Let the celebrations begin...

Between June 16-19, our family has quite a lot to celebrate each year!  This year it is Mom's 58th birthday, Lee's 28th birthday, Jenna Mae's 2nd birthday and Father's Day!!!  Since Sally & I were the only ones not being "celebrated" this week, we hosted an all-in-one celebration dinner at her house on Friday.  Our menu consisted of Pioneer Woman's olive & artichoke dip, beef, chicken & shrimp kabobs with grilled vegetables, oven roasted potatoes, Pioneer Woman's buttered rosemary rolls, Bakerella's chocolate chip cookie pie with vanilla ice cream and Sweet Smells' vanilla white-on-white cupcakes.  YUM!

Moon Daddy, Carter, Mae & Jenna

Great Grandma Mimi holding Carter

Lissy & Moon Daddy gave Jenna a kitchen for her birthday! 

Chef Armstrong

Birthday Girl

Sally made these cute cupcake toppers

This is what Carter did during our dinner

Dad & Mom

Birthday Girl & Boy

Buddies Lee & Carter

Uncle T kissing Jenna's boo boo

Happy Father's Day, Dad/Moon Daddy!

Happy 1st Father's Day, Tyler!
(showing off his Tiny Prints personalized card from Carter)

Jenna playing with Uncle T in her PJs

Tyler got a new "little pillow" for Father's Day since
Carter spit up all over his other one :)

Mom's most practical gift - tupperware!

I love my baby!

Sally & her girl

Is this a cutie pie face or what?!?

Mom, Lou Gail & I all picked out the same birthday card for Jenna!
She & Sally are playing with the "Beauty" stickers after dinner...

Jenna "sharing" her stickers with Carter

And sharing them with T

We are so blessed by Mom, Lee, Jenna, Tyler & Dad.  Our lives would not be near as full without these five very special people.  Happy Birthday, Mom, Lee & Jenna!!!  Happy Father's Day Tyler, Lee & Dad!!!  We love you all and are so thankful to the Lord for enriching our lives with you.

Square One Playgroup

On March 3rd, Carter & I attende our first Square One meeting at Watermark Community Church.  I am so thankful to my friend Kali Bailey for sharing this class with me.  Below is the Square One description from Watermark's website:

Square One is a ministry for first-time new moms with infants. Bring your baby and connect with others also starting the journey of being a mom! A new seven week session starts soon and offers opportunities for you to connect with other new moms and be encouraged by seasoned moms. We discuss parenting, baby care, taking care of yourself and keeping your marriage healthy. We meet Thursday mornings from 10 am to noon at the Watermark Building.

Each week for seven weeks we meet as a group and discuss a specific topic related to new motherhood:

Week 1 - My Story: Introductions, birth stories, previous life, etc.
Week 2 - Mothering: Babies, parenting, pediatric care, books.
Week 3 - Mama: Taking care of yourself, postpartum depression
Week 4 - Marriage: Husbands, dates, dads.
Week 5 - Making a home: Cooking, cleaning, time-management.
Week 6 - M-I-L's - Family Matters
Week 7 - Memories: Travel, traditions, holidays

Our class started on Carter's one month birthday and completed when he was 11 weeks old.  I was not sure what to expect when I started, but I had such a good time.  This new mom thing is absolutely amazing, but it can also be tough, confusing, emotional and lonely.  Getting together with other girls who are in the exact same position as I am and also being mentored by other seasoned moms - some with 1-year olds and some who are grandmothers - was such a blessing to me!  Thank you, Watermark, for this wonderful ministry!

Since then, a group of us have continued to meet on Thursdays as a playgroup.  It gives us a great excuse to get out of the house, have some adult conversation, ask questions, share experiences/ideas and let the babies play together.  Below are some pictures that we took this afternoon.


Left to Right:

Grayer Davis (Kellie), Erin Sandwick (Leigh), Carter, Lincoln Culp (Mandy), Lilleigh Lankford (Ashleigh), Julah Johnson (Charis) and Liliana Marsh (Tammy)

Erin is happy and Carter & Lincoln don't know what to think...

This pic shows the chaos of trying to get all of the babies together in a line...

Poor Julah was not happy here :(

Bird's eye view of our cuties

Don't they all look kind of surprised here?

Now Erin is not happy...

I really do enjoy our weekly gatherings and I hope that we can continue them long into the future!  What a blessing to watch our babies grow up together.

Four Months Old

Today Carter Lee turns 4 months old!!!

We went to see Dr. Dunlap this morning and got a great report.  Below are his 4-month stats:


Weight: 14lbs. 4.5oz. (45%)
Length: 25.75" (90%)
Head: 16.75" (50%)


Tyler is so proud of how "tall" Carter is!  It might not last very long, but who would have thought the our baby would be in the 90th percentile for height?  He was a champ through the four vaccinations that he received (one oral, three shots in the legs) and only cried for a few seconds.  Sally gave me the tip to bring along a bottle to give him immediately after to soothe him and it worked like a dream!  Praise the Lord for a healthy boy.

Sweet boy waiting on Dr. Dunlap

Chubby thighs with band-aids after his shots

"I'm tough!  Those shots didn't bother me."

We met Tamara for lunch afterwards at Taco Diner.  She was in town for a friend's wedding and we were so happy to see her during her visit!

A few highlights from this past month:

* Carter is no longer nursing.  I stopped breastfeeding after 13 weeks (last day was 5/8/11).  He is now on Similac Sensitive formula and is eating 6 oz. of formula every three hours (8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm & 8pm, give or take 30 minutes).


* Sleeping about 11 hours at night with a bedtime between 8:00pm and 9:00pm.


* He has just started to take longer naps (more than the 30 minute "snaps").  Usually 30 minutes to 1.5 hrs in the morning, 30-45 minutes around lunchtime and 1 - 2.5 hrs in the afternoon.  Praise the Lord for this time!

This month Carter:
 
* Is much more steady with his head.  Mommy can even bathe him in the Tummy Tub by herself now!

* Has enjoyed watching his Praise Baby DVDs from Lissy

* Continues to LOVE playing on his Play Mat

* Has grown a cute little double chin

* Grabs onto everything and holds onto his hands

* Has the sweetest little giggle we have ever heard!

* Has developed a fondness for his "lovie" that our neighbor, Ann Gilliland, gave him.  It stays in his car seat and goes everywhere with us!


* Is starting to stick everything in his mouth and is drooling much more

* Rolled over from his back to his tummy on 5/30/11 (16 1/2 weeks)

* Tried the exersaucer, but is not quite ready for it yet

* Loves playing on his quilt from Grams

"Hi, I'm New Here"

* Enjoying tummy time more (still not his favorite, as you can see)

* Loving to talk and hear his own voice

We are so thankful for the opportunity to raise you, Carter Lee!  You are such a blessing to your Mommy & Daddy and we cannot wait to see what the next four months bring.

 The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. - Psalm 121:7-8