First picnic

Carter went on his very first picnic last Saturday.  With mommy and aunt Itney (daddy was under the weather).  I am so glad Whitney came with us, we decided to go to Hagan Stone Park in good ol'  Pleasant Garden, but first we had to get our food for the picnic...we decided on Bill's Pizza (just a local pizza place that's been around forever that I worked at for 5 years).  Once we got our delicious square pepperoni pizza we headed to park.  It was a brisk 60 degree day with the perfect fall breeze (my favorite kind of weather) the three of us found a perfect sunny spot on the grass to layout our picnic blanket and break out the picnic basket full of pizza and other goodies.  We had a great time, Carter was so cute getting everything out of the picnic basket.  We took Carter on the swings and let him slide down the slide all by himself.  We watched the clouds go by, and looked for shapes in the sky.  We stayed for two hours and didn't want to leave...... it was a great day! 

Matching puffy vest a must for fall fashion! haha my sister is probably having a heart attack right this second

's

Stealing from the picnic basket

It's ridiculous how much I love this kid

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Aunt Itney, she's the bestest

My happy place, is when I have this boy in my arms

So sweet

love

Friends forever...no really forever!

So they say you meet your life long friends in college...well we all met in middle school and some of us in elementary school.  We're a rare breed we have all grown up together (literally).  I have had the same circle of friends for most of my life, and there is much to be said about that.  Yes it is very rare not many people can say they even talk to their friends from high school, some stay in touch with a few people, but we ALL still hang out.  Were even spread out, two in DC, one even lives in India, but somehow we have remained extremely close.  We're all there for each other at each others weddings, and were beginning to start families.  It makes me smile to think my kids best friends can be my best friends kids!  I have the greatest friends in the whole world and I'm such a lucky girl: Ashley, we were at one time joined at the hip.  We were always together, wore each others clothes, snuck out of the house together, we were literally like the same person.  Now she's a mommy too, and I have her to share the many joys of motherhood with.  She has blossomed into this beautiful mother and I am so proud of her.  Vicky, has always been my dance partner, she is someone I could always tell anything and everything to.  She is trustworthy and nurturing, with a big heart.  Shana, ohhhhh Shana how that girl makes me smile, she is one savvy big city girl, but never forgets her country roots, she is the girl who will rock her cowboy boots with me, I think she missed her calling as a backup dancer, she always puts me in a good mood.  Jessica, has always told the truth no matter what, I love her for that.  I love that when she gets around us girls she lets loose. She is so photogenic its ridiculous, she gives great advice, and she is beautiful inside and out.  Rebecca, there is so much to say about this free spirit, she lives in India and we look forward to her yearly visit.  I love that she can go from wearing a burka to jeans and cowboy boots.  This girl rocks, and has always been loved by all who meets her.  I must say she isn't the best roommate in the world, but I love her so much that it's okay that she would clog my sink with her hair!  She has made me laugh so hard I have almost peed my pants (okay so once she did make me, but we won't go there).  Jade, my partner in crime, we have so many inside jokes we could write our own book.  We can just look at each other and know what the other is thinking and laugh.  I love this girl so much I can not see her for months and when I do see her it will be like I just left her.  Jon, one of the girls, my boy bestie, "it's okay it's just Jon he doesn't care", hahaha most guys would hate all of this, but he loves us girls and would do anything for us. We have been through a lot together.  He is so dependable, and such a great guy any girl would be lucky to have him.  I really hope that he knows that he really is my boy bestie!  Ryan, jolly green giant I love that we're neighbors, his house has always been the "hang out" house even in high school, we have all had some good times at both houses.  He is a good friend and all it takes is a phone call and he is here if I need him.  Robert, we have always had a brother/sister relationship.  I beat him up once, and if you ask him he would say he let me beat him up.  Sometimes he can have a hard shell, but we all know he is soft in the middle and really loves us.  He would be here in a split second if I needed him and he is always there to pull me out of a ditch :)
You see I am a very lucky girl to have such wonderful friends who are all so supportive of me and especially Carterbug.  They all love Carter, and they come to the buddy walk to show their support for Down Syndrome.  Not one of them said I'm sorry or aww that's to bad when I told them that Carter had Down Syndrome.  They all had very positive things to say about it and I really appreciated that.

So last night Carter went to his first bonfire, had his first marshmallow, and had a great time being passed around from Aunt Vicky to Aunt Rebecca, to Uncle Ryan and even Uncle Robert :)  It was a great night and is going into the memory bank for sure.  It really does warm my heart to know that he is surrounded by all the love and support that I have always grown up around.  Last night I realized that we have grown up together and eventually we will grow old together!  And I just thought I should tell you that I love you guys so much!!!

awww Uncle Ry an Uncle Wobert

Carter's 1st bonfire

mmmmm....marshmallows

Crazy Aunt Rebecca

Aunt Vicky loves me!

Just hangin out with mommy

Ashley, sweet baby Austin, Becc, Vic, Bug, Kristin

I've been busy...I promise!

Really it's been well over a month since I have been on this blog of mine.  It's hard to say why, I guess it could be that I have been working full time, and Carter has been in daycare and were still adjusting to our schedule.  I must say it's been a little difficult adjusting, a little part of me (okay a huge part of me) has this giant overwhelming sense of guilt every time I drop him off at daycare.  Yes, he likes daycare and has adjusted well, he no longer cries when I drop him off, and gets excited when he sees his little friends and his teachers, but when I leave him to literally walk next door to start my day at work it's hard for me to start my day.  I miss him like crazy, I want to be home with him, teaching him new things, loving on my little bug, I feel like all I do is think and talk about Carter.  I know this is probably normal mom feelings, but I miss my time with him.  By the time we get home it's time for dinner, a bath, and poor little guy is so tired from the day he is in bed by 8pm!  I am glad and very lucky to have Fridays off to be with Carter, I have named Fridays Carter and Mommy's day, we can do anything we want.  We have been to the water park, gone shopping, gone to get ice cream, and we have just enjoyed being at home.  I do enjoy those days the most, just hanging out it our pj's, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, making pancakes, playing with his toys, and cuddling on the couch.  I really do like the daycare he is in, his teachers are great, and really willing to learn all about Down Syndrome, and ways they can work with Carter but of course I would rather be home with him. 
Carter has also brought home every kind of germ you can imagine home with him from daycare.  I very rarely get sick and I have been sick for over a month now.

On a lighter note fall is in the air, fall is my absolute favorite season, the weather, the smells, the food, sweaters and jeans, cowboy boots, harvest decorations, pumpkins, football, Carter dressing up in an adorable Halloween costume, whats not to love?  I have already decorated the house for fall (I was soooo over summer).  October is a big month, I have my girls beach trip, followed by the buddy walk, then to New York to see Erin Witkowski and her beautiful family for a long weekend! 

Carter is doing some new things around here, he waves bye bye and hello (cutest thing ever).  His belly laugh has grown and rather it coming up from his belly I think it starts at his toes, it's so loud and such a happy laugh you can't help but laugh back.  He is playing with more cause and effect toys, his new favorite thing is rolling the ball and catching it, you sit with him and roll the ball and out comes that belly laugh and then he claps for himself if he catches or rolls the ball.  He still isn't showing any interest in standing alone or walking, but it will come when he is ready.  I am so proud of my little buggy!!!

Just some adorable pics from my camera:

Enjoying Nah-Nah's birthday cake

Baked beans, hot dogs, and cake...great for the hair follicles

cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese

well hello there!

New Beginnings

I have so much to talk about!  So much has happened!  First off, we just got back from a week long vacation to Sea Island Georgia.  We had such a good time, I was curious to see how Carter would like the beach considering he was 3 months old last year and all he did was sleep the whole time.  Well the first two days that we were there, Carter wanted nothing to do with the beach, he hated the sand, he hated the ocean to say the least he was not a happy camper.  So we hung out at the Beach Club (I am not complaining one bit) he loves the pool!  The third day we decided to try the beach again, and to my surprise Carter loved the sand, he crawled all around in it and really enjoyed eating it!  He loved the ocean he was laughing and bouncing every time a wave crashed.  Hooooooray he loves it...we even took his awesome Cadillac of a wagon and made it into a cozy beach bed when he was ready for a nap. 

Helping Uncle Keith and Cole build sandcastles

 Oh, I forgot to mention while at dinner one night on vacation, a sweet lady named Bunny and her daughter came up to us asking about Carter.  She asked if he had down syndrome, we responded with a smile and said why yes he does.  Well she has a little boy Michael with down syndrome.  We finally met him the last day we were there at the pool. Michael is 10 years old and so adorable.  He had 30 some surgeries in his first year of life, and just recently in the past year had his feeding tube removed.  Michael has an incredible little boy with an amazing personality and vocabulary and I could understand every word that he spoke.  He loved Carterbug!

So about two weeks ago, while giving Carterbug a bath he was standing and holding on to the side of the tub.  Poor lil' bug slipped and I caught him right as he was hitting the water.  THIS ABSOLUTELY TRAUMATIZED THE CHILD!  Since then you can not put him in the tub without him screaming his head off.  (Keep in mind this little boy used to love taking baths, he never wanted to get out of the tub).  I tried putting him in the bathtub with his cousins Cole and Caroline at the beach (Aunt Chrissie and I needed a photo op) no such luck, Cole and Caroline was trying to make Carter smile by doing kissy faces, but Carter just wanted to make frowny faces.  I have tried giving him a sink bath that doesn't work either.  If he takes a bath with me or a shower with Jeff that's the only way he feels okay.  I am hoping he forgets that horrible day in the bath really soon! 

This Monday was a big day, it was Jeff's birthday, I started my new job, and Carter started daycare.  Jeff and I both dropped Carter off at daycare on his first day.  I cried uncontrollably, seriously uncontrollably.  He did great, when I picked him up his teacher said how well he did and he had two buddies and that they were the three musketeers (they have stuck together all week!  How cute is that?)  He is adjusting so well and he is exhausted everyday when I pick up.  Excuse me when I walk next door to get him (did I mention he goes to daycare right next door to my work?)  :)

There are so many changes (all good) going on right now.  It's going to take a little while for the three of us to get used to this new schedule.  I am so happy with my new job, but even happier that I have Fridays off to spend with Carterbug.  Fridays are going to be our special day that we have together!  HOORAY FOR NEW BEGINNINGS!

Major blog neglect: Buggy update

So as usual I have excuses for being completely neglectful to this little blog of mine.  First off we didn't have internet for over a week, yes tell me about it I was literally going into DT's not being able to see what everyone was up to on facebook, catching up on blog posts, no email NOTHING! The next excuse was that I officially graduated from school last week.  No more tests, no more working for free, yay!  Our ceremony was held last Thursday, it was completely bittersweet.  We made lifelong friendships and I am going to miss everyone so much, but I was so ready to get a job and start working.  Speaking of that word, I have one of those J-O-B's now.  A wonderful orthodontic practice, who I actually did my rotation through and I fell inlove with everyone who worked there hired little ol' me!  I start August 1st after our week long beach trip.  That's also the day Carterbug will start daycare.....(insert break sound).....wait what?  Did I just say daycare????  That I did, I can't believe it myself!  I have always said from day one absolutely NO daycare!  I didn't want my kid to stay sick all the time, I didn't want strangers watching my children how awful!  Well momma got a reality check, daycare will be great for Carter, he is full of personality and he will love being around other children everyday, he will love his teachers, he will love having a day filled with activity, it's going to be good for him.  Oh yeah and did I mention his daycare is right next door to my work?  So, you know mommy will be sneaking over there on her lunch break to get a hug or two in!  Now for the Carter update: Carter is up to nine teeth, that's nine teeth that love to sink inside anything he can get his mouth on, a shoulder, leg, neck, face, you name it he has bitten it.  He is pulling up on everything and crusin' along ottomans and tables.  He has an amazing "kissy face" that his Aunt Itney taught him.  As of yesterday he is still at 20 lbs 2 oz and he is 30 3/4in. long.  He is eating many things these days, anything from soft foods like mac n cheese to steak and pork chops (they have to be teeny tiny pieces).  He is starting to look more like a little boy and less like a baby.  Carter has been discharged from physical therapy, but still gets developmental therapy once a week.  He knows what his cup is, he knows baba is a bottle that holds that yummy milk, he knows his paci, he can grab the ball when you ask him to get his ball, and he knows what a diaper is.  We give him choices, I will hold up a cup or a ball and tell him to get his cup and he grabs the cup! We have also been working on "putting in" after grabbing an object I will ask him to put in the bucket, we say ready, set, go and he drops it in!   He had an occupational therapy evaluation two weeks ago and she said she did not recommend OT for Carter!  Yay!

Bug had his first boat ride ever this past Sunday.  We went to visit my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Florette (now uncle choo choo and aunt mimi).  Both very special people in my life and who love Carter so much.  Carter got to sit on Choo Choos lap and help drive the boat, in his over sized life jacket, he so loved it!  The ride was so relaxing it put him right to sleep. 

Here lately Carter has become a huge daddy's boy, he wants to love on his daddy all the time.  It doesn't get any better than seeing the two people you love more than anything have such a strong bond.  Jeff is such a great daddy and I know I don't tell him enough.  Carter is so lucky to have him and Jeff is so lucky to have Carter, they are so cute together and it makes me happy!



Soapbox

I have been wanting to write about this topic for a little while now.  It's the issue of saying down syndrome rather than down's, or those other awful words that I have actually heard quite a bit that makes me stop in my tracks and cringe.  One starts with a 'M' you know that terrible word you have probably heard your grandparents say?  The one that makes someone with down syndrome sound like a monster rather than a human?  I hate that word, that word is definitely not okay to say ever!  Oh yeah and that other word the infamous 'R' word, who to this day I still have people saying it to me!  Yes this words cuts like a knife, it makes my ears ring and makes me want to jerk someone up by the neck of their shirts, but instead I ask them kindly to watch their language.  I usually get an apology, but sometimes I get shutup or it's a free country.  They are right about one thing, it is a free country, but why do you want to be hurtful?  Nowhere in the constitution does it say it's ok to be cruel, I think sometimes as Americans we take advantage of this right, and take it a little too far.  The other thing that bothers me is when someone says, I know someone who has down's.  Hmmm...what's down's?  Oh okay, you know SOMEONE who has DOWN SYNDROME?...Gotcha!  I do let this one slide from time to time in a conversation, because I know that everyone doesn't go out and research down syndrome.  Just try and remember the person who has down syndrome is a person first just like you and I, they just happen to have down syndrome.  National Down Syndrome Preferred Language Guide.  I know that it is difficult to break bad habits, but lets all try!

My friend Erin says it so much better than I do, she has a way with words that is indescribable:  What language do you speak? 

Great add for the 'R' word campaign

Animal pancakes and blanket tents

All we did today was play, eat, and nap!  Carterbug is getting his top molars and they are no fun!  We got teeth marks all over the crib to prove it.  His nose is stuffy then runny, he is fussy, and he is putting everything in his mouth to soothe the pain. The good thing about it is that he wants to cuddle like crazy! I make him pancakes every Saturday, but I thought maybe it would make him feel better if we had them today.  So, during Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Carterbug's favorite!) I made him a Mickey Mouse pancake and blueberries for breakfast.  One of my favorite things growing up was when my dad made me animal pancakes so I thought I would carry on the tradition.  He would always ask what animal do you want, and my sister and I would usually respond with Mickey or Minnie Mouse.  Every now and then we would test his artistic ability and ask for a elephant or a dog and to our surprise there it would be the perfect elephant trunk and all swimming in maple syrup on our plate.

Thanks Mommy!!

We made a tent today from my white comforter it was so cute watching Carter explore all the little nooks in the homemade tent, then he would giggle when it would fall down!  He makes my day, EVERYDAY!

Happy Friday!