"I'm THREE!"
(A proclamation from Carter almost every day since his birthday. I wish we could all be this excited to age).

This post is long overdue, Carter turned three almost exactly one month ago and I still haven't posted any pictures! Without further ado, here is how his birthday went.

We started the day at John Ball Zoo. It was a great day to see the animals, it was a bit cool so everyone seemed to be out and about roaming their cages. It was also a week day, so it was not crowded and we took advantage of no lines and did a camel ride. Carter acted a little excited to do this ride but afterward he told me the camel was stinky. You can't get anything by a three year old. We also petted some stingrays, climbed on the wooden train, and ended with the obligatory photo on John Ball's lap. I have quite a few old pictures of me and Lee when we were little sitting on this same statue.

In the evening, we had a party at our house with family and friends. Grandpa and Grandma Jernstadt, Grandma Webb, Uncle Josh, Uncle Mark, Deb, Grandpa Mike, and the Burke family all came over to help us celebrate. Uncle Mark came over a bit early and let Carter open his present before everyone else arrived. It was a huge bouncy castle like you see at carnivals (but on a somewhat smaller scale). Carter was so excited to jump in it, he could hardly sit still for the two minutes it took to blow it up. Carter also received a ton of other fun presents from all the party-goers, toys which he is still playing with non-stop.

When we asked Carter what type of birthday cake he wanted for his birthday, he told us "a Lightening McQueen cake"...and so we bought a car cake mold and Dave decorated it to match Lightening. That's supposed to be a "3" in the upper right corner...not a random letter "m."

Half A Year!



Mia turned 6 months old today. Hard to believe we're half way to her first birthday already! I know I've said it before, but Mia is an incredibly good baby - very flexible and good natured. She has been very healthy and at her last Dr.'s appointment (end of August) she weighed close to 16 lbs. which was right in the middle of the pack percentage wise. As far as sleeping goes, we call her our little teenager. She goes to bed around 8pm and we usually have to wake her up for daycare around 7am on the week days. On the weekends she usually sleeps until 8am. Physically she is getting stronger and more coordinated every day. She mastered sitting up by herself right at the 5 month mark and now she can sit for long periods of time while playing with toys. She also acts very interested in crawling - she tries very hard to move when she's on her stomach. I think she is really close to scooting. She still loves watching her older brother play and run. In years to come, I think a lot of her motivation to learn new things will be due to watching her older brother do it.

Mia also started eating real baby food about a month ago. We started with veggies and moved to fruits and she's pretty much through the whole spectrum of flavors. She definitely prefers the vegetables at this point (just like her brother always did), we just don't have any sweet tooth babies in this house. I think carrots are her favorite so far, the couple times we fed her carrots she went nuts. I couldn't shovel them in her mouth fast enough and she would eat the entire jar at each sitting. Carter loves to help feed Mia, he thinks it's hilarious that she gets so messy when she eats.

Something that cracks Dave and I up is the fact that Mia is obsessed with remote controls...sound familiar? We have another Carter on our hands. Anytime she sees a remote lately she starts grunting and squealing and grabbing for it. She's happiest when she can just stare and play with one.

Here she is playing on our bed with Carter and her remote.

This was taken about a month ago when she first started sitting up by herself.

We had a fall or two.

That last thing that I must mention is her hair. I cannot believe how fast her hair grows. This picture doesn't do it justice. I'll try to do a separate hair post coming up. It is getting so long in the back and on the sides, and I love figuring out new ways to put it in barrettes and pony tails (the pony tails are still a bit scraggly but she sports a great little sprout on top of her head). Lately after her bath I've noticed it's a tremendous problem combing through her hair. She gets the worst knots and tangles...I think I'm going to have to get some of that "no-tangle" shampoo already!

Happy 6 month birthday Mia!!

New Modes of Transportation

We gave Carter his first bike a few weeks before his birthday. He was super excited when we gave it to him and he jumped right on without hesitation. He also loved helping Dave pump up the tires, in fact he actually prefers to "fix it" than ride it (big surprise). He did pretty well with the pedaling but he's still mastering that whole concept. Unfortunately he's more used to pushing a gas pedal to make things go rather than doing the work himself.

Learning how to pump up the tires

Busy "fixing" things.

Mia also started a new mode of transportation (so to speak). She is mastering her Johnny Jump Up and the whole "using your legs" concept. I realize in this picture she looks like she has a crazy wig on, but it was the best picture that showed her face (she normally looks down when she's jumping). Sorry baby girl, but your hair is a bit crazy!

Best Buds

Carter and Mia seem to be growing into good friends lately. Carter always wants to include Mia with his playing (although he's quick to tell her that she slobbering on "his" toys - but he shares none-the-less) and Mia seems completely entertained with Carter. She is always staring at him while he plays, she will crane her neck around to try and follow him wherever he's running off to. I hope this is the start of a really good relationship between them.

Family Fun

So far this summer we've done a lot of fun activities with the kids. We've gone sailing on Grandpa J's boat, we've gone to a few birthday parties, swimming at the Burke's pool, played on Uncle Mark's water slide and trampoline, went to a children's fair, went to the museum, walked on the covered bridge in Ada, and more. If you didn't live here you might think we've had wonderful weather this summer (not true) but we've managed to have fun despite the colder temps and lots of rain.

Here we are on Grandpa J's boat. You can see from the pictures that we picked one of the cooler days this summer to go out. I had the kids dressed up in their fun beach outfits but quickly layered on lots of sweats. We motored around the Muskegon Lake and went out the channel to Lake Michigan (for a brief second) and then motored back in. It was seriously freezing out on the lake so we didn't last long. Carter enjoyed trying to fish with his new "Cars" fishing pole and he also loved looking at the submarine located in the channel.

Carter was good about his life jacket, he didn't seem to mind wearing it this time.

Dave showing Carter how to cast his line.

Mia and Grandma trying to stay warm.

Grandpa giving Mia a quick snack.

Carter had to steer the boat for a bit (this may have been while we were still docked, he didn't seem to notice).

Trying to catch rain drops on his tongue. Doesn't it look like a gorgeous July day?

Here are some pictures from Uncle Mark's house. We helped celebrate Bridget's birthday. As you can see, Mia was all dressed up for the party. She wore her adorable monkey dress that Aunt Lee made her, it was perfect for the occasion (some of the monkeys have party hats on themselves!), I also tried to get creative with her hair accessories. I never thought I'd be the mom putting all kids of girly things in her daughter's hair, but I must admit it's fun! This ribbon bow is a little much perhaps, but I thought it was funny that she looked like a birthday present herself! Plus don't forget the cool, pink Nike hightops to finish off the outfit. She's my fashion diva.

Carter and Uncle Mark.

Squirting everyone in sight with the water cannons.

Showing off his tricks on the trampoline.

The next pictures are from the Burke's swimming pool. Carter wasn't too thrilled to get down in water at first, but once he got used to it he seemed to enjoy it. I think in the next few weeks we're going to start a swimming class. I really want our kids to be comfortable around pools and learn to swim early. Watching the Burke kids swim like little fish made me realize we need to get Carter more used to water.

One toe at a time...

One last smile before plunging in.

He definitely wanted Dave hanging on to him the whole time.

Overall he did pretty well with his kicking and floating.

Fourth Fun

We had quite a fun and exciting 4th of July this year. It started with decorating Carter's Jeep the night before the 4th for the parade in downtown Ada. We had fun tying ribbons, streamers, and flags all over his Jeep. The parade starts with a "kid" section, where kids are encouraged to ride their bikes or any type of kid vehicle to kick off the festivities. Carter was very excited to join in on this tradition. Mia and I waited near the end of the parade route to see Carter and Dave (Carter drove, Dave ran behind). When they went by, Carter got a huge kick out of seeing us waving and taking pictures from the sidelines. He was so excited in fact that he forgot to watch where he was driving and almost took out some other parents taking pictures next to me. The rest of the parade was fun, Carter loved catching the flying candy, I think he took home more loot than at Halloween! After the parade we went home for lunch and a quick nap to recharge for the rest of the day's activities.


Here we are decorating the Jeep the night before the parade.




Carter and Dave are making their way up the parade route. It's a pretty long route for the kids!

Here he is concentrating on his driving, this was before he spotted me taking pictures.

Watching the rest of the parade

After Carter's nap, we headed out to Rockford where Meredith's parents live on Silver Lake. Carter had so much fun with all the other kids. He jumped on the trampoline, helped decorate and ride in the boat during the lake's boat parade, played in the water, and watched the fireworks at night. Carter was such a trooper despite the long day (and short nap) and Mia was wonderful too, for that matter. We were blessed with really good natured kids all day! The fireworks started 1.5 hours past his bedtime but he loved every second. This was his first real fireworks show and it was a great one!

Here is Carter trying on some 4th of July garb while we got ready for the boat parade.

Hanging out on the dock trying to catch some minnows.

Posing for the camera

The boat leaving the dock for the parade (Dave is in the green shirt and Carter is next to him)

Having fun on the water toys