Halloween 2010

We had such a great halloween this year. I helped with Carter's Halloween Party at school and he loved it! There class was so excited about the costume parade and the special craft and snack. They were all so cute in their costumes! It was a great way to start the Halloween weekend. On Halloween, Sloan, the pink bunny, came over to trick or treat with the kids. Carter was dressed up as a cowboy in a costume that MamaDu made for Vaughn or Beau. We got so many compliments on the costume...he looked amazing! Charlotte was a monkey....which is perfectly appropriate as she never stops moving and is always climbing and crawling and creeping. She was super cute and we added a bow to make sure she was a girlie monkey. We took some photos and a lot of our favorite people came by to see the kids in their costumes. Carter was so excited about halloween and trick or treating. We had been talking about it for a week or two, so he seemed to understand the process. We still weren't sure if he was going to get it or not. He got it! He was so ready that he was pushing us out of the house. He had no fear about saying "Trick or Treat" and by the end of the night was saying "Howdy Folks", "Thank you, Happy Halloween" and talking about the other costumes. Carter has been slowly eating away at his candy stash, but seemed to think the big reward was the actual trick or treating. It was a great way to start the succession of fall/winter holidays. Carter has definitely moved on and we talk about Santa EVERYDAY!

Carter on "Uncle Rick the horse" (named after Vaughn's Uncle Rick)

Carter and Charlotte

Sloan, Carter and Charlotte

Fall is here

Charlotte says "pffft" to pumpkins

Carter says cheese

Carter giving Charlotte a sweet kiss

Sloan, Carter and Charlotte...color coordinated and cute!

Sloan knows how to take a picture...my kids are a little tuned out

The end of summer and the beginning of fall have been very busy and overwhelming. I have gone part-time at work and I am taking classes in order to apply for my master's degree. The kids are keeping us on our toes. I hope that when Charlotte looks back at my lack of posts during her first year, she knows that I post less because I am busy loving my time with her and Carter. Charlotte is growing up so fast. She is crawling, pulling up, cruising and trying to stand without holding on. She is the toughest girl that I have ever met. I am not sure where she got the gene, but she is seriously tough. Charlotte will crawl over obstacles as a way to push herself (her cousin Sloan is a favorite obstacle). Charlotte is a great eater and is so tall. She is just such a happy baby, unless she is in the car for too long--then she can WAIL! Carter is in preschool this fall and really likes it. When he tells stories of his day at school, I just die. He gives the funnies details and he seems to like the role of storyteller. Carter is sweet most of the time, but it has started to bother him when his little sister takes his toys. He is letting that terrible two's thing slip a little at those moments. Carter loves to go outside and watching cars "go backwards" entertains him to no end. We have gone to the fair recently and Carter loves the animals. Both of the kids love to go on walks and go to the park. We seem to be getting into a rhythm with our new schedules now that the semester is half way over and hopefully I will better about taking and posting pics of the kids. I just feel so lucky to have such a wonderfula family and I am so excited about fall and winter with our family of four!

Family Vacation 2010

Vaughn, Carter, Charlotte and I went to Lake LBJ with my parents and my aunt last week. It was so much fun! We spent a lot of our time just hanging out and potty-training. Carter did great and by the end of the week, he was using the big potty all of the time. We went to the Safari Zoo again and Carter loved it even more this year. He even fed a camel named Goober and touched his head. Carter got to ride a pony at the zoo and he loved his pony...named "Ashley". Charlotte seemed to be content at least while we all fed buffalo, ostriches, camels, llamas, etc. She just rode along in the carrier with Vaughn. My dad has recently purchased a boat and Carter made him feel pretty confident in his purchase every chance he got! Carter LOVES the boat! He literally jumps up and down with excitement about going on a boat ride and when he gets out of the boat, he always says that it was "Super Fun". Carter fished on the boat with Vaughn and DV. He also fished on the banks by the house with my dad....he had on my dad's straw hat and his jammies! Our week was filled with wildlife. In addition to our vast nature experiences at the zoo, we saw several deer and a peacock everyday at the house. We also had visits from Canada Geese, ducks, and turtles. Carter just does not understand how amazing this truly was! Carter greeted every animal with a huge hello and I am pretty sure that, due to his television experiences, he fully expected a verbal greeting in return. When he saw the geese, he looked at me and asked "where are the goslings?". We also had a great visit with our friends the Burnhams...it is so great to see Carter and Jack actually play together. Brynn and Charlotte are destined to be great friends....they just aren't quite aware of this yet! All in all, we had a great vacation (the drives are already almost forgotten) and we are so thankful to my parents for the week at the lake! Carter on the BOAT!


Charlotte...I mean seriously...so CUTE!

Riding a pony in a circle...Carter loves anyone named Ashley!

Charlotte and Daddy at the Safari Zoo

Big Day at the DuBroc House

On Wednesday (June 9th), we had a huge day! Charlotte rolled over from her tummy to her back both directions. Carter was so cute...he cheered her on as we kept putting her back to try again. Carter also had a HUGE day of his own...Carter peepee-ed in the potty. He was so excited and he actually did it two more times that day. We have hit a bit of a wall since then, but he is still interested and making progress. Carter is growing up so fast. I am simply thankful for the reminder that I will not be changing diapers for the rest of my life. Yeah for milestones and growing up! I am so proud of my kiddos and it is really cool to see them cheer each other on (even if it is a bit one-sided for now).

Overdue Post

I have failed. I did not post in May and for some reason, I actually let this fact make me feel a little guilty. I will accept the truth...I did not post every month like I promised, but I will also add that I was a little busy. Carter keeps us on our toes and now he is out of school for the summer....so we are getting even more time together. Carter pretends to be Big Bird (he la-la's) and pretends to be Cookie Monster (me want cookie). Carter tells everyone that he has "a great idea". He narrates everything that he does and could not be any sweeter. Carter has started to run up to us and his grandparents to give hugs. He still loves Charlotte and he loves his new cousin, Sloan, too. Charlotte is becoming more and more vocal every day. She smiles a lot and almost laughs. She gives this breathy yelp and you can tell she is wanting to laugh (because I am so dang funny). Charlotte looks just like her Daddy. Check out some photos below.

Carter, Charlotte and Sloan

Charlotte's Smile

One Proud Big Brother

Carter is pointing at Charlotte's eye...not actually poking her

I will go ahead and promise once again to be better about blogging regularly. We are going on vacation this month and I will post photos when we return. We will hopefully have a photo-filled summer!

Easter, Etc.

I am quite aware that the frequency of my posts does not communicate how proud I am of my beautiful children. I am just too dang busy spending time enjoying and taking care of the kids to write about it. So, just in case there is any doubt...I think my kids are pretty darn cute and wonderful. Charlotte and Carter have continued to keep us very busy at the DuBroc house.

Carter is as funny as ever and has begun to have a few "2 year old moments" lately. He has run away from me at the park to go watch a kid on a skateboard, he has had more than one tantrum about a balloon and he loves to jump off of the fireplace just to give me a heart attack. Carter "reads" to himself in bed before his nap and loves to sing songs "all together". The most important thing that has happened recently with Carter is that the Easter Bunny took his pacifiers to the babies who needed them and brought him a "big boy" present. We had a few rough nights and rougher naps, but everything has settled back to "normal". Next task...potty training...(enter scary music here).

Charlotte is a great baby! She is cuddly and likes to sleep. Charlotte is sleeping through the night except for needing help retrieving her pacifier several times in the early morning. Charlotte has started to smile A LOT and it is wonderful. I will try to catch it on camera, but I am not making any promises.

We have had a busy month since my last post. We of course went to an Easter Egg Hunt with Vaughn's family and Carter actually participated this year. He did not know what to do about the whiny or aggressive kids. He just stops and stares at them. We also threw a surprise birthday party for DV (my dad) for his 60th birthday. He actually won't be 60 until the 29th, but we celebrated on the day he went on a flight in a B-17 (his birthday present to himself). Carter insisted on wearing his rain boots to DV's party and hopefully you can see the boots in the photo below. I started back to work yesterday and so we are having a week of change and adjustments at our house. Vaughn's mom did great with the kids on my first day back and my mom gets to tackle her first full day with both grandchildren tomorrow. I was not excited about going back to work, but it absolutely makes me appreciate the time that I do have with my buggy and birdie.

Here are some updated photos of the kids. I have an egg...it is pink (my favorite color...seriously)

I mean....can he be any cuter?!?

Yes I am sitting on a Washers Board...I am a cool frat guy in pirate rain boots

Charlotte....2 months old and already questioning everything I say.

So cute...enough said.

Twice the Fun and Twice as Tired

Life with two children is in some ways not very different than with just one and in some ways is a complete change. Coming home with Charlotte and taking care of her and Carter absolutely makes my first maternity leave seem like a real vacation. Carter has been the best sport about the attention that we have been giving to Charlotte and he really seems to like having her around. Carter has been pushing his limits a little bit by jumping off of the fireplace everytime he knows that I can't jump up to get him. Carter hugs Charlotte and kisses her. Our last few weeks have been even more complicated because little Miss Charlotte had lost weight when I took her to the doctor at 2 weeks old. Apparently she was doing a great job pretending to nurse. She had been giving us every sign that she was eating well and getting enough food, but come to find out that she was obviously not. We have now switched to bottled breast milk so that we can monitor how much she is eating. This has most definitely complicated life around our house, but we all feel better knowing that Charlotte is getting the nourishment that she needs. We took her back two days after the 2 week appointment and she had already gained 3 ounces. Charlotte is looking less and less like a newborn everyday and she is so much more alert. Charlotte tried out her swing for the first time yesterday and she loved it. At first she looked a little worried as she went back and forth, but she soon fell asleep. We seem to be adjusting to our new little family and we even survived a weekend without Vaughn (thanks to my mom and sister)! Here are a few pictures of the kiddos!

Carter has found an old hat of Vaughn's and wears it like this A LOT! It is totally creepy, but he thinks it is awesome!

Charlotte, 3 weeks old. She is looking a little worried about something...maybe it was Carter in his hat:).


Carter and Charlotte, getting to know each other. How sweet are my kids!?!