Carter: 8 & 9 Months

Months 8 & 9 were big months for our family, Carter.

We moved to a new state!  Your dad and I thought it was important to put our family life first which meant leaving CA.  The area we were living in had many great qualities and people, but it was not very affordable and did not have the most family friendly values.  Some might call us old-fashioned, but it's important to us that you have mommy at home with you growing up and that we aren't on the forefront of everything liberal.  In 1 Corinthians 10:23 the Bible says...

"I have the right to do anything," you say--but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything"--but not everything is constructive.

While your dad and I want to teach you what Jesus commanded...love God and love others, we don't agree that everything is beneficial in terms of the youth and family culture happening in the Bay Area. So, we prayed much and with courage, left what was familiar to us.  

Here's the good news...God has really blessed those decisions.  The hard path is not always the popular or easy path Carter.  In fact, the road less travelled might look downright scary.  You're going to hear your mom say this to you a million times as you grow up.

The right thing and the easy thing are rarely the same thing.

If you take the road less travelled you are guaranteed to have an adventure!  Always choose the adventure.  

You've changed so much in these past 2 months! You got your first two teeth!  They're so cute and bright white! You decided to change from "the inch-worm" crawl to full on crawling at the end of April...including bear crawling on the hard floor.  You are pulling up on everything and standing assisted as much a you can.  You love to BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCE on everything!

8 months

9 months

You LOVE your push walker!

ABS...always.be.standing.

You're eating many more solid foods like PB&J sandwiches, yogurt, all sorts of fruits and soft veggies.  We also started pasta and quesadillas.  Your game to try almost anything we are eating.

Making messes

You've been a champ in the car for our trips back to the Bay Area for work.

Happy in the car!

Bath time at Grammy J's house

You took your first big airplane trip too, we'll save that for another post though!   However, after your trip and all that plane time snuggling with mom and dad you learned how to give snuggles.  Now, you cuddle up and hold us around the neck so tight.  We love how you lay your head on our shoulders and even play "shy" when strangers say hi to you while we're holding you.

So many fun times and new things to experience!  We love sharing each and every one of them with you silly boy!

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Carter: Updated Month Progression!

Our month progression is starting to get really cool as Carter is getting older!  Here's month 1 through month 7!

Month 1 to Month 7

1 Week Old vs. 7 Months Old

1 Month Old vs. 7 Months Old

Carter: 7 Months

Your Dad and I read somewhere that parents should do their kids a favor and get them an email address so that when the billions of other kids with their same name grow up and want to get an email address, it's already taken.

CarterBruce was already gone...so CarterMichaelBruce it is!

Dad and Mom are getting ready to write your VERY FIRST EMAIL!  We can't wait for you to receive it and we plan to write to you often as you grow so you can read what's gone on in your life throughout the years when you're old enough!

You're now SEVEN months.  Say what?

Much smilier for your 7 month photoshoot :)

Crazy hair, don't care

You've really blossomed into a determined and strong boy this month.  You're one cool dude!

You started crawling everywhere but have quickly discovered STANDING! is way more fun...walking is even better.  You are standing up and hanging on to everything you can and love to hold our hands and stomp around.

Little man, standing tall!

You go BOOM! often...mommy tries to keep you from crashing on your head...she does just an OK job at this so feel free to blame me if you have issues when you're older.  I probably should have given you a helmet.

You visited the pet store for the first time and LOVED all the animals, just like mom and dad.

Must love animals

You've started new solid foods, real foods...you've had banana pieces, avocado pieces (yuck), "puffs" (YUM), mandarin oranges (SUPER YUM) and tonight...real broccoli which you enjoyed very much!

Proud after eating a puff!

You're continuing in swim class and even sitting up on your own in the bath tub!  You also make a really cute face where you tuck your lower lip under your upper one when you're concentrating...Turns out mommy makes this face too when she's working out....You also have a favorite toy...it's a FREE CUP from the local BBQ joint, Dickey's.  Go figure.

Tucked Lower Lip and Your Yellow Dickey's Cup

Hellllooooooooo

In just a couple of weeks we are moving to our new state and new home.  This is where we think you'll grow up, time will tell!  We've chosen to move largely because of you.  We want you to have a nice big house and yard to play in, good schools and mommy and daddy around all the time.  You're moving away from your Grammy J and Grandpa, but we'll see them once a month for a couple of days when mommy comes back for work.  We're moving closer to Grami Pam and Poppy.  They're excited to be around even more as you grow.

Your new house is almost finished!

Baby Feet

Is there nothing in this world sweeter than little baby feet?  I just couldn't resist a few pics as Carter rolled around the other day on the bed...

Carter: 6 Months

It seems that things have gotten a bit chaotic and your 6 month post didn't get created until now!

Your 6 Month Photoshoot wasn't a very smiley one ;)

Six months, half of an entire year, how can it be?

First time in a shopping cart!  Kind of a fail....

Obligatory nekkid baby pic, you're just so cute

You are becoming a very big boy Carter Michael!  You're eating your baby cereal and purees and love to make your "scrunchy face".

The infamous scrunchy face

You've started to figure out crawling and are on.the.move!  You even started SWIM LESSONS!

You love the water and swim lessons seems to have made you enjoy bath time even more too.

We've had a few "moments" as you're growing and finding your emotions...for better and for worse.

Someone didn't read their jumper this morning!

You aren't sleeping through the night anymore, lately you've been waking up 2-3 times a night to nurse which is tough on mom and dad, but we love you and don't mind too much.

You even celebrated your very first Valentines Day.

Not really an eligible bachelor...mommy for life!

Carter this first year with you is flying by.  We're trying to enjoy every single minute of it though as you grow, learn and play.

I love the sweet blue stripes on your PJs

We love you,

Mommy and Daddy

And Then There Was None

Carter Michael, when you were just a few months old a very sad thing happened to our family.

We lost a very special member who had been around for 9 years.  Pongo was with mommy before Daddy, before Louie, before Gunner...but not before Peanut, he wanted to make sure I let everyone know.

Pongo, mommy's horse passed away on February 17th, 2016 because he had many problems with his feet that there was no treatment for.

You only met Pongo a few times, but before you arrived he was a very big part of mommy's life.  She raised from a yearling and taught him everything.  They had a lot of fun together and adventures.  They went to horse shows and even won some blue ribbons!

On Pongo's last day we went to be with him as a family.  You guys sniffed each other out and you even had your very first horseback ride on him...bareback no less!

He will be very much missed and mommy is sad you won't remember him when you grow up.  But she's thankful you got to meet and even if just for a short while, two of her favorite souls were around her to love on earth at the same time

Carter: 5 Months Old

We will start with the pics, because they're just too cute!

Mom, you're funny

Big as my bear!

This angle isn't really flattering for anyone, Mom

Mommy's favorite

Cute face

No more photos please...LOL

Come here bear...

Carter, five months!  What a ride!

This month you've become a master roller.  Rolling right, rolling left and you are FAST!  You've also started pushing up into full cobra and trying to crawl.  Right now you get a little flustered that your arms and legs can't quite get you where you want to go, but we know you'll be mobile in no time.

You are really taking in the world around you and love to laugh.  You think mommy and daddy can make some awfully funny faces.  You are also very ticklish!  Especially on your back.

You're interacting with Louie even more, petting him and grabbing his poor little ears.  He is a good sport though.  He's learned not to lay too close to you lest he get pinched.

This month we started you on some solid foods.  We tried oatmeal cereal for a week or so, but it didn't agree with your tummy...lots of spit up.  Mommy bought you some sweet potato baby food and that seemed to work out much better.  It's so fun now to have you at the table eating breakfast and dinner with us.  You LOVE your food.  We tried to give you real sweet potato, but the texture was too much for you and swallowing it (even though it was completely mashed up) seemed to be scary to you.  So, we'll stick with the purees for now to keep you happy and enjoying your meals.

You're back to waking up once or even twice a night for milk.  I guess you're growing or just need some extra TLC from mom.  We're zombies, but know that someday you'll go back to sleeping through the night!

During the day we play play play.  You are really into your bouncer and all the toys on there, especially the light up Piano.  Yesterday, mommy took you to a baby shower and first birthday party then over to Grammy and Grampa's house.  You were such a good baby.  An entire day on the road and barely a tear shed.  I was hoping you'd sleep through the night after all that running around.  You did not.  Ha!

Carter, how did we reach 5 months already?  We are marveling at how you're growing and loving how you're so interactive now.  You're still just the cutest, sweetest kiddo.  You're finally getting heavier, but still a string bean.  Such a lean little dude!  We love you so much and wake up every day excited to experience the world with you.

Love,

Mom & Dad