BRB...

I know it's been a while. We're at the beach soaking up the sun and having some fun. We come home tomorrow so I hope to post some pictures and stories of our beach adventures...

Play Ball!

Carter is getting to an age where he and Landon can interact and play together really well. I love watching them together. I snagged a video of them playing ball together...nothing exciting, just plain cute.

What's In Your Future?

Christopher's work is celebrating a collaboration involving wheat with another company. They had a contest to come up with a Chinese Proverb for a fortune cookie, and of course my creative hubby won! The prize was a $100 AmEx gift card...which we splurged on groceries (yawn).

Your fortune reads...
"Many bushels of wheat shall put dough ($$) in your pockets."

Carter's latest tricks...

Saying ball...



Telling us where the light is (do you hear that redneck answer..."dair")...



And "winking" (he was staring at Christopher winking, and blinked back)...



He's also said bubble, uh-oh and "sings" Itsy-Bitsy Spider while making the hand movements - I'll try to get those on video soon.

Good-bye

Dear Pump,

It's over. Plain & simple. We are finished. I am ending this relationship between us. You have consumed my life for the past year. And I am here to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! You have made it impossible for me to be flexible, travel lightly, and go to bed at a decent hour. Every time I get on a roll at work, I have to stop because of you. I am always washing you. Okay, I will admit - you had a purpose to serve. But did you have to be so time-consuming while serving that purpose? And did you have to be such a pain? You never were quite right...you only could work at certain speeds and you did almost catch on fire one day. I guess a thank you is in order. Again, you did serve a very important purpose. But I am jumping for joy to say GOOD RIDDANCE. I am taking my life back. We are done.

xoxo,
Katherine

Carter's 1st Birthday Party

I really did try to narrow the pictures down for this post (& actually did!). It was such a momentous occasion and I have so many favorites. So...a story told by pictures...

My baby turned 1 on Monday (07.12.10). We had his polka dot birthday party at our house this past Sunday. We were surrounded by our loving families and very close friends.

As always, my SIL Beth ROCKED OUT the birthday cake. We (and when I say we, I really mean mostly Beth & a little bit of me) made the cutest 3-tiered birthday cake for my little man.



The birthday boy




My birthday babies - this is my GORGEOUS niece Elizabeth (ps I know you're not supposed to have favorites...so I guess I will leave some things unsaid). She and Carter share a birthday (she just turned FIFTEEN - yikes!). When I was pregnant she kept telling me that I was going to have Carter on her birthday. Of course I didn't want to because that meant I would be a week late. She was tickled pink at her birthday gift last year!

Carter was surrounded by his 5 1st cousins - Elizabeth, Gracie, Adam, Jeter & Olive.






I LOVE these shots of Landon with his Nannie & Papa.

The top layer of the cake was Carter's "smash cake". He wasn't very into smashing it. I gave him a few licks of icing to start with. He finally dug in after I cut it in chunks!






This next picture pretty much sums up the gift opening. I opened all of the gifts while Carter played with the ball that his big brother gave him & all of the men watched the World Cup final (by the way, there were actual pictures of just the soccer game on my camera!!!). He got many nice things - a John Deere ride-on (can you guess who gave him that?), beach toys, books, PJs, clothes, a baseball toy (of course from the best pitcher out there, Elizabeth), and lots of other fun stuff. My Papa made a stool for Carter that flips into a little chair - it is awesome!

Carter's BFF Laken came to his party...even after just getting in from a long drive back from NY and his mom & dad surviving on 2 hours of sleep. I love you guys for coming! Those boys are 2 peas in a pod. They are always side by side at daycare. I foresee trouble in our future!

The birthday boy & his balloon...

Carter's 1 Year Check-Up

Carter had his 12 month appointment on 7.13.10. Here are his stats:

• Weight: 20 lb, 11 oz (25th percentile)
• Height: 28.3 in (10th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 44.6 cm (10th percentile)

The doctor is pleased with his advancements since his last appointment (crawling, pulling up, standing while holding on to things, feeding himself, his vocab, etc.). She reminded me again that as long as he continues to progress from visit to visit, he is doing just fine. She also told me basically that I rock since I've continued to breastfeed him this long (yeah...I know!).

Everything she would have suggested we have either conquered or are working on currently:

• table food: Carter eats nothing but table food now...he despises the pureed baby stuff!
• cow's milk: I started him on 1/2 cow's milk & 1/2 formula bottles this weekend, now we're to about 3/4 cow's milk & 1/4 formula, and will be moving him to all cow's milk by the end of the week.
• sippy cup: Tried it and he did great. Then he was sick last week so I let him have his bottle just to make it easier on him while he was sick. We are going to start using the cup again in the next week or so.
• wean (if I prefer): I am down to nursing in the morning and at night (NO MORE PUMPING- YAY!!!). I am going to cut out the morning nursing by the end of July. I will probably nurse at night until I leave for a few business trips this fall.

Next appointment: 15 months

Nakie Boy

Fourth of July 2010

Grandpa, Grandma, Beth, Mike & Olive joined us to celebrate Independence Day. We cooked out at our house and then headed over to Koka Booth Amphitheatre to enjoy a great fireworks show. Carter was asleep when they first began, quickly woke up, and enjoyed his first fireworks.

















I decided to get a video of us trying to get a picture of all 3 kids. It was quite humorous...down to Carter trying to snuggle with Olive's hair and Landon tugging on Carter's ear to get him to look at the camera. What you don't see is how I yanked on Landon's ear right after I shut off the camera asking how that feels...Beth got that "mother of the year" moment on her video camera!

Into Everything!

Now that Carter is mobile, he is into everything. I put together a little video montage of a few of his latest interests...these are just the ones I have been able to get on video, and most of these were from about 2 weeks ago when he wasn't quite as fast as he is now. Let's just say...the Bagley household has gotten very interesting!

One Year...

My sweet Carter...

One year has passed us by. Already.

I fell deeply and madly in love with you the second they put you on my chest and I looked into your eyes. My heart ached with overwhelming love.

Thank you for what you have given us. Before your arrival, I worried that I'd have to somehow "split" my love between you and your brother. But the day I met you, my heart grew 3 sizes that day (just like the Grinch). There was just more. More love. And thank you for what you have given your brother. He wouldn't be a big brother without you. He has learned so much over the past year about being a role model and caring for someone else. You have taught us all life lessons.

I pray hard every night to make the right choices for you and your brother. I pray that I raise you to be caring, loving, honest men. I pray that you'll always kiss your Mommy and hold up your little "I love you" fingers.

Only another mother could understand my heartache today. Today, I am reflecting back to every little kick and hiccup before you were born. I can remember each detail about your journey to me on this day one year ago, from the first contraction to the moment when I laid eyes on you. I am thinking back to every milestone that you accomplished this past year...the first coo, the first smile, the first bath, the first Halloween costume, the first laugh, sitting up, crawling, first foods, and all of your little mannerisms and personality traits that surfaced and make you who you are.

Happy Birthday Carter Miles. My sweet baby boy.

And The Jokes Keep Coming...

Ya'll know I think Landon is the funniest kid ever. Here's more proof...

• He & I were having a discussion in the car about his day at school...what he ate, what he sang, what he read, what he learned, etc. Well, it was more like me asking and him never remembering. Then he flat out said "I don't have any brain left - I can't think anymore".
• Apparently I wasn't leaving daycare fast enough for him one day. And naturally he said to me "Vamanos Mommy!"...for my non Spanish-speaking readers, that means Let's Go!
• His MeeMee called one day and asked to speak to him. When I asked if he could speak to her, he replied "Sure I can talk to MeeMee...I'm not too busy"!!!
• We were talking about our first house in Youngsville and he asked "when I was a kid, did I live in a house by myself?".
• They have a number system at daycare for behavior (1-5, 5=good, 1=bad). I expect him on 5 every day, and he generally is on 5. He had a rough week last week where he was on 3 and 4 each day. When we went on our weekly shopping excursion to Walmart last week, he asked if he could get a car (I let him pick out a Matchbox car if he's had a good week at school and is a good boy at Walmart). I told him that he didn't have a good week so he couldn't have a car. He looked straight in my eyes and said "Mommy, why don't you just think about that for a little while"!!!
• And the last week's moment where I needed a hole to crawl in...A very tall mom was walking in daycare as I was getting the boys in the car. Seriously, she was like almost 7 feet tall. Landon says (very loudly), "LOOK AT THAT BIG MOMMY"! I prayed that she didn't hear him but knew she had to. I saw her smile in the reflection of the door, then she turned around and said "don't worry, I hear it all of the time". I made sure she knew he was referring to her being tall, not the other kind of big!

July 4th, 2009

This is how I spent Independence Day last year (and ps - I lasted another week after this picture)! Let's just say...I'll enjoy the day much more in 2010!

Swinging

We love spending time in the back yard swinging on Landon's play set.

Snuggly Sleepyhead

Poor baby was so exhausted...

Keeping Cool

Pop Ice is a summer staple in the Bagley household. We typically enjoy 1..or 2...or 3 each evening after supper on the back porch.

{In this case, my boys are zoned out watching the World Cup.}

Doing Laundry