Daddy's big helper (will work for cookies)

Carter went out to the shop to help daddy finish dry walling the ceiling for his party. We've decided that we will have his party out there, that way there is plenty of room for everyone, and we won't have to worry about green cake icing getting in our carpet. Don't worry, it's heated out there! Needless to say, next time he'll be wearing old clothes and shoes..I don't know if I will ever get the dust outta those pants!

Here's some pics of the little monster from this month

I found IT! on Ebay!!! Actually...I sold IT! on Ebay

SOOO I've been selling stuff on ebay since about October (PLEASE don't tell the IRS that though lol) When we had our taxes done this year, the lady said that I am now a small business owner (do I need a business license? dunno) and that I have to start keeping track of my sales and profits...boo hoo. But that also means that I get to deduct more stuff too...new laptop? deduction...new printer? deduction...Driving to Springfield to buy stuff to sell? deduction...Should we actually ever add on to the house? well that too goes down as a deduction for my home office! I can almost guarantee I will find more deductions then I actually make, so we should still be in the clear as far as having to pay....at least I hope that's how it works. I really don't know. I do know that Carter was a nice little deduction this year, and the lady that did our taxes was even nice enough to point out that if we get busy, we could have another one before the end of the year...haha yeah right, but thanks for the pointer. I'm still learning what sells well and what doesn't sell at all. I have definitely got the overseas market for toddler and infant boys clothing pegged, there is a particular brand that sells like hot cakes. I haven't found the girls brand that is a major seller, but I will eventually. As spring approaches I have started selling swimwear as well, and that seems to be a good seller too. When I started this, it was mainly just to get rid of the excess junk in my house as well as some of Carter's clothes that didn't fit. I was surprised by how much my junk was selling for, way more than any garage sell would bring. I pretty much cleaned my house of anything that was no longer wanted or used. One day while I was shopping, I bought a couple of outfits for Carter for his Christmas outfit. I wanted to get Clayton's opinion on which one he liked better and I figured I would just list the other one on eBay, and hope to get my money back out of it. Well to my surprise I made a pretty penny off of it...and so it began. Since then I have been selling pretty steadily. It's nice to feel like I am contributing to our family income, even if it isn't as much as a full time job would bring in. It's fun too. I love doing it. When I first started I wondered if I would get bored with it and stop, but honestly I like it, it's awesome when you find something that sells well. I'm sure the people at the stores where I buy most of the stuff think that I am loaded, or in major debt....sometimes they ask if all the clothes are for Carter....and I just smile and say "nope". Sometimes they pry a little and ask if I have other kids, and I say "nope, these are for 'other' people's children." They don't need to know what I do with the stuff when I get it home :)

Now I'm gonna toot my own horn for a minute...At the beginning of the year you may remember that I said I had lost ten pounds, well add ten more to that total. I'm happy to say that I have lost 20 pounds total. I weigh less now then I did when I graduated high school. Ahh it feels good. I'm not necessarily trying to lose anymore, but I am going to continue to eat healthier and exercise everyday...if more weight comes off, so be it...I won't complain too much. Carter will begin weening in a few weeks, so I won't be burning as many calories in a day, and I suspect my weight loss will level out at that point. I'm proud of myself...I've never been able to get myself to eat good and exercise for more than a week or so, but I've been doing good for about 3 months now. So there it is TOOT TOOT!

Giddy Up!

Here are Carter's 11 month pics!

My first cowboy hat, boots and wranglers.

I don't need mama and dada to hold me up

but the lady taking the picture made them

Yeah, I'm always up to no good :)

You can't make me lay on my tummy,

I'm not gonna do it

Happy Valentine's Day

Well....It's Valentine's Day. Which also means it is Carter's LAST "first" holiday. Wow. That is kinda hard to imagine already. No more "my first 'whatever' " bibs or onesies or outfits :( This time last year I didn't think time could go by quick enough. The last three weeks of my pregnancy had to be the longest three weeks of my life. From worry about everything being okay with him, to not sleeping, and still working a full time job, I just thought he was never going to get here. And now, I feel like the last year has gone by faster then those 3 weeks did, and I'm wondering where it went. Clayton tells me everyday that he's not a baby anymore...."are you sure?" Well he'll always be my little baby. And for those of you wondering when we are going to have another one...well....should be about nine months...HAHAHAH YEAH RIGHT JUST KIDDING. Don't hold your breath on that one, k? It'll be awhile still. I don't think Clayton, Carter (especially), or I am ready yet. Ask anyone, and they will tell you that I have always said I wanted them at least 4 years apart so that we didn't have to pay for two of them in college at the same time. Well I've changed my mind a little on that one, so maybe before then. Heck, we'll probably still be paying for my college by the time Carter is there, so what's the difference? Why not add one more to the list :P. Anyways, as his birthday get's closer and closer, I do kinda feel like my little boy isn't as much of a baby anymore, but hey, they gotta get their big boy pants on eventually, right? I don't want him to be a major pansy or anything, so I try not baby him too much... But I am still his momma, and that's just what mommies do.
Keep your calendars open for March 8th. That's the party day! I'll be sending out the invites very soon.
Hope everyone has a VERY HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!
SOI know that the bib is totally girly, but you try finding a Valentine's one that isn't lol. Something about hearts and red and pink, it just doesn't scream "manly" :)

Valentine's Present and Ramen Noodles

Carter got his first Valentine today. Great Aunt Laura and Uncle Chuck sent him the book Bible Story Favorites. It's really cute. We read it as soon as we got it opened. He likes putting the google eyes in his mouth. The stories all rhyme, and he has just started clapping along to music, so when I read the rhyming words he claps along. Here's a little video of him playing with it after we finished reading.

Today for lunch I was going to feed Carter the left overs of a Gerber Graduate dinner he didn't eat last night. Apparently that isn't what he wanted. So I tried to give him a jar of squash (usually one of his favorites). He didn't eat that either. He saw that Dad had Ramen Noodles. We let him try a bite and he loved them. So I fixed him his own bowl. he ate almost all of a whole package. Little piggy! I guess he gets that from me, because I still love to eat them :)

2007 Ice Storm...Oh Wait, It's 2008 and ANOTHER ICE STORM!

Well I have to say that I actually think we have more ice this year then what we got in the "once in a life time" ice storm of last winter. I don't know if it was because I was pregnant, or the fact that we lost our power for 5 days, but that one did seem so much worse to me. So far we still have electric, which I am SO thankful for. Also, the trees were sooo badly damaged last year, that we haven't heard nearly as many limbs and trees falling. I think mother nature took out all the weak and weary last year, leaving the strong to survive this one as well. Now that I say all this, the power will go off, a tree will go through our house and we'll get 6 inches of snow on top of the ice...so for the record I sit here at my dinning room table and announce to the world "KNOCK ON WOOD" :)

Below are some pictures I snapped this morning and a video I took last night, towards the end of it you can hear a tree limb fall.
(you can turn the music off to the right of this post. Just click on the pause button towards the top of the player and you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)

chocolate milk

We've had a busy weekend. Thursday night, after Carter went to bed, Clayton and I painted the dinning room and kitchen. Whao, what a chore....it was well after midnight before we went to bed :P. I like to call the color chocolate milk, although I have no idea what it is really called, it reminds me of chochy milk. I have removed the sunflower motif from the kitchen (I just had had enough of it) and we now have John Deere (imagine that) in the kitchen and a "live, laugh, love" theme in the dinning room. I also covered the seats on the dinning room chairs with

a new fabric, and a plastic linning. I'm going to make a window curtain to match the chairs for the window over the sink, and I want to do something different with the green tile on the table, but I really don't know what just yet.

Friday night we went to the boat show in St. Louis. It was fun. We saw a bunch of really big boats, which we will buy everyone...when we when the lotto. We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's and then came home Saturday morning. I'm pretty sure an F4 tornado came through our house while we were gone, because I sure didn't remember it being such a big mess when we left. Needless to say I spent the rest of the day cleaning. I also took the time to clean out my kitchen cabinets and counter tops. I got rid of all kinds of stuff. If its main accomplishment in my kitchen was collecting dust, it's gone! A lot of stuff is going buh bye on ebay, the rest is going to the Salvation Army.

Today Carter and I went to church. He was a little fussy in the nursery so I brought him back out to the service with me, and he did really good until the very end. He started wailing, so we went to the back of the church and then he was fine...guess he was tired of looking at the back of the heads of the people in front of us :) Then we went to Springfield and did a little shopping. Carter had his very first kid's meal today. We went to sonic and he had a grilled cheese and tator tots with an apple juice. He liked the grilled cheese, didn't really care for the tator tots though (what a good boy!) I had a grilled chicken sandwich, so I was good too :) That about sums up our weekend.
Carter loves playing with the big bear santa brought him for christmas...It is sooo cute. He climbs up on top of him, jumps on him, and when he gets real tired he crawls over to him and snuggles with him(that would be the first video.) The other night he was playing on him, and got tickled about something and just kept laughing and being silly. (that would be the second video)

Mommy's Day Out

Today was Momma's day out. My friend, or sister as I like to call her, Jenn, and I left the boys with Grandma Beth and we went to Tara's Day Spa in Rolla and got massages and pedicures. It was GREEEAT! Then we went Family Center and I got the boots I have been wanting for a long time. We ate at pizza inn, did a little more shopping (for the boys of course...you know we couldn't come home empty handed), and then went back to Grandma's to save her :). Carter didn't do so great while Momma was gone, but that's okay. I guess he got pretty fussy, but he's just not use to his mommy not being there all the time. I kinda feel bad when I leave him, but I know that it is good for both of us to learn to not be together all the time. I can't stay with him on his first day of preschool....but I probably would if they'd let me :)
All our snow has already melted, but we had fun while it lasted! Dad, Carter, and I played in the snow for a long time yesterday afternoon. Carter actually had fun, it was warmer and the sun was shinning, so we saw a few more smiles out of him. When I put him in the bath last night I noticed he had a rash on his legs and butt. It was really odd looking, kinda splotchy and almost looked like it was a burn. I don't know if it was a flare up of his ezcema, because it doesn't look like it and he hasn't had any in a while. He may have got too hot in his snow suit while we were playing, or it could have been from the fever he ran earlier this week. Anyways it was a little better this morning, but then looked about the same as it did last night later today. Soo I guess if it isn't any better by Monday we will have to go see his doctor again. Poor kid has the worst problem with his skin...things you think would irriatate it don't phase it, like sunscreen. Other things, like bubble bath, just break him out soo bad. Well folks, I hope everyone has a good Sunday! Enjoy the superbowl, or the superbowl commericals!
Good Night!