Merry Christmas!

We have been having a wonderful Christmas in the US! We are getting to spend some quality time with family and eating lots of yummy Christmas goodies (enough to make up for all that we've missed the past two years).

Carter met Santa. He isn't the biggest fan just yet. The time will come.

He is being quite a trooper in this picture but moments after...he couldn't hold back his fears any longer. There were tears. Poor guy. Santa is a scary dude.

We travel back to China on Sunday. And the new year begins!!

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Carter and Lucy in Hiding

There was Lucy in Hiding, then Carter in Hiding....now they are at it together!

Carter is loving finding little nooks to fit in. He has also been enjoying shutting doors. Big doors and little doors. Recently, he found that he fits perfectly in our entertainment cabinet.

(Sorry for the yellow pictures)

This is where I found him.

He's in there!

Back open.

Then, no lie, Lucy pushed past Carter for a turn. She often gets way too into any game I try to play with Carter. If I'm playing Pee-a-Boo she gets soooo excited when I reveal myself. If I act excited when playing with ANY toy she too gets soooo excited...you get the point. She is like a big kid and thinks everything her parents do it SOooooo much fun! Ha ha. Usually Carter doesn't get it but you can always count on Lucy!

Carter pushed the door to hide her.

And that did it...memories of being crated and being put on a plane to China, I guess.

Back in Carter goes!

All done!

The 12 Days of Learning!

We started this last night but join the fun!

A Teacher at Heart!

We interrupt this program....

..to tell you that Carter took his first steps! John and I were so pumped!!!

Here is how this magic moment happened:

Carter and I were playing with tupperware, on the floor of the kitchen, while sharing apple slices. John was pouring himself another cup of coffee. "Hey John, can you pass me the peanut butter?" I asked. Mmmmm....pb and apple slices straight from the jar. Carter peered up with a curious look in his eye as he watched me scoop and eat. I probably made it more enticing with with a yummy sound effect, who knows! BUT Carter watched and wanted. He reached, and reached. Then stood and reached. Then stepped and stepped and so on! WHAT! For peanut butter!?

John and I couldn't believe it. So we kept this game going over and over again by passing the jar back and forth. Since Carter hasn't had peanut butter (it is one of those BIG allergy foods) we pretended like Cheerios were in the jar. When he made it across the kitchen we pretended to reach in and grab Cheerios for his reward. Poor buddy...he loved those Cheerios from the jar.

Any who, he did it a few more random times this weekend! We will see how this progresses! So exciting!

Another first: Not nearly as exciting but it was cute (and I got pictures) was that he had his first pasta dinner!

He loved it! Can't you tell!

Holiday Cards {Free for Bloggers!}

Don't you just LOVE getting holiday cards from friends and family? They make such fun little memories to wrap up the year and there is something a bit more sentimental about good old fashioned "snail mail."

Well, to take a bit of stress off of the wallet...check out Shutterfly's newest Holiday Card Promotion! 50 FREE cards for Bloggers! (Just click there <--- to join in!)

Shutterfly is a great website not only for cards but also for sharing photos, creating calendars, personalized thank you cards, photo books. My mother-in-law has made two photo books for us and I just LOVE them! They make such great memories!

I think I'm going to have a tough time picking out which cards but I'm kind of liking these. But we will see how our pictures turn out! I'm taking Carter to a children's photographer! They didn't speak any English..so we will see!!

Any who, if you are a blogger you should do this too! If you aren't check out their site anyway because they have great products and great prices!