Afternoon at the Zoo

This afternoon it was over 70 degrees in Denver, so Carter & I decided to go to the zoo. We renewed our family membership & stayed for a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine!




Carter loved riding the train...it was just his size! The whistle was a little loud (Carter was holding his ears), but we had so much fun waving to all the people in the zoo.






We also had fun on the Carousel. We ended up riding the gorilla, but Mommy wanted to ride the Tiger...despite that horrible loss to KU over the weekend!
Checking out the baby giraffes...

Silly boy!

Carter was in a silly mood yesterday during lunch. Sean came home with food from Noodles & Co and we all had lunch together. You can tell he is full when he starts acting like this. Too funny! Notice the purple bruise on his forehead...he bonked his head against one of the pillars in the basement on Thursday. OUCH! It was a huge goose egg and is now starting to look a little better. Ahh, the life of a toddler.

Carter with his trains...

Topping the list of Carter's favorite things:
1) Balls
2) Wheels
3) Trains
Depending on the day, the above order could change. He LOVES to play "choo-choo" and likes to dance to the theme song of "Thomas the Tank Engine". Here are some photos of Carter with his favorite "pals".

Playing at the "Gym"

The BIGGEST ball of all!



I took Carter to "open Gym" this afternoon at Gymboree. He LOVED it! There was so much to climb on, jump on, crawl thru and slide down...a toddler's paradise! He quickly found the ball pit & grabbed as many wiffle balls as he could hold (2-3, depending on the activity). He carried them all over the place & was hesitant to set them down, unless it was to pick up a bigger ball. We stayed for almost an hour & he was tired by the end. Afterwards, we both came home to take a nap!

Quitting Target--Day 1

Normally, I do all my grocery shopping at Super Target. It is a matter of convenience...I can park once, put Carter in the shopping cart & get all of our food, toiletries, toys, home decor & the occasional sale clothing item. It's fantastic! UNTIL I get to the checkout. I have been known to drop $300 in one shopping trip to Target. And on what?! It seriously shocks me every time I come out of there. I think things must magically jump into my cart or something. Anyway, back to my point. From now on, I am vowing to do all my grocery shopping at my local King Soopers. I will not be able to quit Target cold turkey, let's not be hasty! However, I will be keeping a list for Target-only items and will set a time limit for myself (it's the only way this has a chance of working).
I actually kind of stole this idea from my friend, Katie. (Let's give credit where credit is due.) The second piece to this challenge is that I am going to be smart-shopping at Sam's Club. I think we can save a TON on diapers, dogfood & 10 lb tubs of Red Vines just by buying them at Sam's! We'll see...check back here to monitor my success (or failure). Wish me luck & let the saving begin!

President Obama in Denver!

As you may have seen on the news, President Obama was in Denver today, at the Nature & Science Museum. This is about one mile from our house! Carter & I decided to drive by there on our way home from Gymboree. We were hoping to see the motorcade, but were a little late for that. When we got there, Obama was already inside. However, we did stop to just get in on the energy of the event. It was pretty cool!


Here are some of the press vehicles that lined the drive to the museum.


This is just some of the crowd that gathered to try and get a glimpse of our President. There were several other small crowds lining the street in front of the Museum and across Colorado Blvd!


Carter was showing his support for our President. We enjoyed the excitement until the protesters showed up & things got a bit hairy. We decided to leave at that point!

Gymboree Class

This morning, Carter and I went to try out a Gymboree Music class for toddlers. It was a free trial, so we decided to see what it was all about. Carter got to sing songs, use simple musical instruments, dance and interact/take turns with other kids. Carter was pretty quiet, just mostly observing this time, but he did dance some! After class, they offered us a "deal" if we joined today ($40 off!)...so we did it! We will go to weekly music classes & then we have the option to take Carter to "open gym" play time, up to five days/week if we want. The gym is really cool! There are mats, tunnels, slides, ramps, balls & so much more! The kids can run around & blow off some energy...a perfect thing for a cold day when there's nothing else to do.
Here are some pics of Carter playing in the waiting area while mommy got us registered.

Snuggling

Carter has developed a strong attachment to his baby blanket. I was originally trying to get some video of him imitating Linus (from Peanuts), but it turned into a sweet, snuggly moment with my son. They are so rare these days as he is a mover & a shaker...always on the go! About the only things he will sit still for are reading books and singing songs.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Berry-licious Breakfast! We had Belgian Waffles with strawberries, raspberries & blueberries for breakfast. Carter loved it & gobbled up the berries as fast as we could put them on his tray!





Sean with his new GPS...Carter with his new Teddy bear & favorite new tee shirt and showing Mama the love on V-Day. My Valentine's present was going to get a pedicure without having to hold Carter on my lap. I got cost-contained from work on Friday--yea! Sean stayed home with Carter on Saturday morning so I could have some time to myself...it was wonderful!




Thank you to Mammaw & Grampy, Grandad Tim & Grandma Nancy, Grandma Pat & Grandpa Dan and Aunt Sister for the cute Valentine cards, money and gifts! We feel so fortunate to have THREE sets of grandparents, and many other family members, who love our son. Carter is a lucky little boy! We love all of you!

Mike Mulligan

Carter loves to be read to. We read before nap time & bedtime and it has become one of my favorite times of day with him. Recently, Carter has become obsessed with the book "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel". It was a favorite of Sean's growing up, so he wanted me to buy it when we found out we were having a baby boy. Carter will ask you to read this book over and over and over again! It is a good story, but it is long and let's face it...after the 3rd or 4th read in a day, it gets old. Anyway, I just had to post a picture of my boys reading their favorite book together.

Play Date

Will, Mateo, Carter & Ellia




Yesterday, Carter & I went to the play area at Cherry Creek mall to meet some friends. Desiree & Jennifer, from work, brought their kiddos and we all played together before having lunch. They all loved running around and climbing on the breakfast foods. Unfortunately, Carter has discovered that if he dashes out the entrance, mommy chases after him! That gets old pretty fast & probably explains why I broke a sweat at the play date. In any event, it is great free entertainment...we go about once a week!

Check out my new wheels!

This car was supposed to be a Valentine's gift for Carter, but daddy couldn't wait to give it to him! We had seen the car a few weeks ago at Babystyle, but thought it was a little pricy since Carter was still too small for it. However, the store went out-of-business last week and I was able to get a deal on the car...70% off!

Carter loves to spin the wheels and turn the steering wheel. He and daddy are going to have so much fun together!

Mizzou-Rah!

Carter was showing his Tiger spirit today! Hmmmm...I think we have a future MU student on our hands!

Bargain Shopping, continued...

Sean thinks I am "bragging" when I post my bargain-shopping finds on the blog. Just to be clear, I am NOT bragging. Rather, I am just sharing my excitement with others who love a good deal. With that said, today Carter & I went to Baby Gap and hit the sale racks. They were having 25% off all sale items, plus I had a coupon! Check out the deals from today! I was so excited, that I am posting the actual receipt.(Maybe this should be a "bargain-shoppers blog" instead of our family blog.)
Not pictured are the other deals of the day from Children's Place: a heavy winter coat with zip-out long sleeved fleece (for next year) for $4.25!!!!! (reg. $49.50), jeans for $8.50 and PJ's for $4.25.