a day at the museum.

Last weekend we took a drive south to visit one of my best friends, Katy Pancake-Boal. Katy and Brad recently bought a house in Edmonds so we were so excited to see all the work they had done to the place. Of course, my camera battery died earlier in the day so there are no pictures. But, it is a super cute house and they have done amazing work! We had a delicious lunch and dessert and can't wait to go back again for a visit!
We left early and went to the Everett Childrens Museum first. This place is amazing! It is the perfect place to let your little one run wild and get out a ton of energy! Each section had its own theme and I'm pretty sure Carter explored them all.
And he's off! (you'll notice most of these pictures are of his back since he was so busy running around and would not stop to smile for a picture!) Walking over the bridge.

Climbing the firetruck. Carter loved this area! He went down the slide over and over again. I'm glad we got there right when it opened so he had the truck all to himself!Riding the bull.And driving the tractor.They had a money room, which Matt loved. Carter and Matt played connect four. Well, Matt tried to play and Carter chewed on the coins!

Then, my camera died. Ooops! It was such a fun day and now we can't wait to check out the Children's Museum here in Bellingham.

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our little bookworm.

I caught Carter reading to himself the other day. It was pretty cute.

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weekend activities.

This past weekend was one of the first weekends in a while where we didn't have any major plans. It was nice to have some time to play, go for walks and just relax. Typically, we spend time on the weekends cleaning and catching up on laundry. Carter decided he wanted to help. So he vacuumed! And then vacuumed some more.

And then did it again! He's learned very early that a clean house is a happy house!I found some time to try out new recipes. So, Carter found some time to explore.
Then, Matt found some time to finish childproofing the kitchen! Carter's only option was to watch on the other side of the baby gate.He got bored quickly so we played a game of hide and seek under the kitchen table. (ignore the dust and dirt under the table. Obviously, we missed a few spots during all that vacuuming!)Next, it was time to work on his computer. Apparently, he needed to have his pants off to really work. Finally, he even had time to practice eating out of a bowl...all by himself! And, most of it went in his mouth! What will next weekend bring?

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Carter's Birthday Party!!

After having to cancel Carter's first 1st birthday party because we all had the stomach flu, we were able to reschedule and had a great party this past weekend. Many of our closest friends and family came and it was such a fun day!
Just a warning...I sort of went crazy with the pictures on this post.
Trying to get a family shot before the party. Carter was very distracted by the balloons across the room! Grandma and Grandpa Longhurst (and the balloons!)

Grandma and Grandpa Vance (yes, more balloons.)Family shot of Matt and I, my brother and sister-in-law. (There's a story with this picture: My mom has a horrible picture of the 4 of us from a few years ago and proudly displays it at her house. We all hate it, so this will now replace it! Yay!)Carter with Jayce and Marmie. Marmie gets to watch Carter when Matt and I are at work and she is absolutely amazing! Her niece, Jayce, just adores Carter. And, Carter can't get enough of Jayce!
Showing off his robot birthday shirt!One of my best friends, Katy, surprised me with a trip to Bellingham for the party! It meant so much to me that she came to celebrate. I love her!Friends and family.Carter getting his cupcake. The first time he got a cupcake during his 1 year photo shoot, he ate the whole thing. 2 hours later, he started vomiting for 6 hours straight! Needless to say, I think he remembered that horrific experience and wouldn't even try this cupcake! Matt trying to convince him to take a bite. He wasn't convinced.Yep...still not interested.We ended up putting a Cheerio on the frosting to see if he'd go for it. Nope...he just took the Cheerio off and ate it.So, we tried a blueberry. And, he did the same thing!"Mom....can I be done?"We decided to move on and appreciate our son's love for healthy food! It was present time!Carter's friends Aubrey and Ellie joined in the fun.Carter was spoiled with so many fun things! Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate!

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snow round 2.

We were lucky to get a little more snow this weekend. It was a beautiful Sunday morning with the snow covered trees. But, all we could think about was this: So, we decided to try again. After getting a certain 1 year old who isn't fond of the cold all bundled up, we headed out to the backyard. He wasn't too sure. In fact, he stood as still as a statue!

So, we had a little pep talk.Dad tried to convince him it was going to be okay.And we got a half smile!He started to change his mind.But then took a bite.And another.Then all the boys decided to go for a walk.And we finally got a smile! Woohoo! He actually had FUN in the snow!

In fact, he had so much fun he wanted to play in it again tonight. He whined and whined until we took him out to sit down and eat some more snow before dinner!

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Ouch!

Carter had his first big accident this past week. While playing with his dump truck and pushing it around the floor, the truck decided to unexpectedly dump its contents right into Carter's face! We knew it was bad when he instantly started crying (versus the delayed cry when he can't decide if he's hurt or not!). Matt quickly picked him up and noticed blood all over his face. The fun part was then trying to calm him down, figure out where the blood was coming from and then get it to stop! Luckily, it was just his upper lip, the tooth didn't go through and after 5 minutes of screaming, blood on Matt's shirt and an ice cube in the mesh feeder....he was okay. I'm sure this won't be the last time he gets hurt, but it is definitely not fun!
The picture doesn't show it too well, but he has a swollen lip with a bad scab now and a beat up nose (looks a little like Rudolph!)

Typical boy....10 minutes later he's back to running around again...looking for more trouble!

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