Day Off

For Martin Luther King day, Laura had to work and I had the kids to myself.  Since it was very cold outside and we couldn't go on any long walks to burn off a certain 4 year old's energy, we decided to meet Sara and Anna at Discovery Place Kids to let the kids run around some.  It is a pretty cool setup for kids between 2 and 8 where they can do all kinds of pretend activities.  It is pretty much a giant extension of Avery's favorite parts of school; so the kids had a blast.

Avery immediately went to the top of the indoor playground and left Anna at the bottom.

Carter was having a blast just sitting and watching the tons of kids and parents running around like nuts.

Anna Kate - Professional Race Car Driver

This is Carter feeling the artificial grass in front of the indoor playground and flirting with all the stay at home moms.

Family picture on the firetruck

Carter was not so excited about pretending to be a farmer.

However he was pretty stoked about getting to tear paper while the girls did some coloring.

There wasn't a ton that Carter could do other than the water table which we saved for last.

This little guy was having a blast and soaked himself to the bone splashing in the water.  Luckily Aunt Sara warned me and I packed extra clothes.

After playing for a while, we took the Rotmans out for lunch to celebrate Sara's birthday and to thank her for helping me burn off some of Avery's energy.  Carter pretty much only ate junk food for lunch, so he fit in great with the rest of us.

5 Guys was Avery's suggestion since they stopped there on the way back from Disney.

While Anna is not a picky eater, she enjoyed her cheeseburger and even shared with Carter some.

Vass Christmas

It may be mid January, but we have one more Christmas post to go.  After Greensboro we headed home to load the car up one more time and headed to Vass to celebrate with Mimi and Papa.  The weather was once again great so we all got to hang out outside and Avery could run off some of her Christmas energy.

 Carter had a great time walking around outside with Stephanie's help.

 Stephanie and the Marshall kids, with Carter continuing to make his silly scrunchy face.

 Silly boy.

 The funny faces continue.  I think he figured out which ones get a good laugh from us.

 Looking cool hanging out on the porch.

Papa had made Jude a wrestling dummy for the trampoline by stuffing an old set of coveralls, so Avery had fun bouncing around while Jude was working on his piledrivers and figure 4 leg locks.

Avery couldn't resist getting in on a flying body blow.

 Time to open presents!

 Avery got a Bob minion.  Later on she put Bob in a closet so the he could come alive when no one was watching.  (We have been watching a lot of Toy Story recently)

 
 Tearing paper!  This never got old.

 Helping Mommy open some of her presents.

Avery and Jude playing with his new jump rocket.

Greensboro Christmas

After Taylorsville, we headed to Greensboro to my parents to have another Christmas and for the kids be spoiled by Uncle David.  

The kids all kinda looking one way and kind of smiling.  You might see a similar picture on Sara's blog, my dad's facebook, and my mom's phone as there were 4 competing cameras.  In the end, I don't think anyone got a shot of them all looking the same way.  But here they are.

Until Carter got away...

 Everyone watching Avery open presents from Uncle David.

 Avery with her Mrs. Wuf doll and her Frozen Sing along Elsa.

 Carter was pretty excited about new NC State clothes from David.

 And his Mr Wuf doll.  Or was it the paper that he was tearing?  One of the two.

 Reading a book to his Mr. Wuf.

 This picture requires no caption.

 Aunt Sara and Anna getting some Carter snuggles while dinner was being prepared by Mom and David.

 The girls even helped to feed Carter.  He is pretty much 100% on table food now, so Mom's green beans hit the spot.  If you notice, that is a whole sweet potato and at least a cup of green beans.  He ate ALL OF IT.

 Who me?

Taylorsville Christmas

So after Christmas morning at our house we headed to Taylorsville to see my grandparents to have a great lunch and a great dinner.  

The kids did a great job of playing together while Nanny, Mom, and Dee were working on getting lunch ready.

Although they were not great about playing in a manner that was easy to capture with the camera.

 Making excited faces!

 Anna even helped Carter with his lunch.

Opening presents and Avery's favorite "NANNY CRUNCH!"

 Carter was in charge of tearing paper for everyone.

 As well as taste testing all the different presents.  This one tasted like football.

 Investigating the newest light up, battery powered, noise maker for our house.

Over at Grandma Marshall's the Christmas fever had struck the girls.  That or the large amount of chocolate and cake they had eaten all day.  

Carter had a great time showing off for everyone and being walked around the room.  Luckily there were plenty of willing helpers to give Mommy and Daddy's backs a break.

9 Months Old

We take a break from this regularly scheduled Christmas Programming for a brief update on Carter.  He turned 9 months this weekend and we actually took his pictures when we planned on taking them.  The last month has brought us more confidence pulling up on things, more speed in crawling, and a love of table food.  Last night for dinner he ate an entire squash, some mandarin oranges, and half of a dinner roll.  His sister ate half of what he had.  He also is starting to babble a good amount and recognizes his name.  Familiar faces (and funny looking new ones) get quick smiles and he get sad when he looses visual contact with one of us.

The ability to stand and pull up has allowed him to expand the things he touches and tastes dramatically.

He is getting more and more confident while standing up but has not yet mastered the moving while holding on to something.

Sitting is no big deal for this little guy.

Chasing after his sister.

His bright blue eyes.

The love that these two share...

As a bonus, here is Carter laughing after a good meal.