Trip to Austin - Part 1

Labor Day weekend, we took a trip to Austin for the opening game of the 2011 Longhorn football season! Gigi was in Austin for a wedding, so we thought it would be fun to meet her there & go to the game. Brave, huh?! Taking a 1 year old to a game. But it was AWESOME!!

Here we are trying to get a cute pic in our burnt orange before we left...

On the shuttle bus, on our way to campus.

We spent about an hour and a half at the Alumni Center before the game. Carter was the hit of the party - running around like crazy, playing in the dirt, with the leaves, you name it!

These next three pictures are sequential...Carter trying to put his horns up. So adorable! First pic - putting his hand up like Mommy.

Second pic - hand still up, trying to figure out what all these people are doing!

And finally, success! (Yes, I know, his horns aren't REALLY up). But he's 1! And when you tell him to "put his horns up!" this is what he does now. Cutest thing ever!!

View from our seats, hiiiiiiiigh up (and some other random pics). We didn't want to spend a lot on our tickets, when we weren't sure if we'd be there 1 minute, 1 quarter or what!

Pics on the bus ride home. We made it in our seats for a whole half!! Carter was an angel. But since it was already after 9, we decided to leave at halftime. He needed to get to bed :)

Gigi took Carter back to the hotel for bed, and Tim and I hit up Trudy's for some yummy Mexican food & drinks!

We had to drive by the tower on the way back to the hotel..lit up orange to symbolize the Horns win over Rice 35-9. Hook 'em!

Family reunion in Houston...

A few weeks ago, Carter and I went to Houston for my Great Aunt Dowine's 85th birthday! (She is in the black / gold in the picture above). We all called it a "family reunion" because it had been so long since we had spent any time together. We had a great weekend! I will explain pics as we go...

This is my Mom and I, with my 3rd Cousin Cathy and her Mom Jo.



This is my Grandmother (on the right) with her 2 sisters, Dowine and Cissie.



Family picture below. Me, Carter, my brother Scotty, his son Alex, my Mom and my Grandmother.



Another group shot. Alex, Grandma, Cissie, Dowine and I.

Sweet little Alex! He will be 4 in October!

This is my 3rd cousin, Kelly, and her son Owen. This is Carter "playing" with Owen. (Or, um, just trying to be rough & tackle him. Poor Owen!)

We went to Japon for dinner while we were in Houston. Tried to get a few pics of Carter & Alex. Not very successful! (sigh)

Alex and Pappy (my Dad) have a tradition on Sunday mornings of reading the paper together. It is so cute! Carter was invited to join. I warned them...it would be a disaster! But boy did Carter have the time of his life!!!

I think he is looking at the disaster that is now Pappy's room...probably a little proud! :)

Random pic at Grandma's just chillin! Sweaty from playing outside!!

Loving EPS1!

These are pictures from Carter's first day in his new Early Pre-School classroom. He is doing AWESOME!

18 months old...

Yesterday, Carter turned 18 months old! Where has the time gone?! In such a short time, we have seen our baby turn into SUCH a little boy. Who knew that several months ago, when he started saying words, we should have been recording them. Nana Stephanie told me we should! But we didn't...and all of a sudden, he has hundreds of words. No, not kidding. The pediatrician wanted to know if he knew 8...seriously...8. Tim and I sat down last night and started trying to make a list. It's silly. We stopped. It felt like we were making a list of words that WE knew. So when I say hundreds, I mean it! (And he still does tons of sign language as well). It's adorable to hear him talk...He even speaks in sentences. For example: "Mama shoot ball?" "Baby shoot ball?" "Oh no! Where is it?" And he says "I love you" now. MELTS MY HEART!!

Moving on...he just moved up a classroom at school too. Generally they don't move the kids up until they are closer to 2, but they thought he was developmentally ready...and he was getting a little "restless" and "aggressive" with the other 1 year olds. Haha! So he is the youngest by several months, but doing great so far.

Favorite things...Carter LOVES school. He talks about Emery and Andrew in the mornings - his best little buddies, who he has been with for quite some time. At home, he has always got a football or a basketball in his hand. Yes, still a ball obsession. He also LOVES books. Especially his Elmo book. OBSESSED with all things Elmo. And his other favorite books are actually Little Golden Books. Bought them at Half Price books - didn't really know if he would be interested in them. And figured he would tear them up since they have "real" pages. He loves them! His 2 favorites are Count on Sesame Street and The Pokey Little Puppy. He loves playing with Tyson - and Grace. Although he mainly just chases Grace and tortures her with a flashlight. Learned that from Daddy. He loves to dance. He loves to sing songs - ABCs, Row Row Row Your Boat, Bumblebee Song, Ten Little Monkeys, Hot Dog (the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song) - just to name a few. He has also really started to notice airplanes. He loves to point them out in the sky when he sees them, or hears them. But when one flies by, he usually looks at me and says "More please?" Or "Again, again!" So cute. He has a little play airplane that he flies with his hand - even tries to make the right noises - adorable. (I think he learned that from Cousin Alex).

This is already so long - I should stop - although I could think of a million other things to say about our amazing little boy! Some fun random pictures below...from church (with his friend Park), playing at home & outside & with Jack, and even a few from the Fort Worth Zoo! YES - HE PETTED A SNAKE! Yuck!!!

Rock Star!