One more thing... here is a picture of Carter a couple nights ago. He was so tired he hardly moved during his story time before bed. Him not moving is VERY unusual... so we had to take a picture.

I am online for the first time in more than a week and I can't decide what to do first!! We've moved into Joe's Place but won't have Internet for about another week or two. I've been having major withdrawals... although I am finding it is nice to have more time to do things during Carter's naps... other than look at blogs. Anyways... a lot of people have asked what the house looks like. Here are some pics:

Entry

Stairs

Kitchen (Dan said it's really time for me to learn how to cook now :))

Living Room (I warned Dan that I was taking the picture)

Dining Room

Sitting Room

Master Bath (Two sinks!!!)

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Boys Bathroom

Boys Room

Boys Room

Carter's Room

Carter's Room


We are really excited for the boys to move in. There are still some things that need to be finalized... so it probably won't be until after the New Year. It's amazing to see how much the community has donated for these boys. The stories behind some of the different pieces of furniture makes me want to cry.

We're heading to California and Seattle for Christmas and the New Year. Hopefully we'll get to see some of you!

Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to a snow and ice covered yard and Dan's first SNOW DAY!!! Yeah!!

After nearly a month of being sick, and MANY sleepless nights, we finally got Carter in to see his doctor yesterday. The poor little guy has two ear infections. Our doctor had to basically wrestle him down on the table to even get a look at either ear. She said he was small but mighty. Anyways... he's on medicine now and we are hopefully on the road to recovery. Here are some recent pics...

This is a before and after. Here he is this morning while I was picking out an outfit for him...

Here he is 5 minutes later...

My two crazy haired boys...

Reading time with Daddy. He REALLY wanted to hold the book...

Joe's Place: A Brief Introduction

About a month ago Alyssa and I realized we were thinking about the same thing though we had not expressed it to each other. That "thing" was Joe's Place and when we first heard about the idea we were immersed in Carter's first few days of life and thus were a little distracted. Four weeks ago our names came up at a board meeting for Joe's Places and our friend Chris Fisher approached us about the possibility of being house parents at the home. We decided to start praying and considering the position and two weeks later we interviewed with the project director and some of the board members. Another two weeks passed and then we were offered the position of house parents and we accepted. All that said we are moving next week into the house and will shortly begin the intake process (meeting and interviewing the students). So what does all this entail? Well it is a work in progress , but a work that is well supported, resourced, and thought through. The link below goes through most of the details of the project (initiated by my superintendent)
Joe's Place

Alyssa and I are excited about this opportunity to serve and support our community and the marginalized of our community. Pray and think of us as we try to create a warm and welcoming home for the students that will enter or home. Our hope is that through a stable and nourishing home the students will flourish in new ways.

It's crazy to think that our little boy had his first Thanksgiving yesterday. The short 5 months of his life have really flown by. We keep saying to each other how he really seems like a baby now... and not an infant. We spent yesterday with some of our great friends from church. My good friend Amanda cooked most of the meal. It was amazing! I would put the group picture up... but a certain someone has an issue with having her picture taken. Here are a couple pictures from our day...
First family Thanksgiving photo...

The guys watching football (and Carter) while the girls cooked...



Dan's going to write more on this later... but we will be moving next weekend. We are moving into a house close to the High School where we will be house parents for 2 to 4 homeless High School boys. Please be praying for us as we make this huge transition.

Carter is giving us a run for our money! The child has three stages right now... eat, sleep (kind of), and scream. I can't remember if I was more tired when he was born or now. I think he woke up every hour last night from 1 am until he woke up ready to go at 6:30am. We've been drinking a lot of coffee in this house lately. Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks:

Music class with Nana.

He's getting better at sitting up on his own.

Pretty Fall colors across the street.

Snuggling with Nana while he was sick.

Dan's Mom helped us with so much. Thanks Paula! This week we keep saying we wished we lived near Grandparents. :)

I had to post these four pictures as well. Carter puts everything in his mouth now. He gets so frustrated because his grip is still a little off. Anyways... I thought I would try the Johnny Jump Up again to pass some time. Carter lost it. He was trying so hard to put the strap in his mouth. I finally took him out so he could just chew on it. A couple hours later we put him in his exer-saucer... and he lost it AGAIN when he saw the Johnny Jump Up. He wanted to chew on it so bad that he wouldn't let go when Dan finally took it downstairs!!

ER Visit

Life is crazy right now!! It seems like one of us is out of town almost every other week. Dan's Mom was with us for a week last week. It was lots of fun! I'll have to post some pictures later. We dropped her off at the airport Wednesday night and then ended up spending the other half of the night in the ER with Carter. He woke up with croup :(. So... we got a couple hours of sleep before I dropped Dan off at the airport Thursday so he could fly to Philadelphia for a conference. It's no fun to have a sick baby without your husband. I'm so thankful for a couple of friends who stayed with me while he was gone. Dan got back Saturday night and then had to spend a lot of time a church today. All this to say that I had to remind him to put a diaper on Carter before he put his PJ's on tonight. It was pretty funny. Here's to a slower week!

Carter had to get his second round of shots today. I hate shots!!! He did really well. Here he is checking out his silver band aids.

We had not planned on dressing Carter up for Halloween... but when I saw this outfit when I was picking up candy... I just couldn't resist:





Dan figured he would have students from his school come by... since we only live about three blocks away from the High School and Middle School. He was homework for Halloween. It was pretty funny. Two of his kids actually thought he was handing out real homework.

Carter trying rice cereal for the first time last night. I know it doesn't look like it... but he really did like it.

You gotta love those toes!

A Better Day

This is how Carter ended up today after trying EVERYTHING possible to make him happy...

Things Carter has found this week....

His feet...

His side...

and Daddy's beard...

We are home now and adjusting back to life in the chilly Midwest. I'll have to take some pictures soon of the trees in our neighborhood. I love Fall! I thought I would post some pictures from our trip... up until my camera battery died.

Carter meeting my best friend Lisa.

Carter and Oma.

Hanging out with Uncle Scott and Aunt Cari.

Reading with Aunt Erica.

Sitting with Great Papa.

My Dad introducing Carter to Ranger.

Carter meeting some of our favorite people... Luke and Beth.

Sitting with Papa and Lexie.

Beautiful Bidwell Park. Our first home together in Chico was right across the street from this.

Reading with cousin Lexie... this was fun until the book accidentally got dropped on Carter's head.

Meeting Great Grandpa Elliott and Great Grandma Betty.

Meeting Great Aunt Carey.


I'll post our missing pics later. Now it's back to life. I have a week's worth of mail sitting on the kitchen table.