Union Station

Day two in KC was spend at Union Station. They have a very cool Dinosaur exhibit right now that has life-sized animatronic (sp?) Dinos. Carter was a little freaked out by them at first, but once he figured out he could work the buttons to control their sounds and movement, he enjoyed it. After the Dinos, we went upstairs to Science City so the boys could run around and explore. It was a BIG hit!

Grampy, Carter & the T-Rex

(These photos are completely out-of-order.) Carter visited the "Build-A-Dino" shop (run by Build-A-Bear), courtesy of Mimi! He has never gotten to do this before, so it was quite a treat! Carter named his dinosaur "Greeny".

Davis got a baby Dino!

Putting a heart inside...

Fluffing him up with stuffing.

Getting shoved at the water table.

Getting ready for take-off...

Playing in the bus.

Flying the Space Shuttle

Mommy & Carter loving the Dinosaurs.

Mimi & her boys!

Carter running the controls.

Daddy & Carter

Are these real, Mommy?

We all wore Gold & Black for the Mizzou game later that afternoon. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help our Tigers.

Pumpkin Patch in Kansas City

Mimi had lots of fun things planned for the boys while we were in town. First stop...Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch! We had so much fun exploring the grounds, riding the train, feeding the animals and running the kids ragged. Natalie & Josh brought their niece, Neeley, along who is a year older than Carter. The two of them had a great time together and the rest of us just tried to keep up!

Trying to get the kids to keep their faces in the pumpkin holes was next to impossible.

Uncle Josh with Davis

Neeley and Carter riding the tire ponies

Aunt Natalie & Davis (trying to eat the straw he found)

Mimi & Davis on the train

Choo-Choo!!

Neeley was winning Carter over with her beautiful voice. She was singing us the songs from "Annie". Carter danced while she sang & then chased her down to give her a snuggle. :-)

Sean teaching Carter how to lasso a bull.

Another try for pumpkin faces...

11 Months Old!

Here are some photos from Davis's 11-month birthday on October 22nd. He has started walking some and doesn't even seem to realize he's doing it. It's pretty cute, he looks like Frankenstein with his hands out in front of him for balance. I'll try to get some video of that soon...

Davis now has seven teeth (he cut the top four simultaneously) & has decided he is done with baby food. Of course, I had just gone to the store and gotten a bunch more jars of it. Anyway, he pushes it away and only wants to eat what we're eating & feed himself. He has a healthy appetite! He will often finish off whatever Carter doesn't eat, in addition to whatever else he's already eaten!

I cannot believe we will be celebrating his first birthday in a few short weeks. Mommy might shed a few tears for that one...my baby is just growing up too fast!

Lawrence!

I am very sad to say that I think I accidentally lost all my Lawrence photos (except for those that I already posted to Facebook). I tried to update the blog in KC, using Sean's netbook, and it was a disaster. I am going to keep trying... BUMMER!! Here is the post I started:

After driving all night, we rolled into Lawrence to visit Grandad & Grandma Nancy early Tuesday morning. We had a short two-night visit, but we got to take a walk downtown and eat dinner at a favorite local brewpub. On Wednesday, we drove to the Topeka Zoo and had fun seeing the animals up-close and personal. Aside from being in Jayhawk Country, we had a great time (as usual) and enjoyed a relaxed visit with Grandad. We are looking forward to having Dad and Nancy to our house for Thanksgiving in a few weeks!

3-Year Well Check

Carter had his Well Child visit a couple of weeks after his 3rd birthday & everything looks great! It was his easiest by far, as he didn't need any vaccinations this year. Our only concern was the bedtime routine that has become very stressful with a stubborn 3-year-old & and the fact that the boys are sharing a room. Dr B. gave me some good ideas and we are ready to tackle this! He did warn me that it will likely be a rough couple of weeks as we transition with this new routine, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. I think we will wait until after we return from our KC trip to start, though.

Developmentally, Carter is at a 3 1/2-4 year old level. This was wonderful to hear because we think he's smart, but I'm sure every parent thinks his/her child is the smartest/cutest/best...so it was nice to hear from an unbiased source that Carter is doing so well. However, his growth has tapered off a bit, with his height actually staying almost exactly the same for the past six months. His weight is also down to the 12th percentile, but he is healthy and that's all that matters. We are very happy with Carter's love of school and the progress he is making with learning to share, take-turns and be a good friend.

He is also staying dry at night about 90% of the time (yippee!), but still no #2 in the potty. Hopefully by Christmas we will be done with potty-training!

Gimme Three Steps...

No, I'm not talking about Lynyrd Skynyrd--Davis took three steps yesterday! I don't even think he realized he was doing it. He was wanting to get to one of Carter's toys and just let go from where he was standing and walked to it! (I'll try to get some video next time. It just happened so fast!) Earlier in the day, he had taken a couple of sideways steps, then fell down. I am still thinking it will be a while before he walks, but he is showing serious interest. Carter walked at 11 months and Davis will be 11 months on Friday, so we will see what happens in this next month. Who knows, maybe he will be walking by his 1st birthday! Hopefully his big brother won't stand in his way...

Birthday Party!

We celebrated Carter's birthday last Friday and invited all his friends to join us. It was his first real birthday party, so we decided to make it a big deal. The kids ran wild for an hour & then we did some crafts and ate cake (of course!)...all before lunch! Carter had a ton of fun and has been asking about his birthday every day since then. :-) Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

Caryssa, Carter & some girl we don't know...

Carter & his friend Kadin doing crafts

Caryssa's mom & I are hoping these two get hitched some day!

He was so tickled that we were all singing "Happy Birthday" to him!! He had the #3 on his cake, just like he had been talking about for weeks. Too bad the rest of the cake was kind of ugly...oh well!

Aunt Debbie & Kelsie Rae

Carter intently working on a foam masterpiece.

All the kiddos busy with crafts
Carter & his friends doing crafts.

Our "party coordinator" was amazing! She set everything up, served the cake, cleaned up our messes & even brought all of the presents out to my car! I'm wondering if she could come live with us...

Cousins Rae Rae & Tay Tay with Davis

Mommy & Davis hanging in the infant zone

Chillin' in the tree house.

Big guy!

Grandma Pat & Grandpa Dan visit!

We all enjoyed a nice visit with Sean's parents last week. A BIG thanks to Grandpa Dan for helping Sean install our new storm door and Thank You to Grandma Pat for taking care of the boys while the guys were working. We had fun going out to eat, driving to the mountains and of course, Carter's party on Friday! We love you both!

Just the boys...

Opening one of the presents that Grandma & Grandpa brought us!!

Davis helped, too!

Playing Legos with Grandma.

Getting ready for our day trip.

Hanging out with Grandpa!

Beilmans in Breckenridge

Sean took off last Thursday & Friday while his parents were in town, so we headed to the mountains! The weather was perfect and we had a fun day in Breckenridge. Aside from the BBQ sauce explosion at lunch (thanks to Carter) and trekking all over looking for an open ice cream shop, it was a great day! We don't get up to the mountains as often as we would like, so on the rare occasion we do get up to the high country, it makes remember how grateful we are to live in this beautiful state.

Cool slide carved out of a big boulder.

Fall in Colorado!

The boys enjoyed being outdoors.

Sean & his parents with the boys.

Handsome in stripes.

Happy Birthday, Carter!

I will never forget the moment Carter was born. He started crying immediately at the top of his lungs and didn't stop until they had him dried and swaddled and brought him over to us. I was crying with joy to finally meet my son after just dreaming about him for so many months.

Everyone in the O.R. was commenting about how he must be my son because he was "talking" to us so much (clearly, they don't know my husband!). It was love at first sight and he (and now his brother, too) is hands-down the best thing that's ever happened to us.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Carter! You become more amazing to us every year. We love you!

Our mini-celebration this morning with a cookie & cupcake breakfast!

He was pretty excited to have the #3 on his cake.