Never leave home without it!

Here is the story or should I say debacle that I had to endure last week on my trip to Seattle...

So my friend/co-worker "Alisha" (that one's for you soup cups :)) & I were flying to Seattle bright & early on Wed. @ 6:30 am to do a site inspection up there & then head back the next day. Well I get to the airport around 5:45 or so, go through security & sit down at my gate ready to board. No sign of Alisha but no big deal...Birmingham is so easy to get in & out of that she could get there 15 min. before & hop on the plane. Boarding pass...check. Luggage....check. Cellphone...hmmm as I'm digging through my purse. No phone...dang I left it on my nightstand...you've got to be kidding me! You never know how much you appreciate/need it 'til it's gone!!! So on to Plan B. Ok no big deal, I'll just have to borrow Alisha's for the next couple of days until I get home. I flip on my laptop & email Justin so that he'll take my phone with him so he can answer it if anyone calls. The clock keeps ticking closer to our flight time & still no sign of Alisha. I finally board when I'm the last person sitting in the terminal & the lady gets on the loud speaker saying "last call for United flight to Chicago"...she is blatantly staring at me. I get on the plane & just stare out the window hoping to see Alisha running for the door but that never happens. Doors to the plane shut & I feel completely lost...I feel like I have no contact to the outside world except for my computer. And I have to give props to the B'ham airport b/c they were the only airport with free wi-fi the entire trip...if you live in B'ham I'm sure you've seen the commercials..."Free wi-fi...another reason to fly Birmingham." Anyway the rest of the trip I have to borrow random peoples' phones to call Alisha & Justin...poor Justin ends up being the middle man...until I finally meet up with Alisha in Seattle two hours after we were supposed to be there. I have to say out of the 6 or 7 people I asked to borrow their phone, everyone said yes except one lady...she was old though & probably didn't even have a phone. :) It was madness & if you think that was the end of the saga...

We missed our flight out the next morning at 7:20! When I went downstairs that morning at the hotel to meet Alisha to go to the airport she wasn't there. So I called her room & low & behold woke her up, so needless to say, we got to the airport 30 min. before our flight left but they said we had already missed it which was bull to me but whatever. So instead of getting in at 4:30 that afternoon I got home at 10 something after sitting in airports on standby all day. Oh and poor Alisha had to stay in Dallas that night b/c there was only 1 seat left on the plane home & she was so sweet to let me go since I have a family, she's single & it was her fault we missed the flight. Thank you "Alisha" for giving me that chance to go home that night so I could wake up to see my sweethearts the next morning!!!!

BTW, Seattle is gorgeous & I wouldn't mind living there! I don't say that about too many places either. All and all the trip was worthwhile & a neat place to see!! Hopefully our flight out on Thursday to New Orleans won't be near as eventful. We are headed down with a bunch of friends to hang out for the w/e & go to Baton Rouge & watch AU/LSU play. I hate to say it but I don't see us winning...unless our team decides to show up this time! WAR EAGLE!!!

And Monday at 7:15am our 2nd niece Audrey is scheduled to arrive!!! We can't wait to meet her!! It is going to be a long, wild weekend! :)

Impressions

Here are Carter's 12 week impressions I recently got back...I think they turned out so well! Justin's mom also got one made with Carter's hand inside Justin's hand that turned out really neat. It is at her house so I don't have a picture but I'll try to get one & put it up sometime.

What Carter has been up to...

He is probably 20 lbs now & is sitting up on his own. Well I wouldn't run off & leave him sitting b/c he will still fall over every now & then, but he is doing so well with it. He is eating up a storm with baby food. He loves it ALL! We are slowly trying him out on the 2nd food stuff which is a couple things mixed up like Strawberry Banana Granola & Blueberry Oat something just for examples...they are tons of them & I just went & bought out the store the other week. We just have to be careful about making sure he isn't allergic to anything which so far he isn't.

We recently switched him back to Stepping Stones daycare which I'm really happy about. The MDO we had him in was a little disappointing & we realized the hours (8-4) weren't really going to work out come tax season since I would be the only one able to pick him up & drop him off. I go out of town for work a decent amount (I'm flying to Seattle tomorrow) & we would have to arrange for grandparents to pick him up, etc. so we just decided we didn't want to deal with that. Plus they don't have the same rules at MDO like they do at daycare due to DHR and all, so most days Carter would come home with his sheet halfway filled out with when he ate, slept, pooped, etc. Plus there were multiple times he came home with bottles turned upside down in his bag with milk all in the bottom, items missing, etc. I really like that he has his own bed at daycare & we have never had a problem there, so it is worth the little extra drive/backtracking. I don't mean to completely bash our church's MDO program, but I think it is really just meant for MDO (9-1) rather than an all day thing. We already really miss some of the sweet teachers like Nonna & Abby. I do have to say that the teachers at SS, the "chitas" as Justin likes to call them...there is Sanchita in the morning & Conchita in the afternoon along with Coco, Claudia and a few others...were SO EXCITED to have him back...they absolutely love him & I love that!!!

We still don't have any teeth but he's drooling like crazy & chewing on everything!! His hair is really starting to grow in & is so cute & fluffy right now...it is dirty blonde like I thought it would be. He has started rolling over from back to front a lot these days. He did his tummy to back a few times back when he was 4 months but hasn't really cared for it anymore 'til now. He usually does it after his bath when I am trying to cover him in lotion or he tries to do it while I am changing his diaper. He likes to sleep on his left side at night & we usually find him in the middle of his bed in the morning. Carter is sleeping so much better now...he usually sleeps about 11-12 hours & only wakes up most nights once or twice & that is normally b/c he can't find a paci. He is so sweet in the mornings when you go into get him...just smiling up at you...it really melts my heart! :)

Welcome David Jr!!

We went to visit the McBrayers last night & their beautiful new addition David!! He is so itty-bitty! He weighed 6 lbs 3 oz when he was born on Sat., but he is down to 5 lbs something since he has lost some weight like most babies do in the beginning. He has a precious button nose & is just as sweet as can be! He stays curled up in a little ball & you can barely tell you are holding anything. Makes me miss those days. He has a head full of hair...actually more than Carter has now! Well Carter's is starting to really grow & poof out some but David's is dark & pretty long. So glad we got to meet this amazing little miracle! Can't wait for fun times ahead with the boys playing together. Congrats David & Catharine!!!

Carter's Little Man outfit

Some friends of ours Catharine & David McBrayer just had their baby boy David on Sat. Oct. 3rd. He weighed 6 lbs 3 oz. & we finally get to go meet him tomorrow night! Can't wait! Well these pics were taken on the day of her baby shower a little over a month ago that I helped hostess. Carter man came along with me & he hadn't ever worn his "little man outfit" as his Daddy calls it, so I decided to put him in it. It is a little polo outfit with soft denim pants and a cute matching striped belt. This was also the first time for him to wear shoes. I just thought he looked so precious!

Demo Day!

My mother-in-law has recently finished remodeling her house especially in her kitchen and baths. She had put in all new tile, countertops, backsplash, toilets, etc. Well we all came over one day to help with some demo work...specifically pulling up tile and linoleum. Carter got to try on our protective eye wear & I couldn't quit laughing at him or his funny expressions. He's a hoot!


















Here is a random pic from August, actually the day before we went to the beach b/c I was trying out beach hats on him & decided to pull out all his other caps that I had to see if they still fit. I loved these bunny ears but I don't think they'll make it to next Easter. All the caps he got when he was born & it was still cold were too big then & now are all too small. I just love his chubby cheeks in this pic too!
And this one is actually on the beach trip. He kept putting the strap to his outfit in his mouth while I was trying to get him dressed. He's a mess!

I can't believe it is October already!!

This year has seriously FLOWN by!! I'm behind as usual on a few posts. I had already downloaded a bunch of pics off the camera & had them saved as a "draft" on the blog & just hadn't posted them yet so here are a few. The first is Carter man's first time to really eat baby food...sweet potatoes & he loved them! It took him awhile to finally get the hang of it & quit pushing it out with his tongue but now when you feed him it is like you can't get it in his mouth fast enough. He still LOVES his bottle & if he sees it, so much for food. He is a little over 5 mos. in this pic.
Here he is hanging out with his great grandmother Mama Mac who he adores!














And here is a pic I took after he had conked out on his playmat with his bib over his face...too funny.

Upcoming posts to look forward to...

-Carter got baptized this past w/e & it was a beautiful day!

-Some AU tailgating pics since that is all we do on the w/e's these days. :)

-Finally pics of his nursery which he just officially moved up into the other week.

-Some other random pics...

P.S. Carter slept through the night last night which doesn't happen all to often...must have been those shots that wore him out!