12 Month Check-Up

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

Trip to the zoo

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

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

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

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

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.