Hunter's Visit to Louisville

This is a few months late, but better late than never right? Hunter came out to interview at the University of Louisville so he got to stay with us for a few days. While he was here we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Churchill Downs. Hunter took a bunch of pictures, but he didn't send us any of them with him in it!

While we were checking out the slugger museum a man came out from the factory part and brought us this HUGE glove! He wanted us to put Carter in it! Haha!

He also brought out this huge bat!

Yummy beignets from J. Gumbos.

It was fun to have you visit Hunter!

11 Months

Carter is at such a fun age. I love knowing that he understands a lot of the things I do. He loves to watch people, even if he's still not so sure about being handed off to others. :)

New things for Carter this month:

Started supplementing with formula. He still nurses, but I don't have enough for him anymore. He loves it!

Took his first trip to Universal Studios!
Went on his first amusement park ride.
Tried his first Harry Potter "Butterbeer" and loved it.
Figured out how to open his puffs using his teeth.
Easily cruises around the room holding on to everything.
Is once again sleeping through the night, even while we were on vacation!

Carter loves his bottles! 

Just having some puffs and watching a little TV.

Carter fell asleep while I was feeding him. I love watching him sleep. :)

One of my favorite things is to watch Carter as he plays. He loves to play with his books. Sometimes he'll play with it forever. He babbles and babbles as he turns the pages back and forth.

Carter's first amusement park ride! It was in Dr. Seuss land at Universal. He liked going around, but he didn't like when we moved it up and down. :)

Carter loves his Frosty the Snowman book from Grandpa and Grandma Housley. He can hear them read it when he turns the pages!

Carter still loves his food. :)

Trying his first Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks in Harry Potter land.

Carter we love you so much! We love watching you grow before our eyes. It is so much fun to watch you experience new things. You bring so much joy into our lives. You will always be our little boy!

10 Months

9 1/2 Month Stats

Weight: 18 lbs 3 oz

Height: 27 1/4 in

Our little guy is starting to look like a little boy and not a baby anymore! I can't believe it's going so fast. It is so fun to watch him start to understand us and respond. 

New things for Carter this month.

Carter can stand!

He is getting better and better at cruising around holding onto furniture and his playpen fence.

I think he is finally calling me Momma. :) I was taking a nap on the couch once and woke up with Carter standing up at the couch patting my arm saying "Momamama." :)
More and more he seems to be really trying to talk. He thinks he's saying real words. :)

Went to his first BYU football game against Notre Dame.

Got his first cold. :( 

Had his first fever that wasn't a reaction to an immunization. :(
First finger prick to draw blood. :(

I think he's starting to have some separation anxiety when he sleeps. That along with being sick has made for a difficult month of not enough sleep.

In the past couple weeks Carter has really fought me on naps and even sleeping at night.

He doesn't go back to sleep easy in the middle of the night anymore.

I can now see that he understands a lot of the things we say. I love watching Carter's face light up when I talk about his daddy. :)

Carter gets so excited when Rory comes home from work. One morning when we were up before Rory left he started crying when Rory left for work. He wanted to play with his daddy!

 One morning I was doing the dishes and I came out to find Carter standing!! This was only the 2nd or 3rd time he'd stood up. He was pretty proud of himself. :) I think he fell shortly after.

Carter and I had to walk to our apartment office when it was raining. Carter helped me hold the umbrella. :)

Giving Mommy loves. He does not do this often!

Carter has curly hair when it gets wet. Just like his Mommy.

This was just before Halloween and I thought Carter looked like a vampire with pieces of apple in his mouth. :)

I try to tell him he's going to gag if he puts too much in. He doesn't usually listen.

We haven't had Carter's playmat out for a while cuz he got bored with it, but I decided to pull it out the other day. All of a sudden I heard the music it plays and I hadn't turned it on. Carter turned it on all by himself and he was so excited! That's why the picture is blurry because he can't stay still. :)

Another time Carter turned on his playmat. He figured out the tiny switches really fast. He's a smart kid!

Carter had a check up when he was 9 1/2 months old. After the nurse weighed him and everything she was about to walk out when she saw me put a blanket on Carter to keep him warm. The room was pretty cool and he was only wearing a diaper. So she pulled out this little hospital down. :) Doesn't he look adorable? It has little lion cubs on it and it says "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" I think he liked it. :) 

At the end of the appointment the nurse pricked Carter's finger to draw blood. He was not happy about that. And he didn't like the band-aid she put on it. He kept putting it in his mouth and crying.  

Carter is normally a very happy boy, but he's been a lot more fussy since he's been sick. :(

Sometimes if I have to do something and I can't watch Carter I stick him in his exersaucer and turn on Little Einsteins. He LOVES that show! His favorite part is the music at the beginning. We also played it a lot when Carter was sick and we were just trying to keep him happy.

I know this pic is super blurry, but it makes me laugh. Carter's sneezing. :) 

Carter likes hold onto the fence and wait for me to come get him. I make noises behind him and he thinks it's hilarious. Sometimes he gets laughing so hard he loses his balance. haha

Isn't Carter the cutest little pumpkin? :)

We love you Carter boy! You impress us so much each day as you learn new tricks. You are such a smart little boy. We love that you are starting to understand us. We love watching you try to talk! We wish we could understand what you are trying to say. We'd love to know what's going on in your head as you explore your world. You bring so much joy and fun to our lives. Sometimes you leave us a little exasperated, but we still love you. :) You definitely keep life interesting with your boundless energy! We will love you forever kiddo!

9 Months

New things for Carter this month:

Carter's a pro at crawling!

He is all over the place.

Learned how to open up cupboards.

Favorite thing is to kneel up to the bookshelf and pull out all the books.

Took a trip to Utah for his Great Grandpa Butterfield's funeral.

Great on the airplane.

Loves playing with his cousin Nolan.

Very attached to his momma.

Takes a while to warm up to anyone besides his mom and dad.

Still goes to bed at 8 and sleeps all night usually.

Takes 2 naps during the day.

Got to go Trick or Treating at the zoo!

A very happy boy!

When Carter gets tired of playing by himself he crawls over to the couch if I'm sitting on it. He is learning how to kneel up to the couch. :)

One day Carter climbed into the bottom of his exersaucer.

Then he cried when he couldn't get back out cuz he kept hitting his head.

The closest he's come to standing!

Kneeled up against our entertainment center, but then couldn't get back down. :)

Figured out how to open the door! Uh oh!

Carter loves tags. :) It was great that the airplane had extra seats so I could take Carter's carseat. Makes it so much easier when I don't have to hold him the whole time!

We were walking to our next gate in the Chicago airport and there were some cool neon lights on the ceiling. Carter loved them. :)

Carter's first Trick or Treating experience. Isn't he a cute Nemo? :)

Our little man continues to change more and more each month. It is so fun to watch him grow and progress. He is at such a fun age. We love you kiddo!

8 Months

Our baby boy is 8 months old! He has changed so much in the last month. Carter does not know how to hold still. :) That's probably why he has lost weight. We went to the doctor today to get Carter's flu shot. While we were there I asked if they would weigh him and he's about 18 lbs now. At his 6 month appointment he was about 18 and a half pounds. He just never sits still! Carter was brave for his flu shot and he didn't even cry. He thought about it, but I picked him up quick and he got over it fast. :)

Carter this month:

Has 2 teeth! Both on the bottom. :)
STILL LOVES FOOD!! Carter would eat all day if I let him.
Carter still nurses about every 3-3.5 hours during the day.
Plus he's eating about 3 bottles of baby food during the day. That doesn't include the little snacks he gets all day when I'm trying to get something done, or Dad is trying to keep him happy. ;)
Ate his first whole banana.
He has yet to turn down any kind of baby food. But he doesn't like whole peas. I think it's the pea skin that bothers him. He loves peas in the puree form. :)
He does not appreciate anyone eating in front of him if he doesn't have his own food.
Loves any kind of cord or anything electronic. 
Can get up on his hands and knees. Tries to crawl but always falls back down on his stomach.
Sits up easily now. Towards the end of the month was finally able to move from sitting to laying down without just falling over. :)
Still goes to bed around 8 every night.
Still likes to get up early sometimes for a snack before going back to sleep. But he's starting to sleep until 7 more often now.
Takes 2 naps everyday.
Loves the wind. 

Where's Carter? I love this picture. :) 

Carter's first bruise. :( He bonks his head all the time as he's exploring. I'm not sure what this was from. By the end of that day it looked like I beat him. You could see three bruises on his forehead and he had a split lip that was bleeding slightly. I think the lip was just chapped. He never cries when he hits his head, so it must not bother him much!

I'm taking this picture with my phone and he wants it...

We got a baby gate. :) Mostly it's just used to put around things we don't want Carter to get into.

Playing with a big stuffed animal.

Carter was not happy when I laid him down for his nap. After crying for a little while he finally went to sleep. I went to check on him and this is how I found him.

I was on my laptop on the couch and I looked down and there was Carter reading his book. :)

Here Carter army crawled under our futon. I think he was going for the soccer ball, but then found a big tag on the bottom of the futon that he thought was more fun.

Usually when we go to the store Carter sits in his car seat the whole time. He was so excited to be out on this trip! He just grinned and talked the whole time. It was pretty cute. :)

Carter, we love your smile! You seriously have the cutest smile in the whole world. How could I ever get upset with that adorable little face? :) You are such a good baby. We can't complain about much. As long as you're well fed and take your naps you're a happy camper! You love to be right in the middle of things. We can't ignore you for long or you let us know! :) You just go, go, go all day long. You love to watch other people. If they are smiling and talking you usually smile back, even if they weren't talking to you. :) You are going to be one very social and active little boy. We love you so much little kiddo! We're so happy you're ours forever!

Bowling

Rory has wanted to go bowling for a while. We finally got to go about a week ago. We have coupons for free bowling at the Sports and Social Club in downtown Louisville. Carter was happy in his stroller for a little bit, but then he wanted to get out and join the fun. :) It's been a while since I bowled and you could definitely tell. Rory threatened to take a picture of the score, but thankfully he didn't. :)

After we bowled we had lunch. I had a delicious Reuben sandwich and Rory had a Blackened Grouper Sandwich. Both were great! 

Carter wanted to eat too.

I let him try my pickle. He seemed to like it. :)