Catching up...

There are a lot of things besides blogging that I should be doing right now, but I am going to do it anyway. My work schedule has been quite busy the last few weeks, and my pager doesn't stop. Today I tried to take a nap twice, but got paged before I could fall asleep. I even had time to go get a manicure/pedicure, but was too exhausted to even do that! I figure a little blogging about all the good things going on in our lives would lift my spirits.

Phoenix trip - Steve and I had a nice time in Phoenix. The resort, the Phoenician, was beautiful, and had lots of places to hang out and enjoy the scenery. They back of the resort was basically multiple levels of outdoor seating areas, complete with fire pits to stay warm. I was in conferences all day, but Steve got to hang out by the pool and climb Camelback mountain. We missed our little man, especially that last day. We couldn't get home fast enough to see him.

Thanksgiving - We went down to my cousin's Cindy's house north of Orange. Getting there was a challenge. Usually Carter just sleeps on the 2 hour trip. This time, it took about 3 stops to get out of the care and see why he was crying wildly (we took two cars). Nothing was really wrong - dry diaper, not hungry; he had just had enough of the car seat. Once we got there, Carter enjoyed watching the cows up close and personal. We stayed in town so BeBe and PopPop could watch Carter while I worked on a work project.

Christmas pictures (this story really deserves it's own blog entry)- My schedule hasn't allowed anytime for taking Carter's Christmas pictures, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. Turned out to be a crazy day. First of all, going to take Carter to Picture People by myself is not the greatest idea. It's truly a two-person deal. We pulled up to the Galleria and parked, and I got the stroller out. We had just driven in from Orange, and I had made it to our appointment just in time. This valet person then informs me that this part of the parking garage that usually isn't valet, all of a sudden is, even though there are no signs marking it as such, and I need to pack it up and find another place to park. I offered to pay valet, but they only took cash or check, neither of which I had. I was livid at that point. It was just a sign of things to come...

Fast forward to getting pictures made. Carter had a cute reindeer sweater vest, so I bought him a reindeer stuffed animal to hold. Turns out he hates it, and kept pushing it out the way. I also brought a strand of battery operated Christmas lights that I though would be a cute prop, but he would not keep them out of his mouth. Everytime I put him down on the floor for the photographer to take a pic, he would turn around and try to crawl up the backdrop, which just cracked him up. It's amazing we got any good pics ( we did!)

It was going to be 20 minutes to see our photos, so my bright idea was to get in line to see Santa. We waited 40 minutes. Carter's diaper has never leaked in 10 1/2 months (which is a blessing in itself!) but for some reason, it was our turn next and I noticed his jeans were soaking wet. I basically told Santa we weren't going to wait in line again, so I was going to put a burp cloth under Carter to keep Santa's costume dry. Carter just stared at Santa like "what in the world am I doing on this person's lap?" and we got a cute pic. No smiling, but no crying either.

I then proceed to change his diaper back at Picture People. His jeans are wet, and I didn't bring a change of pants. So yes, that was me with the baby in the button-down dress shirt and a diaper and no pants! Soooooooo tacky, but I had come so far that day, I wasn't leaving without my pictures!! And somehow during the diaper change I managed to get the lid off the container of Gerber puffs so that they all spilled out on the bathroom floor!

We came home exhausted, both or our pride had been hurt, but I sure am proud of those pictures!

What else is new... We continue to experiment with solid food, which makes me nervous. Carter took down some Tex Mex yesterday - beans, rice, and shredded cheese. He sat in the high chair and ate the entire time we were at the restaurant. He also likes teething biscuits, puffs, and the Gerber Wagon Wheels. Dado (his sitter) says he loves bread. He also loves yogurt, and drinks the drinkable yogurt through a straw. He will stand for 3-5 seconds, and gets closer to walking everyday. He loves books, and of course TV, and big cardboard boxes. He hates the high chair. We aren't going to make it to the one year mark before his first haircut. He says a lot of "doh!" and what sounds like "wow", and has 3 and a half teeth on top, two on the bottom. And, as always, he has more energy than both Steve and I put together!