New Years Eve in KC

We altered our holiday schedule this year in an effort to be on the same schedule as Carter's cousins. Since we were supposed to be in KC for Christmas, and it was Carter's first, we decided to head there for a couple days over New Years.

We headed up to the farm again. As usual the food was great and the company even better. Carter was big enough to sit and just fit in the rocking chair that was Great Grandpa Frank's when he was little. Sure wish he could have seen him in it.

It was a fast trip, but always great to see everybody.


Carter even got to ride the 4-wheeler and LOVED it. It might be a bad sign for the future.

Christmas Afternoon

After finishing up everything Christmas morning, it was time to get dressed for Christmas dinner. Grandma Bonnie supplied to the perfect outfit for the afternoon. Carter looked great!


Christmas dinner was at our house with the Troys and Mareshs and it was wonderful. Carter loaded up on some more toys. He definitely got a lot of great things for Christmas. He loves playing with them every day.


And, Carter got a new wagon from Grandpa Tom and Grandma Ann on Christmas, but we didn't put it together until the next morning. Carter loves it and we are just waiting for the weather to get a little warmer so we can take it out for a spin.

Christmas Morning

Carter's first Christmas started in the morning with his stocking, opening lots of gifts from Scott and I and from the Soltis side of the family.

It was just the beginning of his/our busy day. After opening gifts, we had some breakfast, watched Christmas Vacation and cleaned for everyone to come over for Christmas dinner...and do round two of gifts.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve this year we headed out to dinner with the Troy/Maresh side of the family. It was a great night with excellent company and good Italian food. It was just the start of Carter's Christmas extravaganza.




After dinner, we headed home to get some Christmas PJs on and go to bed so Santa could come.

NINE Months Old

Carter you are NINE months old. We can't believe it! Time is flying by so fast.

Carter at nine months you:

-weigh 20lbs, 10 oz (70th percentile).
-are 28 3/6 inches long (75th percentile).
-have a 45.8cm head circumfrence.
-went to the doctor this month as evidenced by the stats and weren't too upset by it, as evidenced by the photo below.
-are still in a size 3 diaper. You could move up, but we are finishing out the diapers we have.
-are wearing mostly 12mth clothes now. The length is still a little big so, we can get away with a few 9mth pants you have still.
-still have bright blue eyes.
-have more hair.
-are VERY busy.
-know your name.
-make it very hard to go out to eat now. Sitting still is not what you want to do.
-are very social, although you have started to have some stranger apprehension.
-have five teeth and we think a sixth one might be trying to make an appearance.
-roll all over the place.
-pull yourself around to crawl, kind of like doing the worm.
-love for us to hold you up to stand at something.
-are starting to pull up on things.
-still don't have any foods you don't like.
-love to drink through a straw. I think we are just going to bypass the sippy cup.
-have such a cute laugh.
-are very funny.

A Visit with Santa Claus

We finally made a successful trip to see Santa Claus. Carter got all dressed up again to look his best and make a good impression.

There wasn't much of a line so we got right in to see Santa, which was great. Mrs. Claus took Carter and explained the process she would use to face forward and back up to Santa. She sat Carter down on Santa's lap without turning him around and of course, Carter being totally nosey lately, instantly turned around to see what was behind him. He checked Santa out and was okay for about a minute.

He turned around again, looked at Santa, looked back at Scott and I, and decided it wasn't really where he wanted to be. Carter did have a quick recovery though and although he kept a very close watch on Santa, we will probably make a trip to see him again next year.

Lunch Date and a Prop

Since Scott is off of school right now, he and Carter came down and had lunch with me at work. It was such a great break to my day. I wish they could come down for lunch more often.

The same day they came down, my work had a floor decorating contest for Christmas. Part of the display on my floor was a fireplace I made, and since Carter was down for lunch, he became part of the display. He sat next to the fireplace and Santa Claus in his first Christmas hat and looked as cute as possible. He did a great job and my floor one, partially because we had a human baby in our display.