The Vance's

8 months

>> August 4, 2010

Our not-so-little boy is already 8 months old! He now weighs 24lbs, 10oz and is wearing 24month-2T clothes! Crazy, I know. This summer has been so fun with Carter. We take walks in the stroller, play on the swings, splash in the pool and scoot all over the house

Big milestones:
He has officially started crawling (okay, well, like 2 steps and then falls to his stomach to reach for a toy) but still...he's mobile!
Pulling himself up onto the coffee table, crib, and anywhere else he can get his hands onto.
Letting go of our hands when he's walking to reach out for something.
Taking off his diaper (luckily, it's only happened on the changing table and I've been able to put it right back on!)
Peeing for the first time standing up! Happened last night when we were waiting for the bathtub to fill up. Yep...all over the floor! He was very proud of himself.
Eating all sorts of foods - sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, avocado, apples, peaches, peas, green beans, zucchini, blueberries, yogurt, oatmeal, rice and cheerios. We are trying chicken tomorrow!
Mastering the art of the sippy cup.
Transitioning from 3 naps to 2.
Cheerios are his new favorite snack. And I must admit, it's a great snack to have on hand when we are at the park/restaurant/friends house and I need to keep him happy! He loves to grab an entire handful and then try to shove them in.

His new favorite toy is this rubber ducky. It's really just a bath toy, but it's the only thing that will keep him distracted long enough for me to change his diaper without him rolling all over the place.

We are loving this stage and loving our sweet boy. Happy 8 months Carter!

camano island.

>> July 25, 2010

This weekend we decided to drive down to the Vance family cabin on Camano Island. It's the perfect little getaway that's still close to home. Every summer we try to go down as much as possible to relax, walk the loop and play at the beach. This weekend was beautiful! Carter got to go to the beach for the first time.

He wasn't too interested in staying on the towel.

He quickly discovered sand.

And then quickly discovered what it tasted like! Over and over and over again he would reach down, grab a handful of sand and shove it in his mouth. I tried to keep it away but his face was pretty much covered by the time we left. Oh well.

Yoshi got to play in the water, which meant Matt did too!

We just sat and watched.

When we got back from the beach, Carter wanted to leave his swim trunks on for a bit and just enjoy the view. It was a relaxing weekend full of good food, fun and family!

on the go.

Carter is on the verge of becoming a very mobile baby. For months he has hated being on his tummy and has always just loved standing. So, we just assumed he would skip crawling and go straight to walking. In the last week that has all changed. This kid can't get enough of his tummy, is constantly rocking back and forth on his hands and knees and has finally learned to scoot forward! He's been able to slide backwards on the hardwoods for a while, but the actual act of crawling has begun. I'm so proud of him yet so fearful for what's to come. We still need to babyproof the house and now have very little time to do it!

He also learned how to pull himself up on just about anything. I was folding laundry the other day when I turned around and saw this. Needless to say, Matt lowered the mattress the next day.

He has also learned to pull himself up on the coffee table and try to walk around it while holding on. Such a big boy!

29.

Last weekend was Matt's 29th birthday! We were talking about how old we were when we first started dating and he was only 23...crazy how fast time goes by. For his birthday the only thing he wanted was to go to a Bellingham Bells game with our friends. The Bells are a local baseball team and surprisingly, after 10 years in Bellingham, we have never been to a game. So...to make it extra special, I talked with the general manager and was able to have Matt throw out the 1st pitch! He was SO excited! This was Cluck, the mascot. Not really sure why they have a chicken as their mascot, but it was still fun. He came up through the stands and shook Carter's hand. Carter just stared in amazement while the other kids nearby screamed in terror. Hilarious!

Matt getting ready to throw out the first pitch. We have it on video, but I'm too tired right now to post it. I'll put it on the blog eventually.

Great friends came to cheer him on (and play with Carter for most of the game - it was wonderful!) Thanks Caity and Meredith!

Matt's parents came up too.

During the game they also had the stadium sing him Happy Birthday and gave him a free t-shirt. So much fun! Happy 29th Birthday Matt!

Summer 2010

>> July 10, 2010

The weather has finally warmed up and summer has arrived! We've been extremely busy the last few weeks. Besides keeping up with Carter, I had eye surgery 2 days ago (doing pretty well) and Matt left for Vegas the next day (a week long work conference). This summer is going to go by so fast. Here are a few pictures to show what we've been up to. Carter has been practicing finger foods. He likes peas when they are pureed, but not really a fan of the "normal" pea.

Carter with Kim and Pam Hunke at the BBQ.

We went down to Puyallup for the 4th of July. My brother and sister-in-law had a great BBQ. Unfortunately, it was so cold we couldn't show off Carter's cute "4th outfit." And, because of a rough night of teething the night before, we all left around 8:30pm and were in bed by 9pm. As we were driving back to Bellingham the next day, we realized we never actually saw a firework this year. We heard a bunch of booms, but never saw a beautiful sparkle in the sky. Oh well...there's always next year!

Carter has been loving the sunny weather. Any excuse to show off his new hat!

We've spent lots of time in the grass. And even more time trying to keep the grass out of Carter's mouth!

A very deep-in-thought moment. Who knew 7 month olds had so much to think about?

I bought Carter his 1st pool. After a little hesitation he splashed around and loved it! I think we'll spend many afternoons in the water this summer.

And because you can't have a summer without a playground, Carter got to try out the swings for the 1st time today! I think he found a new favorite hobby.

friends.

>> July 1, 2010

So, we all have them. You know, those friends in our lives who are just wonderful. Those friends who drive 3 hours to see you on a random Wednesday, wait 25 minutes at Fred Meyer to get you birthday balloons and just make you laugh (mostly at yourself looking at old photos) all day long!
I have 2 amazing friends, Heather and Katy. We have been friends for years and even when we don't see each other for a few months, we can always pick up where we left off. We can laugh, cry and be honest with each other because we each just know how the other person is feeling. It's nice to have friends like that.
These 2 friends came up for the day yesterday, on my day, off just because. Well, to celebrate my birthday. It was such a good day. I feel like life has been a bit stressful lately and yesterday was the perfect day to relax, have a little fun and not worry about all the little things that needed to get done. Thank you both so much! I really, reallly needed a day like that.
Heather and I when she was pregnant with Conner. (Please don't kill me for posting this picture - it was all I could find, I swear! - plus, you look really cute prego!)

Katy and I at Bryce & Alyssa's wedding.

Birthday Weekend.

>> June 28, 2010

This years birthday was much more mellow than years past. I didn't have a party, I didn't even have a cake. It seemed to fall during a busy time and the weather didn't cooperate which changed our plans several times. At the end of the day, it turned out to be a relaxing day enjoying the little things in life.

Saturday afternoon our wonderful friend, Karlie, babysat for us for a few hours. Our friends have asked time and time again to babysit and we finally accepted the offer (by the way - I think we'll start using your services more often!). We decided to go furniture shopping. Matt's parents gave us their old couch when we got married....and I mean old. It has been a great couch over the years, but it was definitely time to be replaced!

Before.

After!
Sunday morning, Matt let me sleep in and then made french toast with fresh berries. It was delicous!

Matt bought me a beautiful flower hanging basket too! Anyone who knows me knows that I don't enjoy gardening. In fact I hate it. Pulling weeds, watering, and getting on my hands and knees in the dirt is so unappealing. So, the 2nd half of my present was a promise for Matt to water the flowers and make sure they don't die! That was the best present of all!!