Indoor Fun

We haven't had too much going on for the month of January, but I still feel like I need to post some pictures. We've been able to get outside and let Carter run off some energy on those 70 degree days we have had, but there have been a few cool days mixed in there. Here are a couple of the activities we've done indoors...

Trevor brought over his little bounce house and we kept it for about a week. It inflates & deflates easily, so we could blow it up whenever Carter wanted to bounce around. This particular evening, he was enjoying a visit from Uncle Nathan.


This is Carter showing me how Superman flies...


Last weekend, I was able to get away and enjoy some time at Pine Cove for a scrapbooking retreat. That left the boys at home to fend for themselves, so they had a campout (did I mention these were indoor activities?).


Carter loved hanging out inside the tent.




Apparently when we go camping for real, we'll still have to bring every stuffed animal on his bed.


Even Koda got to join in on the fun.


Night night!

You might be wondering, "Did Carter sleep well in the tent?"...

....I'm just glad I was away that night, even if my cabin bed was quite uncomfortable...

He & Daddy had a blast and he eventually caught up on his sleep:).

Daddy's Little Helper

Carter has enjoyed helping out his Daddy with various tasks around the house over the past few weeks. He also really enjoyed having Daddy home over the Christmas vacation. Here are a few of their adventures:

Picking up Koda's minefield in the backyard:


Putting up Christmas lights:


Storytime with Froggy (this particular evening Carter decided that Froggy needed to wear a pull-up and jammies like him):


Racing cars at a local play area:


OK, Daddy is missing from this picture, but I just had to include it because I can't get over how old he looks!

Bethlehem Revisited

Last weekend (technically 2 weekends ago at this point...), Granny & PaPa Boudreau planned a special Christmas outing for the family. They took us down to Waxahachie to see "Bethlehem Revisited." A local church puts together an authentic replica of Bethlehem to walk through and allows you to imagine you were there during the time of Christ. It was a special experience and a great reminder of what Christmas is all about.

Cousins Dylan & Avery are hanging out with the sheep outside the village.


Dylan, PaPa, Carter, & Daddy warming up by the fire outside the gate.


Here Mary & Joseph are looking for a room at the local inn.


In order to fully enjoy the drive down to Waxahachie, they rented a limo so we could all be together. Here's what results from putting 11 crazy Boudreaus/Slaytons/Williams in a confined space....:)

Carter actually took this picture - not bad!


The Slaytons:


Carter was fascinated by the lighting control panel...


Dogpile on Uncle Mike!


Family Picture

Jurassic Park?

Before we left town for Thanksgiving, we enjoyed some family time and took Carter to the Dinosaur exhibit at the Heard Natural Science Museum. This was our first time there and it was a really cool place! Inside they had many different snakes to look at - Carter enjoyed it at the beginning, but he seemed to get more nervous about them as he saw more and more.

Here Carter & Ryan are checking out a large rattlesnake...yuck!:)


Red on black, friendly Jack...I hope that's right...


Here the kids could touch the old snake skins that had been shed. I opted out of this activity, but Carter thought it was pretty cool.


The dinosaur exhibit was great - they were animatronic dinosaurs, so they moved, made noises and all that cool stuff (one of them even spit water as you walked by). They may have seemed a little too real to Carter - he kept making sure Daddy was "protecting" him.

These were the baby dinosaurs...


We had just been to the dentist that morning, so after close inspection, Carter decided this dinosaur also needed to have his teeth cleaned.


Carter was really nervous around all the others, but he told us he wanted this T-Rex for a pet...strange kid...


Dinosaur hugs

Open Wide...

We made a family trip to the dentist this week. For Ryan & I, it was just routine cleaning, but for Carter, it was his first trip to the dentist chair. It's always 50-50 on how these experiences will turn out, but Carter did great!

The biggest challenge for him was reclining in the chair, he wasn't so sure about the moving chair. But he did get to wear those cool shades, so that made up for it.


After they counted his teeth, he actually let them clean and polish his teeth, aka "use the tooth tickler" and "mr. thirsty" .


He was also very excited to get his goody bag with a "Mater" toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss. We were so proud of our big boy!

Carter's Big News

Believe it or not, this post will not be accompanied by any pictures. I will respect Carter's privacy, however, I feel that this momentous event deserves some attention. Drumroll please......

Carter is "tee-teeing" in the big potty! This might be too much information for some, but for us, it's quite an accomplishment.

Anyone that has older children will tell you that if you just wait until they are completely ready, potty-training is a breeze. So that was my plan, wait it out and hope that he gets ready sometime before Kindergarten. That was the plan....

It must have just been a mood I was in, but a few weeks ago at the store I had to buy more diapers, and something just snapped in my head. I decided I was done buying diapers (for a while, at least - don't worry, grandmas). I would just "bite the bullet" and get him potty-trained. I went into it knowing that it would be a challenge and tried to mentally prepare myself for many accidents and frustration. But nothing could have fully prepared me for what was in store.

This past Monday was officially "Potty Day" for Carter, the beginning of this adventure. I won't go into too much detail, but by Wednesday afternoon, I was ready to throw in the towel. I had known it wouldn't happen overnight, but after 2 1/2 days, I felt like there was no progress whatsoever. He would sit for 10 minutes, then get off the potty and wet his underwear. I could handle it a few times, but after 2 days of that, I was pulling my hair out. Ryan can attest to my frustration. I knew he had no more knowledge on the subject than I did, but I would implore him for help and advice on how to make this work.

Then Wednesday evening, something must have clicked in Carter's brain. Since then, he hasn't had any tee-tee accidents (I can't say the same about the other, but he'll get there). Again, I realize this might seem trivial to some, but for a kid that, prior to Monday, had never used the toilet properly, it's quite an accomplishment.

It will be a little while before we would dare to say he is officially potty-trained, but we're well on our way. You can start taking bets on whether the next post will be filled with excitement over his continued progress, or frustration that I spoke to soon...

The Best Costume Ever

We're not really big Halloween people, and honestly, I haven't come to terms with my opinion on the holiday in general, but for a 2-year-old, dressing up is always fun! Last year's costume didn't turn out so well - we were going for a monkey, but the outfit ended up being a little small and everyone thought he was a bear...and a girl. Not good. I felt the need to redeem ourselves and make this year extra fun for Carter.

In keeping with his love for his Aggie jersey, and after stumbling upon a crazy maroon Afro wig, we decided to go all out and let him be a "Crazy Aggie Fan" for Halloween. This involved face paint, the crazy hair, painted overalls, a giant foam thumb, and of course, the jersey.

We took him up to our church's Fall Festival which had lots of games, rides, and candy. He had a blast! Here are some pictures to walk you through the evening....

He enjoyed getting his face painted and sat incredibly still to make sure Mommy didn't mess it up.


The final product:


And the backside...


Carter is bravely attempting to slide down the giant slide...after five minutes of waiting, Mommy ends up climbing up the slide to go down with him :)


Here are a few of the little toddler games he played:





(The crazy hair came on & off through out the evening.)

After the first slide debacle, Daddy convinced Carter to try another one. He finally did this one all by himself!


Carter loved his Aggie overalls, but as the evening progressed, he couldn't wait to get home and take them off!