Second Haircut

I took Harrison to get another haircut this past weekend, and NO tears this time! He acted like such a big boy. What might have helped is that I let him have a lollipop for the first time. He was pretty intrigued by it, but I guess Mommy's sweet tooth still hasn't kicked in. He sucked on it for a little while, but then handed it back to me very nicely, saying thank you! So I guess he was done!

I took this picture with my phone because I didn't have my camera with me, but you can see the first lollipop experience!

MORE Birthdays!

Today is Nana Carter's birthday! Happy Birthday Nana/Mom!!

We also celebrated Anna Almstedt's first birthday this weekend! We had fun at her party. She did a great job with her chocolate cupcake!




Harrison, Lauren and Anna had a good time playing together, as always. Harrison and Anna also competed to see who could shriek/scream the loudest - that was fun for everyone else!




The birthday girl in one of her hip birthday presents! I asked, don't they make those in mommy sizes??




Later on that night, Harrison was so sweet, laying down by the tree before bedtime.



The Almstedts gave us this picture holder, and we are proud to display our first picture of Baby Girl Carter at our house!

Baby Girl Carter!

Jason and I went to my ultrasound on Wednesday and we found out we are having a perfectly healthy baby girl! We are so thrilled with the news. She was very active during the ultrasound, twisting and flipping all around, just like her brother did. She could also be stubborn about moving her hands out of the way (also like her brother!) and the nurse joked to us that we were going to be in big trouble with this active, stubborn little girl! The coolest part was when she seemed to very clearly wave at us, and we got a great view of her little hand. We waved back and said hello! Now it's time to start thinking of names, decorating a nursery, and doing all sorts of fun girly stuff!

We told Harrison he was going to have a baby sister and showed him her ultrasound picture. He pointed at it, but that's about it! He's real good about seeing pictures of babies and signing "baby", but when I point to my stomach and do the same thing, he doesn't quite get it! He'll have a few more months to get used to it.

Here's my first belly shot with this baby. I am DEFINITELY bigger at this point (19 weeks) than I was with Harrison! And she's quite a kicker already!

Another Birthday Weekend

I celebrated my 31st birthday on Friday night by having dinner with my two boys and Will and Megan at our house, and then watching Ocean's Thirteen! It was a wonderful night in, good food and a good movie.

We then went to Montgomery on Saturday for Nana and Papa Carter's Living Christmas Tree performance at their church. It is a spectacular show, we have enjoyed it every year. We celebrated Nana's birthday while we were there (hers is next weekend). We also took Harrison to get his Christmas portraits taken. Like last year, it was quite an experience! But I had a lot of help this time with Jason, Nana and Papa there. Harrison was very good the whole time, despite the long wait.

I made birthday cupcakes and let Harrison lick his first beater! He enjoyed it, but didn't want any more after he was done. I don't think he inherited Mommy's sweet tooth!



Helping Mommy AND Nana open birthday presents!





He's in his spiffy Christmas duds, waiting to go get his pictures made.



I love my Nana and Papa!!

'Tis the Season!

We got our tree up and started decorating the house yesterday, it was Harrison's first real experience with it all. We got an artificial tree for the first time this year (SO much easier and cleaner - pre-lit! - and better for Harrison's allergies/sinuses) and he had fun watching Daddy put it together and looking at the lights.



Where does this go? I hope I don't get any coal!



Watching NFL with Daddy.



I lost my ball under the tree, but was able to find it. Whew!



We decided to wait and put the ornaments on until after he went to bed. But here he is "helping" by sitting on the box!

Cute Boys!

Harrison and Jason wore their red shirts and jeans today, and I had to take a picture before they left for work/school - they are so cute! And so festive looking! It is the last day of November, after all, time to start with the Christmas decorating this weekend.

Thanksgiving in Florida

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Ours had its ups and downs. My grandmother died after a long, 25-year battle with Parkinsons the Sunday before Thanksgiving. So we drove down early to attend her funeral on Tuesday. She will be greatly missed, and we are so glad she was able to see Harrison a few times before her death.

We spent the actual Thanksgiving holiday in Jacksonville, FL with the Eschens who live there. My cousin Stephanie was getting married that Saturday, so we ended the week on a fun, high note! Harrison was a dancing machine at the reception, he had such a great time and was exhausted when we left. We didn't get any good pictures, unfortunately, because it was dark in there.

Also - Go Hokies, Deacons and Gators, who all had big wins on Saturday!

Harrison helped clean up after Thanksgiving dinner! All of the family from the groom's and bride's side gathered at the hotel for a big potluck meal which was delicious. Harrison had been stalking the hotel's cleaning ladies, and one of them let him borrow her sweeper!



We went to the rehearsal dinner Friday night at a really neat restaurant on the St. John's River. Harrison was a hit there as well! Everyone wanted a high-five or to be blown a kiss.





They had chicken tenders at the wedding reception, which were a huge hit with Harrison!

Thanksgiving Party

Every year, the Almstedts and Pescarinos throw a party the weekend before Thanksgiving where everyone brings a traditional Thanksgiving sidedish and watches football together. It is always a very fun time, and this year was no exception! It was our first time bringing Harrison (he was sick last year), so it brought a whole new dimension to the experience. There was not much sitting down with all of the kids there to play with!

Can I have some turkey, please?



This is the cutest Hokie cheerleader I've ever seen!



This is the cutest Michigan cheerleader I've ever seen!



Katie taught the boys how to run fade routes. Harrison is listening intently, which made his Dad very happy.



I thought I would throw this one in - it's the latest "giving Gracie hugs" picture!

Parties and Showers

We had a very busy weekend of celebrating with friends and family. On Saturday, we went to Lauren Sager's first birthday party and had so much fun wishing her Happy Birthday!

You could not ask for a better reaction to a first birthday cake. She loved it!



Harrison was very interested in what all the fuss was about. I'm sure he felt like he needed some attention!



After the birthday party, we went over to Montgomery to spend the weekend with Nana and Papa Carter for Susan's baby shower on Sunday.

We went to LeeAnn's store to check out the beautiful Christmas decorations. Harrison enjoyed the children's room which was dripping with "candy"!



Caitlin was trying to juggle and Harrison thought it was hilarious!



Eating lunch at Jim's. We were trying to get Harrison to put his hands together like the praying hands on the placemat.



The happy, expecting couple! Susan looks so wonderful, and she and Jeremy have done a great job to their house. Their little girl will love her beautiful nursery.



Playing with Hadley! First she pushed Harrison around, and then she let Harrison push her around. It was so funny!



The pom poms were a huge hit. Go Generals!



That was a busy weekend, I am so tired I could fall asleep reading a book!

Sweet Puppies

Poor doggies, I don't think they've ever received their own entry in the blog! Pretty much because all they do is lay around and sleep all day probably. Which is what they are doing below, but I thought it was so sweet - laying on the stairs together in the sunshine! They are both doing really well, very healthy and happy. We'll see how they react to another baby coming into the house in a few months!

Football and Girls

We had the Sagers and Almstedts over on Sunday for some NFL (and complaining about our Fantasy teams), so Harrison got his fill of two of his favorite things - football and his "girlfriends", Lauren and Anna! The kids had a great time, it's really neat now that Lauren and Anna are walking. They will be chasing Harrison down in no time!

On another note, Harrison went to a kid's barber shop to get his first big boy haircut on Saturday. I would have posted some pictures, but I didn't take any because he cried and cried the entire time!

Making sure all the toys work in the corral.

Enjoying the fall day, sitting on the deck with Anna!

Harrison and Lauren read a book together.

Earlier in the weekend we took some pictures of Harrison enjoying his slide. He never tires of going climbing up, going down, climbing up, going down. He even figured out how to slide down backwards on his tummy!

Giving Gracie hugs! Note Vegas slinking by, trying to avoid affection from Harrison.

Watching TV between Gracie's legs!

Taking a Break from "The Daily Planet"

Harrison took time out of his busy newspaper-job schedule in downtown Metropolis (masquerading as Clark Kent masquerading as Superman) to come out on Halloween and show off his trick or treating skills. All those handing out candy were powerless against him!! Luckily no one was handing out kryptonite, that would have made for an early evening. He did not meet his Lois Lane yesterday, but there were some princesses, a Minnie Mouse, ballerinas, and yes - even one little girl at his school was dressed as Charo. Coochie coochie!

We went to his school during lunchtime to parade through the village and trick or treat at the stores, and then all the parents were able to sit and have lunch with the kids in their classroom. It was a lot of fun to spend time with him there, since we usually are just there to drop off and pick up.

Then around 5:30, we went up to our neighborhood party for some pizza and mingling. We met a lot of our neighbors which was really nice, and Harrison had a great time watching and playing with all the kids! We only got about a dozen trick or treaters later on at the house, but we felt like it was a very full, fun and eventful Halloween!

Here's our Superman eating some cheese as a snack, getting ready for the party. Even Superman needs his dairy!



Harrison's friend Henry was a chicken!



Chloe (aka Minnie Mouse) had the cutest yellow shoes on, and was very curious about Harrison's costume.



Taking a break from trick or treating at school.



Heading up to the party!!





He had a blast watching the big boys play. Most of them were dressed in Star Wars themed costumes, and of course I got most of the characters wrong, calling one kid Obi Wan instead of Annakin. He probably thought I was a big dork.



His friend Lexi was being sweet trying to hand him her bucket, but he's looking at me like, am I allowed to take this???