Sunday morning I was really tired so I let Ty take Carter upstairs to grandma while I slept in. Ty came back to bed and we both slept until 9 am. I couldn't believe I'd slept that long, but we had gone to bed at midnight, so it wasn't too shocking! Ty's good college friends, Chris and Candice, had a baby boy days after Garrett was born. We hadn't met him either and his baptism was that day. We planned to spend time with family in the morning and then head to the reception after the baptism in the afternoon. We lazed around in the morning playing with Carter and watching tv. Ty and I planned to leave for the reception around 12:30 which put us in a tricky position with Carter's naptime. I hoped we could get him down for an early nap around 10 or 11 so he would be ready to go at 12:30. Little man likes to go with the flow and follow my plans, he's such a good boy. Around 10:30 he started getting really tired after an early morning full of playing with grandma. I passed him over to his grandpa who happily rocked him to sleep and held him until he was sleeping hard. He then took him down and put him in the Pack N Play. I cracked up when I went down to check on him because his little booty was up in the air with his feet crossed underneath him.
Sleeping with Grandpa.
While Carter napped I worked on convincing Ty to run with me. His first response was a solid no, which turned into maybe, and after considerable pleading became an okay. We headed out to run together and I was on cloud 9, having a running buddy (other than Carter) 2 days in a row is pretty unheard of for me! When we returned I rushed to shower and get ready. I was ready to go at 12:30 on the dot and headed downstairs to check on Carter. He was still asleep, but not too hard so I woke him up and we headed out. We arrived for the reception right as other guests were arriving from the church.
I happened to be standing close to the door and Candice handed me Liam as she headed to the kitchen to help set up, score a big one for me! He was about 2 pounds lighter than Garrett which was immediately noticeable. He cuddled in just as sweetly, but also loved to be propped around so he could check everything out. I held him for quite a while before passing him off to a grandma. Going into the weekend I knew there would be lots of family around these month and a half old babies, many of whom were meeting the babies for the first time. I had myself prepared that I may not get the chance to hold either of them and convinced myself I would be okay with just smelling their hair and rubbing their arms. I couldn't believe I'd had the pleasure of holding each of them for a considerably long amount of time. It does the heart good to hold a sweet, little baby. But honestly even though Carter is much bigger and doesn't cuddle in quite as easily, snuggling with him is just as good, but good in a different way. There's something about your own baby and how they snuggle into you so perfectly, knowing that you are the one who keeps them safe.
Carter with Liam.
Carter had a blast chasing around the big kids. He is especially fond of Chris and Candice's 2 and a half year old girl, Adelynn. He even said, "Hi, Adelynn" to her although his Adelynn was a bit of a mumbled word with an "a" sound in the beginning. We spent some time playing in their backyard on a playset with a swing and a cool rock to climb up to the fort. Carter did a surprisingly good job climbing up the wall and figured out how to swing around and go down the slide feet first on his tummy. He was making me laugh the entire time. The fort had a wheel and he very happily stood at the wheel, turning it, smiling, and laughing his cute little head off. Adelynn and her cousin came out to play and Carter loved following them around and copying what they did. When we left to head back to Ty's parents' house, Candice mentioned they may stop by on their way home to see us again since they hadn't had much time to chat.
Carter followed Adelynn to the table and sat next to her.
Climbing the rock wall to get in the fort.
Back at Ty's parents' house we played with Hot Wheels cars, ate sandwiches for dinner, and relaxed. Kelly, Mary, Gigi, and Papa came over to visit and arrived a little bit before Chris, Candice, Adelynn, and Liam. I again got to hold precious little Liam. Did I mention it was a great baby weekend? I also had the pleasure of changing his diaper. I don't know what it is about newborns, but I love changing their diapers. Well, I actually like changing diapers in general, although I do enjoy a break from Carter's diapers from time to time. I guess I get that from my dad. It's just so much fun to see their big full bellies, touch their sweet soft feet, notice those adorable thigh rolls, and simply watch them move around. It was especially fun to see a tiny size 1 diaper although it did make my heart ache a little bit seeing how much bigger Carter's diapers are! Ahh, the difficulties of a momma!
Carter let me use him as a pillow, but the sun coming in the window washed us out.
Ty stood by us and cast a shadow so we could get a good picture.
When it was time for Carter's bath Adelynn came in to help. She very sweetly rinsed off his head with a wash cloth and rubbed his body with it until he decided he wanted it to play with. When she was finished helping we left and let grandma have some special time with Carter. I was holding Liam when Carter came out of the bathroom and he again cried, but it was again right before bedtime and he was tired. Ty talked Carter into getting in his lap along with Adelynn and all was good again. Carter again went down immediately and I was back upstairs and ready to play with Adelynn. She is great at imaginary play and we had a blast. She wanted to go to the "beach" and take Harper, so we went outside where we pretended to splash in puddles and hide from the rain. Adelynn decided she wanted to hold Harper's leash, I was a bit hesitant, but decided to let her. I couldn't believe what a great job Harper did. She just lazily walked along with Adelynn never pulling on the leash. Then Adelynn announced it had started to rain and advised we run to the tree for cover. As she took off running Harper very excitedly busted into an all-out sprint which unfortunately sent Adelynn flying. She was more upset she was wet (it had rained earlier in the day) than she was that she'd fallen. After that I held Harper's leash for the remainder of our time outside.
Ty with Adelynn and Carter.
I was amazed with Harper's behavior.
Speaking of Harper surprising me, she did an amazing job all weekend. Normally she is very skittish and nervous at Rocky and Leina's house because she's always been afraid of Rocky. This trip she even walked up to Rocky asking to be petted. When everyone was visiting on Saturday she walked very calmly around the house and I swear every single person there commented on how calm she was and joked we must have drugged her. Friday evening the door didn't get latched and Ty was sitting out in the garage and looked over to notice she was very casually walking around the garage where they were sitting. That happened again on Saturday when Leina and I took Carter out to play. We looked up and noticed Harper had followed us out and was just sauntering along beside us sniffing the grass. Those of you who know Harper's earlier days know how exciting that is! Since the day she was old enough to run, if she got outside she was gone. There was no rhyme or reason to it, she just instinctually took off sprinting full force. Seemingly not knowing why or where, but simply because she could. We joked it was due to the 4 pounds she's gained since Carter started feeding himself. We also joked it was because she knows where the special human-food treats are and wants to stay close. Maybe it's just a maturity thing and now that she's 6 she has more control. Who knows, but whatever it is, I'm loving it and in that dog momma kind of way, I'm so proud. I always knew she was a really good dog underneath all that craziness lurking on the surface.
Sunday night we went to bed at a decent time and I woke up Monday morning at 6:30 wide awake and surprised Carter was still sleeping. After laying in bed for about 15 minutes reading blogs on my phone, I can't remember the last time I had that luxury, I heard Carter stirring around and playing. After about 15 minutes of playing he started to fuss and I hurried in to retrieve him. After 2 early mornings playing with Carter, grandma was still in bed when we got upstairs, so we figured it was best to let her sleep. While I was feeding Carter she came in ready for another morning full of adventures. It was so cute because she had planned out what they would do for what she has come to call their "jammy time" which is when she and Carter play, usually in their jammies, while letting everyone else sleep in. Her plan was to play outside and since it was a bit wet from raining overnight, she'd keep Carter in his jammies so he wouldn't get new clothes wet. We had so much fun. She even got out a wagon for him to ride in. While playing in the front yard Leina spied a rabbit across the yard by the woods. She pointed it out to Carter and his excitement grew as we slowly began to sneak up on it. It darted toward the woods at one point and I thought it left, but then Carter pointed in that direction and began excitedly screeching a string of unintelligible words. I looked over and noticed he was pointing at the rabbit. Leina led the way toward the rabbit and we were all shocked it didn't run away. Carter's excitement grew to the point where he was loudly screeching and laughing which along with Harper's barking and pulling, scared the rabbit away.
Sneaking up on the rabbit.
As close as we got.
Carter enjoyed cleaning off in the sink when we came inside.
Good morning Amanda!
Enjoying a pear for snack.
Later in the day Rocky decided to take Carter on a tractor ride. Carter was all about the tractor when they were just sitting on it preparing to ride, but once Rocky fired it up and the engine began to loudly purr, Carter freaked out and started crying. They took off driving and Carter eventually stopped crying and enjoyed putting his hand on the wheel and moving it around. Although he slowly got over being afraid of the noise, he definitely liked it better when it was off. After being pulled around in the wagon by grandma, Uncle Paul, daddy, and mommy all morning Carter decided he wanted to try it out himself and did a really good job. He would get frustrated and scream when he ran into something and couldn't get it to turn the way he wanted, but he's just getting to that age.
Uncle Paul jumped on the back.
He enjoyed it a lot more when it was off.
Feeling the grass while Uncle Paul pulled.
Running uphill while pulling the wagon.
Carter started getting really tired around 11:00 so we fed him lunch, packed up, and were on the road by 11:30. It works best to leave at naptime so he sleeps the first half of the drive. We had barely made it down the road before Carter had put himself to sleep. He took a 2 and a half hour long nap and woke up just as we were approaching a town we've stopped in before to play at the park. We picked up some lunch and headed to the park for a picnic lunch and to play. Carter also had food his grandma had packed him, so he was set. Blueberries are his current favorite food and she sent him a big cup full. After playing for about half an hour we headed to the car and I put Carter in his carseat right as it started raining, talk about good timing! We decided our new tradition on the way home will be to stop at this park and play. It is a really nice park and it sure makes the drive easier for everyone! Once we got on the road Carter played with his toy phone and a book for about 45 minutes before throwing them both overboard and fussing. So I pulled out the tablet and he happily turned into zombie baby while staring at the screen. Again, I hate to have him watch tv, but it just works too well! He was even laughing and dancing along with Elmo this time which was adorable!
Enjoying blueberries grandma packed for him.
Mooching some of daddy's burrito.
We had such a great weekend and as always hated for it to end. I wish all weekends could consist of 3 days! There were so many great moments, memories shared, good food, and laughter. One of my favorites was when Carter said Paul for the first time. When he first said it I thought he was trying to say Papa, but the next time he said it I noticed he was pointing at Paul. I love that even though he doesn't get to see his Uncle Paul and Aunt Amanda as much as we'd like, he still knows they are special. I think it has a lot to do with being able to tell how much they love him. I'm already looking forward to our next visit with them and am so excited that we only have to wait until September. Until then Carter will be reading his family book and I'm sure pointing at Paul's picture and practicing his name. Now if only Amanda were just a little easier to say!
Very cute!
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