I'm ONE!!


Carter turned one on Tuesday, it's so hard to believe a whole year has gone by since his birth. To celebrate the big event, we had two parties for him last weekend. One party he shared with his cousin, Elsa, who turned one on Wednesday. His second party was for our friends and Dave's family.


Party 1: Elsa and Carter party. Aunt Lee did all the fun decorations for the Elsa / Carter party. She made really cute invitations (each baby had their own) with a fish and frog theme. For their cake we did fish and frog cupcakes - Lee did all the fun decorations for those as well! Grandma B. and Grandpa P. graciously hosted the party at their house. Other guests included Grandpa and Grandma J., Cheryl, Abby, Joey, Aunt Nancy, and Mary and Alan Jones. We had such a good time with both babies together, it is so special that they share such close birthdays!

I think the highlight of the party was of course cake eating time. Dave and I thought Carter would dig right in and get totally messy, we even stripped him down to his diaper to be ready...but Carter did not want anything to do with the cupcake once he tried it! Elsa on the other hand loved her cupcake and ate anything that didn't fall into her lap.

The wonderful party set-up. Thanks Aunt Lee for the awesome decorations!

The fish and frog cupcakes.



Carter testing out his new chair Aunt Lee and Uncle Bob found him in Milwaukee.

Elsa wearing her cute hat.

Present time!

Carter got this cool truck from Elsa, Aunt Lee, and Uncle Bob...it makes cool noises and lights up.

Dave and I bought Carter this "bounce and spin zebra" which he proudly showed off.

Here's Carter dumping off the zebra (his way of getting off) and Elsa giving it a try.

Carter also got tons of other cool presents that are not shown. Thank you to everyone for all the cool new toys, Carter loves them!!

Cake time!

The first pokes...

Spitting it out...

Trying a few more bites...as you can see Elsa is loving her cupcake.

Deciding cake is not all it's cracked up to be.

Party 2: Dinosaur party. I searched high and low for a bakery that would make me a 3-D dinosaur cake...but nothing ever panned out. So Dave and I took it upon ourselves to try our own cake. We found some hints on-line and Dave even drew the patterns on autocad before we actually started cutting and molding the cake. It wasn't a spectacular cake but we were pretty proud of ourselves and we had a lot of fun doing it the night before his party!

We had so many family and friends come to the party, it was a huge success and Carter was spoiled with all the attention and gobs of presents. Originally we wanted to have it outside on our deck, but it was a rainy day so we improvised and had it in our basement. The kids had fun playing with all the toys - Carter is lucky to have so many kids his age to play with already! We are so grateful for everyone who came and celebrated with us - thank you!

Drew and Kayley Burke with Carter.

Kayley helping Carter open some presents.

More presents!

Daddy putting together his cool new basketball hoop.

Cake again?

This time he ate a tiny bit but he's still not a fan.

Hmmm, nope, still don't like it...

Sean showing Carter how to put the balls into the animal's mouth.

Uncle Mark and Carter.

Uncle Josh and Carter.

Grandma Webb and Carter.

Carter received so many cool presents I can't even name them all. He loves everything and goes from toy to toy when he gets them all out to play. Below are some pictures of the Radio Flyer scooter that Meredith and Mike got him...he thought it was very cool when he figured out how to push himself around!

Thank you everyone for making Carter's first birthday so incredibly special.

Toy Box

Grandpa Don made Carter an awesome toy box a while back. We have been hesitating to bring it home because we thought we might be selling our house in this century and it seemed easier to just bring it home to the new house. But, since our house is selling as fast as every other house in Michigan, we decided we'd much rather have it now and make some good use of it!

Carter absolutely loves it! As you can see below, he loves to stand and open and close it about a hundred times. The best part (since he's obsessed with opening and closing it himself) is that it can't pinch little fingers - the top stays up and doesn't slam down plus even when it's all the way closed it has a little gap. It holds all his toys very nicely and we really love it. It's a beautiful piece of furniture that he will love for years and years to come.

Thanks Grandpa!!

This is pre-loading of all his toys...now we don't have to have that ugly bin in our family room!

The Bench

Ever since Dave brought home the bench that sits in our front window, the dogs have taken it over as their own. The bench is perfect height for them to look out our front window and survey everything going on in their territory. It also has two comfy cushions, one for each of them. Everything was right with the world...until Carter decided he wanted to climb up on the bench and claim it for himself. This happened last week and the dogs are still trying to understand when the power shifted in our family.

Carter has mastered the "bench climb" and LOVES to get up there every chance he can get. He's taken a couple spills off of it, but has quickly learned about gravity. Now he can sit up there for hours and play with toys or just look out the window. This is all much to the dogs' dismay. Shady especially gets quite annoyed with Carter when he butts into her area, she jumps down and hides under the dining room table to pout.

Working hard...

Almost there...

Ta da!

He would sit up there for hours if we would let him.

Here are the dogs trying to cope with their new neighbor...neither seem ecstatic. Maisy has lost her cushion completely.

Carter is eyeing Shady and her content position...

He decides he wants that cushion instead.

Playing nice...some of the time.

Party Guy

July was a busy month for parties and activities. We went to Uncle Mark's pig roast, Kayley Burke's first birthday party, saw Great Grandma Baldwin, and drove to Milwaukee to visit Elsa, Aunt Lee, and Uncle Bob.

First we spent the weekend at Uncle Mark's for his annual pig roast. Carter loved hanging around outside all weekend. He was such a good boy with all the commotion and people around him. He especially loved playing with the other kids and riding around in his new wagon that Dave's Grandma Sue gave him. He got so much attention from relatives and friends the whole weekend, he didn't want to go home!

Uncle Mark and Carter.

Kayley Burke and Carter checking out a new toy.

The new wagon!

Next we went to Kayley Burke's first birthday party. There were tons of kids to play with plus they had a bunch of activities set up in their backyard. He loved the bouncy blow up castle but hated the pool. He also LOVED the watermelon and Kayley's swing. We had a great time and Carter got some great tips on how to smear cake in his hair and ears. Dave and I also learned a valuable lesson - babies with summer birthdays should definitely eat their cake OUTSIDE. The mess Kayley made with her cake was amazing, never underestimate a baby with cake. It's convenient for hosing them off afterwards also.

I think this was his 3rd piece of watermelon!

Hating the pool.

Helping Kayley open presents.

Enjoying the big bouncy castle.

The birthday girl enjoying her cake (this was at the beginning...pre-mess).

We also enjoyed a wonderful visit from Great Grandma Baldwin. Carter shares a special bond with Gigi since they share a birthday.

Last but not least, we drove around to Milwaukee to visit Aunt Lee, Uncle Bob, and Elsa. Dave, Lee, Brandt, and I had a great time going to Jimmy Buffett Saturday night, while the babies played together with Uncle Bob and Bob's parents. It was a great weekend, we loved seeing Elsa and her new crawling!

Elsa's swing was Carter's favorite!

I realize this is Carter's blog...but Buffett was so much fun I had to include a few pictures. Maybe someday Carter and Elsa can go with us!

We had beautiful weather, no getting stuck in the mud this year!

Fins Up!