Penis, I Mean Venus

This morning we were just killing time before I took Carter to preschool and they were watching a Baby Einstein DVD called Baby Galileo - Discovering the Sky. We were playing and watching so I didn't really notice initially but Carter was really watching when they were talking about all of the planets. When they showed Earth, he said, "Oh my goodness Mommy, that's where we live - that's Earth!" It was pretty cute but didn't compare to the next comment! He told me the planet they were showing right then was called penis! I asked him what he said because I was really hoping I misunderstood him, but in his "I'm frustrated you're asking me to say it again voice" he said, "that planet on tv now is called PEN-IS." I tried so hard to keep a straight face and just tell him matter of factly that it was actually "Venus". It seemed to work but after his preschool faux pas on Monday I was just imagining what he might come up with to tell his teachers about today! Fortunately I don't think he said anything:)

Cooper is really stuck on the sound "agee" - he says it all the time and we haven't got a clue what he's trying to say! The only thought we've had is that he might be talking about our dog Hallie, but we still aren't sold just quite yet! Hopefully time will tell but in the meantime Carter loves to correct Coop every time he says it and he tells him, "NO Cooper, it's not IGEE, it's POISON IGEE and it's out in the backyard so stay away from it, ok?" We've told Carter countless times that it's actually called poison ivy but igee is just sticking for some reason! It's pretty cute to hear him say it so I guess we've given up on correcting it for now!

Little Pumpkin

Nunu and Carter brought us our pumpkins from Carter's trip to Greenwood and they look so cute on our front porch with our mums that I thought it would be a good place for a Fall photo shoot! Carter didn't really want to participate and was too busy "mowing" our grass and blowing out the leaves, as he likes to say. Cooper was a willing participant, though, and really had fun checking out the flowers around him and trying to bite the pumpkin stem (or whatever you call that part!). I did try to get some pictures of Carter but he wasn't really feeling the photo op. He instead knocked our biggest pumpkin off the porch but thank goodness it didn't smash. I thought at this point I should probably take that as a sign that enough was enough! I'll try again another day, maybe in their costumes:) I accidentally deleted all the pictures but one prior to posting this so I'll add the others in the morning!

Comic Relief

This is one of those stories that I'm hoping I will feel better about after I've told it - I certainly don't feel like "mom of the year" at the present time! This weekend Carolina played UVA in Charlottesville, which for some reason is a game we just can't win. The last time we won at Virginia I was Cooper's age to give you an idea how long it's been! It was a close game but Carolina ended up losing in overtime, which was miserable to say the least! As soon as it was over, Jamey went outside to get out a little frustration and I just turned the TV off and the radio on to listen to our postgame stuff. Carter started crying and saying that he wanted to watch the Tarheels and just wouldn't stop saying it. I told him we lost and that the game was over but he just kept going. Here comes the mom of the year moment...I told him (and I'm so ashamed!) "Our team sucks, buddy, and the game is OVER!" I never say that word but was so mad about the game that I let my temper (who, me?!) get the best of me. Carter never mentioned what I said all weekend but decided that preschool would be the perfect time to try out his new phrase!

When Jamey (thank goodness it was him and not me) went to pick Carter up today, his teacher Miss Stacy told him that Carter provided the comic relief for the class! Out of nowhere Carter told his class and teachers "Our teams sucks because Brandon Tate hurt his knee!" I think the class must have been pretty shocked because I'm sure they laughed which just added fuel to the fire for Carter to keep saying it! I guess he eventually stopped when they reiterated that "suck" isn't a nice word and that we really shouldn't say it. I'm so glad he listened to them and stopped but I sure feel like an awful mommy for saying such a thing around my child! It's just more proof that Carter picks up on every little thing we do and say - I guess I need to be the one to go outside when we lose and not Jamey! Hopefully we won't have another opportunity to test it out, though. As for the Brandon Tate part, he asks me all the time where Brandon Tate is and why he's hurt but I don't know why he felt the need to add that part to the end of my comment but he did that on his own!

The pictures are from Noah and Austin's visit and from a playdate with Sarah and Cole. Hope you enjoy them! I know this is a ridiculously long post but I just have to add that Jamey should be "Daddy of the Year" for yesterday. I had to work all day but Jamey took Carter and Cooper to church, the grocery store, the park, and was making us a homemade pizza when I got home around 7:45. I was so proud to hear all that he did and he was still in a good mood when I got there! I think that's pretty impressive and his pizza was the best yet!

Boys Will Be Boys...

Our house is busting at the seams with all things boy related this week! My friend Vera is here visiting for a few days and she has a 3 year old son Noah and an almost 2 month old named Austin. Carter and Noah are only 8 days apart and they used to be good buddies when Vera lived in Raleigh so it's so fun to see them now, 2 years later interacting like big boys. They are hysterical together to say the least! They are both a little bossy and not the best sharers in the world so they are quite a combo. They've honestly done much better than we thought they would and typically give in from their toy tug of war when Vera or I tell them they need to share and can take turns with their toys! Yesterday we just hung out at home and let them play outside and they were so cute riding the gator together. Carter is usually pretty selfish with it but was nice enough to let Noah be his passenger and he even gave him a turn to drive - who is this child?! Today we had Cook-Out for lunch (so good!) and took it to Pullen Park to eat and play. The boys were so excited about the train and I think they all ended up having lots of fun although poor Noah had a rough first train ride! Some bigger kids thought it would be fun to scream as loud as they could when the train first started and went through a long, dark tunnel so Noah wasn't too fond of that!

Cooper has fun wherever we go and he loved the train, carousel, and baby swings. He's such a happy boy but he has found a new part of his voice - he's discovered that he can make this horribly high-pitched shreak and he likes to do it during dinner time when he's not happy with the chosen foods! We're gonna have to work on this or the whole family is going to be hard of hearing soon.

I'll have to post pictures soon from this week so you can all see how much fun the boys all had! Austin is a little (big, actually!) angel and is the happiest baby I've ever seen! He seems to be very low key and content to just stare at our beautiful chandelier (haha, but he loves it for some reason - must be the cobwebs) or at his mommy and be held. He still has a floppy head which is so sweet because he just lays on you so perfectly! He definitely makes me miss the baby stuff but I'm pretty happy where we are right now with 2:) I know Jamey is probably thrilled to read that!

Tagged (Thanks Amy)

So I don't think my friend Amy realizes that I'm really bad at doing these things because I have a hard time telling people things about myself. I realize I should know myself better than anyone so it should be easy to tell people 7 things they don't know about me but for some reason this really trips me up! It reminds me of preparing for job interviews and the question I need the most help with is, "Tell me about yourself...what are your strengths?" I could tell you about a million weaknesses but I guess I'm a little too critical of myself and therefore have a hard time finding the positive! With all that said (sorry to be long-winded) I guess here is my best shot, with the help of my nice roommate Paige!

1. I'm super competitive and really hate to lose - my family can attest to this one as we have had many fights regarding tennis matches and shuffle board games!

2. I have pretty good luck and Jamey has the worst so we hopefully cancel each other out! I don't see a lottery win in our future, especially since Jamey is the one who buys lottery tickets.

3. I'm the furthest thing from a night person but I work night shift so I can stay home with our kiddos.

4. Pumpkin beer is one of my favorite things.

5. I used to think that "Now I Lay Me" was one word!

6. I hate roaches (waterbugs as we like to affectionately call them) and will not pick one up for anything. I use the fly swatter to scoop it up and flush it. Carter has picked them up with papertowels for me once or twice! What a little helper!

7. I'm named after my maternal grandmother and I used to not like my name. Now I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I guess I should now explain that Amy "tagged" me to do this so now, Sarah R., Star, Susan, and Susannah, you guys are "it" - sorry, but you're the only people I know with blogs so you have to do it:) Just post 7 random things about yourself and then "tag" other people.

In His Element

We're going on our 4th day without Carter and Cooper seems to be adjusting quite well! He's no longer walking around looking for him and seems to really be liking all the undivided attention from us! It's been fun to be able to focus everything on him for a change, but I've really been at a loss for what to do with a 1 year old by himself! When Carter is around, Cooper just comes along for the ride so to speak, whether we're going to the park, or the store, etc., but when it's just him I don't really have as many ideas. Monday we ran some errands and then stayed home most of the day and yesterday I'm embarressed to say I didn't change out of my pajamas until after lunch and neither did Cooper. I did have to work tonight so I tried to conserve my energy and I took a nap when Coop did this morning. He's about the world's messiest eater, too, so it was nice to have him in his pj's for lunch so that I could put him in clean clothes after he made his mess with lunch. Most meals start out with a bib and little bits of food on his high chair, but by the end of it, he's pulled his bib off and used both hands to scatter his food in every direction possible. He's really done when he takes his sippy cup and drops it on the floor more deliberately than I could ever imagine a 1 year old and then saying, "bye, bye!" in about the cutest voice possible. After lunch we went to the park for a little while to enjoy the nice day - it was sunny and low 70s so perfect park weather. We had only been there a few minutes when I felt a bee buzzing around me and I kept swatting it away, but the bee unfortunately won and stung me right on my neck! I had to get some random woman to come look at it and she took the stinger out for me - thank goodness for nice strangers! I think I'm a baby but it's still hurting right now, even with topical Benadryl and Burt's Bee's bite stick. I smell medicinal and granola but still feel itchy!

Work is going by fairly fast tonight and I just have one sweet little fella to take care of that I really love so that's good. The bad news is that if I only have him, that means he's sick enough to need a nurse all to himself, but hopefully he's on the mend.

I think the plan is for mom to bring Carter home on Thursday and spend the night with us that night. I'm so excited to see them both and I know Carter has had an absolute ball in Greenwood! I wish my mom could stay with us longer but I know she needs to get back home before Daddy leaves for Spain. My parents are so great and Carter and Cooper are lucky boys to have them in their lives. I feel sorry for Carter to have to come back to boring Cary, but I still can't wait! He'll be excited that Uncle Brian will be here Friday night and they can all have a boys night while I work:( At least I'm off to watch the Notre Dame game Saturday so I shouldn't complain.

Empty Nesting (Almost)

After a little bout with a stomach bug this weekend, Carter still declared himself ok to make the trip to Greenwood, SC with my parents for a few days all by himself! We've been meaning to make this happen since the Spring and he has a day off from school this week so I thought it was probably a good time if it worked out for my parents. As much as we hated to see him go, he was so excited to get the chance and talked all about what he would do at Nunu and Pop's, like walk George and help Nunu feed the birds and water flowers. He left yesterday afternoon around 2pm and I think Jamey and I (and Cooper, actually!) have been lost ever since. We just haven't known what to do with ourselves without Carter here to keep us going! Being around him all day every day, I think we obviously take for granted just how happy he makes us and how funny he is! We've missed his precious voice and little comments so much and we've both imitated him way too many times to I guess try and fill the void. Cooper walks around the house looking for him and was just wandering around Carter's room looking at me as if to say, "What's going on...where is he?" with such curiosity and innocence.

Saying goodbye wasn't really a big deal (I'm sure it was my coping mechanism to make light of the situation) and we all stood out in the street and waved bye to our happy boy cruising off in Nunu and Pop's car. Once we came inside, I think it just hit me so much more than I realized it would. I knew I'd really miss him, but I didn't think I'd be so sad about it! On one hand, I'm so excited for him and for my parents because I know they love having him there and he definitely loves being there, but selfishly, I guess I want him around because I need him with me! I just couldn't stop crying and I came upstairs to fold some laundry and try to occupy myself but I couldn't get him off of my mind! I felt like everywhere I looked there was some sort of reminder of him, like his empty bed and dark room, or his train table, or his dirty clothes I was washing. I thought I needed a little retail therapy and Jamey agreed (can you believe it!) so I headed to Crabtree just to look around. I found lots of good things, especially for Carter, and came home feeling much better about everything! I was planning to let them call us, but I broke down on my way to Crabtree just to see how it was going! They were all doing well and almost through Charlotte and we planned to just talk to them once they got home. I called a little after 8pm and Carter answered and said, "Hey Mommy and Daddy!" It was just me and I asked what he was doing and he told me he was eating a biscuit for dinner. I immediately heard mom in the background telling him to also tell me the other things he had, like fruit, etc.! He was sweet and seemed to be doing just fine, as we knew he would (it was us we were more worried about handling it). Mom said he told her when they walked in from walking George "Now Lucy, I need a snack!" Where on Earth would he have heard that, Daddy? She said he also told Pop on their walk, "Norman, don't let that leash burn your legs!" He is hysterical and I'm thrilled to hear all the cute stories.

Cooper is doing great but I do think he's not sure what's going on having the house to himself. I thought he'd be more excited to play with all of Carter's things but I guess it isn't as much fun when you're allowed to do it! It has been nice for us to focus all of our attention on Cooper, as he doesn't get us both very often, but we will be happy to have Carter back with us in a few days. I can already say this experience has made us so much more thankful to have such a great family. As much as we feel like we are disciplining Carter every other second, things are just not the same without him! I understand so much more what my parents mean when they say their house is so quiet after we leave! I'm ready to have all the noise back! I didn't realize I would miss it so much. Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks.