The Carter Family

The First Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Tue, 29 May 2012 12:45:00 +0000

For the past two months there has been a buzz of excitement at our house and it's finally almost ready!!

We couldn't stand it any longer, so we gave in and took our first dip, even if it was just on the steps. Hopefully the green-ness will be gone today and we can go all the way in because I know one guy who can't stand it much longer...and the little guy is pretty excited too. :)

I know the picture doesn't show a whole lot of excitement, but they were splashing around so much that at this point Derrick was freezing and Jenny Kate, well, she was probably trying to figure out how to get a way!

The pool has a story, and it wasn't something we'd planned on doing right now. However, we don't always get to make the plans but we're pretty excited about how they turned out. :)

We're off to the cardiologist this morning. Ugh! Have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Jenny Kate!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:45:00 +0000

My baby girl turned ONE on Saturday! ONE?! Wasn't she just born a few months ago? In true Shannon fashion, I didn't get her birthday post up on her birthday, so I'll have it in a couple of days. I haven't gotten satisfactory pictures yet to go with it. I mostly don't have pictures because the birthday girl has been a HOT MESS for the last week or so. I've taken her to the pediatrician and she's been cleared for everything except teething. And I think that's the culprit. I sure wish babies could just get all of their teeth at one time. There would be an awful week or two and then we'd be finished. I think everyone would be happier that way. Why don't I get to make the rules?

Anyway, since Jenny Kate's birthday was on the same day as her party, and since her parents are total procrastinators and had to do a million last minute party preparations the day of the party, we went to her special birthday place on Sunday after church. I chose this one for her and I hope she likes it because she's stuck with it. :) Since Derrick goes to Krispy Kreme on his birthday, we had to go a little more girlie for our girl...

What's more girlie than Cupcake?

We decided on four different flavors that we could sample. Super yum!!!

Strawberry Waffle Cupcake

Turtle Cupcake

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcake

And a Red Velvet Cupcake. *My favorite!!*

Jenny Kate enjoyed her bites, but all she really wanted to do was run around. Even the sugary goodness wouldn't keep her in her seat for long.

Since she's one now, she prefers to feed herself. Always.

The only way she was semi-content was by sitting on the floor eating her cupcake. I know, I know. It looked pretty clean???

Bubba was pretty happy licking the cream cheese icing off of his red velvet cupcake.

After about 30 seconds of eating her cupcake on the floor, Jenny Kate decided that was boring too. Who wants to sit around and eat cupcakes when you can bolt to the door over and over while your mommy and daddy chase you?

I used to wonder why in the world parents would keep letting their toddler get down when they kept running away. I'd watch: put baby down, baby runs away, go get baby, baby bucks and fusses, put baby down, baby runs away...and the cycle continued.

Well, NOW I KNOW!! It's much easier to chase a baby than try to hold her still while she stiffens her whole body and throws herself around until she makes her way down.

It's definitely easier to chase baby.

She's not a bad girl, just a busy girl. She's oh, so busy!

She's sweet, though. Especially when she wants another bite of her cupcake!

Happy birthday, girlfriend!! I hope you like Cupcakes! :)

Wordless Wednesday :: Diggin' Up the Dirt!!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:29:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:30:00 +0000

Trying to sneak in a quick HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! (Without getting busted) Honey we love you more than you know. We appreciate you taking care of us. I love how you are raising our children in a Godly home and with love. Thanks for everything you do. We would be lost without you!!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

LOVE,

Jenny Kate, Derrick, and the best husband ever (I think so anyway!!)

And I thought two was hard!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:30:00 +0000

I want to go back and point to myself last year and laugh. I thought having a two year old was challenging. Ha! A three year old...now that's TOUGH!

Yesterday morning Derrick was the most helpful little thing ever. I was trying to finish working on something and he wanted to help Jenny Kate drink her bottle then he went to the toy closet and brought her favorite toys out so she could play. He was so sweet and gentle but then out of nowhere he was whining and screaming and yelling for no apparent reason. It was literally like someone had flipped a switch. Where did my sweet boy go and who is this little thing who sounds like he's had no home training?!

In spite of the crazy tantrums and everything I do being wrong, we do manage to sneak in a few moments of three year old happiness. One way to keep a smile on his face is to take him outside.

He enjoys being a total daredevil. So much that he will eat a few more bites of food sometimes if we agree that when he gets bigger he can jump off of his monster truck tire by himself.

Hours of happiness are added when you throw water in the mix.

Even when that well water is extra cold,

it's still tons of fun!

When he's stuck inside, Derrick is often happiest when he's taking care of "his" baby, Anna. (Or Ay-nah, as he calls her.) She cries a lot, so he has to hold her and burp her often. He's a good little daddy.

He always makes sure she's well fed by asking for a snack for himself then feeding it to Anna. I've had to do the finger sweep on Anna several times for goldfish and banana. He understands that he has to ask before feeding Jenny Kate anything, but Anna...poor girl.

He has been teaching Jenny Kate how to play with cars. She is actually very good at driving this little car around and has been seen scooting all over the kitchen floor driving this little car around. He's also trying to teach her how to hand the car to people instead of throwing it, but he hasn't been so successful with that. It's adorable to watch these lessons and he's a very patient teacher, he just has to duck while she's learning.

Derrick loves to "do a project" and his favorite thing to do right now is use a glue stick. He doesn't mind if there's nothing to glue; drawing on paper with the glue stick makes him quite content. We need to invest in more glue sticks.

He also still loves to paint! He decorated my mom (Nona) a luminary for Relay for Life. She's a breast cancer survivor and he was so proud to "paint a bag" for Nona.

I really am enjoying how independent (oh, so VERY independent) my little three year old has become. I love that we can have real conversations and that he loves to help us do things. This really is a fun age, but it definitely isn't without it's challenges! :)

We've struggled through tantrums for the past few days and I'm really hopeful that they leave as quickly as they came! I don't even want to hear about it if four is any worse because when he's four, JK will be two and...

Tattoos

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:30:00 +0000

We took the kids on a little mini 3 year/ 1 year photo shoot on Saturday. All I'm saying is photographing someone else's children is so much easier than my own! OMG!

It was pretty toasty, Derrick hadn't had a nap and Jenny Kate is getting another tooth, so needless to say nobody was all smiles. We got a few good shots, and looking through them quickly we found our favorite of Derrick.

I've seen this quote all over the place (but have no idea who to give credit to...sorry!!), and as soon as I saw this shot it popped into my mind. I know some of you saw this on Facebook already, but you know I have to have it here too. :)

Scars are tattoos with better stories.

Happy Monday! I really hope I have some birthday party pictures to share with you soon!

The Bike Rider

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:16:00 +0000

A few weeks ago this little guy learned to ride his bike...with training wheels, of course.

We bought this bike last year thinking since it was so small he would be able to ride it. Ha! I guess we thought kids just knew how to peddle or something. I don't know. Anyway, after making millions of circles through the house on the tricycle the boy became a pro peddler so he and daddy decided to bring out the 'big boy bike.'

When he started peddling that thing (and balancing it WAY better than he did last year), he was so proud!

And so are we! :)

This little guy is growing up way too fast! Not only is he riding his bike now, but he's sleeping in his bed with no rails! Next thing I know he's going to be off to college. sniff!

And because I think the whole thing was absolutely precious, here's a little video so you can see it for yourself. :)

P.S. I promise, our children DO wear clothes! ;)

Derrick's Birthday Day

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:35:00 +0000

Tradition has it that on April 20th, the Carter family takes a trip to the other side of town to enjoy a breakfast of sugary, 'hot now' goodness. This year was no exception.

I have to admit that I had a small moment of panic when we were getting ready to walk out the door. This is exactly where we headed, on D's 2nd birthday, when I fell out of our garage door and fractured my foot. 8 months pregnant. I made sure NOT to wear flip flops! I had some small flashbacks but thankfully we were all safe.

We let the birthday boy pick out the doughnuts...well, some of them. If we wouldn't have intervened a little we would have ended up with 11 chocolate with sprinkles and one sugar coated one. He felt like he picked them out anyway.

He was so excited! I'm sad this picture turned out so blurry because it would have been really cute!

{Lesson learned: Take the good camera even if I do look like a crazy lady. I'm pretty sure I did anyway but still ended up with yuck pictures. Boo!}

Jenny Kate had her first non-grocery store doughnut. She was a fan.

A big fan. She probably would have eaten doughnuts all day if we would have let her! This one takes after her mama! :)

Derrick was VERY into his sprinkle doughnut.

And his chocolate one too. But don't let him fool you, he didn't eat TWO doughnuts! (Although we sure would have let him!) He took about two bites of the first one and maybe two bites of this one. He just made them both all soggy so no one else would touch his once we got home.

Jenny Kate figured out how to drink out of a straw at KK. We had no idea she knew how, but the girl wanted some lemonade slush and she figured out how to get it! Now there is NO drink that is safe.

We had a yummy time with these two sugar-loaded kiddos.

After KK we headed to the wonderful Walmart.

We let Derrick pick out a toy for his birthday. His real present isn't coming for a few weeks and we wanted him to have something, so he got to pick it himself.

There is a whole toy section and I don't think we left the Monster Truck isle. The boy is obsessed! He was so cute trying to decided on his purchase. He kept saying, "Look Mommy! This could be fun!" I love watching him in the toy isle. He never begs for anything but he sure enjoys looking. He took his time and made his big decision.

A combo pack of Avenger and the silver Grave Digger. He already has that Avenger and at least two other Grave Digger trucks, but he wanted the silver one and he couldn't be happier with his choice! (Although I know you can't tell that here!) :)

Yesterday I took him for his 3 year old well visit. Everything was great but we have to go back in six months for a weight check. He weighed in at a whopping 22.8 lbs. He's three. Dr. B said he didn't want to wait a year to check his weight again, so I'm kind of panicking trying to figure out how to get the boy to gain weight. I'm not sure what happens if he doesn't gain. He weighs the exact same as he did when he was there in January. When you're that small and that young, not gaining an ounce in almost 4 months is pretty much a weight loss. I don't want to feed him trash just to make him gain weight. I'm desperate for some advice! I need some healthy, wholesome, nutritious foods to help this boy grow! Anyone?! Please!!

Happy THIRD Birthday, Cheeks!!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:55:00 +0000

Wow! Happy THIRD birthday. That just really seems crazy.

I've been sitting here for the last hour or so reading back over some old posts from the night you were born and your first and second birthdays. I love to see how much you've changed and what we, and others, said to you on those special days. I've had tears pouring down my face as I look back over your little life. I'm so amazed by you, Derrick.

This has been a very life-changing year for you and you've handled it like a champ! Here are just a few of the things that stick out to me the most:

Becoming a big brother is a BIG deal, and I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about it. Boy, did you prove me wrong! You have been such an incredible big brother. We've had a few moments here and there, but they've been so small and so infrequent that I almost can't even think of times when you've appeared jealous. You love your sister, and you have from the very beginning. I had no idea how incredible it would feel to see my children love each other like the two of you do. It ranks right up there with one of the best feelings in the whole world. I hope that the two of you continue to be best friends forever.

You are such a big boy now. You love to help daddy, and you've really started to get interested in helping me in the kitchen. You'll clean up messes when you spill things (although they're not to my liking...but I know, you have to learn somehow), and you really watch out for Jenny Kate and her habit of eating everything she can find. You'll say, "Mommy, Jenny Kate's eating dirt (or whatever random object she's found)." It feels like in the past few weeks you've really made the transition into being a little boy.

You have such a big heart and you are so, so sweet. Watching you interact with other kids just makes my heart melt. You are very kind and concerned with your friends' feelings. Last night when we were shopping you made some weird noise and said, "Me and 'Efin' made that noise when we were at Nona's house." (Ethan and his family came down from NC for the HBH golf tournament and you, Ethan, and JK stayed with Nona during the tournament.) "You did?" I said. "Yes, and I made Efin feel 'com-fa-ble' when we were at Nona's house," you replied. "Efin is my friend." Buddy, hearing you say that made my day. I love how much you care about other people. I love that you're a "nice" boy, and I really, really hope you stay that way. As you get older, being the "nice" boy won't always work in your favor, but I promise that it will in the end. I need you to trust me on this one. Your kindness and big heart will take you far...keep it!

While you are a super sweet guy, you are most certainly not free from the tantrums and bossiness that comes with the 2-3 year old territory. You will push me to my limits, on purpose, just to try to make your point known. You'll scream and wrinkle those eyebrows in a heartbeat when something makes you angry, but that's part of growing up. I know things will get way worse before they get better, too. That's ok, though. I'll take it. I know you're trying to figure out your place in the world, your feelings, your opinions, and what you can and can't control. These fits are definitely part of our everyday life, but I'm still standing by what I said. You are a sweet boy, and while I really hope you cut back on the tantrums, I really hope you keep that sweetness!

We signed you up for preschool a few months ago. You won't start until August, but August seems to be getting here way faster than I thought it would. I'm so excited to watch you experience this next chapter in your life, but boy does it make me want to hang on to you and keep you home with me forever instead. It seems unreal that it could be time for that already. Daddy and I felt very comfortable about leaving you there, and after watching the kids play for a little bit (and convincing you that we weren't leaving you there right then), you warmed up a lot and you've even talked about going several times since then. I know you'll do well and I'm sure I'll cry a lot more about it than you will. I'm excited to meet the friends you choose and how much more independent you become, but it really is a reality check about how much you've grown up. It's kind of bittersweet....but I'll be ok, I promise. :)

You've gotten really into singing lately. We have some adorable videos of you singing and you love to watch them. You'll actually agree to sing for the camera because you enjoy watching yourself so much! You still enjoy the music super LOUD and if we really pay attention, we can hear you singing as we drive down the road. You're about two beats behind, repeating every word you've just heard. You have some favorite songs and you know a lot of the words to those. Last night you were walking around the kitchen singing, "God's not dead he's sir-we a-wive. Wor-wing! Wor-wing! Wor-wing like a lion!" (God's Not Dead by the Newsboys) I love that you like to sing, and I especially love to hear you sing praise music. Your little voice is so precious!

I want to wish you a very, very happy third birthday, Cheeks. These three years have been the best ever, and I wouldn't trade a single second of them for anything. You are such an inspiration to me and you have taught me so many things about this life. It's because of you that my relationship with Christ has deepened, and it's because of you that I've learned to treasure those seemingly little moments in life. Snuggling with you, watching you play with JK or your friends, seeing you ride your bike for the first time...they are all moments that remind me how precious life is. We don't take moments with you for granted. There's nothing here that's guaranteed to be here tomorrow and we want to take advantage of what we've been given. You've taught us that's what it's all about. I can never tell you how much I love you, but I pray that you can feel the love that I have for you. I love you so much that literally, I can feel it in my veins. I am so thankful that God chose me to be your Mommy. I'm so thankful that he has loaned you to us to love and to learn from. You are an incredible blessing, but you have been incredibly blessed, too. You'll never be a "normal" kid and I'm sure that there will be times in your life where you see that as more of a curse than a blessing. But Derrick, you are so blessed. You have been given a chance and it's up to you to make the best of it. There are way too many kids like you who aren't here to celebrate their third birthday, and I want you to remember that. I don't want you to think about it to feel guilty or bad in any way, but to remember to be thankful. Be humble. Know that you are a living, breathing miracle and that it's only by the hands of God that you, or any of us, are here. I pray that your life can bring others to know God's power and His love and that you boldly share that with people all throughout your life. Happy birthday, buddy.

I love you to the moon and back...

Mommy

********************

Happy Birthday buddy! You already know that Mommy is way better with words than I am, so this will be short and to the point.

I honestly cannot truly remember how life was without you. I love being able to watch you grow (albeit very slowly) and develop your own opinions. You really are a very caring person and that makes me so proud. Like mommy said, being a caring person will not always work in your favor. You will get hurt, but all those you have cared for will help get you through. I love that Jenny Kate has you as a big brother. I know she will be "bigger" than you soon, but I know you will always be the protector.

I have to again thank you for changing my life. My walk with Christ was nowhere close to where it needed to be. Having to hand you over to a surgeon and not being in control made us give control to God. I would change your "special heart" in a second if I could, but your heart made me give mine to God! It is my hope that we can provide a nurturing, God-loving home for you and your sister to grow up in.

I absolutely LOVE hanging out with you. You are so funny and energetic. I love that you are singing with me now (we aren't that great, but its OK). I love putting you to bed when you FINALLY calm down and we rock. You like helping me when I have Papaw's truck. I am pretty sure you have two career paths right now. 1) Lawn Care, 2) Pest Control. You love Papaw's lawn mower and constantly ask when he is bringing it over and you used to love your sprayer until it broke.

You make me laugh, you make me cry, and you make me smile! I love you buddy!!!

You are such a special kid!

Happy birthday buddy!!! I love you more than you will ever know!!!

Getting Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:46:00 +0000

It's officially Birthday Week!!

Derrick got upset today because he wants to 'go to the party' and we kept telling him it wasn't time yet. He quickly forgot all about it when we unloaded the "monster truck tire" for his party on Saturday. This year is going to be so much fun since he finally understands what 'birthday' means.

And well, birthdays are kind of a big deal around here!

Magic Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:24:00 +0000

Derrick found this little note and baggie on Easter-eve.

Inside the bag were magic beans! We hurried (so quickly that we didn't even bother to wash the cheese off of his hands) outside to plant the magic beans.

Derrick got to work while Jenny Kate supervised.

He took his job quite seriously.

Finished!

We asked Derrick what he thought would happen with the magic beans and he said, "Maybe they'll grow way up high like in Ricki-ticki-tavi!" (A little mix between Jack and the Beanstalk and Ricki-ticki-tavi...they're both in the same book. :)

The supervisor was excited to see what would happen too.

The beans worked their magic! On Easter morning we went to check on the beans and....

Someone was pretty excited about the magic. And the sugar. It's too bad all but one of those suckers already magically disappeared. :)

I love that he's old enough now to have fun with 'magic'! It brings the child-like excitement back into the holidays for us. No worries, our boy knows the REAL reason for Easter. Our Easter festivities coming soon.

PS I cannot take credit for this awesome magic bean idea, I swiped it from here.

PSS If any of you locals haven't signed up for the Hope for BraveHEARTS Golf Tournament this Saturday you really should!! Check our website for the details!!

Growin' up...the big TEN months!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:19:00 +0000

Jenny Kate, Jenny Kate...you're in double digits now. I can't believe that you're ten months old already!

You have turned into such a little girl lately. You don't seem like much of a baby anymore at all. You're so full of personality!

You love attention.

You like to be chased. When you have something you're not supposed to have (which is quite often), and you see us coming for it, you'll take off and crawl so fast! You'll make a little shrieking squeal and laugh as you crawl away as fast as you can.

You are not ashamed to carry things in your mouth that you want to take somewhere else. You're like a little puppy sometimes.

You're pretty social. You are very interested in other kids and are not too shy to crawl right over to them and stare. Sometimes you try to join right in. If they're smaller than you, you don't hesitate a bit!

You love to dance. You dance to anything and everything and even have that same little arm move that Derrick used to do when he was your age. (Are dance moves genetic? :) You were rocking out last night when Daddy and Derrick were jamming on their guitars. Apparently to you they were making beautiful music...and you were the audience, so that's all that matters. :)

You still think your brother hung the moon.

You're still quite the mama's girl, but you're really starting to love being with Daddy. You think he's so funny! Keep working him girl, you almost have him right where you'll want him.

You are super silly.

You can stand now for as long as you want to. You just pull up and let go. You'll stand on your own and play with something or squat down and stand back up with no problems at all. I was certain you'd probably have taken a step of two by now, but you haven't tried yet. You're a super fast crawler so I can't imagine what life will be like when you can walk. Who am I kidding?! You're not going to be a walker. I'm pretty sure you'll just start out with running!

You love to eat.

You will joyfully eat anything we give you. If you see someone eating, you think you must be eating too. You've tried all kinds of foods now and you seem to love them all. There's only one thing you've tried that we know for sure you don't like...jalapeno peppers! I can't imagine why! We actually gave you that accidentally. (I promise!) I made some mango-avocado salsa the other night that we had with dinner. You love avocados and mangoes, so you were chowing down on it. Daddy decided to let you try a little bell pepper and when he put it in your mouth you made this really sad face and your eyes filled with tears. It looked like someone had just taken away your favorite toy! You let out one of those really sad, pitiful cries so he fished it out of your mouth (it was tiny) and we decided that bell peppers hurt your feelings. As it turns out, it was in fact a piece of jalapeno pepper, not bell pepper! Sorry girl! :) We totally understand why that one made you cry!

You're loving your sippy cup. All we've given you is water, and to be totally honest, that's probably what we'll stick to for now. (You've had juice twice in your life and you weren't a huge fan, although it's been a little while.) But you LOVE water! You're getting pretty good at holding the cup up high enough to drink it by yourself and you love the independence. When you see us coming with your cup you get so excited!

Milk in your cup makes you cry! :)

You are a happy girl most of the time. When you're not happy you're furious, but I'd say you're happy about 90% of the time. Seems pretty good to me, especially thinking back to how we started out!

You play well on your own.

You still put every. single. thing. you touch in your mouth. I'm pretty sure 'the grosser the better' is your motto.

You love to swing.

You're starting to talk a lot. Most of it is not in English, but Derrick tells us all of the time what you're saying. Apparently the two of you have your own language. According to him, most of the time you're talking about CeCe or Cars. And occasionally monster trucks.

You say 'Da Da,' and we think you're either saying 'dog' or 'doodie' (one of our dog Andy's many nicknames). We're not sure which, but it's always when Andy is around. It comes out as "Duh" or sometimes "Duh Duh" or something like that. You started making the "B" sound recently and we think you're working on saying 'Bubba.' You FINALLY started giving me a little recognition, but it comes out as "Na Na." That's ok, I'll take it! When I walked in the nursery at church to get you Sunday you saw me and said, "Na Na!" It's so exciting to hear you calling me, and I'm sure Nana will be super excited that her name will come easily for you!

You love to laugh! You just giggle all the time. I've been thinking so much lately about how much you remind me of Jenny. It's not just your name, but you really make me think about her so much. A few weeks ago marked seven years since she's been gone. I've been thinking over the past few weeks about how I hope so badly that you stay silly and giggly. Jenny, Miranda, and I used to get in trouble all the time for giggling in class. I'm not sure if we usually had a reason, but if one of us giggled, we usually all ended up with our names on the board. All the way up through high school it was like that. I really, really hope that you stay a silly, giggly little girl. It's so much fun and I promise, even if you get your name on the board with your little girlfriends, you won't get in too much trouble. (As long as you're not being ridiculous, of course! :)

Jenny Kate, we love you so, so much! You have such a fun little personality and we love watching how it develops even more every day. You are snuggly and sweet when you want to be, but you are spunky, sassy, and on the move most of the time. While you keep us on our toes, there's no other way we'd rather you be than exactly how and who you are. We love you, sweet girl.

To the moon and back!

Wordless Wednesday :: Some Fun Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:52:00 +0000

Stuff and a check for the bucket list!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:47:00 +0000

I've been so terrible about updating this 'ol blog about life lately, so here we go...

What has it been, almost a month now since we had the Hope for BraveHEARTS breakfast? Well, it ROCKED! It turned out way better than we ever imagined and we are so thrilled! We served 317 paying people (people 5 and up) and tons of kids. We sold around 20 cookbooks (didn't keep a good count) and 94 t-shirts. Not including the shirts and cookbooks, from just the breakfast, we made a whopping $3,700!! It was awesome and we are so, so thankful for all who came out and supported Hope for BraveHEARTS and CHD research! Everyone seemed to have a great time which makes us even more thrilled! Someone told Justin that we should have a breakfast once a month. Ha! Not! :) We also had a super crew of friends and family who showed up at the crack of dawn (6:45 to be exact-YIKES! That's so early!) on a Saturday morning. We are so, so thankful for them. Obviously they worked those tables right, right?! :) Thank you so, so much, friends!

Our little heart buddy, Mason, drug his family an hour and a half away to have breakfast! We were so happy to have them come. We had a blast playing with them last week too! :) It's so much fun to meet up with heart friends!!

After the breakfast Derrick, Justin, and some of their guy friends went to the Monster Truck Jam. We just knew D would hate it because we were told it was so loud. The boy LOVED it! He still talks about it all the time and his favorite toy now is his Grave Digger truck. The guys took the little boys to Walmart afterwards and let them pick out a monster truck instead of buying them one at the show. Pretty smart thinking, huh? :) We're afraid that Derrick's new obsession is going to lead him to want to drive Monster Trucks. OMG. I never saw that one coming! Ha! It looks like his birthday party theme has officially changed now...

While the boys were watching trucks smash things, the girls went to see the Vow. It was as awesome as it looks! Jenny Kate stayed with Nonna and Poppie where I'm sure she was treated like a princess and didn't miss us a bit. It was lots of fun.

That Sunday we went to the circus. Not the big Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus, but the Shriner's Circus. It's small, we get to sit up close, and we were given free tickets! (Thanks, Robin!! :) We took Derrick for the first time last year and he loved it. This time he knew a lot more about what was going on so I think he liked it even better. Jenny Kate enjoyed it too. She sat on my lap just as content as she could be (which is NOT like her at all!). She loved the music and was dancing and clapping at least 60% of the time we were there.

That poor girl who hangs by her hair is still hanging around. Yikes, that makes my scalp hurt!

This girl had a good time. Don't let the face fool you!

I was super excited about going to the circus for one reason. My husband made me a promise last year that he had to make good. I was going to RIDE AN ELEPHANT! Seriously, if I could be one of the elephant riding girls in the circus that would be the most awesome job ever. You know, as long as I could come home every night. :) Anyway, Derrick was (almost) equally as excited as I was to get on the elephant. I just pretended that we weren't on the elephant with 3 or 4 other people and that I was doing fun little stunts on his trunk to make my real dream come true. Ha! It was fun, though. Derrick still talks about it and I'm pretty sure he's going to be my ticket to getting an elephant ride once a year. Maybe even twice if the elephants are at the fair again!

Jenny Kate is in her big girl car seat now and she's much happier. She still cries or fusses for a second almost every time we put her in the car, but I think it's because she usually gets in first and looks over and sees that D isn't in his seat. Once he gets in she's good to go. She loves her brother!

Other than that we haven't done a lot outside of working at home. We remodeled our laundry room in hopes that it helps me be better at doing laundry. So far it hasn't worked so well. Laundry seems to be one thing that I am just not good at! I'll throw a load in the washer and completely forget about it for three days. Then I have to wash it again and if it makes it to the dryer I forget about it again and the clothes are all wrinkly. It's a vicious cycle and I really just hate laundry. Anyway, Project Laundry Room Overhaul is almost over. There are a few little details that need to be finished and we can call it complete. I'll post pics when it's finished. Until then, here's a peek at the awesome help we had.

We also busted out a wall between the kitchen and dining room. I'm loving it! Since the wall was messed up, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to break the news to Justin that I'd like to change the color in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure he wasn't surprised. I think finding a color for the kitchen has been the most difficult one for me. I really wanted something light and airy. I absolutely love the color we painted in the laundry room, which is very airy and relaxing, so off we went for another gallon of 'tranquility'. Let me just say that it's a much better laundry room color than kitchen color. We now have an unopened gallon of 'tranquility' to add to our paint collection and a new color on the walls. The new color is quite bold. It's PURPLE! I think I love it. Once it's put back together I'll post pictures.

Here's a sneak peek...excuse the mess!

The newest thing that's taking up a ton of my time is cooking. We gave up processed food for Lent. I've been wanting to do it for a while but I knew Justin wouldn't be totally on board at first. I decided to sucker him in by doing it for Lent. To be completely honest, it's not been that bad. The first couple of days were rough because I had no idea what we were going to eat, but now that we're in a good routine, I really enjoy it. I like knowing exactly what I'm feeding my family and knowing that we're not eating a bunch of science words! I've been making bread, tortillas, granola, pop tarts, muffins and today I made cream of mushroom soup. It's work, that's for sure. I'm pretty much spending my alone time during the day bonding with my Kitchen Aid. Now that we're beginning week four it's getting easier and I think this is going to be a lifestyle change for us. It feels good!

That was a lot, and I'm super surprised if anyone made it all the way through. Actually, I'm pretty surprised if anyone even still reads this blog anymore since I'm so awful about posting these days. I miss it and have to get better. Our kids are going to wonder if we fell off the face of the earth these last several months when they look at this one day!

Project 52:8 (&9) :: Dirty (& Going with the Flow)

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:48:00 +0000

& because I'm late, here's this week's P:52...

If you're here looking for Derrick's Cardiologist update, click HERE. :)

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If you want to know more about my Project 52, you can read about it here.

Check out more P:52 over at Styleberry Blog, Firecracker mama, bugs and boo boos, Finding Joy, lucas and mahina, Hope for Baby Bennett and Wicked Kate.

If anyone else out there is doing a P:52 and wants to join in on the link fun, let me know and we can link each other up! :)

Cardiologist Visit and a Surgery Estimate

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:41:00 +0000

First of all, thank you all so much for your prayers for our little man. As many times as we've been, cardiologist appointments are never easy. I don't know if it's the fear of the unknown, or the fear of the known that makes it so scary. Either way, we truly appreciate your love and support for us and especially for Derrick.

Jenny Kate stayed home with Papaw because she's a little too busy to go now. We both have to be able to listen and think, and Jenny Kate doesn't think those things are necessary. We weren't sure what this visit might entail (echo, ekg, etc), so we decided to make a little deal with Derrick before we went back. We promised him a new monster truck (his newest obsession) if he was good and cooperative.

He was an angel. He was talkative to the nurse and to Dr. S, stood on the scale and let them measure his height without pitching a fit (22.6 pounds and 33 inches tall), sat completely still and silent through the sat check (it was Justin who almost busted out laughing because it was so quite in the room), let everyone, including a resident, listen to his heart, and sat through the blood pressure check. He has never ever been cooperative for a blood pressure check at his routine visits. He said it "tickled" him. :)

He got a good report on everything! Sounds good and looks good. We couldn't have asked for better than that. And while we were chatting about Derrick's half pound weight gain in three months (seriously, I can gain half a pound in a day or two) IT came up.

"Well, surgery will probably be the spring or summer when he turns four." Barf. "It doesn't look like he's going to hit the 30 pound mark anytime soon, but he should be tall enough by the time he's four. (They want the chest size larger for the Fontan, so they shoot for a certain height/weight to deem them 'big enough'.) You can go on vacation this summer. Actually, you need to go on vacation."

Yikes. He'll be four next April. That means in ONE YEAR we'll be preparing for surgery.

We were glad to know the timeline. Glad to know that we can use some of Justin's vacation days and live it up this summer. It's crazy. We really wanted a good guess about when to expect surgery, yet now that we know it's kind of yuck. We knew it was coming and we have a year to live it up.

And live it up, we will! :)

Sorry for no pictures. They'll come tomorrow. I have lots on my camera but haven't had a chance to upload them but I know some of you were waiting to hear. :)

It Still Always Makes Me Nervous

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:20:00 +0000

Today's the dreaded day. There are about two months and three weeks at a time where life seems pretty 'normal'. Then the week of the appointment comes. I become a nervous wreck all over again.

It's time to go see the cardiologist.

We've been there more times than I can count, yet it never gets any easier. Now that I know surgery could be pretty much any time now, it makes me even more of a mess. Like lump-in-my-throat-stomach-in-knots-nauseous-mess.

I know he'll be fine, it's just hard to give up that fear sometimes. It's hard to look into these big green eyes and know that there are so many things we don't know.

I was telling him yesterday that we were going to see Dr. S today and that he was going to look at his heart, that he might put stickers on his chest and might look at his heart on the tv. He said, "And Mommy, you will be there?"

Yes, baby. I'll always be there. Until your wife insists for the 57th time that the two of you can go to an appointment without me (and that will take a lot of convincing!!), I will be there. Always, always, always. And I'll probably always be a nervous wreck.

Zoo Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:10:00 +0000

February + 78 degrees + sunny=

zoo day!!

We met up with friends this morning and explored the zoo all day. I love that we have a great zoo 25 minutes away. It's a perfect place to spend days like today.

The bears were pretty frisky this morning. Of course by the time I could grab the camera they were finished playing, but they were still entertaining. Derrick loved them!

We had a picnic and went to the farm. We fed the goats and milked the cow. They love "milking" the cow!

While the big kids were milking this little girl was just hanging out. She can't wait to join the big kids!

We caught the trolley and went up to the gardens. Derrick was so excited to ride the trolley. Now that he knows that he can ride a "tra-we" at the zoo, I'm sure we'll be visiting the gardens on every trip. It's such a beautiful place! I don't think I've been to the gardens in six years...when Justin proposed! :)

The kids were worn out by the time we left so I'm hoping for good nap time today. I have a garden to map out and a few things to plant. Today has left me with spring fever for sure!!

My girl is NINE months old!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Jenny Kate...Jenny Kate,

We have officially known you longer than we've known about you. The funny thing is, somehow I can't remember much about life without you. It's like you've always been there. The only thing I can distinctly remember about life before you is that I definitely didn't have to run around as much. You keep me on my toes!

You weigh around 16 pounds. (We'll be at the doctor's office later today so I'll know for sure in a few hours.) You're in a size 3 diaper, although we came across some size twos that still work...except at bedtime. You aren't allowed to wear 2s to bed anymore because everything is soaked in the morning! You're wearing size 6-9 month clothes, although you have a few 3-6 month things that will still fit. You wear somewhere between a 2 and 3 sized shoe, but it's hard to tell since you won't keep them on at all. You just wear the little shoe-socks everywhere you go, which I think are insanely adorable anyway.

I shamefully realize that I never did your eight month update, so this is a little two-in-one. I'm sorry, girl. I promise it isn't that I'm being totally slack because you're the second child, it's that you keep me THAT busy.

I went back to work two evenings a week a couple of weeks ago. Mamaw keeps you and Derrick for us one of those evenings when Daddy is working too. She gets to do our nightly routine and when I got home one night she said, "Whew! That is the busiest child I've ever seen in my life!" :) I only work for three hours and y'all had her WORN out! I'm telling you, Jenny Kate! You're our wild child! Ha!

You love to clap!

You are a super fast crawler! You stomp those little hands down and book-it!

You started pulling up right when you turned eight months old. You are now a master cruiser and can get anywhere you want to go in the upright position as long as there's something to hold on to. You're quick, too!

You can stand on your own for a couple of seconds. You're not afraid to let go, either. You practice all the time.

You still think your brother is the best and funniest thing EVER!

You're a pretty good eater. You take 2 eight ounce bottles and 2 6-ish ounce bottles a day. You're eating three meals a day now and you enjoy snacking on puffs and most recently Cheerios. I also caught you eating a goldfish the other day that Derrick insisted that you needed (even after constant reminders that he's not allowed to feed you ANYTHING). You were doing a great job chewing it, but I'm pretty sure you're not ready to tackle goldfish just yet.

You've decided in the last little bit that the TV cabinet is a great chew toy. I'm not sure what possessed you to try it, but you like to pull up to the cabinet door and put the knob in your mouth. I have to tell you, it's a little odd to turn around and see your daughter chewing on a cabinet knob. We discourage it as much as possible, but you still manage to get a little chew on it every now and then.

You have teeth! Your two middle bottom teeth are poking through! I swore you were teething about six months ago, but your little pearly whites are just now poking through.

You fake laugh.

You're waving, but it's not the "typical" baby wave. When someone waves at you you'll wave your whole arm around. That gets you excited too, which usually results in both arms waving around.

You're a happy girl! You're very smiley and very social. You love attention and give huge dimply smiles when people talk to you.

You're a mama's girl for sure. You would be completely content with me holding you all the time. Sometimes even when Daddy takes you from me you'll turn away and reach back for me. He's not a big fan of that, but I'll take it. I know you'll end up being a Daddy's girl, so I'll take what I can get for now. :)

You babble a lot.

Our favorite new thing of yours is that you give KISSES! We were reading one night before bedtime and you leaned over toward Derrick's face with your mouth open. We weren't 100% sure what you were doing, but we thought you were trying to kiss him. Then a couple of nights later while I was rocking you you leaned in and gave me a huge WET open-mouthed kiss! You thought it was so funny that I made a big deal about it and you did it over and over and kept laughing. You don't kiss on demand though. Just when you're in the mood, not when we want you to. I love that the first person you kissed was Derrick! I'll remind you of that in a few years when he's annoying you. :)

Jenny Kate, before you were born I remember being worried that it wasn't possible to love two children as much as I loved one. Boy was I wrong! God knows exactly how much bigger to make a Mama's heart to love more babies. I love the two of you more than I ever could have dreamed of. You keep me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. You're so funny, and silly, and happy. I hope you keep that free spirit forever, sweet girl. I can't wait to see you as a little girl, but I sure do love the baby you are right now. I really wish I could push a slow-motion button so I could enjoy this stage even more.

We love you, Jenny Kate. To the moon.....and back!

Project 52:7 :: Influential

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:27:00 +0000

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Sunday, Jenny Kate will be NINE months old. Holy cow! Hopefully I'll have a little update on all things JK somewhere around then and I'll also fill you in on the details of the breakfast...other than just saying it ROCKED! :)

We have been in DIY mode over the last two weeks, which partially explains my absence here on the world wide web. We're about 98% finished with a laundry room overhaul and about 50% finished with project #1 in the kitchen: wall removal. These are the first big projects we've done since Jenny Kate arrived, and to say it's a little more difficult now is the understatement of the year! Her busyness and love of putting all things in her mouth have added a little extra work for us this time, but we're getting there. She just wants to be in on the action and I don't blame her a bit!

Once we get out from under the nine layers of dust that we've created and put some things back where they belong I'll post some before & afters. :)

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If you want to know more about my Project 52, you can read about it here.

Check out more P:52 over at Styleberry Blog, Firecracker mama, bugs and boo boos, Finding Joy, lucas and mahina, Hope for Baby Bennett and Wicked Kate.

If anyone else out there is doing a P:52 and wants to join in on the link fun, let me know and we can link each other up! :)

Project 52:6 :: Out of Control

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:27:00 +0000

Derrick making his "tough" face. :)

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Don't forget about the pancake breakfast! We hope to see you Saturday!!

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If you want to know more about my Project 52, you can read about it here.

Check out more P:52 over at Styleberry Blog, Firecracker mama, bugs and boo boos, Finding Joy, lucas and mahina, Hope for Baby Bennett and Wicked Kate.

If anyone else out there is doing a P:52 and wants to join in on the link fun, let me know and we can link each other up! :)

Wordless Wednesday :: I'm a....

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:56:00 +0000

Project 52:5 :: Imaginative

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:49:00 +0000

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If you want to know more about my Project 52, you can read about it here.

Check out more P:52 over at Styleberry Blog, Firecracker mama, bugs and boo boos, Finding Joy, lucas and mahina, Hope for Baby Bennett and Wicked Kate.

If anyone else out there is doing a P:52 and wants to join in on the link fun, let me know and we can link each other up! :)

Little things DO make a difference!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:19:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I was told by someone that Hope for BraveHEARTS would never make a difference. I'll be honest, it totally bummed me out. I let it get to me for a minute and I really questioned whether HBH was worth the effort or not.

We most likely won't ever raise millions of dollars for the big research projects that will hopefully change our little heart world (although it would be so awesome if we could!!), so would we make any difference at all? Is it worth the time and effort of not just us board members, but for everyone who supports us? I had almost convinced myself that it was probably true: Hope for BraveHEARTS would never really make a difference...until I received this email from one of our favorite doctors at MUSC:

"I returned to work yesterday after taking a few days off for the holidays. I went to get the cook books and donation and was utterly shocked! I cannot thank you enough for your generosity. It is truly amazing how much Hope for Brave HEARTS have been able to raise. It's rather ironic or a wonderful coincidence that I applied for a grant 2 weeks ago to study swelling after heart surgery and a potential way to decrease it. If I get it, the grant requires that we contribute $10,000 in order to receive a matching amount from them. Maybe your generous gift is a sign, I'll keep my fingers crossed. I hope everything went ok with your blanket delivery last weekend. The cookbooks look great, you guys did a really great job. Merry Christmas and THANK YOU again for your generosity!"

I'm pretty sure our little donation wasn't "ironic" or a "wonderful coincidence." I feel certain that The Big Guy orchestrated that. And thankfully, it was a very obvious answer to a question I couldn't let go of. It made all of us giddy when we read this email. It wiped away any doubt and it gave us more drive to make a difference.

In less than two years Hope for BraveHEARTS has donated $17,500 to pediatric cardiology research. It kind of blows my mind, but amazingly, people believe in the cause. We have the best, most incredibly supportive community...THEY (and some pretty awesome people who have donated from other places) have donated $17,500 to pediatric cardiology research. We have simply been given the pleasure of writing the checks. :)

This year our goal is to beat last year's donation. I really think we can do it, but of course we need your help! So, in honor of CHD Awareness Week we'll be having our 3rd Annual HBH Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, February 11th!

We would LOVE to have a huge crowd, so all of you locals (which includes everyone within driving distance), mark your calendars and come have breakfast with us! :)

Tickets are $7 and kids 4 and under eat free. We'll be serving pancakes (the best ones I've ever had!), sausage, fruit and a drink. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time or at the door.

We also have a newly designed Hope for BraveHEARTS t-shirt from the design competition we had last year at the breakfast. They're irresistible, just wait! I'll post a picture as soon as I can. :)

We will also have the cookbooks available at the breakfast. They've received rave reviews! I've tried quite a few of the recipes myself and haven't been disappointed yet. It's my go-to when I can't figure out what's for dinner. The cookbook contains 200 delicious recipes from heart families and friends from all over the country. If you would like a cookbook but won't be at the breakfast, we'd be glad to mail them to you! They're $12 each (+ shipping if we mail them). You can email me at carolinacarters (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll get as many as you want right out to you!

I do believe that little things make a difference. Even though sometimes it doesn't feel like it, they do. We'll keep pushing as long as there's a reason. We hope you continue supporting as long as we keep pushing. The little things: the breakfast, shirts, cookbooks...they add up.

All of the little things that people are doing everywhere to fight Congenital Heart Defects...raising awareness, raising money, connecting families, sharing stories...it all adds up. Someday, hopefully someday soon, all of those little things will make a difference.

Our hope is that one day nobody will have to see their baby like this.

Project 52:4 :: Moments

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina Carters) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:38:00 +0000

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If you want to know more about my Project 52, you can read about it here.

Check out more P:52 over at Styleberry Blog, Firecracker mama, bugs and boo boos, Finding Joy, lucas and mahina, Hope for Baby Bennett and Wicked Kate.

If anyone else out there is doing a P:52 and wants to join in on the link fun, let me know and we can link each other up! :)