Fun at the Zoo

We met Meredith with Blaine and Hudson at the zoo this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day in the mid-70s and breezy.

We got there a couple of minutes before Meredith and I took this picture while we were waiting ...


I told Carter this morning that we were going to the zoo and he kept saying "zoo, ahh-ahh" all day long. So I think Carter was happy that we spent most of the afternoon looking at the gorilla and gibbons.


My little zebra ...


The boys loved playing on the jeep. Carter has a hard time letting anyone else drive but he eventually let Blaine have a short turn ...


Carter had lots of fun at the zoo. This may be our last time going for a little bit since it looks like it'll be getting cold soon. Hopefully Carter will understand!

Rolling Over!

Rylan finally rolled over completely today from his back to his stomach. He's been getting close for a few weeks now. He'd get his lower body turned over but his upper body was just on his side His hands would be together and he'd be stuck like this ...


Today Rylan got all the way over and pushed up on his arms. After doing it once, he turned over 3 more times almost immediately.

Rice Cereal = Yuck

I put Rylan in Carter's booster seat today to feed him some rice cereal. I put a blanket in the seat to make it a little more snug so Rylan wouldn't tip over but he probably would of fit just fine without it.


Rylan is still not a fan of rice cereal ...

Lowe's Build and Grow

Brian had some work to do this morning so I took the boys to the Lowe's Build and Grow workshop.

Ever since Carter got his Handy Manny tools from my dad, he's been really into Pat, the hammer. It's the only one he can say the name of. Carter was very excited that the Handy Manny toy he got from Mary Grace also included a small Pat. So he's always saying "two pat" and finding both of the hammers amongst his toys.

The one tool that the kids use at the Build and Grow workshop is a hammer. So when I told him we were going to Lowe's to go build something, he grabbed big Pat to take with him.

You can see the blue plastic hammer in Carter's right hand in this picture I took as we were walking through Lowe's ...


Carter insisted on using Pat to try to hammer the nails in instead of the real hammer.


Carter ended up switching hammers with me and insisted that I used Pat to hammer in the nails as well.

We eventually got the project finished and here's what we made ...


It's a snowman gift card holder. In two weeks the kids start making a train! It has three cars and the kids get to make one car each Saturday. We're hoping to make it to all of those workshops.

Rylan was with us today. He did good - no crying. Just a very serious expression on his face as he tried to figure out what all the noise was around him (dozens of little hammers make A LOT of noise).

NC Trip - Day 8

I'm finally back to posting about our NC trip. Rylan is still not sleeping well so I haven't had the energy to blog much at night. I'm going to try to finally finish posting about this trip this weekend (hopefully).

On Friday, October 22nd, we spent the day with my mom. Rylan slept awesome overnight (unlike now). I only fed him once that night around 12:45 am and he didn't get up until 5 am. I did move him to his bouncer at 2:15 am when he woke up, but that was it. That was his first (and only) night with only one feeding.

We got out of the house pretty early (around 9 am) and headed over to the Fort Fisher Aquarium (link). The aquarium is pretty small and Carter ran through it fast. We spent the most time checking out the alligators, including this cool albino one ...





Carter listening to the ocean in a shell with my mom ...


Carter checking out the fish with Brian ...


Family photo outside of the aquarium ...


After the aquarium, we headed over to the beach just down the road. We had packed our lunch and had a picnic on the beach.

The BOB stroller is good for more than just jogging. It's so big that it creates plenty of shade for Rylan so he doesn't get sunburned!



When we first got to the beach, Carter did not want to touch the sand. He didn't like walking on it or for any of it to get on him at all. Luckily he eventually loosened up and had fun playing with some toys we had brought along with us.


Carter enjoyed destroying the castles that Brian built for him ...


I was surprised when Carter started playing in this water that was trapped in a low spot several yards from the ocean. It was freezing! He didn't even seem to notice his shorts getting wet (except for the one time he lost his balance and soaked one side).


I eventually convinced Carter to put his feet in the ocean. Immediately after this photo was taken, Carter fell down. This one inch wave managed to make him off balanced! Carter was really soaked then!


Brian and Carter walking back up the beach ...


My mom and the boys (after Carter got a quick outfit change) ...


We went back to my mom's house after the beach and put Carter down for a nap. When he got up, we went to my mom's school where she's a teaching assistant because they were having a fundraising event.

Carter got to sit in a fire truck ...


And swing on the swings with my mom ...


And play on the playground for a bit ...


Carter is so strong. He could hang like this forever. He can even pull himself up a little bit.


My sister (Karey) and her fiancee (Mike) came to Wilmington for the weekend to meet Rylan. We all went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and luckily the boys behaved well enough. It's still hard for us to take them to restaurants with waiters that take longer.

After dinner we went back to my mom's house and hung out for a little bit until we needed to get the boys in bed. Carter really liked Mike and kept going to him to play. My sister and Mike did give the boys some cool presents, including this aardvark that Carter likes to attack people with (we have no idea why) ...


And the "Bear in Underwear" book is currently one of Carter's favorite books.

Rylan's Eyelashes

Both Carter and Rylan have crazy eyelashes. Carter's are super thick, long, and straight, just like Brian's. Rylan's are thinner, but long and curled. Here are a few pictures I took of Rylan the other day that show off his lashes ...

Bad Colds

The boys and I are sick, sick, sick. Carter started it off with a runny nose yesterday. It's a faucet and he's really congested this time too (usually it just runs and he can still breathe fine). He's so noisy when he sleeps. He sounds like an old man snoring.

It was inevitable that Rylan and I would get sick with all the kisses Carter gives us lately. I started getting a sore throat this afternoon and Rylan woke up from a nap this afternoon screaming and clogged up with snot. It's gross. I hope we all get over this soon and don't pass it on to Brian.

The weather cleared up today and it warmed up a bit (near 60) so we met Amy with Caitlyn and Alek at the zoo. We spent a lot of time in the children's play area and then saw a handful of animals before heading home.

Here are a few cute pictures from today:

New Words and So Much More

Carter's vocabulary has exploded again. He has lots of new words, including zoo, play, boat, house, pee, poop, and many more. He's still not very clear and often needs us to translate, but we're getting closer to having conversations.

When Carter doesn't know the answer to a question we ask or where something is at, he'll tap his chin or lips with his index finger and make a "hhhhmmmmm" sound. It's so cute! I need to get a video of this.

When I ask Carter if he wants me to help him and he wants to do it himself, he'll tap his chest with his hand and say his name (which sounds something like "car-car").

Carter likes to be silly when doing puzzles with us. He'll often put a piece in the wrong place and then look at us out of the corner of his eye with his eyebrows raised. Then he'll shake his head, say "no", and put the piece in the correct spot.

Carter picks up actions from books really easily. Some recent things were looking up and looking down. Brian's the best at teaching him new stuff like this.

When Rylan is crying in the car and finally stops, Carter will say "yea!" (which often startles Rylan and gets him crying again). Sometimes Carter will keep saying "mama" as if asking for me to make Rylan stop.

Carter and Rylan are interacting more and more. Carter is good at making Rylan laugh at him. He also gives Rylan hugs and kisses all day long. Hopefully they are going to be good playmates soon!

Happy Birthday Carter!

Carter turned 2 years old today!

Brian took the day off of work and Carter was so happy to have him around all day. He's still really attached to Brian.

We started the morning with some birthday pancakes. Because Carter loved being sung to and blowing candles out at his party, I decided to do both for every meal today.


For couple of weeks I had been telling Carter that he was going to have a birthday soon and that he was going to be two years old. It started to stick about a week ago. Whenever you ask him what happens on his birthday or how old he is now, he responds with "two".

We had leftover pizza from the party for lunch (and dinner).



We opened up presents after Carter's nap.


We gave him a tricycle, a Mr. Potato Head, a toy guitar, a puzzle (from Rylan), and a Lego farm set.







Carter also got some presents from his grandparents including some trucks and a bookbag. We're planning on having a little party for him when we see everyone for Thanksgiving so he'll be getting even more gifts then!

Me and the boys ...


After playing with all of Carter's new toys, we watched "A Bug's Life" and ate popcorn. It rained most of the day and was just dreary. Cuddling up on the couch was a perfect activity for that kind of weather (unfortunately Rylan didn't agree).

After dinner, we sang to Carter one more time and had cupcakes. I took a video this time to show how much Carter loves being sung to

Happy birthday Carter! We love you!!!