Um yeah, no.

So yeah. This is not working for me. I don't know what was going on in his head. And he knows that he shouldn't be in that exersaucer, but I'm pretty sure that he couldn't get back out on his own. And suprise suprise he got into that while I was taking care of his sister and dressing her for the day. In fact, I'm starting to think that I should start a weekly feature about the trouble Carter gets into while I'm tending to his sister. Actually it may be a daily feature. Oh! And he also got into the freezer today while I was upstairs changing a diaper and pulled out the ice cream. Thankfully I got to him before he started to devour it. Tsk, Tsk.

A little sip

For the first time ever Carter enjoyed a seasonal favorite, hot chocolate. He hand picked the mug, and tenatively took his first sip.

Success! From the look on his face and the hot chocolate mustache, he enjoyed it. We had a slight touch of snow this morning, and I can't wait for more! Although I know that Mike dosen't feel the same way. In other Shadle news, we are going through a slight bout of a stomach bug. Nothing like the worst christmas ever, but only Carter and Mama have been affected so far. Hope you enjoyed some new pictures!

Santa Saturday!

Today we went to the Kenwood mall to get the Santa picture. Carter had a little of a smile, but Ava wouldn't smile for anything. I'm just glad that she didn't cry, because that was a possiblility as well. We picked out some christmas gifts, and headed over to Toys R Us. We decided to start a family tradition of picking out a toy to give to a needy child, in this case we put it in the Toys for Tots bin. Although Carter didn't really understand why we were picking out a gift, he did pick out a dinoroar toy that he liked. And I had him put the toy into the bin and I tried to explain to him that it was for a child who didn't have any toys. Hopefully as the kids get older, it will serve as a reminder for how truly lucky they are. So, I think this will be our new family tradition.

Playing Dress up

It's Girl Time! Every day for about a half an hour I get to enjoy the lovely and talented Miss Avery Marie for about half an hour before her brother wakes up. Today we played with her purse, one of her very first girly toys. As you can see, she is modeling her bracelet and mirror. I even taught her to put on the "lipstick."

Can you see her little tooth that poked through on the bottom? She's holding play money in her hand and asking her Daddy if she can go and get a $50 haircut at an Aveda salon with her mommy. Daddy's answer: as soon as you get a job baby girl.

Title: Mirror, Mirror in my mouth.

And a brief potty training update: Carter is pretty much potty trained. As long as he can go naked. Isn't that crazy? As soon as I put underpants on the kid he has an accident, but when he is naked there's no problem. So we're just working on wearing actual underwear.

And on tonight's agenda: christmas shopping and tacos for dinner!

PT OT

We are currently in the middle of potty training over time (PT OT). I hope to report success very soon. I'm tired of buying diapers for two babies! Not to jinx myself, but this morning went smashingly well. Wish us well.......

Updated: Today I asked Carter what kind of underwear he wanted to get. I told him about all the different kinds: Cars, Elmo and Sesame Street. His answer? Grandma underwear. Interesting.......

Who brought the saw?

The day after Thanksgiving we went to a tree farm to pick a christmas tree for Grandma and Bo's house. Carter had a ball because he was able to see a horse, go on a wagon ride and hike in some fields. What more could a two year old ask for?


Horses! And Mike in his girly coat, I mean boy scout coat.

Enjoying the wagon ride, bundled up to enjoy the snow! (Yes, it even snowed a bit!)

Are your eyelids frozen?

Who brought the saw?

The christmas season is here!!!

A's first Turkey Day

Happy First Thanksgiving to our little Avaroo! We are still at Grandma and Bo's house and enjoying every second of it. Ava tried a little bit of squished sweet potatoes, but really wasn't very impressed. But she sure is digging the pureed baby food right now, she ate four jars today! And as for Carter bean's favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast, that would be the pumpkin pie and Reddi-whip. Actually just the Reddi-whip. He had thirds on the Reddi-Whip until he was cut off.

Carter bean is also in seventh heaven with all the little boys running around. He's got two little playmates (which are actually his second cousins). Jordan is 3 years old and Tanner is 5 years old. Not a day has gone by without the floor being covered in cars, trucks and trains. I love watching him interact with these little boys. He spends most of his day imitating Tanner; laying on his belly to play just like him and making the same exact sound effects while playing with cars and transformers. Jordan and Carter are fun to watch as well, but they also can go head to head at times. Today Carter walked around turning on the lamps and Jordan would go over and turn them off. It was lamp wars for awhile, until I laid down the law and said that no one could touch the lamps. It makes me so excited for the time when the Bean and Roo can spend time playing together.