Beware if you ever visit our house... there is never a shortage of things to trip on. Carter found a couple of those things while I was getting ready this morning.



...and to answer your question Mom... I have still not been able to bring myself to cut his hair.

Lunch with Daddy...

and hugs and kisses from Mommy.

I just needed to take a minute to vent about my morning. First... today I got up late which meant late getting lunch going for the guys and late getting Carter fed. Everyone was late getting out the door to school and Carter was losing it because he had been up for an hour and had not eaten yet. I fed Carter (which is becoming more of an ordeal each day) and put him back down on the floor to play for a while so I could clean up the mess.
This was last night...

Anyways... he scooted into the kitchen and lost it because he was so tired. I picked him back up and walked upstairs to change him for the third time in less than an hour. We had been upstairs for maybe a minute when I heard a huge crash downstairs. The light fixture over the kitchen (where we had just been) had somehow come unscrewed and fallen. Thank you Jesus for protecting our little boy.

Now Carter is in bed and I have my (now cold) coffee and the morning news. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

The pants are still a bit big...

Reading with Daddy tonight. The poor guy really needs a haircut... I just can't bring myself to cut it. I think I need to break down and do it this weekend. :(

Our lives are crazier than ever now... but more full of laughs than I could have ever imagined. The guys in this house just never stop with the comments. I think my favorite so far is when one of them suggested that I get some high-top sneakers. We feel so privileged to be here.

Carter is also making us laugh so much. He giggles and talks in his own language. We love it! We also love that sleeping on his part has gotten so much better. He loves his bed... we figure it's probably because it is the only place where he can have some alone time. He fusses and fusses until we lay him down... after that he talks to himself until he falls asleep. We usually find him looking through the bars of his crib toward the door or the window when we go to get him up. He was so happy after his nap this morning that I couldn't help running downstairs to grab the camera.




He is also moving more and more each day. This afternoon he was so frustrated that I was in the kitchen that he finally got on his belly and slid around the island to the trash can where he found some boxes to play with until I was done with the dishes.

I thought I would take a moment to introduce a very good friend. His name is Bart. I spend a lot of time with Bart. I took his picture and posted it below. He is our central vacuum. I think I have had him in and out of the closet four times today... which is funny because that is the same number of high school boys who have been in and out, and in and out, and in and out of this house today.

I had to post one last picture today. We have a web cam which makes staying in touch with family so much easier. Yesterday my parents got a chance to see Carter scoot and today Dan's parents were able to see him. It's crazy to me that we are miles away and can still look at each other and talk.

It snowed last night! We love the snow. Our cat Eddie is staying here at the house with us for a couple days until he moves to his new home for the time being :( We let him outside in the middle of the night last night... so it was funny coming downstairs because we could see exactly where he had been.

We're back in the real world now. It is so nice to have Internet!!! I thought I would post some pics since I have a couple minutes.

Playing in the toy box.

Happy guy with some crazy hair. I'm starting to put lotion in it to try and keep it a little calmed down.

1st time in restaurant highchair at our favorite St. Louis restaurant.

Scooting. He was trying to grab a toy that kept rolling just out of his reach.

This robe is so cute. It's a hand-me-down from his cousin.

He LOVES his bath... especially now that he has toys to play with and can sit up on his own.

Holding the bottle on his own.

Home-made cereal. He hated it. He really likes the texture of things... so I thought he might like it better if he touched it. Dan looked at me like I was crazy. He didn't like it any better after this.

I can't believe I'm online right now. It's been forever!!! We don't normally have Internet at home, but for some reason we are able to pick up a signal from Dan's school down the street. We think it has something to do with our weather right now. I only have one bar out of four... so we'll see how long I'm able to stay on. We'll have Internet back for good on Thursday.

Our precious little boy has changed so much in the last month. We love being parents more and more each day... especially since he has started to sleep through a good part of the night :)... just kidding... kind of. Anyways... he has started to move around by scooting or rolling, his bottom two teeth have started to come in, he can sit up on his own, and he can finally ride in the car awake without crying!

A lot has also happened in our lives in the past month. We spent Christmas in California, New Year's in Washington, we celebrated 5 years of marriage on the 5th, one of our boys moved in on the 7th, and I celebrated my 27th birthday on the 11th. It's been a really great month. I thought I would post some pics before I lose my connection... I've heard the Grandparents are going a little nuts without weekly updates on Carter :).

Chico Farmer's Market

Opening p.j.s Christmas Eve

Swanson family tradition: walking down the hall Christmas morning

Opening one of his 1st gifts under the tree

Each Swanson grandchild gets a wooden toy on their 1st Christmas

Great Grandma (Granny) Betty

In a daze between naps

Great Grandpa Floyd

Cousin Caleb

Nana and Gracie

Cousin cuddle time

Reading with Papa Reeve

Where Dan proposed almost 6 years ago...

It took about 10 self portraits to actually get the lighthouse in the picture.