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.

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.