Halloween at Gymboree

The babies had their last Gymboree class last week and got to dress up for Halloween! It is so hot in our classroom so Carter only wore the headpiece of his lion costume but he still looked adorable! I was so proud of him this week because he really showed off his crawling skills in the tunnel and across the ramps. I am amazed how fast he is getting! He even managed to crawl downhill on one of the slides, but got a little scared and mommy had to recue him! We are sad our Gymboree days are over but had a great time in our last class! Maybe we can try again when C is a bit older (or if they ever lower their prices)!!

Carter’s First Halloween

As Halloween approached I knew exactly what I wanted Carter to be. I had always pictured him as a lion cub and so the search was on to find the perfect one! When my sisters and I were little my mom made all of our costumes so as the time got closer and we couldn’t find “the perfect lion” she offered to make Carter’s first costume too!! I could not believe what a great job she did and how quickly she put it all together! We are so lucky to have Hattie so close by and are very grateful that she made C’s entire costume from scratch! The headpiece is a little different now- you can see in the second photo collage it has a few more ruffles and bigger mane. Hopefully now that it's not raining I can do another photo shoot with all the Halloween props!

Easy Entertainment

Evidence that my son thinks I am hilarious:

Family Portraits

We recently had a very negative experience with the photographer we used for Carter's six month portraits. That's an entire blog post in itself, but I don't even want to waste any more breath on it. After all was said and done I decided we needed more pictures anyway so we could use them for our Christmas cards. We got dressed up and headed to my mom's house in hopes of capturing a few special shots. She did a fantastic job and got a few that we fell in love with!

Because I Can't Help Myself

I bought Carter a winter hat and forced him to try it on one morning after breakfast. I am not sure if it will fit his massive head once it's actually cold enough out, but I think it is so precious!! Now we just have to find the right coat...

Celebrating the Big 2-5

A few weeks ago we celebrated fellow Baby Brigade member Kerri's 25th birthday! Her husband and I schemed together to throw her a surprise party at one of her favorite restaurants nearby. The plot was to get Kerri to think she was going out to eat with her family. Shari, Julie, and I were hiding behind a big fish tank with balloons when they came in! It might have been a small turn out, but we had a great time and after stuffing ourselves with sushi, Kerri's husband brought by some amazing cupcakes! They were by far the highlight of my meal! I love getting to celebrate with friends and was so glad we could get together to help Kerri ring in her "quarter life crisis."

Sneak Peek

A few days ago I posted about the Baby Brigade turning six months old. To mark the occasion we hired a professional photographer to capture all of the babies together. We will do another photo shoot in April to celebrate our one year anniversary as well! It is a daunting task to get even one baby looking great on camera, let alone 9 of them but photographer Jenny Chesnut was up to the challenge.

She started by taking each baby's individual portrait and then we moved on to the group shots. Last night she posted a little sneak preview of what she has been working on and it looks like our cds of the photo shoot are in the mail! I added the frame and text to the picture below but what a fun idea Jenny had to photoshop all the babies in a row! I am so excited to see the rest of the images and can't wait to share them with you soon!!

Morning Workout

Carter likes to get in a little exercise every morning. For some reason after filming these I couldn't figure out why my cell phone was on the fritz...hmm...perhaps I shouldn't let the baby use it as a chew toy!

Uncle Shucks

Last Saturday we went for a drive to Dawsonville and stopped at Uncle Shuck's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch! It was a beautiful day to see the maze, watch the pony rides, pick out a pumpkin or two, and take a turn on the corn cannon. Carter loved looking around at all the people and posing for a few pictures.

Giraffe Teether

No, I'm not talking about Sophie this time! A few weeks ago a family friend gave us this giraffe ring stacker. Carter could care less about stacking the rings, all he wants to do is chew on her ears! Thanks to Hattie for snapping these adorable pictures while mommy and daddy got their butts kicked out on the tennis courts hahaha

Pumpkin Patch

During playgroup on Thursday we brought the babies over to a local church to check out their pumpkins. Of course we had to have a photo shoot!! It just so happened that the make shift pumpkin patch was right in front of the graveyard so it made for a perfect spooky back drop! It was super bright out and C was more interested in eating the stems than posing for pictures but I still managed to get a few decent ones. I am looking forward to going to the real pumpkin patch soon!

Wake Up!

The other morning I went in to get Carter after hearing him play on the monitor. I was surprised to see him sitting up and waiting for me! This is not a trick I am in any hurry for him to learn. As I was snapping a few pics to document this new phase, I got to watch his little mind at work as he figured out how to put his pacifier in correctly. He was extremely pleased when he succeeded and I couldn't help but give him a little cheer!

Teefers

Check out Carter's chompers (yes...there are 6)!! His favorite new thing to do (besides biting me) is grind his teeth together. It is the most horrendous sound but I cannot get him to stop! He also loves to chew on his lips and make a smacking sound. It reminds me of the noise you would make slurping up delicious soup. He thinks it's hilarious when I copy him. PS- it took about 50 attempts and bribing him with my cell phone to get C to open his mouth for the camera ;) He won't show those pearly whites to just anyone!


And a funny video of him jumping around:

Babies Go to Gymboree (again)

A while back the baby Brigade tried out a Gymboree class and really enjoyed it. When a great deal popped up on Groupon for a month of classes, we jumped on it! We waited a few months for the babies to be older and I am so glad we did! The babies get to enjoy the music and activities, and the mommies enjoy mixing it up and getting out of the house!

The Baby Brigade Turns 6 Months Old!

This past week the Baby Brigade had a photo shoot in honor of our half birthday! We began our lttle group with 5 babies on April 12 and six months later we have doubled in size! I know I have posted before about how thankful I am to have these friends but every time I am with them I am reminded how special they all are! I am so grateful that Carter has these buddies to grow up alongside and I am equally happy that I have a group of mommies all going through the same experiences. My one piece of advice for new moms is to find yourself a group where you can express your thoughts, opinions, get advice and vent about being a new mother! These girls are lifesavers and definitely keep me sane during a time when there are so many questions! Mommyhood is tough work and thankfully these wonderful ladies know exactly what I am going through!!

Seven Months Old

Carter Lately

So much has been going on with this sweet boy lately. Yesterday was his seven month birthday, his top four teeth are coming in, and he is getting increasingly mobile every day. Carter loves to show off his new crawling skills by doing push ups and planks. He will come after toys (or cell phones...) with such determination. He used to roll all over the place but now when he can scoot pretty quickly! He is very stubborn when it comes to feeding time and does not want any help getting the spoon in his mouth! This makes for very messy meal times!

And just because I think this is hilarious:

Playing at Spencer's

It was boys only this past week at Spencer's house! We were so excited to welcome back Nancy and baby Dylan who we hadn't seen in a few months!! All the boys had a great time playing and the mommas were able to catch up. It just so happens they are all getting some teeth so after playing we had to have a photo shoot with their favorite toy!

Please notice that in the above collage Carter is biting Miles but then he is the one

crying about it!! Good thing Miles is tough and they make up later on!

September Playgroup

Carter hosted play group when we got back from Hilton Head!!

It was so good to see our friends after two weeks away!

Moving Along

If Babies Could Talk...

Water Boy

The house we stayed in on HHI had its own pool!

Carter enjoyed spending many hours floating around with Hattie.