Hayesapalooza

Halloween

2012-01-10T14:07:00.001-08:00

October is always a busy month for us. We go non stop from the 1st to the 31st. We started out with pumpkin painting. Karter loved painting his "pumpey", he made sure to get it just right.

We tried going to Storybook Forrest with the Sopers but it was raining so they closed down for the night. The Sopers and us decided to go to OC's trick-or-treating. Let me tell you that is some good trick-or-treating. A few days later we were able to take KJ to storybook forrest for some trick-or-treating, a hayride, games and a hotdog/marshmallow roast.

Lastly we went trick-or-treating with the Sopers again in the same neighborhood we went to last year. Karter really liked trick-or-treating this year. He, Luke and Leta had tons of goodies for us ;)

Potty Training

2012-01-10T13:45:00.001-08:00

In July we had thought about potty training. Karter had been showing some interest in it, mostly he didn't want to be dirty. So B and I decided after my trip to Baltimore, for August workshop, we'd try it out. So the second week of August we drove head first into the potty training world. To get started we went to Lowe's to purchase a large tarp, then to Crest for all kinds of goodies(AKA JUNK), and then to Target for 2 packages of underwear and a potty seat. Can I just say that underwear are EXPENSIVE. Who knew?

I had decided we'd try the 3 day method so we tarped the entire living room, let him run around in underwear and did stickers and goodies for rewards. Karter did okay but we quickly learned that the underwear held him in too much like a diaper did so we removed them letting him run around naked for the remaining 2 days. After that he did much better. He picked up on it pretty quick and we haven't had too much of a problem with #1. #2 on the other hand is a different story. He is terrible at going on the potty. We've had too many accidents to count. We are still working on this 6 months later but we are seeing some progress.

I will say that having a child in diapers is expensive but way more convenient.
Also during potty training we decided it was time to convert Karter's bed into a toddler bed. He only climbed out once, falling on his head and leaving a carpet burn, never to do it again. But he was getting so heavy to lift over the bar and lower him back down leaving me with a back ache. At first he did so good staying in his bed, almost like he didn't know he could get out of it, but after 2 weeks he started coming in to our room at 3 a.m. saying he wanted to watch Mickey Mouse. After talking to a good friend, who talked to her pediatrician, we decided to put a lock on the outside of his door. Now his room is "his crib" plus it gives me peace of mind knowing he won't unlock the door and go outside.

Karterisms

2011-12-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

Karter has been talking so much lately. He repeats everything you say. Here are a few of his funnies...

"Mama, You fwappy?"

"Me Kawta Jawon Hayes at Academy" his response to "What's your name"

"Me go broom, hat, rou, rou, rou go there please Ma" I want to go to Cracker Barrel

While waiting for our name to be called at Teds, a larger woman walked in to sit down in front of us, Karter yells over and over "Mama, big belly. Mama Big Belly. MAMA BIG BELLY" No he was not telling me I had a big belly. Although he has told me that my belly is messy before.

July 2011

2011-11-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

With this summer being the hottest on record, we found ourselves spending a great deal of time inside just trying to stay cool. However July 4th we did get outside for a bit. We spent most of the holiday with our good friends The Soper's. We had them over for supper and fireworks then went to the 4th of July Parade in Edmond. It was a lot of fun to see the kids interact. Karter is in love with Luke, Leta is in love with Karter and they all followed each other around like little ducklings. It was pretty cute. 4th of July evening we went to UCO for the big firework show. Karter kept saying "I go see big booms." He did really well but he did ask us to go home before the show had ended because he wanted to go Nigh, NighWatching Mickey Mouse. An all time favorite this summer
We ate LOTS of smoothies this summer to stay cool
I added this photo just because he's so handsome
Karter's first Movie. He is now a "cop corn" addict
We went to see Cars 2. The movie was okay, the experience was awesome
Leta Loves Karter
Karter Loves Leta he just doesn't know it yet
KJ's first sparkler
Watching the 3-wheelers
I love this picture
Karter does not like to be crowded. He didn't move from this spot
He is big into showing his muscles

He wanted my attention so he grabbed my face to tell me something
I love this boy

A New Birthday Tradition

2011-06-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who does birthday donuts for her daughter every year and I've loved the idea of it for a while, so I stole the idea from her. I did tell her so it wasn't exactly stealing.
We never eat donuts unless it's something SUPER special, so since Karter's birthday is pretty special we took him to Full Cup. He got to pick out his very own donut. And much to my surprise he didn't go for the sprinkle donut. He went for the plain chocolate glazed one and an apple juice. He picked our table and we all sat down to enjoy our fried sugar filled goodness.
After donuts we took Karter to the Farmers Market to pick out a cantaloupe and a watermelon. (Brandon calls Karter his Watermelon Buddy) Karter picked out our melons and when Brandon put the melons down to pay Karter threw a huge fit thinking we weren't going to get them after all. This kid loves his fruit.
Donuts and Farmers Market will be an annual tradition in the Hayes home. Even Brandon said he thought it was a good tradition to have and we all know B isn't much for traditions.

Tuesday is our favorite day

2011-06-16T12:36:00.001-07:00

Tuesday has become our favorite day of the week. Every Tuesday we go to the Library for lapsit. Lapsit is from 10:15-11 a.m. For the first 15-20 minutes we do free play. Karter usually does the puzzles, magnets or cars. He has ventured out to dress up, kitchen play or even blocks. But mainly he does the same thing every time. After free play we sit in our circle and listen to music, read books, bubbles or do parachute play. Karter doesn't usually participate during the songs. He loves to listen to them and he is taking in every single verse and word being sung. But he will not do the hand motions or movements. There's too much of a crowd. After lapsit is over we go check out our books. We usually get 10 books 2 of which HAVE to be Curious George. Karter loves to give the librarian our card and hand her each book. I'm sure they hate this part because it takes for ever. So if the self checkout is available we will use that just so we don't frustrate the poor ladies. After we get to our car Karter usually starts making his song suggestions. He loves to sing AFTER we get in the car or get home but he won't do it there. These songs are his current favorites: 1 little 2 little 3 little bubbles, finger poppin', shake my sillies out and we have to do little mouse little mouse. We do these every day.
On one particular Tuesday, after lapsit, Rachel Soper invited us to go to the Fire Station with her, Luke and Leta. I have been wanting to take Karter but never wanted to go alone. So this was an added bonus for K. He got to see the firemen, firetrucks and hang out with Luke.
Karter loved the firehouse. Mostly he like to run around like a crazy man but he did enjoy sitting in the firetrucks and seeing all of the neat equipment. When we were about ready to leave the firemen handed L, L and K stickers and coloring pages. They also let them take turns shooting water from the hoses. Luke and Leta loved doing that but Karter, Nope he stayed off to the side or tried to run back to the car. He didn't like that part. Karter loved visiting the fire station

Detecting heat. It was a pretty cool toy

Leta wasn't too sure about sitting there for a quick picture

Karter had to do everything Luke did

I love these 3

Karter did not want to spray the water hose. He was perfectly happy with his sticker.

Luke and Leta spraying the water hose

Easter 2011

2011-06-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

We were pretty pumped about Easter this year because he's starting to understand a little more, so we talked about the Easter Story a few days in advance to get ready. I'm sure he had no clue what we were saying but he knew we were talking about Jesus just like we do every other day of the week.
We also got to take him egg hunting for the first time. Last year he was too little and his nap happened to fall right at the same time the egg hunt would. This year we had it a little earlier and put him down for nap a bit later. Before Easter Sunday we took Karter to OC's Annual Egg Hunt. We weren't sure Karter would know what to do so we really didn't have high hopes for him bringing home anything. He proved us wrong though. He knew exactly what to do just as if he had done it a million times before. He brought lots of goodies home to share with Mommy and Daddy.
Easter Sunday we woke K up to show him that he had been visited by the Easter Bunny. He loved all of his gifts and thanked the Bunny over and over that morning. He also wasn't too happy about having to leave his gifts at home to go to church. After church we invited both of our families over for lunch. After lunch we set up our egg hunt in the living room. (It had been raining outside for days). First egg hunt was for Karter. He didn't feel like putting his cup down so he insisted Hailey(my cousins daughter) carry his basket around for him while he put his eggs in it. After he was finished hunting, my mom and Brandon hid Hailey and Ava's eggs.
This Easter I sat and reflected on how much love God has for us as his children. I know as a mommy I would never give Karter up to save someone else. I'm selfish. But He is not. Off to OC's Annual Easter Egg Hunt

First egg hunt

He's got it down

We had a Toy Story Craft theme going.

Waking him up to see what the Bunny left him

Daddy and K before church

Mommy and K before church. The only good shot of us but he's picking his nose. That's life with a boy though.

Spotting the goods

He had a personal basket holder. He wouldn't put his cup down.

Puerto Rico

2011-05-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

In March I got to go on a 4 day trip to Puerto Rico with my friends Rachel Soper and Cindy Sandoval. Rachel turned 30 in February so since she sent her husband and his friends(including Brandon) on a ski trip for his 30th he returned the favor by sending her on a trip. We had an amazing time. We basically did Nothing while we were there. My kind of vacation. We did go site seeing and shopping but mainly we were there to sit on the beach. The beach was right outside our hotel after all. We toured El Morro and walked through downtown Puerto Rico, which I must say is beautiful. The Cathedral was breath taking. We happened to be there on Ash Wednesday and when the Priest sang his voice rang out through the streets. Gorgeous! While we were downtown we stopped at a pizzeria/bakery/bar and had the biggest pizza I have ever seen. Our waiter was something else. Only a story that my girlfriends and our husbands will ever know. =) Every.Single.Night we were there we ate Gellato and I'll tell you that when I got home my scale did not thank me for that. This trip is a memory that I will cherish forever. I had such a great time and I'm sad Rachel doesn't turn 30 every year.
Oh and I have you know this was the first time I had left Karter for more than a few hours. I didn't even cry until we were at the Denver airport on our way home. Brandon told me that they went to Gymboree and Karter loved parachute time and that he told the story that entire night. I was sad I had missed that. The Ocean right outside our hotel

The Beach

This picture does not show how incredibly sunburned I got on our first day there. I was so burned I had purple polka dots on my legs

Our hotel

Hotel Courtyard

El Morro

Rachel and Cindy in the lookout at the fort

The Cathedral

Downtown

A toast to Kyle on our last night in PR

My disgusting swollen sunburned cankles

Snow and Valentines

2011-05-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since my last blog post and I'm sure I have lost my one follower but I did have a good excuse for not updating. Since we live "in the country" (that's what most internet providers think) we had a pretty sorry internet connection using the only internet provider that would even try to give us service. Well after waiting 4 almost 5 long years for COX to get to us they finally did. So we cancelled our "high speed internet" with @link and waited for COX. So now we have real high speed internet and I'm able to sit here and give updates to I'm sure no one but myself.

In the first part of February we had a good sized snow storm hit OK. I'm sure I'm the only one to say this but I hope this trend continues. For the last 2 years we can actually say it snowed here. I loved every minute of it. The first day it hit it was too cold and windy to go out. In fact it was dangerous to be out there for any amount of time. So we waited until the sun came out and for the wind to stop. B got to stay home from work for 3 days due to the conditions. 3 days off work plus the 2 day weekend, we were spoiled. Karter loved watching the snow fall from the front door but as soon as we were out in it he loved it even more. He did have to "warm" up to the idea of it but he quickly did. He didn't want to walk around in the pretty fluffy snow because it was so deep so we let him walk around in the street where it was much more compacted. We enjoyed sledding, painting the snow, making snowballs, making snowmen, shoveling the driveway and watching the kids across the street ski and snowboard off their driveway.

For Valentines Day Karter and Daddy made me flowers. Brandon cut out all 4 flowers and traced Karter's hand print on each one. He used some of my old scrapbooking stickers and decorated them up. Karter colored on a few of them. Then they put on each flower We Love You. B made stems and attached the flowers to them. He pulled out a vase I had put away and had them sitting on the bar along side a VS gift card. It was a great surprise.
Karter and I went to a cupcake shop in town called Cupcakes to Go Go. Everyone had been talking about how wonderful the cupcakes were. So we bought 3 different cupcakes for all of us to share for our special day. Karter had a chocolate chocolate cupcake, B had a peanut butter cup cupcake and I had a red velvet cupcake. I honestly wasn't impressed but it was a nice treat since we don't have cupcakes a lot.
For Brandon gift I made him some chocolate covered strawberries and bought him a pair of tennis shoes. Two of his favorite things. He didn't NEED the shoes at all but they were on sale and he somehow convinced me that he needed a new pair of all black shox's. Getting ready to go outside

All ready to play in the snow

Walking in the street

Snow Painting

Our first family snowman. He's pretty pathetic. I'll invest more time in finding snowman items next time. Carrots didn't do the trick

B and K made me Flowers with K's hand prints on them and stickers. Also B got me a much needed VS Gift card

Brandon's Valentines gift from me. Homemade Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Karter making Valentines cookies. He got "Mess" on his hands then he wanted down and to get a bath. We did not teach this whole Mess thing to him.

I picked up 3 cupcakes from Cupcakes to Go Go for Valentines day. K enjoyed the frosting off of his until he realized he was a MESS.

For my memory

2011-02-17T13:28:00.001-08:00

There are so many things you are doing at 20 months that are so fun and so precious I never want them to leave my mind. So this is all for a memory.

I love the way you say Big. You say it as if you are lifting something SO HEAVY. With a bit of a grunt and holding your breath sort of way. I smile every.time.

We can't pass a Braum's without you thinking you need I Ceeaam. You say I Ceeaam pease pease pease over and over.

Every time we are in the car we have to listen to your "baby music" lately it's been the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Music on Pandora.

You love to put your toothbrush and toothpaste on top of the hangers in my closet.

Your favorite place to go poop in behind my jeans in my closet. I always know what your doing when your back there.

You think you are such a big boy now that you are sitting with us at the table and no longer in your highchair.

The love for your Daddy grows more and more every single day. You must be at his side at all times

You think it's the greatest thing in the world to take showers with your Daddy.

I love that you kiss me after I'm finished singing He's got the whole world in his hands then you'll lay your head back down on my shoulder and say again or more so I have to sing it again. And I do because I want another kiss from you. This sometimes goes on for 5 or 10 minutes.

I love how concerned you get when a baby is crying.

You no longer cry when we leave you in your bible class or B&S class.

And mostly I love that you laugh all the time.

18 Months

2011-01-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

Karter is no longer 18 months but I still need to blog about his check up.
Weight: 28 lbs 2.5 oz-78%
Height: 35 inches-99%
Head 50 cm-95%
Still very tall but is much slimmer. Dr. Prough says he'll be tall and skinny. She said he is on track for everything. She could tell that the "terrible twos" had arrived for him. He wasn't bad or anything just a little strong willed while playing with some of the toys they had there. He is eating SO much better. He learned very quickly that when I cook something for the family that meant he was part of the family and had to eat it too. He has only gone 2 nights without supper since his 15 month apt. He still takes 1 nap a day and they last from 2-3 hours. Every once in a while he'll give me a 4 hour nap.
Karter is a very good boy. He is very busy and loves if you will be busy with him.
He minds very well. And when he doesn't he gets a timeout which last 3 minutes. He doesn't mind timeout. He hardly crys when he is there but he doesn't want to go back. He still doesn't throw a correct tantrum. Which is fine by me. He will gently lay down and stay there quietly until you pay him attention. Which we do not. So he gets up and moves on.
Words that Karter is saying:
Please, More, Snack(Gack), cup (cupacupacupa), shoes, pants, shirt, socks, hat, cold, hot, night night (with a tongue click in the middle of the word), HotDog(Hadog AKA Mickey Mouse), Cheese, Ball, Elmo(Eldo), Uncle (Austin), Joo(Jordan-this is what I call Jordan), Luke, Leta, Rachel, Kyle, Daddy, Mommy(Ma), Keys, Boat, Bus, Car, Truck, Puzzle (Puzzu), Train(Choo Choo), Book, Slide, Where'd it go, What's that, Bye Bye Daddy, Right there, Oh No, Yes, Peach, Door, Wall, Bed, Kiss, Bye Bye, Bike, Rock, Star, Eye, Nose, Teeth,
Karter signs: More, Please, Thank You, All Done, Milk, Drink, Bite,
He recognizes: the letter "o", the color blue and the number 2
He can put together puzzles so well, Loves to match things, Line things up, Color, Play with stickers,
Newest love is taking showers with Daddy. Basically Karter loves doing anything his daddy is doing.

He takes his jammies off in the mornings before I come get him. I don't mind it as long as he's in his crib still. It hasn't occurred to him that he is able to climb out.

He wants to eat non stop.

Loves walking around in our shoes

And thinks wearing Daddy's hats is SO much fun.

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2010

2011-01-19T13:39:00.001-08:00

This will be an all holiday post. Since I'm incredibly behind in blogging.
Thanksgiving was at our house again this year. We find that it works best for Karter's schedule. Yes I have Karter on a very strict and don't like to deviate from it often. This year we offered to provide the turkey, ham (from honey baked ham I might add), mashed potatoes and apple pies. Austin was here to help with all of the cooking and Brandon was to keep Karter entertained while I cleaned. It was a great day. Karter enjoyed all of the yummy food but mostly we discovered the kid can put away some ham. We had lunch at 12:30 and Karter was down for a long nap by 1:15. Not too much of his schedule. Just the way I like it. Thanksgiving morning

Look mommy it's Santa

Helping mommy put up the Pretty Christmas tree

Putting his new ornament on the tree

Elmo ornament from Grandma

Christmas was CRAZY. We went to Welch on Dec 16th to spend a few days with Grandad and Meme. When we got there Meme had come down with a stomach bug the day before. We tried extra hard to stay out of her hair so she could rest. Then Grandad came down with the bug the next day. The very day our family Christmas was planned. So the celebration was moved to Brandon's aunt Vaughn's house. Which worked out perfectly except the fact that the two most important people weren't able to be there. We all had a great time but missed them a lot. That night Brandon and I decided we'd go ahead and make our way home. We knew Grandad and Meme need time to rest and recover and not worry about having to take care of company. So our trip to Welch was a VERY QUICK TRIP. We have plans to get out there this summer so Karter can spend some time with everyone out there and maybe take a ride on a tractor. If he's lucky.

By the way Brandon, Karter and I escaped the stomach bug that almost everyone caught.

Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Brandon's family. We went over right after Karter's nap. She had a great dinner made for us. We ate, opened gifts, visited with friends and went to see Christmas in the Park (Christmas Lights at the Yukon Park) Karter loved seeing the lights.

Eating a picnic supper with cousins

Gift from Grandad and Meme

Brandon's Family

Some of the girl cousins

Standing on my new stool from Grandad and Meme

Playing with his 4 wheeler

Our only picture together

Christmas morning I made our traditional Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls. I plan to do this every year until I can no longer get in the kitchen to do so. While they were baking we went in to get a very sleepy Karter. I think we were more excited than he was. I'm pretty sure this won't be the case next year. He walked into the living room to see what Santa had left him.

Santa must have decided Karter was a very good boy to bring him such a nice gift. We agree with him. He is a very good boy. Karter got into opening the gifts and had a blast doing so.

After eating a very yummy breakfast we played with new toys until it was time to eat lunch and take a nap. That afternoon we went to my aunts house for my family Christmas. We ate dinner, played Funglish and opened gifts.

We had a excellent Christmas and felt incredibly blessed to be with both sides of our families again this year.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Sleepy Boy

It's so bright

Santa has been here

My new activity table

Ha Dog pajamas AKA Mickey Mouse

He hugged every gift before he opened them

I love my drum set

Shakey Shakey

I've got the hang of this

Thomas the Train

Playing with Thomas and Spencer

Elmo slippers

Opening his Stocking

Homemade Cinnamon rolls. Our Family Christmas tradition

Trying cinnamon rolls for the first time

What a Busy Month

2010-12-02T11:49:00.001-08:00

Wow October brought so much excitement to our family. Karter was so young last year we didn't do much and I still felt like we did a lot. But this year Oh MY! It first started with the Orr Family Farm pumpkin patch. I still don't have pictures from that so it'll have to be a later post. Then it was Memorial Road's Trunk or Treat celebration. I had no idea this actually meant decorating the trunk or you car (I thought that was pretty cool). We dressed Karter as "Eldo" aka Elmo. Not my first choice on a costume but Karter loved it. We went from car to car collecting one piece of candy. Karter thought this was great. However we are going to have to coach him next year on the "correct" pieces of candy to grab.
Karter checking out the goods Waiting in line

Daddy teaching him the snickers are the way to go

I couldn't resist. I love that little fury toosh

Helping himself
Our next event was the Story Book Forest. We had lots of friends go last year and every one of them told us it had to be on our list of things to do with Karter this year. I must say Arcadia Lake recreated the nursery rhymes very well. They had the Three little pigs, Pinocchio, Rapunzel and many other stories. We went around to each of the stories and grabbed a piece of candy. Karter wouldn't stay still long enough for me to read the excepts from the stories. He could have cared less. He was there for the sugar. After the trail had ended we took him on a short little hayride where Karter let us and the other riders know he was DONE. It was time for bed.

About to go through the forest

Us at Story Book Forest

Karter hated Pinocchio

But he loved the three little pigs. We could've stayed there all night.
The next thing we did was dress up for Body&Soul. Rachel made goodie bags and "dirt" for the kids for Halloween. Karter loved everything in his goodie bag especially the stickers(we are really into stickers these days) He also loved the dirt. According to Luke, Karter had dirt EVERYWHERE. I later found out that Luke was helping Karter by feeding it to him. He's a big helper that Luke.

Karter and I at B&S

We carved our pumpkin.

Karter only helped long enough to cut the top off and get two scoops of seeds and he was finished. He'd rather play with daddy

He's not one for getting his hands dirty.
The last thing we did was take Karter trick or treating. Our neighborhood is too small and the houses are too far apart for trick or treating so the Soper's asked if we'd like to join them since they are in the same boat we are. So us and the Soper's went to supper at Panera (where Leta kept trying to take Brandon's bowl and would give him the best scowl I've ever seen because he wouldn't let her have it) and then to a near by neighborhood for a night of goodie gathering. Karter would let Luke go up to the door and get his piece of candy and then he'd walk off. He thought that was plenty of fun. But don't worry we'd collect for him.

Luke the cutest Toddler Monkey (because Karter was the cutest baby Monkey last year) and Leta by far the cutest banana I'd ever seen. And Eldo. Oh Rachel and Brandon are cute too.

Karter getting his candy

We ended October with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. I don't think there is a better way to end such a busy month.

About Dad and Mom

2010-10-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, Brandon and I actually do things for ourselves once in a while. Brandon started rowing for OG&E corporate rowing team in the spring of 2010. They have two regatta's a year. The first regatta was in June where they placed 2nd and the last one they just had was Oct. 8 where they placed 3rd. They were mere seconds behind boats one and two. They rowed a 1.51 this time. They do their practices on Friday nights, which I am not a fan of due to him being away during the evening. But other than that Brandon and I love it. OKC is building a bunch of new things on the river so it's actually become a really neat place to go and enjoy. I'm so proud of Brandon and his new hobby.
He is also going to be starting on a basketball league this winter while rowing in on a break.

As for me I have been working out with Body and Soul for over a year. I am so passionate about this group of women I get to go worship with and workout with. Everyone is so encouraging and uplifting. I don't know what I would do without it. I workout M/W/F from 9:15-10:15. My instructor approached me early this summer about auditioning to be and instructor. I told her I'd have to do a lot of praying about it. I am not naturally a leader or so I think anyways. Well she approached me again about a starting a class at the church I attend. So after talking to a few people and praying extra hard about it I finally decided it was the right thing for me and our family to do. So after submitting an application, having an hour long phone interview and a "video interview" I was excepted. I am now a Body and Soul instructor. My class will start on January 18th on T/F from +:45-10:45. I was just CPR certified and now I have to start studying for my ACE exam that I'll take in a year. (Never too early to start studying right?)

I am SO excited about the group of women I'll be working with. I can't wait to see where God takes this class and how many doors will be opened up for so many people. I can't wait to see Him work through this ministry. That's what's been happening with us along with work, managing a house and keeping up with a very very busy toddler.

Here is a link to the Body and Soul blog

http://www.okiepower.com/

Big Score

2010-09-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

This year for consignment sale we did things a little differently. You see the last 2 consignment sales I have brought all the goodies home to show Brandon. I get so excited to show off all the great deals I had found, however; B doesn't share the same excitement. He doesn't like what I bought. Usually saying something like "it looks too worn" or "it looks like it's been washed a thousand times" So after hearing this one too many times I decided he was going with me. B really does like to shop so he wasn't uncomfortable going at all. Once we got there I noticed lots of men there shopping with their wives. So he wasn't alone.
We found so many great things. The one thing I noticed was Brandon's budget was way bigger than mine usually was. So of course we got some great stuff. I really like going with him so we may make this a twice a year tradition.
Here's the loot.
6 pairs of jeans
2 jackets
1 pair of pajamas
5 shirts
5 outfits
2 pairs of pants
1 sweatshirt
1 pair of boots
all for $161 This isn't his entire winter wardrobe. We still have a few more things to get to get him through "the not so cold" cold months.

God Gave Me You

2010-09-04T04:32:00.000-07:00

I've been a walking heartache.
I've made a mess of me
The person that I've been lately
Ain't who I wanna be.
But you stay here right beside me
Watch as the storm goes through
And I need You
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I've lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you.
There's more here than what were seeing
A divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely
Could somehow fall for me
You'll always be love's great martyr
I'll be the flattered fool
and I need you
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I've lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you
On my own I'm only
Half of what I could be
I can't do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I could baby, never undo
God gave me you, God gave me you, God gave me you.
I love you Brandon Hayes. You are my best friend and the best Daddy to Karter. Thank you for the last 5 years of marriage. Here's to 55 more.

recreation of our wedding cake. (top tier only)

My beautiful flowers

I Love You Through and Through

2010-08-26T11:17:00.001-07:00

This has become one of our favorite books. We read it every night and many times throughout the day.
I love you through and through. I love your top side.

I love your bottom side.

I love your inside

and outside

I love your happy side,

your sad side,

your silly side,

your mad side.

I love your fingers

and toes,

your ears and nose

I love your hair and eyes,

your giggles

and cries.

I love you running

and walking,

silent

and talking.

I love you through and through......

yesterday today and tomorrow, too.

Learning everyday

2010-08-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to jot down some of the things Karter is doing these days. He is now 14 months old and saying and doing so much.
Some things Karter loves are:
Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, hot dogs, grapes, strawberries, watermelon, M&M's (thanks Brandon), milk, water, water bottles, shoes (anyone's shoes), hats, Elmo (he doesn't watch tv he only knows Elmo from his books and the song I sing when we spot Elmo), going bye-bye, dogs from afar, horses and cows, riding on the 4-wheeler with daddy every night, snacks, eating with a fork by himself, his "I can push or pull" (his baby 4-wheeler; he knows it by the song it sings), any ball, pulling things out of the bathroom cabinets, throwing things in the trash that aren't supposed to go in the trash, going outside, vacuuming, sweeping, putting wet clothes in the dryer.

Some things Karter does not like:
getting his diaper changed, getting swats for not obeying Mommy, walking in the grass(but this has changed in the last few days), touching sand, swimming, meeting new people, taking food from anyone other than Mommy sometimes Daddy, Mommy leaving a room, Mommy cooking or even being in the kitchen at all, Daddy going outside without him, loud noises, veggies,

Karter does or says:
dog, Mama, Daddy, Ball (for anything that is circle. We are working on that), boat, book, wall, door, Where'd it go, water bottle, plays basketball outside with daddy can drop ball in hoop, I got him to say "No More Football" 2 times

He can sign: all done, please and more

He follows simple commands such as:
go get your shoes, take one more bite/drink, let's go change your stinky(go to your changing table), time for night night (get in mommy's lap for snack,book and milk), lets go bye-bye(go to laundry room and wait by the door), get the ball, Karter's first Popsicle

He loved it

Playing in the sprinkler. On the sidewalk because he will not step in the grass

Waiting for daddy to get his I can push or pull (4 wheeler)

His newest pose. We call it his down hill skiing pose

Going to Houston

2010-08-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

The last week of July we took Karter down to Houston to see Aunt Bridgey. We packed up our little rent car and took off. I was worried about how Karter would do on this trip. This was his first LONG trip after all. He did really well. I took everything you could imagine. Books, cars, dvd's, cd's and lots of food. Karter took 2 really short naps on the way down there. About 45 minutes both times. It's better than nothing I suppose. His last nap was right as we were getting into Houston so it was cut short due to us arriving at Bridgey's house. Bridget was such a gracious host. She made us dinner ( and an oh so yummy birthday cake ) that night so we wouldn't have to get back in the car after our long trip. After supper we went to a near by outlet mall. We did a little shopping then went home to get some sleep. The next morning after a delicious breakfast we went to the Houston Zoo. Oh my goodness it was SO hot. I hate Houston's weather. No Fun At All! But the zoo was lots of fun and Karter had a great time seeing all kinds of animals. He's really into animals these days. After the zoo we went to an amazing restaurant called Pappadeaux's. Oh.My.Word. The best seafood. After supper we went home, had showers, put K down to sleep and watched a movie. The next day, our last full day there, we went to the Kemah boardwalk where we rode a carousal and Ferris wheel. I had been wanting to take Karter on a carousel for a while. He like it a lot. And when it was over he was trying to rock the zebra to make it go again. Too Cute. He didn't know what to think about the Ferris wheel. He held onto the sides until it was stopped. After the boardwalk we went to Galveston to see the ocean and put Karters feet in the sand. As I suspected he hated the sand. He won't even walk in the grass. Every time we'd put his feet down he'd cry to be picked back up or put on the blanket. He got used to the water and didn't mind it when we would go deeper. That afternoon we went to see Kyla's family who lives in Galveston. We visited with them for about an hour before we headed back home. We had a lot of fun in Houston and plan to make it an annual family trip. We miss Aunt Bridgey and wished she lived closer so we could see her more often. Karters first sucker. He knew just what to do.

That was all of the show?

This cracked us up. He thought daddy was going to put him down with the goats so he wrapped his arm around Brandon's neck.

I'll push Aunt Bridgey

He couldn't get enough water. It was HOT!

Kemah Boardwalk

My first Carousal ride

Daddy what are we doing?

Aunt Bridgey why are we stopped?

Kemah Boardwalk

Love Karter's smile. Aunt Bridgey is fun

oooooooo......

We made it to the beach. Finally

I don't know about this guys.

Aunt Bridgey help me.

I don't like all this sand.

My new toy Bridgey bought me.

Way too cute.

July 4th

2010-08-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

We did a lot of celebrating for the 4th this year. We took Karter to Freedom and Faith Festival at Quail Springs CoC. Karter got in his first moon walk and did a small hayride. He was unsure about all of it. But I'm pretty certain that next year he will be excited about it all. Let's hope anyways. I took Karter to White Water for the first time. White Water is a really over priced water park in OKC. He loved walking around in the kiddie pool area and met a few friends who shared their toys with him. This was also his first set of boo-boos. He took a nice tumble in the pool (don't worry I was right there next to him so he didn't stay under water) and scuffed up his little chin and cheek. Oh the joys of having a walking child. =)

Daddy and Karter took me to Teds for my birthday and also bought me an ice cream cake. Mint Chocolate Chip my favorite. My boys love me.

Edmond, the town we live in, has a fourth of July parade every year. We took Karter on that very cloudy and rainy morning. We had SO much fun. Karter loved seeing the horses and and three wheelers. He was not happy when the three wheelers left without giving him a ride. He had a nice little cry about that. Brandon and I decided we would make that a family tradition from now.

Just a cute picture of our little man.

Karter turns ONE!

2010-07-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

June 5, 2010 Karter has been here an entire year. I CAN'T believe it. This was the fastest year ever.
I had been planning Karter's 1st birthday for a few months. I decided on doing the theme of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" Karter loves this book. I handmade 25 invitations in March and sent them out early May. Basically I handmade everything but his birthday shirt. I bought that on my favorite website Etsy. I think every part of his birthday turned out perfect except two things. The butter cream icing and not getting any of it on video. The butter cream melted on every cupcake. It was the very first day of the year to be over 100 degrees. So my icing did not want to cooperate with me. After making over 50 cupcakes and icing all of them I didn't care what they looked like. As long as they tasted good.
I had every intention of recording Karter's big day. I had the camera out and charging. It was all ready I just didn't have anyone grab it and record. Can't do much about it now.
We had about 40 people over to celebrate with us. I originally wanted a small party. Nothing huge and over the top. But once you invite one person you have to invite another and another. SO I decided this would be the year we invite anyone who took our long journey to parenthood and who had enjoyed his first year of life with us. Next year we will do a much smaller party for him. All in all I think he had a great day and everything came together perfectly. I did not cry only because there was so much going on but at the end of the day when all the guests had left and Karter had gone to bed, I sat in my living room (mess and all) and thought about how blessed we have been over the last year. Karter amazes me every.single.day and I love him so very much.
Birthday invitations and Party Hat
Party Hat

12 Month Check-Up

2010-07-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since my last post and so much has happened in a month. First off was Karter's well baby. Dr. Prough couldn't believe how much he had changed since the last time we saw her. (9 month checkup) I had been dreading this visit for awhile. I knew he was getting three immunizations and blood drawn. It was rough and I felt terrible for him. He had a hard time for the next few days after that. During the visit with the Dr. we talked about his eating, walking, playing and sleeping. Pretty much everything he does during the day. She said he looked perfect and was right on track. Here are his stats for one year.
Weight: 24 lbs. 7 oz. -90%
Height: 2 ft. 7.5 inches-97%
Head: 19 inches-95%
He is still a tall boy but slowing down on his weight gain. Which is fine since he is now walking. Also since he has started walking he has slimmed way down. He's not near as chubby as he once was. It's so sad.
For Karter's birthday Brandon and I wanted to get him a swing. He LOVES swinging so totally appropriate. We also wanted to have a kiddie pool set up for his party so we bought one and set it up early so he could get used to it. It took a few times and me getting in with him to really get into the whole "swimming" thing.

Karter swinging in his birthday swing for the first time.
Playing in his baby pool

Drinking the water

One morning I went in to get Karter from his bed (with camera in hand, which I never do) and this is what I walked in on. Him with no pants on and with one sock off. We did not put him to bed this way.

Showing off his blocks.

Look who's walking

2010-05-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Trip to the zoo

2010-05-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

B and I had been talking about taking K to the zoo for weeks. I knew I wanted to go before it got too hot and B knew he wanted to go for K's first time there. So we decided to take him on May 21st. It was extremely humid and hot but we just had to do it. I hadn't been to the zoo since I was in elementary. It was so nice. I had forgotten how much fun it was. They built a new area for the children. It included a petting zoo, splash pad and a bird feeding area. It was so neat to be hands on with some of the animals. Karter did not think so. He hated touching the goats. He didn't even want to sit by one. The splash pad was way too crowded with crazy kids every where. The birds, however, he did not mind one bit. He loved seeing them fly around his stroller and being sprayed with the water hose. After we left there we went and had lunch in a cool building. It was so nice to sit and get cool. We then headed to see the snakes, turtles and spiders. K didn't have a clue what he was looking at. He needs animals that are large and move. So we took him to the bears and monkeys. He thought they were pretty great. Especially the monkey's. We could've spent the entire afternoon in there and skipped everything else and K would've been happy. He loved pressing up against the glass with his face to get pretty close to the monkey. He would put his hand where the monkey's hand was and laugh. B and I thought this was pretty fun to see. Next we went to see the giraffes. K had fallen asleep (we were WAY past his nap time after all) so we decided to call it a day and head home. I think it was a great first trip to the zoo. I can't wait to take him back when he is just a bit older so he can really see all the animals both big and small. Pretty excited to leave

Are we going yet mama?

" Yes we are finally here"

Not really enjoying the goats much

"Could you move please?"

Looking at the birds flying around

That bear has pretty big feet

Loving the monkey and all his tricks

Some Bunny Loves Me

2010-05-17T11:04:00.001-07:00

Karter had no idea that Easter was any different than any other day in his little life. We woke him up and showed him his basket of goodies that the Easter Bunny had left for him. I tell you this bunny loves some baby Karter. He got a puzzle, two puppets for story time, a bubble gun, two hot wheels cars and some baby cookies for snack time. Karter LOVES his new cars and plays with them everyday.
This year we decided to host Easter at out house. With Karter's schedule we figured this would work out best for him and I. And it did. Karter stuck to his normal schedule while everyone else visited and hunted for eggs. We may have to do this with most holidays until Karter stops napping.
I'll post our Easter family photos as soon as Austin finishes editing them. Until then here are a few from Easter morning

Daily Schedules

2010-04-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is a boring post so for those of you only here for Karter updates..this isn't one of them. So you may spare yourselves.
So after talking to a few people (Rachel Soper and Rheanon Short) and reading a few blogs I have decided to do a daily schedule with Karter. I am really excited about this. I know what we are doing all day long (other than playing of coarse) so I feel I have accomplished something. If we aren't exactly to a T on timing I'm not gonna beat myself up about it, but we try to stay within a few minutes of the allotted time. I'm sure as Karter gets older a few of these will change. Here is what we do so far.
8:00 Mommy wakes up and gets ready for the day
8:30 Wake Karter up both eat breakfast
9:00 Get Karter dressed both brush teeth
9:15 Mommy cleans up breakfast mess
9:30 Mommy makes bed; straighten room (Karter in room to help)
10 Bible time (story, songs, short DVD)
10:30 Play time in living room with Karter
11 Karter's first nap; Mommy starts daily chores (see cleaning schedule)
12:30 Karter up from nap; both eat lunch
1 Karter play in living room; Mommy clean up from lunch
1:30 Outside play (weather permitting)
2 Structured play (bubbles, play dough, reading)
3 Karter's 2nd nap; Mommy finishes chores, free time for Mommy
4:30 Karter up from nap has small snack; Mommy starts supper
5:30 Supper for family
6 Play time with Daddy; Mommy cleans up supper mess, makes Daddy's lunch for next day
6:30-7 Family Walk, Family time
7:30 Bath for Karter; Devotionals, prayer
8:00 Bed time for Karter

Cleaning Schedule
Monday: Clean Kitchen, run dishwasher, Bathrooms
Tuesday: sweep, mop, vacuum, dust
Weds: Windows, Refrigerator clean out
Thurs: Laundry, put clothes away
Friday: Project day
Saturday-Sunday free days
Everyday: Sweep under Karter's chair, Clean highchair, Make beds
Once a month: baseboards, blinds, outside windows, pick weeds out of flower beds

If you have suggestions please feel free to comment.

My Ride

2010-04-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

If anyone knows Brandon at all you know that he is obsessed about his cars. In fact his cars have been his babies up until Karter was born. This is his #1 baby. He has had this car for over 10 years now. It sits in the garage most of the time; and occasionally gets pulled out just to have a bath. I tell him he needs to sell it back to the original owners because it has become the money pit. He insists on keeping it for Karter's first car. Daddy telling Karter to help him wash the car if he is gonna drive it one day

Okay daddy I helped now do I get to drive?

A few more years buddy.

The Park

2010-04-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Since the weather started getting nice and Brandon was off work we thought we'd take a quick trip to the park before Karter's nap. I thought maybe he'd like the swings and the slide...man I was right. He had a blast. This was really the first time he got to "play" outside. Brandon and I decided we may need to make this a weekly thing. We might even give in a buy a swing set someday in the future. Here are a few pictures of our fun afternoon. Karter on his way to the park. He looks excited doesn't he?

Lovin' the swings. He really loved swinging next to someone.

He didn't care too much for this and neither did I. No seat belt to keep him in. He slipped right out and into my arms.

He didn't like going down the slide as much as I thought he would. We got no reaction.

He played so hard that his nap came 30 minutes early.

It was a successful trip I'd say.

9 month well baby

2010-03-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Karter turned 9 months old on March 5th. Tricks Karter is doing at this age.
He crawls very fast. He can be out of sight at the blink of an eye.
Pulling up and cruising along everything he can.
Touching the curtains, blinds, fireplace, fireplace poker set and toilet all which he is supposed to keep his chubby little hands off of.
He sucks in his bottom lip and sometimes will flash a fishy face at you.
Loves to fly in the air and do flips with daddy.
Going outside for any reason. (Checking the mail, find daddy or going on walks)
He loves to put any and all things in his mouth.
He has gotten very independent with his eating. He has to do it himself. His doctor says this is fine and to let him do it as often as possible. Even though I worry he isn't eating enough.
Drinking out of straws.
Staying home. He LOVES to be at his own house. He is so different when he's not home.
Sleeping all night long. Sleeps all naps in his bed.
He is such a happy boy and we count our many many blessings daily for him. I love every.single.day with him.
His 9 month stats are:
Weight: 22 lbs. 6 oz. 90%
Height: 31 1/4 inches 97%
Head: 47 cm 95%
Showing how he stands
against any object

Baby Heaven

crawling through his tunnel

Brush our Teeeef

2010-03-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

In February Brandon and I went to the dentist for our 6 month checkup. I asked our dentist about brushing Karter's teeth. She said we could at any time. (Many of you know how obsessed I am with brushing and flossing my teeth) So that day I went to walmart to get his very own tooth brush and tooth paste. We did our normal bedtime routine but this time we added in teeth brushing with a song and all. Karter loved it and still loves it. I just hope this continues for the rest of his life. I tell him often he has to take better care of his teeth than his daddy does.

Our moving baby

2010-02-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

Karter stared crawling, pulling up and cruising all in one day. He decided one day that it was time I guess. He was 7 months old. He is an old pro at it now. He loves being mobile. I thought all along our house was pretty baby proof. Well Karter proved me wrong. We spend a good part of our day saying "no, no" and redirecting. But we love watching him explore new places. Karter in his big boy carseat

I can crawl

I go where ever I want to.

First Haircut

2010-02-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

Daddy insisted we get Karter's haircut on Jan 8. I didn't want to because that meant he was a big boy. I wanted to wait until he was 1. BUT we made a deal. Karter's car seat goes in backwards until he is 1 like the law says and B can get Karter's hair trimmed. So we made an appointment with Nana (my mom). Karter did really well. B sat in the chair with Karter. Nana put his little cape on and spritzed his hair with water. Karter blinked his eyes alot and tried to lick nana's hand. With every little snip I was right there with my little baggy in hand waiting for the tiny blonde lock to fall in. I think I caught almost every lock that fell from his head. I had to make sure I had enough. Once nana was done she took her gel and made him a little style. First with the front sticking up then a little baby mohawk. We decided to keep the mohawk. It was too cute. After we were done I admitted to B that K really did need that cut and he did look much better. BUT he did look like a big boy. *TEAR*
These pictures are backwards Baby Mohawk

Spiked in the front

Not too sure about it all

He loved his cape

Look how long his bangs were.

Winter Blast 2009

2010-02-24T10:08:00.001-08:00

This year we had a huge snow storm. Our news crews called it the Winter blast 2009. We thought they were exagerating on this storm as they usually do. Well they were right this time. It actually was worse than they had antisipated. We had a total of 15 inches. We thought it was pretty great. We told Karter he was a good luck charm because we hadn't seen this much snow in lots of years. I hope we can see a white Christmas every year. Karter all bundeled up to sit in the snow

He looks so tiny.

I don't think he cared being out there. He didn't like the sun beaming against the snow and into his eyes

Karter and Daddy looking out the door at the snow falling. We did this many times through the day.

Our Creek

So pretty

B ventured out on the 4-wheeler for some fun

Christmas 2009

2010-02-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, Karter's first Christmas, we were VERY busy. We took a trip to see Grandad and Meme and all our Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that hadn't seen K man yet. We did a big family Christmas at the house. When I say big I mean HUGE there were 40 people in one house. It was so much fun. Karter was a little over stimulated and woke up every 2 hours on that trip, but it was worth it. We traveled home only to leave the next day for Kansas for Karter's Great Great Grandma's funeral. She was a very special lady and I'm sad that Karter didn't get to know her the way I did. But she got to love on him for a few short months and that means the world to me.
Christmas morning we celebrated at home with our little family of Three. I LOVED it. This is how it'll be every Christmas. I made homemade cinnamon rolls and we opened our gifts and enjoyed our time together. Did I mention that we had a white Christmas? First white Christmas in years.
That night we braved the icy roads and traveled to Yukon to see Brandon's parents. We had a yummy supper and opened our gifts there. We called it an early night and headed home before dark. The following day we went to my Aunts house where we did Christmas with my family. We had a great supper followed by lots of gifts.
Karter was hugely blessed. He got lots of clothes(much needed), toys and books.
I'd say this was a GREAT 1st Christmas for the big guy. the first time he got on all fours and rocked back and forth

K's new 4 wheeler Daddy bought him

So many flashes that this is the face we got from K.

The great grandbabies. All but 2. And 2 that hadn't made it into the picture yet.

K's rubber duckie from Grandad and Meme. We play with it durning bath time every night

K opening his gift from Mommy and Daddy. A "Jesus Loves Karter" puzzle.

I love my new book

Aunt Bridgey bought my first basketball goal.

I think he got the hang of opening gifts by the end of Christmas

Take a little trip

2010-01-05T10:55:00.001-08:00

On Dec. 18th we took a trip to Welch, TX. to visit family. Karter did SO good. I was really nervous about this trip. He hadn't been in the car for longer than 3 hours at a time without getting out to eat. I sat in the back with him there and back and it made a huge difference. He was such a good boy. He took his bottle like a pro and slept really well. When we got there he was so beyond ready to get out of the car. I just knew we'd pay for him being so great going down. I was wrong he did great on the way back too. Just proves yet again I have a pretty terrific kid.

First Thanksgiving

2009-12-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

This post is backwards but it's being recorded for my memory anyways so it's okay.
Karter's first Thanksgiving was great. Brandon and I had talked about having everyone come over to our house since it would be easier for Karter. I told him we may regret this decision later but it really ended up being a great idea. Karter really does best when he is in his environment.
So we started inviting everyone over and they all thought it was a great idea too. Just about everyone had something to do the next day or just didn't feeling like hosting it again for the 1000nth time. So I made the turkey (the first one I've ever cooked) and it turned out pretty good. I was so Thankful for my brother for being here to help me cook. He did great and he had a fun time too. We had just about everyone bring a dish so we weren't doing it all.
List of the party people:
B, Me, Karter, Mom, Jody, Brittney, Austin, Jordan, Ava, Gracyn, Doug, Grandma, Chris, Debbie and Bridget.
Pretty full house. Most memorable moment was when Ava was in our room watching a movie and I was feeding Karter she said Aunt Shanna why do you always have new stuff in your room? All you ever want to do is "Change" "Change" "Change"
Then while playing scategories we were to list a famous person starting with the letter S
Ava yells out Strawberry Shortcake.

6 Month Checkup

2009-12-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

December 7th I took Karter to his 6 month checkup. Dr. Prough said once again what a big baby he is. This appointment we went over his developmental skills (his 4 page checklist) He is hitting pretty much all of his developmental milestones. I was a pretty proud mama while checking off one by one. His weight and height have slowed down some. Dr. Prough says most babies slow down in growing around 3 or 4 months Karter needed a few more months to do this.

Here are his measurements for 6 months:

Weight: 19 lbs. 2.5 oz. 90%

Height: 28 1/2 inches 97%

Head: 45 cm. 90%

Can I just say I love having a big ole boy. Well other than the fact he is growing out of clothes like crazy.

We also talked about when to start giving him meats and other foods. She said we could start this around 7 1/2 months. She also told me to go ahead and start feeding him 3 times a day.

I am still nursing him like he was a new born (every 3 -3.5 hours)

And the big discussion came next "IS HE SLEEPING ALL NIGHT YET?" The answer "NO"

Karter gets his last night feeding at 9. He is up again at 2 and then again at 5. She says to go ahead and let him cry it at the 2 a.m. but feed him at 5. I'm not ready for this yet. I probably will start this when he turns 7 or 8 months. I don't mind feeding him at night but I'm sure I'll get there soon enough.

Karter still takes terrible naps. We are working on him sleeping in his crib but he will only do this for about 30 minutes or so. Guess it's better than nothing.

Some things Karter likes and is doing:

He loves to jump. Thank you to Kyle and Rachel for letting us borrow your jumper. He loves it.

Swinging his rings back and forth

Throws balls

Rolling everywhere

Eating Sweet Potatoes, Yogurt, Squash, Carrots, Peas, Green beans, Pears with Cinnamon and Applesauce

Reading books

Taking baths

Sitting baby

2009-11-30T11:12:00.002-08:00

Karter has started sitting up this month. Since November 20th he started sitting up on his own without support. Every once in a while he will lean to one side and get off balance. Can someone tell me where my infant has gone?

sitting baby

2009-11-30T11:12:00.001-08:00

Two Teefers

2009-11-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

On November 8th Karter got his two bottom teeth. They both came in around the same time. He had been drooling for a month or so. His Dr. said he probably wouldn't get them until he was around 6 to 9 months. He got them a little before that. 5 1/2 months to be exact. He wasn't too fussy but his sleep changed for sure. I think he's working on his top two now. The drooling has begun again.

So Thankful

2009-11-30T10:28:00.001-08:00

This year I have SO much to be Thankful for.
First off I am so Grateful to God for everything. He has given me my little family of 3 that I've wanted for SO long. I thank him daily for that. I'm Thankful that God provides us with SO much. He protects us, He loves us and that He gave his Son to die for us. As I have my own son now I think about all that He gave up. I know I wouldn't give up my son for anything. This Thanksgiving I'm so Thankful to Him.
Second I'm thankful for these two faces. Brandon is everything to me. He works so hard so that I am able to stay home and take care of our son. He provides so much for us. I can't ever Thank him enough for that. I'm Thankful that he is a great husband who loves me and comes home to me every night. He takes such good care of me.
I am Thankful that he loves our son so much. I love seeing them together. It melts my heart every time
And last but certainly not least. I am SO SO SO Thankful for Karter. He is my little piece of Heaven. I prayed so hard for this little boy. He is perfect in every way. I'm Thankful that he is healthy and he is happy and that God sent him here to Brandon and I.
So this Thanksgiving has brought on a whole new set of Thankfulness.
I hope you to have lots to be Thankful for this year and years to come.

Karter's First Halloween

2009-11-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

For Halloween we dressed Karter up as our Chunky Monkey. I think he was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. Lots of people gushed about how cute he was. We went to our church for their annual Knock Knock Knight. We had lots of fun. They had chili and lots of goodies. Then the kids got to go around to all the classrooms and collect candy. The doors to the classrooms had been decorated so cute. Our personal favorite was the swine flu door. The first door we stopped at the person was dressed as Michael Jackson. Karter wasn't too impressed. He looked at her and turned back to me and started crying. We thought it was pretty funny. After wandering through the halls collecting our goodies we took our overly tired baby home to inspect all his loot. Daddy and I have enjoyed his candy for many weeks now. He made out pretty good I'd say. The following night we carved Karter's little pumpkin. I carved it with a "K" in it. After all it is HIS pumpkin. I'd say this year was a great first Halloween for all three of us. Next year we'll take Karter to the pumpkin patch to see all the animals and he can pick out the pumpkin he wants. Then we'll go trick-or-treating in a neighborhood near by. I'm sure Daddy and I won't have a problem inspecting all that candy he gets then too.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

2009-11-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

On October 20th Karter decided it was time to roll over. Now let me tell you Brandon and I have been working on him rolling over for about a month. That morning I had my good friend Amanda come over with her new little girl Kambri. Karter sees her and decides he will show off. He rolls over as soon as Amanda puts her in his view. Brandon and I think we may be in trouble when he's older if he's already showing off for the girls. Here's a picture of him rolling over for the first time.

Just for laughs

2009-10-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

So I went into Walmart to get a few things (candy corn kisses, Karters first pumpkin and teething tablets) I went to the pharmisist and asked if she could show me where the teething tablets were. She pointed to the lady in front of her (another pharmisist) and said
1st lady: "teething tablets "
2nd lady: "for what"
1st lady: "for teeth"
2nd lady: "No DUH!"
2nd lady (looking at me) says: "Are they for you or the baby"
Me.....(not saying this but wanting to) I think I have all my teeth
I got the biggest laugh out of that. I think I laughed all afternoon

Just thought I'd share

Big Changes

2009-10-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Karter had his first "real meal" on Friday October 9th. We started him on organic rice cereal. We talked it up to him, like he knew what we were saying anyways. So after I nursed him we put him in his highchair, which we do every night during dinner, to give him his first taste. He loved it. He kept lunging at the spoon almost gagging himself in the process. I did the recommended 3 Tbsp. and he ate almost all of it. It was like he knew what to do the entire time. After the first bite he blinks really fast and alot. I have video and will try to post it if I can figure it out.
Also on the very same day we started cereal we decided we would try him out in his own room for the very first time. He has slept in his pack n play every night right by my side for the last 4 1/2 months. I was so nervous and kept asking Brandon if he was sure it was time. He was. I was too I was just scared. Karter cried a little bit so we went in his room to put his pacifier in his mouth and comfort him. After about 10 minutes he started crying again. I was about to get out of bed to repeat this step but Brandon said we'll try letting him cry it out. Thankfully B had the monitor on his side of the bed so I turned away from it and started crying. This lasted all of 15 minutes before he was out. I on the other hand took an hour to finally go to sleep because of the crying I did. I was too upset to sleep. I tell you Karter sleeps like a champ in his bed. I think he needed to be in his room and in his bed for good sleep. If I would've known it would only take 15 minutes of tears to get some good sleep for all of us...I would've done it a long time ago. Karter still wakes up at 3 to eat and then again at 6 but this was big progress for us. His Dr. says I can let him go all night without eating at 6 months. Hopefully he'll do it on his own and we won't have to make him cry it out again.

4 Months Old

2009-10-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Karter had his 4 month apt. on October 5th. The first thing Dr. Prough said was "Oh my Karter You're a real big boy" then she laughed. I get this alot. We went over the things he should be doing for his age. Like grabbing things (toys, clothing and pretty much anything in reach) he is right on. At this point he wasn't rolling over and had NO interest in it at all. Brandon and I had been working on it for weeks. She said it'd come with time and that he was close. She did warn me that once he figured it out..he'd be on the go. He is pretty busy this one. I also asked her why he wasn't eating as well as he once had been....she told me that he just has better things to do than eat. I know it doesn't look like he has a problem eating but let me tell you it is a constant battle in this house. I can't tell you how often I cry because he just isn't doing it the way he is supposed to. I have to put him to sleep and trick him into eating. I have to stay within 15-20 minutes of my house so I can rush home to do all of this . I continue to pray extra hard that my good eater will return to me soon. Dr. Prough seems to think it will. I hope she's right. At this apt. he had 3 shots. He was so mad this go 'round. Almost inconsolable. I hope this gets easier on him and myself. Right before she left she said we could start cereal whenever he was ready. Well I tell you this kid was ready long ago. He watches everything we put in our mouth while smacking his lips. He reaches for our food, sits in his highchair very well and his back and fourt tongue reflex has stopped. So that very day I went out and bought our first box of organic rice cereal.

4 month stats.
Weight: 17 lbs. 11.5 ozs. 95%
Height: 27 1/4 inches. 97% We have a tall little boy on our hands
Head 43 cm. 75%

Mom why do you always have that camera in my face?

Sitting like a big boy

Gonna be a football player for sure

Those are some big shoes to fill

So Sorry

2009-10-22T16:46:00.001-07:00

Lots of posts, updates and pictures to come. Hope to do it this weekend.
Hang in there all 3 of you readers.

Nursery Pictures

2009-09-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

I've had lots of requests to see Karters room. So here they are. Sorry it took so long to post these.

3 Months and new milestones

2009-09-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

This last month has been pretty full and has gone by quickly. I'll start first by saying Karter had his very first cold on his 3 month birthday. Our pediatrician said to bring him in for a little check up only to confirm it was a cold. I had planned on taking him in that day to have a weight check so it work out that we were going there anyways. So his new weight at 3 months is

15lbs 2 ozs.

26 inches long

He grew 2 lbs in one month. Dr. Prough said this was great. She laughs at me still when I ask if this is adequate weight gain. He is still in the top 95% for everything. I love having a big boy.

Karter has had lots of firsts this month. Our friends Rachel, Kyle and Luke invited us to come along for a weekend trip to their lake house. Karter loved riding on the boat...He went to sleep EVERY.TIME. He did get to swim in the lake for a little while. He didn't like it at first but once he warmed up he loved it.

Also he has been talking ALOT. He found his voice about 2 weeks ago. He talks to his ceiling fan, the clock and his name above the changing table. He also loves to talk to his books and while he's trying to eat. He has also started giggling out loud. I love this. I try to get him to do it on command but I think it's still a little early for that.
Karter also found his hands this month. He always has them in his mouth or has them folded together.
Another first is he has stretched his evening sleep to about 6 hours at one time. We are getting closer and closer to going all night long. The cold kinda threw us off a bit.

He is also starting to get hard to feed. He has been a pro at eating up until now. I'm not too sure if it's because of his little cold he had but all I do is sit and worry about if he is full. So right now I feed him at every moment I can. About every 30 minutes to an hour. Dr. Prough says do this until he gets back on his schedule. I'll tell you he is a stubborn little boy. I know this will pass.

This month we also visited a local consignment sale called Just Between Friends. I love when this comes along because you can find good stuff CHEAP.

I had a few things on my list but my big ticket item was a high chair. And not any high chair I was looking for the Chico tan and orange high chair. I knew this would be a slim chance of finding it there. So when my mom, Amanda and I walked in I headed straight to the back. Only to see MY high chair sitting there waiting for me. It was the exact one I wanted and it was clean. Very Clean. And it was $70. Brand new this chair runs for $189.00 This is a huge savings. There was a lady standing next to it looking it over.....I quickly asked if she was purchasing it. She sadly said "no but she wanted to" I asked my mom to hand me the phone so I could call Brandon and ask if I could get it. He didn't want to spend the money right then but I told him about the good deal we were getting so he gave in. It was MINE. I couldn't believe it.

I also got a bunch of winter clothes including 6 pairs of pants, 1 jacket, 1 winter coat, 2 sleep sacks, 4 pairs of pj's, 5 shirts, 3 onsie outfits, a pair of winter mittens, a book, a pair of shoes and a toy....all for $230.30 And a few items still had the original tags on them. He is pretty well set for all of fall and winter.

Brandon and I just had our 4 year Anniversary. He took me out to supper at 12 oaks Restaurant here in Edmond. It was really wonderful. We had the entire place to ourselves (only because we went so early) My mom came over to watch Karter so we could go by ourselves. This was the first time we have left him. I was really nervous about it. We were gone exactly 2 hours (probably the longest 2 hours ever) We talked alot about the little guy and couldn't wait to get home to see him. We had a good time but I'm glad I got the first babysitting experience over with. I think it'll be a while before we have someone watch him again. I don't like to be away from him for long.

This is all for now. I'll try to do better about posting more often.

Karter's favorite position in his bath tub.
Brandon is so ready for Karter to ride on the 4 wheeler.
Karter's new highchair

Karters new digs from the consignment sale

Karter's first boat ride. Fast asleep.

2 Months

2009-08-06T09:41:00.001-07:00

Karter turned 2 months old on Friday July 31st. People tell you time flies...They don't lie. Karter doesn't even look like a new born anymore. I have put away all his newborn clothing. He no longer wears newborn or 1 diapers anymore and hasn't for a while. This makes me so Sad.

I took Karter to the doctor yesterday for his 2 month well baby check up and for his first set of shots. I will say this was WAY harder on mom than him. I did hold in the tears until the nurse left though. I say that is pretty good. The first Vaccine was his oral vaccine...no one told me this wasn't a needle vaccine. So she is putting the liquid in his mouth I'm thinking this is the numbing medication. She laughed when I asked her if it was. He got his second and third in his left leg and the fourth in the right. He didn't know what to think at first and then did a pouty face and screamed. Face turned red couldn't catch is breath screaming. When she was all done I swooped him up so quickly. He stopped crying soon after.

2 month stats are:
Weight: 13 lbs. 3 ozs. 75-90%
Height: 24 inches 75-90%
Head: 40 1/2 cm. 50-90%
Dr. Prough says he is a big healthy boy. I was worried about him gaining enough weight...You never know how much they are eating when you nurse. She smiled and said Oh dear he is fine. She can tell he loves to eat.
We talked about sleeping. She told me that crying it out during the day is fine. I can let him cry but not longer than 25 mintues. She said this should only last about a week until he realizes this is where I'm gonna stay even if I am crying. I felt better knowing his Dr. was okay with me letting him cry. Now I am not to let him cry at night time until he is 4 months. This is fine with me.

Some thinks Karter is doing at 2 months:
-Smiling
-Some laughing
-Calms down real fast when mom or dad have him (We like this)
-Kicks legs and moves arms around real fast when looking at his name on the wall durning diaper changes
-sits in bumbo
-some tummy time (need to get better at this)
-Coos some
-Hates having clothes put on over the head
-Hates being put down during nap time
-Picky about his pacifier (only uses the one the hospital gave him)
-Can take a bottle if he's really hungry
-Loves the ceiling fan and clock
-Likes going outside with his daddy

We can't tell you how much we love being Karter's parents. We love this little boy and can't imagine life without him. He's perfect in everyway.

Over the last month

2009-07-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

First 4th of July Celebration
Freedom and Faith Festival

5 Generation Picture

4 Generation Picture

Little Cowboy Fan.

Karter Loves sitting in his Bumbo under the

ceiling fan. He'll sit there forever.

Just watching his fan.

Daddy and Karter have matching outfits.

So cute

Karter's first walk in his stroller. I think he liked it.

Alot has happened since my last post.

On July 1st Karter got his cast off. The best birthday gift I could ever get. The doctor took new x-rays showing new bone growth. The bone had almost completely grown back together. There was still a small crack in it but Dr. Anderson thought it'd be easier on all of us to take it off. We were just really careful with it. We didn't pass him around for people to hold in the first few weeks after taking the cast off. We go back tomorrow July 29th for more x-rays. I'm taking homemade brownies the Dr. Anderson and his staff for taking such good care of Karter.

We had our first 4th of July. On Sunday before the 4th our church has a Freedom and Faith festival. So we went there for about an hour and a half. This was the longest he had ever been outside. Since then he has decided he is an outside kinda guy. On the day of the 4th we went to a car show for 20 minutes. It was extra hot outside so we didn't want to be out for too long. I took a bottle of ice water and a wash cloth and would dip the cloth in the water and put it on his little head to keep him cool. He really didn't know what to think about that. The rest of the day we spent inside. That evening we gave him a bath and listened to the fireworks outside. Brandon went outside to watch a few of them while Karter and I went to sleep.

Most of our days are spend hanging out at home just Karter and I. I love being able to be at home with him. The days go by so fast. He changes every moment. I couldn't imagine not being with him all day, every day.

Well I need to get off Karter is telling me he's hungry. Right on schedule.

Accidents happen is what I hear.

2009-06-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well alot has happened in the first three weeks of Little Karters life. As most of you know on Friday June 12th Karter broke his little arm. Friday afternoon we were nursing and Karters arm was in a bad position on the boppy pillow. When he cried out I quickly picked him up and comforted him. We watched his arm the rest of the evening and noticed he wasn't moving it. Saturday morning we got up and took him to the emergancy room. They did x-rays only to confirm it was indeed broken. The next Monday morning I called his doctor to get a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. They did their x-rays and told us it was a "good" break and would heal on it's own in a few weeks. He put a new soft cast on it and sent us on our way. On Friday June 19th we went back to his doctor where she told us she spoke to the orthopedic doc. she says they are sure it happened during delivery. He did have a very hard delivery. I told her that was nice but I still felt like it was my fault.
We are getting better. I don't cry every time I look at him now. We are getting used to dressing, bathing and feeding him with it on. We go back to the dr. on July 1st to get the cast off. This will be the best birthday gift I will ever get.

In other news...Grandad and Meme came to Oklahoma to visit their newest great grandbaby. Brandon pointed out that we were number 11 great grandbaby but the first to carry on the Hayes name. We thought that was kinda cool. Karter and I talked about them coming to visit for a week. He was pretty excited to see them when they got here. I'd say they were pretty excited to see him too. Brandon and I love Grandad and Meme so much. They mean the world to us.

Will try to post more often. It's kinda difficult to get on the computer for more than a second at a time with a new baby.

2009-06-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome Karter Jaron

Karter Jaron was born Friday June 5th at 7:31 pm. Friday morning at 1:00 am I got up to do one of my many runs to the restroom and felt a few contractions. I got back to bed where I had had a contraction every 10 minutes or so. About 2 am I felt like I was wet. I went to the bathroom again and noticed my water had broken. I got back to the room and felt all around the bed when Brandon woke up saying "what are you doing" I told him that it had broken....Well as some of you know we had just been to the hospital on Wednesday with a false alarm. So he told me to come back to bed and we'd wait a while. Well after about 5 minutes I got up saying I'm taking a shower then we are going. So after a shower and Brandon's breakfast we were well on our way to the hospital. We arrived there around 3 am and they checked me only to confirm my water had broken and I was dialated to a 1. I was staying for sure. At about 6:30 am they wheeled me up to my room and started my pitocin. At 12 I had my epidural.....The man was amazing. I agree with Rachel, this man was my new best friend. At 4 pm I was only dialated to a 4. Brandon was getting hungry so he made a quick trip to Sonic at 5. At 5:3o the nurses came in and said I was ready. FULLY DIALATED! I hadn't had time to talk myself in to the delivery part yet. At 6:00 I started to push. They noticed Karter wasn't in the right position. He was looking at 3 o'clock and should have been looking at 6 o'clock. I have 4 people trying to turn him while I would push during my contraction. This wasn't working so they decided to do the vacuum. My Dr. said if this didn't work I'd be sure to go in for a C-Section. I was not going to let this happen. I pushed with no break in between until Karter came out. He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck 3 times. He also had a bruise on his forhead from being stuck. They took him to the warmer to work on him. He failed his Apgar test with a 4 but returned five minutes later with a 9. We were pretty scared cause we hadn't heard him cry for a full 45 minutes. We were pretty scared by this point. They were going to take him to the nursery cause he was having such a hard time breathing. But all he needed was his mommy. Once I got to be with him for a while his breathing got regular. He wasn't grunting or flarring his nostrils any longer.
So there you have it. That was our birth story. A full 19 hours in labor and a beautiful baby as my gift. I'd do it again in a heart beat, although while I was in labor I was saying quite the opposite.
Here are a few pictures of our new little family.
Thank you to all who have prayed for us in our family planning period, our pregnancy, birth and now for our future.

1 week to go.

2009-06-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

I've been told by many people that having a blog to look back on is one of the most precious things I could do for myself and for our family. Pretty much this will be about Karter because everyone knows B and I aren't That interesting. So here it goes.

Today I'm 39 weeks pregnant. I have exactly 1 week to go until little Mr. is here. I must say I think B is more excited for Karter to get here than I am. In the past few weeks we have had our baby shower hosted by the best girl friends anyone could ask for. It was perfect. Low key but still FANTASTIC! A shower hosted by our neighbors and showers hosted by both of our jobs. Karter came away with so many great things. We didn't realize how someone so tiny could have So much stuff. We also have finished up the nursery. My grandma made all of his bedding. She did an outstanding job.

We had our Dr. appointment today. I've only gained 21 lbs. Blood pressure is great. Did a stress test and Karter is perfect. They keep saying he is gonna be a big boy. I sure hope he proves them all wrong. Our next appointment will be next week if he stays in there that long. We'll see. I'll be sure to let everyone know if something happens.

Here are a few pictures to hold you over until the next post.