Our Monkey goes Trick-or-Treating

We went to Chris' parents home tonight for the anual trick-or-treating w/ yummy treats. All the cousins that live close were there. Here is Carter w/ cousin Calie. They are about 3 weeks apart in age. Carter figured our the "Trick-or-Treating" thing real quick.

He realized that if he got out of the wagon he got something yummy. Then he wouldn't give them up. He had a death grip on that candy. The chocolate was totally melted when I finally pried it out of his tiny fingers.

He refused to take one single picture looking straight on at the camera. I still got some good pics. He was the cutes monkey I had seen.

Here are all the cousins. They had a good time together.

He wanted the lolipop, unfortunately mommy wouldn't let him have it. So he started sucking off the wrapper. He was going to get to the sweets one way or another.

We had a great day. Chris had to work so we went to see him all dressed up at work. He "trick or treated" to all the coaches offices. He made them all smile. All he could say was "Football" because it's all over the office and he loves to see it.

Happy Halloween to all our loved ones.

Happy Halloween

We had a work Halloween Party last week. It was a good time. Carter had fun planning in a un-child-proof house and playing with my friend Bianca's son. We carved pumpkins, ate good food, and had a trial run of the Halloween costume.

Chris was there but of course I had the honor of carving the pumpkin.

Laura and her brother, she was the hostess.

This is my pumpkin or as Carter calls it "Pum-Pum" It says "I (heart) State Football"

This picture of Carter in his monkey costume kind of caught the action he had in in. Niklas (Bianca's son who if 18 months) really liked the costume and wanted to take it off of him. He pulled on the monkey head, the banana in the pocket, even managed to take Carter DOWN. He would just look at me with a look of "Help Mommy!" We eventually had to take it off of him despite him wanting to keep it on, otherwise Niklas would not leave him alone.

We had a great time, I love Halloween, Carmeled apples, and pumpkin carving. I have Friday Oct 31st off so I think I will be taking Carter around to trick-or-treat. I will keep you posted.

Go Green....Go White.....Beat Michigan

Today is the game we have been waiting for all year. Biggest game of the season. Michigan State vs University of Michigan. We are favored to win I think by 4 points, but we all know how rivalries can go. It will be a tough game. I wish I could be there, but it is at Michigan and even the I couldn't get a ticket!

Look for Chris on the side-lines. He is down there usually on the 30 yard line. Sometimes he gets on the camera, but he is behind the scenes doing his job. I always see him, but of course I keep my eyes peeled for him.

My brother Jon and his wife Becca came up from Ohio last weekend for the Ohio state vs Michigan state game. We were in th 18th row on the 50 yard line. I left Carter at a sitter for this game. Unfortunately it didn't turn out to be as close of a game as I thought. I won't even mention the score. We had a great time, and Becca LOVED that Ohio State won and she got to see it UP CLOSE!

The woman with the red hair ahead of us asked Becca and I if we were sisters...that's not the first time that has happened. I can sort of see the resemblance. Jimmy Donnellon also was in town from Colorado and attended the game with us.
Jon got his picture taken with "Johny Spirit" You should see this guy when it is 80 degrees outside...drippy body paint...yuck!

Here is my sweetheart...Chris! He is the one with his hands on his hips. He's so tough. I love him!
We dropped Carter off at a friends house...even he was supporting our team. When I picked him up they said he put his arms in the upright position evey time the TV announcer said TOUCHDOWN!! We have taught him well.

Carter had a blast playing with his Uncle Jon and Aunt Becca last weekend. We wish we all lived closer together. Carter even learned how to say "Jon, Jon" He loved playing with him. He would laugh so hard at Jon. On monday I went to pick Carter up from the babysitter and he looked at me and said "Jon,Jon?"...Not Mom, or Dad, but Jon Jon. I think he missed him and Becca. I am sure he gets tired of the old Mom and Dad show.

Sunday My parents got back from Romania, I have held off blogging about this because they hadn't told anyone. But now the news is out. My parents are moving to Romania for work. My dad works for Ford and he was chosen for the job. They won't be going there quite yet, but soon. They just spent a week there checking things out. We will miss them, but it will be a great experience for them. It is only a 3 year commitment and they can come home for the holidays.

Busy as a Bee! BZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

The Title for this post comes from one of Carter's Books...It is one of those electronic books that happens to be Pooh. And the page with Pooh and his honey pot says, "Busy as a Bee, BZZZZZZZZ" Today was one of those days.

We started the day at 6:45am (Carter only wakes up that early on the days I am home, how nice of him!) and we got a lot done. First time in weeks I got my whole "to do list" done. Thanks to Carter taking 2 almost 2 hr naps. I exercised on the elliptical, cleaned the house, sewed some, put out fall decorations, and answered e-mails while he slept today. It felt great.

Carter was busy today too, we read several books, played with Play Dough, ran errands, walked Henna my parents dog (we are dog sitting), went to lunch with Dad, and went for a walk in the stroller. He was exhasted by the time Chris got home, and went to bed at 7:15pm.

Today was our first experience with Play Dough, I thought he was old enough not to eat the stuff. We also bought Carter's first pair of slippers, he picked them out from half way across the store..."Melmo...Melmo!" (Elmo...Elmo!) He enjoyed wearing those around this afternoon.

My parents are in Romania, Bucharest for the week so as I said we have been watching Henna their dog. Carter loves having her here. She wakes him up in the morning and he walks her outside. They play together and he is so gentle with her. He does try and sneak a bite of her food every now and then, but I keep it out of his reach. He says her name.."Nenna" at times it sounds a lot like "Nana" (what he calls my mom). Sorry mom.

We took Carter to the park on Sunday, It was 80+ degress. It was beautiful. He had a fun time and loved climbing up the slides, swinging on the swings and attempting to chew on the bark. We loved watching him explore and seeing his wheels turn.

CARTER'S NEW WORDS- "Cuk"(Truck), "Cactor"(Tractor), "Bi"(Bike), "Weeeee", "Ouch", "Do,Do" (poo,poo), "Bat", and he makes the sound for Elephant while moving his arm like it's his trunk. (He is a one man zoo with all his animal noises)

I am also adding some picks that I have been meaning to add for a while now.

Carter discovered Carrot sticks and Hummus last weekend. He loves it!

We put the matress from our bed in the family room to listen/watch General conference. Chris and Carter wrestled/tackled most of the time. That's my sleepy boy...snoring in the back seat!

I started a blog for my bags http://hilarybrookecollection.blogspot.com/ so check it out. I am planning on posting my bags after they are made and are up for sale. This will likely be temporary until I have enough inventory to get onto http://www.etsy.com/ I have been super busy with my sewing these days.

Start Them Young!

I decided with, some hesitation, to take Carter with me to the MSU Football Game yesterday. It was going to be just him and I. I was fully prepared to only stay a short time and just return home to finish watching the game on TV. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed the atmosphere. For the first quarter he sat on my lap clingly tightly while eating pretzels. The initial shock of the loud noises from the band, crowd, and speakers was very new to him and startling at first.

Time went on and by the 2nd quarter he was standing on the bench clapping when everyone else clapped, throwing his hands in the upright postion when we scored, and dancing to the fight song and any song played over the loud speaker. We took a diaper change break at half time and headed back into our seats.

I didn't think he would last long, but the 3rd quarter came and went. This time sitting on the floor, trying to lick the seat backs, eating pretzels off the floor, and giggling at anyone that would smile at him. By the end of the 3rd quarter he climbed onto my lap and put his head on my shoulder and said, "Go!" I took that as the warning before a melt down, he was exhausted. As soon as we got in the car and started going he was sound asleep. I learned that with enough snacks and entertainment while being in the middle of a row with nowhere to go he was a great fan. I was so proud of my little Spartan!

We won again this week against Iowa, 16-13. Next week is Northwestern. The last 2 home games are big ones...Wisconsin and Ohio State. I will keep you posted.

(Carter would not stand still enough for this picture)

(Carter ripping his beanie off and running away from the camera)

I have been busy with work of course, and I am making bags most nights of the week. I wish I had more time to makes bags, I do enjoy it and I think I could sell more if I had more time.

Today we are watching General Conference, I am so excited to listen to the prophets voice. I always love this time of year.
One of Carter's Fav things to do is climb things, I know I have mentioned this before. But he climbs and now he jumps. He is a funny boy. Since this is dangerous, I have too keep anything that can be climbed off the floor. He is so proud of himself once he gets ontop of the object. I almost can't get after him for climbing when he gives me this face.....

He has learned some new words this week...Apple "papel", Please "Peeees" (he signs and says Please at the same time it is so adorable you can't help but give him anything he wants), Thanks "Tanks" (he still can't get the Thank You for signing but we are still working) and he is signing Turtle. He understands most things It is amazing, I asked him to take something to the trash and he was off to the garbage can, I ask him to find him bat and ball and he will go get them both, I ask him where his "Suckie" (pacifier)is and he says "Ni-Night" and goes to find it! Soon he will be carrying on full conversations w/ us. I can't wait! This morning he was stirring in bead and I heard him say..."Baby!" I layed in bed and smiled. He is so precious.