Carter goes on strike!

Carter was doing so well with his sleeping schedule. It was to the point where both his naps and going to bed for the night were as easy as putting him in his crib and walking away without a fuss. In fact, he'd just smile and pull his blanket up to his chin. Oh how the tables have turned! Out of nowhere he has decided that he does not want to be in his crib. I don't know what is going on, but it is exhausting! There are some days that he will scream and fight going to sleep for 2 hours (even when he is sooooo tired)! He will fall asleep on my shoulder, but if I try to lay him in the crib, all hell breaks loose. He just keeps standing up and crying. I took him to the doctor and had his ears checked, but they look just fine. It could be that he has 3 teeth coming in though-- two on the top and one more on the bottom. The two coming in on the top are not his front teeth, but his little vampire teeth, so its going to look awesome with his bottom front teeth that have come in :). Anyway, whatever the deal is, I hope that he gets over it soon. On a positive note, Carter is really happy when he is between naps and playing. He is everywhere, and is exploring the house and loving getting into everything.

Chris got a letter from the law school that told him his current rank in his class. He did freakin awesome! Out of 185 students, he is number 7!! (Which puts him in the top 3% of his class! Yahoo fer Chris :) He is happy and determined to keep his grades up for next semester.

8 months old... and trying to walk!

Soooo, Carter just figured out how to crawl about a week ago, but he's using that skill as little as possible. He crawls only long enough to get to where he can pull himself up to his feet. He walks along the furniture, and when he gets to the edge he thinks he can let go and make it to something else a few feet away. He is constantly falling down, but it doesn't stop him from doing it again. I'm sure it won't be long before he is walking around, so we went to the store and bought a bunch of baby-proof items.




YAHOO FER COMMUNICATION

Carter learned his first sign! We have been doing a little bit of sign language with him for the last month or so (just a couple of signs like "food", "all done", and "more"). We could tell after awhile that he could understand what the signs meant when we did them, but he didn't sign back. Then about a week ago when we were feeding him I asked him if he wanted more and he made the "more" sign back! It kind of shocked me! I'm proud of my smart little guy :) Its really nice now when he is upset in his highchair I know if he is still hungry or if he wants to be done.

In other "Carter news", he just had his 3rd tooth pop through! Its right next to the other two he has on the bottom (none have come through on the top yet), and all three are looking a tiny bit crooked. But he'll be cute even with lopsided teeth. :)

CHRIS IS PRETTY MUCH A GENIUS :)

Chris got his grades back from his first semester of law school and he did an awesome job! He got a 3.95 grade point average (and in two of his classes he got an A+!!). I don't think I have seen an A+ since I was in middle school... and I'm sure that it is a very rare grade to be getting in a graduate degree. Anyway, I am very proud of him, and I'm glad that he was able to feel like all his hard work and studying paid off.

As for me, I am really happy here in Arizona. I guess I always assumed I'd end up living in St. George forever. But if I have to live anywhere else, then Phoenix is a great choice. And if we end up staying here for good then I am just fine with that. As Carter gets older he gets happier, and I find myself enjoying all the little things I do with him. I have to admit that the first 6 months were pretty rough. Carter was sad most of the time and got bored so easy, and he wouldn't let me leave his side. Now things are seeming so much easier and I can just enjoy being a mom. He has his little routines during the day, and as long as you stick to the schedule he is happy.

PS--- I have a few videos that we tried really hard to put on here, but our computer is not letting us! (Its of Carter signing and walking, so hopefully we'll get them to work soon :)

Christmas in St. George

Since Chris had a month break from Law school, we decided to spend two weeks of it in St. George with our families. The drive from Phoenix to St. George took us about 8 hours... 8 hours of a pretty pissed off Carter... but we made it. He is not a fan of being in his carseat for longer than 10 minutes, and not a fan of getting in the car more than once a day. But, what can ya do?

The first week we slept at my family's house, and the second week we slept at Chris's. Carter had some good nights and some rough nights at both places, but he was pretty good for the most part. During the day we went back and forth (every other day) spending time with both families. It was nice to be able to spend a good amount of time with everybody. I think it was a little hard on Carter going back and forth so much, but he had fun playing with his new toys, watching the dogs run around, and being with his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.

Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my family. We exchange gifts, eat a yummy dinner, watch The Grinch, and read in the scriptures about Jesus being born. This year we had my little niece and nephew be Mary and Joseph. For dinner my mom made some burritos that were just like Cafe Rio... mmm pork! And then we randomly watched the movie "Willow" with Cami and my dad after Carter was in bed. Good times.

Christmas day we always spend with the Burton family. Its pretty funny because Shari has to stay in her room on Christmas morning, until everybody gets there. Chris and Jeremy like to tease and pretend she is really missing out. This year, we exchanged presents and then went to the movie "Sherlock Holmes". It was the first movie Chris and I had been to in a while. My parents watched Carter so that we could enjoy the movie. We also spent New Year's Eve with the Burton fam. We stayed up with Chris's parents and played the game "Life". It was fun... I was sooo tired from being up with Carter the night before, that I got really giggly.

Overall, we had a fun trip. We were also able to go to the temple with my parents, go out to dinner with Jeremy and Lisa, and go on a date by ourselves to the movie "Avatar". We really appreciated everybody helping watch Carter at different times, and helping us have a great trip to St. George. We came, we took up their space, and we ate all their food.

Carter got all sorts of fun things for Christmas! He even got a pony :) I think he was really sick of us giving him the same crap to play with, and now he has lots of new things to do!

We are home now, and enjoying some time as a family till Chris starts school again on Jan. 16th. Phoenix is so nice, and its always nice to be home in your own bed.

CARTER IS MOBILE!!!

While we were in St. George, Carter was getting really close to being able to crawl. He would rock back and forth, and then end up moving backwards. A few days after we got home he took off. All it took was a bit more motivation. Chris put a graham cracker a little ways out of reach, and he crawled over to it like he knew how to crawl all along. He still picks and chooses when he "can" crawl though. If what he wants is "too far away" he'll sit and cry that he wants it. Carter can also pull himself up to stand, and even do a little side-step walk along by what he is holding onto. .... We are in big trouble. Gotta babyproof the house quick!