Happy Halloween!

We had a great 1st Halloween with Carter on Saturday, October 31st. We ran several errands that day and rushed home to get Carter ready to hand out candy. It was a very rainy night so we didn't have quite the turnout that we expected. Carter tolerated his costume for most of the night so that we could take a few pictures. He loved seeing all the characters ringing our doorbell! Later that night, we gave him his treat basket since he can't have candy. We got him a pumpkin book, a new bath book, puffs, and a pack of ghost peeps. We'll let him try the peeps in a few weeks so we'll post pictures later. He was so funny going through his basket. He actually took one thing out at a time and inspected it thoroughly before getting the next thing out.

Our little monkey!

We propped him against the ottoman so that we could get a "standing" shot.

Outside waiting for the trick-or-treat fun!

Our Halloween family picture!

"Puffs! I love these things!"

"What is this? I love the noise that it makes!"

"I love my new bath book! I can't wait to chew on it!"

9 month appointment

Our poor baby has been battling ear infections for 5 weeks now! Courtney took him to the doctor on Friday, October 30th for yet another re-check. We practically live at the doctor's office lately so they decided to go ahead and do his 9 month appointment (Carter was 8 months and 1 week). Fortunately Courtney had the camera with her but she didn't know it was his 9 month appointment until after all the "action" shots (weight, length, and head measurements). Carter weighed 24 pounds 4 ounces which put him in the 96 %. His length was 29.25 inches (89%) and his head is now 44.8 which puts him in the 44%! The funny thing is that we had to take him back to the doctor on Monday (Nov. 2nd) with ear infections... yes, again... and he had gained 6.5 ounces over the weekend! He didn't even eat anything on Sunday but bottles and still gained weight!

Waiting to see Dr. Roberts and Nurse Lou

He was so tired because he missed his naptime.

He didn't even cry when Nurse Lou pricked his finger!
He was very curious about the band-aid!


Carter with Dr. Pebbles and Nurse Bam Bam!
The doctors and nurses dress up for Halloween.
Carter couldn't keep his hands off Dr. Roberts pink wig!

Boo! at the Zoo

On Friday, October 23rd, we took Carter to Boo! at the Zoo. We met Aunt Mandi, Uncle Aaron and the boys there. We dressed Carter up in his monkey costume and wheeled him through the trick-or-treat stations. Cousin Owen was also dressed as a monkey and was so excited to let Carter have the banana that came with his costume. Cater loved holding on to that silly banana! Everyone thought Carter was hilarious!! I think his favorite part was the tent area with the music. He "dances" now everytime he hears music.

Welcome to Boo! at the Zoo

Our chunky monkey!

A family picture with Shoney Bear

Mommy and her little monkey

Daddy and his monkey

Our family picture

Carter with his cousins, Owen and Reed, and Reed's friend Drew

All smiles!

New Cousins

Fall Break weekend (October 17-18) we drove to Alabama to visit Joe's family. His sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Mike, are expecting their 1st child and were able to fly in from Arizona for a baby shower for them. We were also able to see our new step-nephew, Ethan, for the 1st time. It was hard to imagine Carter ever being that small! We had a great time visiting with family!

Carter with his new cousin, Ethan.

Isn't it so cute how Carter is holding Ethan's hand?

Pawpaw with his 2 boys!

Mawmaw with her 2 boys!

Joe's mom bought the boys matching pjs so we put them on and took their picture!

Carter looks HUGE next to baby Ethan!

Pawpaw and Mawmaw with Carter and Ethan

Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Mike with Carter

Getting ready to head back home!

Great Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty

Joe's Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty were in town for the Appalachian Fall Festival this weekend (October 10-11). They gave us a call Saturday and we were able to meet up so that we could visit with one another. We were so happy they called us and were able to come see Carter for the 1st time. Carter LOVED Uncle Bill's facial hair! He just kept staring and touching it when Uncle Bill was holding him.

Aunt Betty, Uncle Bill, and Carter

Carter with his Great Uncle Bill

Great Aunt Betty and Carter

The Lancaster Boys

Ear Infections

Joe went to the UT game so Courtney went to her parents house for Saturday family dinner. Of course Carter was dressed in his UT gear to cheer the VOLS on to victory! Courtney had to get a picture of Carter in his overalls since they were already too snug before he wore them the 1st time. On Sunday, Carter was not himself! He was fussy and not eating very well. He never ran a fever (we checked it several times that day) so we sent him on to daycare on Monday. Daycare ended up calling Courtney at school and said Carter was running a small fever. We called the doctor and took him on in. He ended up having double ear infections!

We hadn't noticed Carter pulling at his ears more than normal. We were downloading pictures onto the computer and ran across this picture! Our poor baby!

Go VOLS!

An updated picture of all the cousins!

Here Fishy Fishy!

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies has Teacher Appreciation Day once a year when we can get in free. We thought it would be fun to take Carter and see what he thought of the big fish. As you can tell, he enjoyed looking at EVERYTHING! (so much that we didn't get very good pictures!) We went on Saturday, September 19th. We had no idea it was "Hot Rod" weekend in Pigeon Forge so traffic was a nightmare! We can't wait to go again next year when he can really enjoy what he is looking at in the tanks.

Watching the fish swim by

He loved seeing the bigger fish and sharks!

He would watch them until he couldn't see them any longer.

The one picture Carter smiled in for us that day!

Peek-A-Boo!

Joe and Carter climbed into the seahorse aquarium.

Our little scuba diver!

Our attempt at a family picture!