Q

Til tomorrow. . . . signing off.

Easter fun and family!

I absolutely love the holidays, but they always seem to throw me off kilter. It sometimes takes days for me to get back in the groove of things. It takes a lot out of me, and I've never even hosted a holiday gathering! I can't imagine how my Dad and Lynn are feeling right now. Ken and I took the kids to Concord to visit them for Easter. We had a great time! Carter had the time of his life, as usual. I honestly don't know where he gets all his energy! I wish I could harness some of that for myself. He spent much of the time over there running from room to room exploring. He also tried to make friends with Missy, my Dad and Lynn's cat, but didn't have much luck. She kept hissing at him, thus her nickname "Hissy Missy". Carter actually hissed back! It was too funny! He also thoroughly enjoyed Easter dinner, especially the crescent rolls. It was fun to watch him stuff his face. You'd think he hadn't eaten for days!

Danielle enjoyed watching everyone chatter away and laugh at the dinner table. She even joined in on the conversation! She has become quite the talker now. A month ago she hardly made a peep! I love hearing her jabber away and can't wait til she starts giggling!!! We weighed her this morning and she's already 13.6 lbs. She's really growing fast! Carter loves playing with her. He gives her big bear hugs. She watches him play and always has big smiles for her big brother. I know they will be best buds. He loves her so much.