3.5 months later…

When we last left you, Jason was still in Madison, Carter & I were still in Champlin and I was planning to be a stay at home mom. Well…all of that has changed. Since our last post…

…We went to Bayfield, WI for our annual trip to Applefest. Only this year the cabin we normally rent was double booked. After spending entirely too much time looking for a new cabin to rent, a week before the areas largest event, we found this place:

Oh my…it was AMAZING. We extended our trip by a day and it was worth every penny! Lets just say that we won’t be going back to our usual cabin.

Not only did we have a private lake, in the middle of the woods, we had more bedrooms and more space! We’ve already reserved it for next year!

…I got a job! Our original plan was for me to have my last day of work in the Cities on December 3 and then become a stay at home mom. Welllll, that all changed when my friend Brook called me and asked me to reconsider interviewing for a  position she had open at the non-profit she ran. I figured it was fate or a sign of some sort so I agreed to come in for an interview. 20 minutes after I met with 2 board members and Brook, she called and offered me the job! Suddenly, I had a job which meant I could move to Eau Claire an entire month sooner than we originally planned! Woo hoo! Talk about a blessing! I started working at the Family Resource Center for Eau Claire County on November 15 as a Fund Development Coordinator. It’s completely different that anything I’ve done before but I really, really like it!

…We went to the Badger homecoming game! Jason called me from work one afternoon and asked me if I would mind spending our 5 year anniversary in a suite at Camp Randall. Um, let me think about that for a second! NOPE! It was homecoming and we just happened to be in the box next to Barry Alvarez, who I stalked in the hallway and met between quarters. 🙂

It was complete madness but so much fun. The next day, we were taken on a personal tour of Camp Randall and I took Carter’s 1 year pictures. Check out my personal facebook page for those pictures!

…Carter & I moved in with Nana & Papa for 2 weeks. Because moving is SO much fun, I decided to move in with my parents for 2 weeks so we could empty out the townhouse, clean it and get it ready for our renters. Aside from driving 35 minutes to daycare each morning, living at my parent’s was fun! Carter got to hang out with Nana & Papa, I didn’t have to make dinner and it was nice to have adults to talk to after work each night.

…We were approved to rent out our townhouse for 2 years. PHEW! What a unbelievably huge relief. The day after our association met to determine our fate, our renter moved in! Such perfect timing! We received a note from our renter the other day telling us how much she loves it there and is taking good care of the house. It’s nice to know that we don’t have to worry.

…Carter was a puppy for Halloween. Although he didn’t entirely understand the concept, he did like getting candy from Grandpa. And he looked so stinkin’ cute!

…I hosted the annual Widows Weekend! Widows weekend is opening hunting weekend in Wisconsin. All of the hunter’s wives get together and go out to the bar for the night. It’s always a great time. Hosting the event was a huge milestone for me.  Coming from a 1,200 sq ft townhouse where we could comfortably fit 4 other people in the house besides ourselves, we didn’t host many parties unless it was warm outside. I’m happy to say that we fit over 18 ladies in our house for dinner and drinks! Plus for the first time ever, I got to come home and sleep in my own bed at the end  of the night!

The lovely widows

…Carter had his 15 month check up! We met our awesome new peditrician, Dr. Vandeloo where Carter got a clean bill of health! He’s hitting all of his milestones and he’s still in the 90 percentile for both height and weight! He’s turned into quite the little parrot, repeating everything we say to him, and is a very polite little boy. He’s says (and signs) please and thank you which warms my heart!

Things he’s into these days:

• Reading
• Dancing
• Playing with balls
• His puppy
• Sitting in his rocking chair
• Watching football
• Grandpas – he LOVES his papa and grandpa. When they are around he cannot get enough of them!
• Trucks
• The Christmas tree

There’s not much that he won’t eat and he is loving meatballs, oatmeal, milk, juice, pizza and anything else that we put in front of him!

He’s got 9 or 10 teeth now. 4 on the bottom, 4 on the top and it looks like at least one molar on the bottom right side. We went through a horrible week of teething last month. He got 4 teeth all at once and spent 3 nights getting up every few hours. It was rough on all of us but he seems to be doing much better now.

…We went through a parenting rite of passage. Two weeks ago, we had our first puking baby incident. Let’s just say there was a lot of laundry, crying and throwing up done that night and not all by the baby. Thankfully, it only lasted 24 hours and I was the only other person to get it in the house. No picture of this super fun milestone.

…We found a new daycare. Leaving our old daycare was heartbreaking. Melissa was amazing and I felt like we had become part of their family. Her 8 year old son cried every day during Carter’s last 2 weeks and I cried the last morning I dropped him off.  Melissa was such and amazing provider turned friend and we consider ourselves very lucky to have found her! In fact, Carter will be spending New Year’s Eve with Melissa’s family while we attend a wedding!

Carter’s new daycare is also great but very different. Now he’s at a daycare center instead of an in-home daycare. He is adjusting really, really well and loves all the space to run around. He recently started taking his naps in a sleeping bag on the floor with all the other kids. When his teacher, Miss Jenna, told me they thought he was ready, I thought she was nuts! But then I got this picture via text one day.

Yes, that's a camo sleeping bag!

Not only is he sleeping in his little sleeping bag on the floor but he also sits at the “big kid” table for lunch. No more high chair for him!

Well, I think that’s enough for now. I’m sure that I missed some things but as you can see it’s been a crazy 3.5 months! I’m hoping to start blogging on a weekly basis so check back next Sunday for another update!