The Smith Family

LONG OVERDUE!!!!

2011-12-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

So It has been over 3 months since my last blog post- YIKES!!! Well a combination of no motivation, busy with the holidays and exhaustion with this pregnancy are to blame :) So I am going to try to catch up here. I am sure I will find more pics that I want to include so I may add them later and I know I will want to do a Phone dump of pics too, so bare with me.

Well the last three months have been so much fun with Carter. He is growing and changing so much every day. He is talking SOOO much now. We even had a speech evaluation in October requested by his teacher that showed a very minimal delay(no need for speech therapy at this time) YAY!!

Here are some Fall pics I took of Carter. I had been wanting to take some at a Cotton Field and found the perfect one. These remind me so much of my Pinky!! LOVE THEM!!

20Weeks with Cohen!! LOVE my boys!!

One afternoon after picking Carter up from school we headed to the Priddy Farms Pumpkin Patch. He had so much fun. We have made this a tradition and have been here every year since he was born. In fact I remember nursing him in the middle of the pumpkin patch the first year :) Gosh how things have changed.

We spent Halloweeen at the Wollneys and had fun Decorating cookies, eating and playing with our cousins!!! and I got this AWESOME pic!! Aren't they precious!?
Here I am 22 weeks! 0

These Family Pics were taken on Thanksgiving. We had a fun filled, busy day with family. We had our first Thanksgiving at my Mamaws. We then headed the the Smith's for our second Thanksgiving. My sister snapped these pics for our Christmas card before the day started!! I was 27 weeks here :)

Carter got to visit Santa a few times this year. Another Family tradition we have is taking C to the Enchanted Forest. This year he LOVED walking around in his walker looking at everything(esp. the trains)!!! We didn't even take in the stroller!!! HUGE improvement! Carter would not sit on Santa's lap here but we improvised and got a great shot!!! He looks SOO big here!! The next night while I was at work my parents took him to the kids Christmas program at church, followed by cookies with Santa. Of course he sat on Santa's lap and LOVED him there! Silly boy!
And here are some Twinkly light pics I took for fun one afternoon. I LOVE how they turned out!!

SWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN!!!!
Iphone pics and Christmas Post coming next!!!

Popsicles do a Tummy Good!!

2011-10-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

So the last few days Carter has come down with his first ever stomach virus. On Monday morning on the way to school when getting him out of the car he started throwing up(like 6 times!!) YUCK!!! Not much fun cleaning when you are pregnant!! So of course we came home took a bath and have been laying low ever since. We have watched probably 800 episodes of Mickey and 600 of Jake and the Pirates. We have also had LOTS of cuddle time!! He threw up one other time that day when trying to eat lunch then again yesterday when trying to eat lunch. So for two days he has had popsicles for dinner and snacks!! This and juice has been about the only thing he could keep down. He has not thrown up again this morning, but has had some rather loose stools! Hopefully we are on the uphill swing now and this will be gone soon!!! Here are a few pics of him enjoying his popsicles while watching Mickey!

Lebonheur Pumpkin Run 2011!

2011-10-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Every year we have wanted to participate in the Pumpkin run, but this is the first year that Carter was well enough, so we went ALL out!!! We knew we wanted him to have his own team and it only seemed fitting that the name of his team would be Team CARTERMAN!!! That is what we have called him since I was pregnant with him. We also chose the superman theme to wrap it all together and it turned out AWESOME!!!

We ended up raising over $2100 for Lebonheur and had 43 team members!!! AMAZING!!! Here is an overload of pictures from our AMAZING day!!

Our Team!
Carter Hamming it up before the race!!! He was in such a great mood! He was running around everywhere in his walker!!

Playing with Jace!! This boy LOVES babies!! He and Jace are going to be best buddies just like their mommies!
LOVE!!!Sweet Boy!
Let the Race Begin!!! So proud of everyone that participated!!

Webb and Carter!! SOOOO proud of my BOYS!!

RUNNING FOR CARTER!!
After the race! Visiting with Family and Friends! Everyone did AWESOME!
Family :)
Sweet Boy!
Our little Family!!
Carter was a little tired after the race!
LOVES!!
The Smiths and Wollneys!!
After the Race we had a cookout at Meme and Poppy's house!!! Everything looked wonderful, the food was great, and the company was even better!!! We are so blessed with such awesome family and friends!!

Great company.

Once again I can not say thank you enough to everyone that supported our special little boy!! The day was better than I could have ever asked for!! We are BLESSED beyond words!!

The Last Few Weeks

2011-10-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks we did a lot of PJ time, lounging, sleeping in. Carter had a really bad UTI. Luckily we caught it pretty early. He then was put on the strongest PO antibiotic and got a severe Yeast infection around his vesicostomy. UTI's usually make him feel pretty crummy so he stayed home with me and he had a lot of snuggle time, lego playing and Mickey & Pirate watching. Of course once we cleared the UTI he spiked a 102 fever. We then went into the Pediatrician and prayed that it wasn't his shunt! Luckily they felt it was a fever. So lots of watching and waiting for it to pass!! Here is our little guy, not looking to sick :)

Little HAM!!
Still LOVING Mickey and Snuggling!! Carter is SOO sweet, I just can't wait to see him with Cohen!!!
This is TOTALLY his personality!!

After a few days I finally started feeling a little better. and I LOVE playing with daddy at home!
and WALKING!
Then we started feeling pretty crummy again. Tried to go to the park and the first stop we made was time out. Not such a good park trip :(
He thinks it is hilarious to run away from me and for me to chase him!! Not so funny to have this pregnant momma chasing you!!
and Carter's pretty blues!
We finally got over the UTI and fever. Then on Monday Carter's teacher called to say that it looked like he had 4 absent seizures(petit mal seizures) bw 8-11. I was freaked out and got there as fast a possible. I didn't see anything that looked like a seizure, but we made an appt with Dr. Boop the next morning. He didn't think that he they were seizures and that he was probably just really tired and out of it from being sick for a week. Poor baby. Luckily we have seen no seizure like activity and he has been back at school and doing fabulous!!! He is also doing AWESOME with the Gold walker!! Will post a video later!!

Nashville Road Trip 08/11!!

2011-09-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

Carter and I took our first Road Trip together to Nashville to visit Tiffany and Presley. I am so glad that we did. Presley and Carter had such a blast playing with each other and Tiffany and I enjoyed having girl time!! Carter did fabulous during our car ride. He watched Cars and Toy Story and never fussed or complained!! After we got there the kids ate lunch and then took a nap. After their naps we had set up this water table for them to play with. They LOVED it!!

LOVE this one of PRESLEY!!!!
The next day we woke up bright and early and took the kids to Monkey Tree House. This place was AMAZING!!! They had everything(ball pits, train tables, slides, tree houses, blocks, ride on toys, etc.) I WISH we had one of these in Memphis!! The kids had a BLAST!!!

Happy BOY!!!
After Monkey Tree House we grabbed a quick lunch at Newks, then back for naps!! After Naptime we brought out the Pool!
These two are TOO much!! It was so funny watching these two and their different personalities.
Presley singing and dancing!
Then Bath times all around!!!!
The next day we hung out at the house. The kids played and watched movies. Later that evening we went to this awesome park near their house with some amazing photo ops to take some pics. LOVE all the pics we got!!
Two Beautiful Girls!
Ms. Personality!!

SWOON!
I LOVE this boy more than words!!!
and 11 weeks pregnant with Baby Boy Cohen!

Then after Mellow Mushroom (YUMMY) we were back for bath time, bed time stories and bed.
We had such a blast with our best friends and I am so glad that we were able to spend this time together!! We love you guys!

Expecting Baby Boy #2!!!

2011-09-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

Webb and I are VERY excited to announce that we are expecting another sweet baby BOY!!! Carter is excited and is going to be the best BIG BROTHER!!!!
We found out we were pregnant on June 21, 2011, right before our amazing summer vacation!!
I immediately started showing after I found out, so it was a good thing that we were out of town for almost 3 weeks!! Here is our first pregnancy Picture at about 7 weeks pregnant!! I had to buy maternity shorts while on vacation!!

Here are some IPHONE pics from the last several weeks!!

We have Chosen the Name COHEN WEBB!!!! and could not be more excited to meet this baby boy!!!
Here are some pics Tiff took at about 11 weeks pregnant while in Nashville.
Our pregnancy started out pretty eventful. The day after returning from vacation, I started bleeding. I had my first ultrasound the next day. They could not determine if I had a subchorionic bleed or if we had lost a twin. So I was on modified bedrest for a week. I then had to receive several ultrasounds each week for spotting and to check the second sac. After a few weeks everthing subsided and things are finally going smoothly. I have had no other symptoms- no nausea- but I have been wanting to eat everything in sight!! This is going to be a big boy!!!
I have had 2 ultrasounds and blood work at Dr. Schneider's (our high risk Dr.) and everything has shown that this is one healthy little boy!! Thanks everyone for all of the good thoughts and prayers!! We will have one more Ultrasound at 20 weeks at Dr. Schneider's then we will be released to our OB!! Eeeek!!
I will update again very soon!!

Summer Swim Days

2011-09-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

We had a blast playing in our little kiddie pool this summer. It used to be The Jones' pool but were SOOOO sweet to give it to C!!! He LOVED it this summer. Can't wait to use it again next summer!!His favorite things to play with were a bucket and Cup. He loves pouring and filling it back up. And drinking it too!

Laughing at Mommy being silly.
Ginger even joined us too!!
Ginger and Carter are BFF!

SWOON!
We had so many fun days this summer before preschool started!!! Counting down to summer break next year!!

Fishing, Physical Therapy and Sweet Kisses!!!

2011-09-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry these pics are from a few months ago, really trying hard to catch up on the blog!! Carter has really gotten into fishing and fishing poles lately. This is one from his bath tub toys. Blowing mommy sweet kisses!!
Hold You momma. (Some of my favorite words!!)
Then after an afternoon of playing at home we were off to Physical Therapy. Big boy walking in.
Carter has a Love/Hate Relationship with the therapy ball. Sometimes he Loves it!!
and other times he HATES it!!
Working on strengthening his upper body/core strength- esp his right arm which is his weakest.
working on standing without holding on to something and throwing.
You can see in theses next pics just how weak carter's tummy muscles are. Working so hard to sit up!
This is momma save me face!
and Very excited about Leaving!!! Being a HAM running out of there!

LOVE THIS BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We go to physical therapy every week. Carter's Favorite things right now about PT are seeing his buddy James and climbing the stairs. He is shouting stairs and James from the moment we pull into the parking Lot! He does fuss some, but overall does a great JOB!! We can really see his improvements lately!! Keep it up big boy!!

Rosemary Beach- Day 4, 5, & 6

2011-09-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today was our longest day on the beach with everyone. The boys enjoyed digging in the sand, playing in the pool, eating snacks and jumping over waves.

Family- First real pregnancy pic(blog post about that later)- I was only 7 weeks in this pic(Eeeek)
Carter loving playing with cups and trucks!!
after nap and playtime we decided to head to Watercolor to take some family pics. To bad as soon as we got there it started thundering and lightening and became sooo dark. We got a few pics and then headed to Cantina Laredo, a very Yummy Mexican Restaurant.
Some of my fav pics of the trip!
Our sweet Family!!

and some very sweet pics of Brent, Ashley and their beautiful Family!!!

Day 5- I don't think that I picked up my camera today. We had a very relaxing day. It was a yucky rainy day!! We headed to Seaside for a little shopping and lunch at Bud and Alley's Taco Bar. Then Webb, Brent and Brady went to Brady's first movie(the Transformers), while we stayed back and let the boys play and I napped!! For dinner we had pizza again from Cowgirl Kitchen- we loved this place!!

Day 6- When we woke up today it was POURING!!!! And it was not supposed to stop all weekend. We decided to head home a day early and enjoy the sun by the pool for our last day of vacation. It took us entirely too long to get home, but I am glad we came home when we did. Carter did FABULOUS in the Car for every leg of our journey and we could not have asked for a better traveler!!!

Our 16 day- first Family vacation ROCKED!!! We could not have asked for anything more(except maybe a little less rain :)) I am so happy that we took the time to make such wonderful family memories and I will never forget any part of it!!! I am so blessed with such an amazing husband and little boy and so happy we were able to spend this quality time together!!!

Rosemary Beach- Day 3

2011-09-01T07:22:00.001-07:00

We were so excited!!! Ashley, Brent and the boys arrived late the night before and we hit the beach pretty late this morning! We had a slow start, so we played for just a couple of hours before it was nap time.

After nap the boys played for a while at the house and then we headed to the Crab Trap(my Favorite) for dinner. Here are some pics of our handsome boys before dinner!
How cute are they???
Waiting at the Crab Trap.
Carter decided it was a great time to practice his jumping skills! Silly boy!
Dinner was delicious! After dinner the boys wanted to go to Bass Pro! This is probably some of the most fun they had all trip. Carter was chasing Brady around the whole store, it was hilarious!!

We are soooo lucky to have Brent, Ashley and their sweet boys as part of our friends & family!! We have gotten so close and just love them to death!! Carter, Brady, and Baylor are so sweet and play so great together!! What a Fab day with some awesome friends!!

Rosemary Beach- Day 1 & 2

2011-09-01T06:58:00.001-07:00

We left Disney and headed to the beach. We were sad to be leaving but excited about our Beach adventure. We arrived late in the afternoon and decided to take a walk to the square in Rosemary. We had dinner at Cowgirl kitchen and just relaxed for the night. We decided to head to bed early so we could get an early start at the beach the next morning.

Carter loved the beach. He wasn't crazy about he sand getting stuck to his fingers, but he loved to sit in his little pool and play with his toys. He would sit in his little pool for 2 hours just playing with cups and buckets. I LOVE that this little boy is so laid back!!!

Being too cute and showing his personality!!

Love this picture!! Little stinker!
Carter couldn't get in the ocean, but loved daddy to take him out there to jump the waves!
In love with these boys!!
That night we drove to watercolor and had dinner at Bud and Alley's. This was the beautiful view from our seats.

When we got back Webb put Carter down to bed while I took a relaxing walk on the beach!! So beautiful!! Just love to soak it all in!
Day 2-
Today we decided to hit the outlet malls. Had fun shopping, then came back for some yummy snow cones!! I have to admit, I think I got one of these every day. It was walking distance to our beach house and just too yummy and very convenient!! My Favorite was the Strawberry/Wedding Cake mix!! Carter and Webb loved them equally!
Afterwards we walked to the little spray park area and played around in the water. Carter loved stomping int he puddles.
Then he wanted to play with his Mickey soccer ball. He loves running with his walker until the ball is between his legs and kick it.
After nap we walked to Cowgirl kitchen again for some delicious pizza. Right down the street they were having the weekly block party, with games and food.
What a wonderful second day!!!

Day 5- Magic Kingdom and Epcot

2011-08-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

This was our last day at Disney. We decided to go to Magic Kingdom for the first half of the day to make sure and see anything left that we didn't see on our first day. We arrived before the gates opened so we were able to see all the characters open the gate.

We then went to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. Super neat!

Then a few rides: Aladdin's Magic Carpets.
and Pirates of the Carribean again!!! Handsome Pirates!!
Beautiful artwork inside the Castle!
Then to Pooh's corner. Carter LOVED this! Perfect opportunity to let him get out and walk!
He LOVED going in the tunnel!

Then our last Main Street Parade :(

Then we went back to the room for a nap, then to Epcot for Dinner and a few rides and the Nemo show.

My Battery died on my Camera after this picture. But we had a blast. We ate dinner at Teppan Edo- Carter's first Hibachi experience. Webb enjoyed a few beer from different countries and we just walked around and enjoyed the sights. A wonderful Last Night!!!

I can not say enough wonderful things about our Disney experience!!! Disney did an amazing job in making things accessible and easy for people/kids with disabilities. We never waited in line more than 5-10 minutes, even when the wait time was over an hour on most rides. We were also able to push his stroller(with walker attached) right up to the ride and they would take it to the exit when we got off. AMAZING!! They far surpassed our expectations!!
I am so glad that we took Carter to Disney for our First Family Vacation. What amazing memories we have made!! We have vowed to go back probably every 2 years!! WOOHOO!!! The countdown has begun!!!

Day 4- ANIMAL KINGDOM

2011-08-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

This was one of my Absolute FAVORITE days at Disney!!! Animal Kingdom was insane!!!We started off our morning by eating breakfast at Tusker house, which is another Character dining. A lot of fun and yummy food!!

Then after dinner we headed to the Safari but stopped in Africa to do some dancing and enjoy some music.
Then my FAVORITE part of the day the Safari. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful this was. Carter really enjoyed taking it all in and seeing all of the animals.

Handsome man!!

After the Safari we headed to see some other animals and some fish. This was probably one of Carter's favorites of the day. He LOVED looking at all of the colorful fish and being able to stand up for a while.

Our sweet little family!! (all four of us :))

Day 3- Chef Mickey's and Hollywood Studios

2011-08-31T18:59:00.003-07:00

We started off our morning with an early morning breakfast at Chef Mickey's. This was another FAV on my list. I had tears in my eyes seeing Carter in TOTAL AWE over the characters. He had to hug, kiss, and fist bump every one of them. Everyone in the restaurant were oohing and awing over how he was acting. It is def. something I will never forget!! The innocence in his reactions were priceless!!

First Character MICKEY. You can see by his expression in the picture just how excited he was!!
We also got Mickey and Goofy to sign Carter's Braces!! Brilliant Idea by mommy :) Goofy
Donald (aka- Don Don)
Someone has a little crush on Minnie!!
Pluto (aka- Pupo)
After breakfast we headed to Hollywood Studios.

And to the Disney Junior show!! Featuring Carter's Favs: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It was too cute!Then we rode the Toy Story Ride and saw Buzz and Woody!! Carter was SOOO excited!!
The tears were when he did not want to leave buzz and woody :)
Then we went back to our hotel for naps all around and took it easy for the evening. It was raining so we went to the outlet malls and to dinner at a nice restaurant at our hotel!! Yet another GREAT day!!

Day 2- MAGIC KINGDOM!!!!

2011-08-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

Or should I call it Magical Kingdom??? Words Can not express the happiness I felt when arriving to Magic Kingdom. First time seeing "the Castle" and with my Favorite two people in the world!!!
Right when we arrived there was a line to see Pluto and Daisy. Carter wasn't so sure at first, but warmed up quickly!!

Then we met the Treadwells! They were down visiting Bridgette's Parents and met us to spend the day at Disney. How much fun to experience this with your best friend and her family!! Right when they got here we were walking down main street and the Main Street Parade started. So much fun!! The Parades and the shows were probably one of my Favorite things!!

Then we headed over for some rides!! They LOVED the Carousel!!
My TWO loves!
Dumbo and Tea Cups
Watching a show at the Castle!

Then taking a ride on the Train. Carter kept saying "ALL ABOARD."
Walt and Mickey, soooo beautiful!!! Right before the Electric Parade!
LOVED the Electric Parade!!!

and the Light show on the Castle was AMAZING!!!!!!

We had such an amazing day rode pretty much every ride that Carter could ride and he loved every bit of them. His Favorites: Buzz ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, the Carousel, the Train, Peter Pan, and Many more!! Could not have asked for a better first full day at such a Magical Place!!!

Downtown Disney- Arrival Night

2011-07-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

Carter receiving his first Mickey Stickers :)

After we made it to our Disney Resort: Disney's Port Orleans Riverside, we decided to take the Ferry to Downtown Disney to shop and eat. They had the most AMAZING Disney stores I have ever seen!!

Of course we had to get Carter his First Mickey Hat.
Mom and Day being Silly.

We also visited the Lego store, and several other shops.
and then stopped to get a bite at Planet Hollywood.

Then on the way back from Dinner, Carter spotted the fake Buzz and he loved it!

Adorable!
and our FAVORITE part of the toy store. I should do a whole post in itself. They had this amazing Potato head set up. All disney type potato head pieces. You could get a large potato head and fill it with as much stuff as you could fit for $46 or a small box and fit everything you could for $19. Well you can imagine webb with one of these boxes. He worked so diligently to make sure there was NO room left in the box at All. It was hilarious, but we came home with some AWESOME potato head parts!! YAY!!!

Cirque Du Soliel- Beautiful!!! on the Ferry Ride back
We had a very relaxing first night. Wanted to make sure and save up all our energy for our long fun filled next day with the Treadwells at Magic Kingdom!!!

4th of July on Lake Oconee!!

2011-07-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Leg one of our trip started out at my aunt and ucle's beautiful lake house in Lake Oconee. It was about half way from Memphis to Orlando, so we decided to make a long Fourth of July weekend out of it and spend some much needed time with our family. We had a blast. None of my dad's family had ever seen Carter since the last time I saw all them was when I was pregnant. We packed up the Mini Van and Allyson and Dustin rode with us. Carter did wonderful.

This is my Aunt Carol and uncle Hugh's house: Beautiful!
and this is my Cousin's Cory and Erin's Lake "Cabin": Simlpy STUNNING!! and it is right next door to their mom, how wonderful!
Our days consisted of a lot of relaxing. We would wake up in the morning and the boys and Carter would head down to the boat dock and do a little fishing. Carter loved walking around on the boat dock and looking at the fish and watching daddy with the fishing pole.
This is early one morning while Dustin and Allyson were fishing: CUTE couple!! :)

Carter being a little Ham!

sweet boy!

Then the rest of the time there were lots of eating and drinking to be had. Usually started off with a bloody Mary in the morning- yummy breakfast. The boys snacked a lot on fresh oysters. The rest of the days were spent on the boat, laying out, playing with C, rides on the golf cart and yummy dinner with fabulous company!
This is my uncle's Oyster pit.
Webb did some reading and relaxing one day.
Family sat around and did some catching up.
and Carter LOVED swinging too!

and Carter did some playing in the pool right off the lake. He had a blast. We also went out on the boat and saw some GORGEOUS lake houses. This is such a beautiful lake. Carter was asleep within 2 min. of being on the boat and slept the entire time!

And then more of my Family came down on the fourth. I had such a great time seeing all of them!!! I just wish we lived closer! and Carter did FABULOUS!! and of course stole the show!

I LOVE this pic!! and I am so thankful to have such an amazing family and GREAT start to our Vacation!!

Poo Poo.....

2011-06-07T23:38:00.001-07:00

Those are the words that Came out of Carter's mouth first thing the other morning when he woke up. I literally walked into his room and he saw the bathroom and pointed to it and kept saying Poo Poo over and over until I took him in there and stripped him down and sat him on the toilet. I wasn't quite sure what to do. I am sure that he sees Lily and Tucker going all day long and in his mind he wants to go, but does not have any sensation that he has to or when he needs to. When Carter was born Dr. Boop told us after his inital surgery that the nerves did not form for bowel or bladder control. Up until this point it hasn't been much of an issue as everyone his age just goes in their diaper or pull up. Well I would be lying if I did not say the other day when he kept saying it I was crushed. I hear my friends and family going through the whole potty training thing right now and I am trying to be so excited for them, but makes me very sad. I know that in normal circumstances that we would be starting to potty train Carter at about this age. And I know that the older he gets the harder it is going to be.

I always think about that Carter really doesn't know any difference at this point, but what about when he gets the age that he does. Will he be upset that he can't pee or poop normally. Will he be made fun of at school for still having diapers on or for wetting his pants. These thougthts consume me sometimes and make me sad. Carter and I should be going and picking out big boy Toy Story/ Cars/ Mickey Underwear but instead we will be starting a bowel regimen soon and then will have another surgery to close the vesicostomy and start Cathing again. This makes me ill to think about another surgery. Dr. Jerkins said that he will be hospitalized no less than a week if everything goes perfect and he will come home with a Foley Cath and will have a NG Tube as well. We will probably do it sometime next summer if I had to guess. If you would like to read up on it here is more about it:
http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/A-Ce/Bladder-Augmentation.html

Just want to clarify that the point of this post is not to get pitty or sympathy, but I feel like sometimes I need an outlet to get things out and a way to document everything, and well this is my blog :) And to all my friends who are going through potty training right now, or just did or will soon, I am truly excited for you even if I don't act like it sometimes. It is just a hard reality to face sometimes.

And to my sweet angel, we will get trough this together and will figure something out to make life as easy as possible for you. I am so proud of you!!! We may just have to go pick out some big boy undies to put over your cloth diapers!!

Courtney

Big Backyard with my Buddies!!

2011-05-23T09:16:00.001-07:00

Last week we took a fun trip to my big backyard with Bridge and the girls and Ashley and the boys. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast. First we ventured over to the little slide and sand area. They loved playing in the little house, going down the slide and Lanier liked playing with the little acorns.

Then we headed over to the little Music house. This was a hit with all the kids.

Then some outdoor fun for the boys. Brady showing Baylor how to play the drums on the little mushrooms.

Then Carter's Favorite!! Climbing through the worm holes!!

Baylor liked it too!

Lanier being such a little lady doing her laundry.

Then we had to take time for a snack!

And then to take pictures of this BEAUTY!!! She was such an angel the entire time!!

Little collage of all of the cuties!!

and a BEAUTIFUL Marrin!!!
Such a fun day!! So excited it is finally warming up so we can have many more days like this in the future!! So Lucky to have such wonderful friends with wonderful kids for Carter to play with!!!

Courtney

New Lens and Carter being funny!!

2011-05-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

So I got my new Lens that I have been lusting over for a LONG time on Friday night. Of course I had to work Friday and was exhausted Saturday, so I just took it out to try it out for the first time yesterday evening and I LOVE it!!! I LOVE the wonderful Bokeh and sharp images that you are able to obtain with a prime lens. Don't get me wrong the Tamron is a wonderful walk around lens and I can't imagine not having it for Park trips, zoo, Disney, etc.!! But for portraits Primes ROCK!! The only thing that is a little different for the 85 mm is that you have to stand WAY far back!! and you are only able to get maybe a couple people in the pic, so if you are looking for a lens to be able to capture families this is prob not the one for you!! But Lucky me, Carter is usually my only subject, and what a handsome one he is!!

Love his face in this one. Looks like he is barely holding on, saying mom hey look at me!! ONe day he WILL let go!
Cutie!
Hilarious Face! He is so animated sometimes!
LOVE this angel!

You can not get any more beautiful than this!!!

Best Buddies!! LOVE THIS PIC!!!

Courtney

Boys, Boys, Boys!!!

2011-05-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

I LOVE these three boys soooo much!! We have been spending alot of time lately with Ashley and Brent and the boys and have had so much fun. It is just AMAZING how much alike Brent and Webb and Ashley and I are!! We are so lucky to have them in our lives!! And the boys play so well together. Baylor calls Carter Cardy and it is adorable and Brady is precious with Carter. He is so gentle and helps him so much. When they were digging in the sand Brady was hiding the "gold" and said "look Carter I put an X over the spot where the gold is, here I will help you dig and find it" He is just too sweet.

These pics were taken the Saturday before Mother's day. We all spent the Evening playing at their house while. We then ate YUMMY steaks, baked potatos, caesar salad, and garlic bread. The kiddos had Grilled hot dogs, Mac and Cheese, bread and strawberries. For desert we grabbed some Yogurt at a place near their house (similar to Yolo). What an awesome Saturday!!! I CAN NOT wait to play with these boys and spend time with them in Florida!! We are going to have a BLAST!!! As Brady would say only "Only 56 more days!!!" He counts and marks on his Calendar first thing when he wakes up in the Morning!! PRECIOUS!!!

Carter Loving the swing set!!!

Baylor- Look at those Red Curls!!! How could you not LOVE this kid!!!
Brady- Digging for Gold!! So Sweet!!
and The Second LOVE of my Life!!! LOOK at that new Hair Do!!!! OMG!!!!!!!

Can't wait to do it again!! LOVE you guys!!!

Courtney

Better Late than Never....

2011-05-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

First of all I want to say how lucky I am to be at a job that allows me to be home on Holidays. So nice not to even worry about whether I worked last Easter, mothers day or any of those type holidays last year or not. So nice to be able to spend them with my two favorite boys and my family.

So this Easter on Saturday before we celebrated with Webb's Family. Mamaw Patsy had a Easter lunch and egg hunt. I didn't think that Carter would be very into it, but boy was I wrong. For a few weeks before this he hadn't been walking in his walker great. You would put him in it and he would just drop to his knees. He knows he is much faster crawling, so that's what he prefers and its much less work for him, so who blames him!! Well not this day!!! Jennifer Webb's cousin had an amazing idea to let every child have their own Easter egg color. His was yellow. So he had to find all the yellow eggs and put them in his basket. He LOVED it!! He walked everywhere to try to find more eggs!! He did so great and walked so much more than he had been that we even hid them a few more times :) Carter had a blast playing with his cousins as did we hanging out with ours.

Sunday (Easter day) We woke up and ate a yummy breakfast and headed to Church with my Family. Carter did pretty well until the end and he had enough of sitting still and being quiet. After Church we all headed to Firebirds, one of our Favorite Restaurants!! After Lunch we came home and Carter and I took a nap together, while Webb Studied and worked on a few papers. We do not sleep together often, but I sure LOVE it when we do!!! He is growing all to fast and I want to cherish all of these moments FOREVER!!! After lunch we let him open his easter basket. He loved all of his little goodies(esp the M&Ms, Choo Choos, and bubbles)!!! Later that afternoon Mom and I took him to play at the park and to Yogurt Mountain (YUMMY).

Easter weekend was wonderful and I wouldn't trade our families for the world. So thankful to make such great memories with them all!!!! Here are a few pics to recap our Easter!!

Courtney

Daffodil Hill

2011-04-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we ventured out to the Botanic gardens for a few spring time pictures and to play at My Big Backyard. You are so handsome and I LOVE this new purple polo your nana bought you. It started out ok until you fell off the chair onto your face in the middle of the flowers. After a few hugs and kisses we stopped the pictures put the camera up and went to play. You had a blast crawling through the little ant holes, playing with the music house and tables, going down the slide and swinging. We also brought Chick fila and had a picnic and even a milkshake for desert. I LOVE spending time with you and having mommy/carter days!! They are the best!! The only thing better is when your daddy actually gets to come along!!

You are my Angel!!

WAAAYYYYYY Overdue!!!!

2011-04-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

I have been slacking so much on the blog front lately!!! Between working nights, sleeping, and playing with you, I just haven't taken the time lately. So sorry in advance, this is going to be a LONG blog post of pics, so hopefully I can catch up and then get back on track! So last time I left off on your birthday post. Well that night Daddy and I were going to take you to Chuck E Cheese for the first time, until the weather proved other wise. For the first time we were in the tub watching Mickey during Tornado sirens. You didn't mind it at all, actually you thought it was fun!!

You LOVE bath time and your new bath toys that you received for your birthday! You could stay in there forever. You Love playing with the fishing pole and saying fish. You also love pulling up and standing up on the rail. We can't let you play too long though, bc of your vesicostomy. You have had several UTI's lately so we have to be very careful with infection measures.

The crumbs on your face are from your Funfetti Cookies that you took to school on your birthday. Yummy! Your teachers said that everyone loved them!! And we had a few left over for you to enjoy for a few more days.

Look at your beautiful eyes!!!

Since the weather is starting to warm up we have taken several trips to the zoo. It is so wonderful having a zoo membership! You really enjoy being outside and watching the animals and people.
You kept saying "boat, boat, on, on" when we passed this little boat. You Love climbing over any and everything. We thought this was great opportunity for some physical therapy :)

This adorable outfit was made for your second birthday from a sweet friend of mine. Today Your Nana and I ventured out to the Happy Heart to do a little shopping. But we always have to stop for a little photo op!
You loved this little "ickle" Thats what you call bicycles.

And one of your absolute Favorites lately is being outside at the park or anywhere that has slides and things to climb on. One weekend we took you to this awesome park in Arlington. You had a blast and were FILTHY when we left. Such a big boy!

Loves going headfirst down the slide!!

And here are a couple of my Fav pics lately!! Just look at your eyes and that adorable smile!!

I just can't believe how much you are growing and changing. You are talking so much and so fearless. You love trains lately. You say "Choo Choo" constantly and we bought you a train table and it stays in our living room. It is wonderful for you to stand up at and walk around.

We have had so much fun lately playing with your friends and family. You love all your cousins and little friends and are so friendly and loving. Your meme and nana always say your are the sweetest boy!! and I truly believe it!! (most of the time ;))

Courtney (Mama)

Fun at the Children's Museum...

2011-03-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

Today Webb and I took Carter to meet Bridgette and Lanier at the Children's museum. We wanted to get out of the house and this was our best option since it was so cold and yucky outside. We bought a membership earlier this winter and have really enjoyed it. These first few pics are from the Day of Carter's birthday. Bridge and I took the kids to play and then went to lunch at La Baguette. It was Yummy and the kids had a blast!!

LOVES to Slide!!

Look at Carter seeing himself in the mirror, too cute!! And this is how he likes to go back up the slide :)

And these are from today. They really enjoyed the river/stream today. Splashing and catching the boats and "Ish" with their nets and poles. Can't wait until its warm enough for his sand/water table!

Lanier LOVING the water too!! She was soaking wet when she was done!! and Look at what shirt she has on!!! Can't wait to get ours!! Love you guys!!

And today I think Carter's favorite thing was the police car. I think he stood in there for a good 10-15 min and did NOT want out. LOL.

Can't wait to go back!! But hopefully it will warm up soon for playdates at the Park or Zoo!!

Courtney

Icky, Pupo, and Don Don

2011-03-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

Webb laughs when Carter says these names. He says they sound like his little mafia. Really these names stand for Mickey, Pluto and Donald. Since Carter had a Mickey Birthday party he received Lots of Mickey themed toys and he is LOVING them!!! He constantly is playing with his little camper and putting Icky and Pupo "night, night" in their beds. Then he puts Pupo's face to the food on the little table and says "Num, Num". It is ADORABLE!! His other favorite thing to do is to put them in their matching cars. He already knows exactly which character goes to which car. And then he drives them around, making noises like "Mmmmmmmm"

and had to share these pics of this beautiful boy!! I am loving my new lens and all of these candid shots I am able to capture with them!! How sweet is he!!
Courtney

Happy 2nd Birthday Carter Allen!!!

2011-03-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

WOW!! Carter Allen you are a big TWO years old!!! How did it happen so fast? It seems like just yesterday I was visiting you in the NICU at Lebonheur desperately waiting for you to come home. You have accomplished so much in the two years you have been here and I have learned so much from you. You are the most determined and independent child that I have ever seen and don't let anything get in your way of getting what you want. A few weeks ago we celebrated your birthday with a Mickey Birthday party(You LOVE Mickey right now). We had our closest family members and friends here to celebrate. Unfortunately the day before your birthday party you woke up not feeling so well(Runny nose, cough, congestion, and wheezing), so you were not feeling the greatest at your party. I can only imagine it is a little overwhelming having so many people you love in one place at the same time.

Here are the adorable decorations and Yummy Food:

and your best buddies:

eating a snack. Still weren't feeling well, so all you wanted were crackers.
Opening all of your gifts. You are sooo blessed!!

Your mom and dad also got you a slide for the backyard. You LOVE to slide. Can't wait to play with that and your sand and water table once it warms up outside! You are going to have a blast!!

Time for Birthday Cake!!
You were NOT a fan. You got a tiny piece of icing on your finger and you kept saying "Uh Oh, and Off". After that you were done. I think this had to do with you not feeling well and not eating. It was delicious though!! You were happy once you got your keys back :)
Our Sweet Family!!!! LOVE!!!

Thank you to all of our family and friends that came and shared these wonderful memories with us!! And a special thank you to My mom and sister that helped me tremendously with the food, decor and cleaning. and Thank you to Tiffany for making that LONG trip to be here with us. What a surprise and for helping take pics and capturing these precious moments. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Happy Birthday ANGEL!!!

Carter's First Year!!

2011-02-24T21:18:00.000-08:00

So Today is my Big Boy's Second Birthday!!! How did we ever get so lucky to become the parents of this AMAZING boy? He is the sweetest, most loving and most determined little boy. And he LOVES to cuddle!! He is constantly saying "Hold You" which melts my heart! How in the world was I laying in a hospital bed right now while my boys were at Lebonheur two years ago. It has FLOWN by!! (another post on that later) I have been looking back at old pics of Carter and decided to do collages of all of my favorite pics of him. Tonight I only got through the first year. So I will try to do year two this weekend. I also need to look at his birthday party pics, pics of our day on his birthday and do a post on those as well. I'm just a little behind. :)

Carter Birth-1 week

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Courtney

V-Day Photos as promised.

2011-02-20T21:56:00.001-08:00

Here are the sweet Valentine's Day pics I took of my sweet boy!!! I am soooo lucky to have him and Carter!! They are my Forever Valentine's!!! Have you ever seen anything soooo sweet?

And here is the Card I created in Picasa!! LOVE IT!!!

Courtney

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2011-02-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

Today we started off our day bright and early. Woke up at 7am to take Carter to Preschool. He had a wonderful day playing with his friends and had his first ever V-Day Party, complete with those yummy cake cookies with frosting and sprinkles.
While he was in school I went to Sheffield's Antique mall to look for a new computer desk!! Thats right, Webb got me a new 21.5 inch, 1 TB IMAC for my Birthday and Valentines Day!!! I am soo blessed. We both have been using VERY old Laptops that have absolutely no memory. I have to upload all my pics every three months to my external hardrive, so that my computer won't crash and so that it isn't slow as Christmas. WELL NO MORE!!! I am also so excited that I have the perfect monitor to edit my pics on! At first I was a little reluctant to get a desktop, bc I didn't want to be all by myself in the office, but we got an awesome deal on an adorable desk and chair, so we put them in our LR/DR. PERFECT solution!!! Also, by having a desktop, I won't be able to bring it to bed with me or sit on the couch for hours at a time at night to use it. Did I mention how sexy and sleek this thing is. Can ya tell I'm a little excited? LOL.
Anyways so after I picked C up we headed home for lunch and his nap. I cleaned up and did some laundry and then when he woke up we headed to the grocery. Got lots of dinner and made Webb a Yummy Valentine's dinner. Consisted of My parent's famous Pork Tenderloin, Dirty Rice, and Green Peas. And Chocolate covered Strawberries for Dessert. Yummy! We also got Webb a Ralph Lauren Polo for V-day. I actually put it on carter and carried him into the house with it. LOL, he looked adorable! and we got Carter a card and a set of 5 little Mickey hotwheel cars. He has really gotten into hotwheels the last few weeks. and he is obsessed with Mickey, so when I saw those they were perfect. I just had to carry on tradition that my parent's started by getting us a card and a little something on V-Day.
Wish I didn't have to work tonight, but I am so lucky to have my two men in my life and that makes my V-Day perfect!! Thank you Webb for being my best friend and being such an amazing father to our Son!! Can't believe we have spent 10 Valentine's days together. Can't wait to spend the next 50+ more together!!!
On another note- we went out with Ashley and Brent(without the kids) for my birthday dinner to Bonefish on Friday night. We had a BLAST and I haven't laughed that long in a LONG time!! Webb and I also went to a movie afterwards, which was adorable and fun!
I will update with my Valentine's Pics later- I can't upload them from work, but wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Courtney

Pajama Day......

2011-02-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

When Momma doesn't get much sleep the night before, we have a lazy pajama day. The way I figure, with it being as cold as it is outside why get out of our PJ's unless we are going somewhere. So on Wednesday we didn't get out of our pajamas until 4pm, lol. We did have fun playing with Play-doh and with out lego table. he is starting to get the hang of pushing the little car around the track and gets so excited and claps when it goes around. Too cute. Still not really sure what to do with the play-doh, mainly likes to just take out, put back in and take the top on and off.

Loves his little Mickey books!!! (Well anything Mickey actually!)

Look at this mess! Oh well, I will clean it up when he goes off to college!!! Growing to fast to spend all day cleaning! would rather PLAY!!

LOVE that bottom photo on the Left for some reason! Just adorable! As much as we love our Pajama days, we are ready for Spring and to get outside and play all day!!!

Courtney

Outside!

2011-02-03T01:02:00.000-08:00

I hear this word constantly. Carter LOVES to be outside and we have been able to spend a few days out lately. But it didn't last long!! It was back in the 20's today and Huge gusts of wind. I am so sick of this weather. Ever since October carter has had a rattly cough that will not go away. We are so ready for spring days. Spending days having picnics, sliding, swinging, visiting animals at the zoo, etc. BRING on spring!! According to the groundhog today 6 weeks until Spring!! Lets all hope he is right!!! Can't believe Carter's birthday is in a little over 2 weeks. EEEKKK!!! So much to do in so little time! Gotta get busy!! Tomorrow(or should I say today) we are going to try to head to the children's museum to play! Hope to get a couple hours of sleep before then!
Will try to take some pics!

Courtney

Warm Winter Weather...

2011-01-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had some unusually warm winter weather here. It got up to 66 on Saturday!! It was Beautiful!!! We spent LOTS of time outdoors this weekend before we have to go back in for hibernation.
Saturday morning Webb and Carter went for a Pancake breakfast at Cracker Barrel while I slept, since I worked on Friday night. Then when Carter woke up from his nap on Saturday met Ashley, Brent and the boys at the Zoo. It was sooo much fun!! We always have a blast hanging out with them. In fact, we are going to FLORIDA in July with them. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! We need a family vacation soooo bad!!!! Then after the Zoo, My boys and I had a wonderful relaxing dinner at Firebirds!(YUM).
Sunday was cleaning day. We played in the morning and did some laundry. Then while Carter napped, we cleaned some more and then Mom, Carter and I went to Yolo afterward while Webb worked in the Yard. Yummy!
These pics were taken doing Carter's favorite thing these days: Walking!! This weekend he walked from our drive way down around the corner all the way to the stop sign on Saturday and on Sunday walked from our drive way around the corner to our neighbors driveway and half way back!! Keep it up Carter Man!!!
Also this last Thursday was a first for us! We went to meet Bridgette and the girls at The Children's museum and took his walker in. This was the first time I have taken it in a public place and he did GREAT!! We also ended up running into Meme, Lily, and Tucker. He walked and climbed a TON!! and was wore out when we left!! Fun Day!!!
Love this pic of him walking to webb!!
Courtney

IPHONES and Hair Cuts!!

2011-01-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

If you have a toddler that needs their hair cut, take your Iphone!!! I promise it will make your life easier. The whole time Carter was getting his hair cut he was watching an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he was never bothered!! Atleast not until she got the shears out!! But who likes those buzzing sharp things coming at you!! Can't believe this was his 3rd(official) hair cut already. I say official bc everytime he has a shunt tap/revision they cut his hair. I have LOTS of baby hair saved! Webb says I'm weird, I say whatever, lol. Doesn't he look soooo handsome!?!?

Courtney

Sweet Dreams!!

2011-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

When you look this angelic you must be having sweet dreams!! I LOVE sleeping baby pics, even when they are almost TWO!!!

Courtney

On the GO.....

2011-01-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

Today we had a pretty lazy Sunday. The Smith Household did not wake up until 10AM!!!!! Carter did not have a good nap AT ALL yesterday (Major Meltdown), so he was pretty tired. I was so glad he slept good last night, bc he woke up in a MUCH better mood today. We did a little shopping at the mall and then came home for a nap. Webb and I did some chores around the house and then played once C woke up! and he did LOTS of walking!! he asked to walk and was EVERYWHERE!! he even walked down the hall into his bedroom. This week we were able to unlock the front wheels so that they can turn and he is really getting the hang of it! Here are a few pics. I Love this one of the back of him. I LOVE walking behind him, esp when I act like I'm chasing him and he starts squealing and walking faster ;)

Courtney

Hamming it UP!!!

2011-01-22T20:20:00.000-08:00

Carter is such a little Ham lately. I haven't taken many pics the last few days, bc I have been worn out from work. I worked 6 out of 8 nights(not a good idea!). So I figured I would share these pics from a few weeks ago, the day before Allyson left to go back to school. He was playing Peek a boo and was getting a kick out of himself!! Hilarious!!! Gosh I love this kid.

I LOVE how he is peeking through his fingers, hehe! So animated!

Then he decided to take a stroll in his "walka" which is what it sounds like when says it. Lately he has been asking to walk. He will crawl up to his walker and pull up and say "walka" I am sooo proud of Him!!! He is doing great! We went to see his ortho dr this week and he was amazed at how well he was doing with walking. This was the first time to actually take his walker into a dr. office!! Keep it up big boy!!!

And a few pics of two of my favorite peope!! We LOVE you and miss you sooo much Allyson!!
We are SOOOO Proud of you and the person you have become!!! LOVE YOU!!!
On another not Carter has been battling some NASTY UTI's lately!! Started Dec. 20 and we will hopefully find out on Monday that it is finally gone!! After 2 different types of NASTY infections, and 5 different antibiotics. I REALLY hope this last one did the trick!! Keep your fingers and toes crossed!! Will update soon and hopefully take some new pics in the next few days. Have been busy planning my Little guy's second Birthday!! TEAR!! How did he ever get so big!

Courtney

Play, Do, Learn

2011-01-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that I am posting this, but my baby or should I say "Big Boy" started a preschool program this morning. Such a bittersweet moment!! It is through a program through Special kids and Families and it is called Play, Do, Learn. It is half special needs kids and half typical peers. It is AMAZING. They also have a 3 to 1 ratio of kids to teachers which is also AMAZING. Carter's teacher is also a retired special needs teacher. It is literally too good to be true. I was pretty nervous for him to start. The only people that have ever watched Carter before are family and Bridgette(which she might as well be family). Nervous for many reason, but I feel like he is in such wonderful hands there!! They do so many wonderful things, including LOTS of Physical Therapy play. They even have a gross motor room.

So this morning Dora came over before we left to go with us, since she will be taking and picking him up just as much as I am. We headed in a little early since I had to go over his special diapering. So we get there and he wants down to play and literally just jumps right in and starts playing(pulling up on tables, chairs, etc.) We then head to the gross motor room where they have an awesome slide/climber and it was all over. He is in LOVE with slides. He could have cared less at that point that we were there. So after a few minutes we decided to sneak out. Well I don't have to say that the only tears shed were not from Carter, LOL. He is such an amazing kid and has such a wonderful spirit!!

So I came home, and couldn't stand being here without him, so I decided to go grocery shopping. Then came home and put them away and then left to go and get him a little early. They said he had a WONDERFUL first day. He even made hand prints. Can't wait until they are done with the project so I can hang them on my wall!! I am so proud of him and proud to be his mommy!! Here's to hoping that he has that wonderful of a day every day!!

I LOVE YOU BIG BOY!!

Courtney

Scoop it!!!

2011-01-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Lately we have really been working with Carter on eating with utencils. He pretty much has the fork concept down(we call that Poke it). He just stabs at the plate of food until he finally gets something. But Scooping is much harder. He usually just gives up and eats with his fingers or we help him scoop and had it to him, but it sometimes ends up in his lap and not his mouth. We make big messes around here. LOL Oh well. That's what its all about right!!! I guess one day he will get it down. But in the mean time, here he is intently trying to scoop his favorite Mac and Cheese(just like his mom)!!! and when he gets a bite he says "Ummmm.." ADORABLE!

Courtney

SNOW DAY!!!!

2011-01-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

So last night we got b/w 3-5 inches of snow. The last time it snowed like this is when Carter was in the NICU after he was born. I was soooo excited to get him out and play in the snow this morning. We got all bundled up. In-fact he had on 2 pairs of socks, braces and shoes, 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, and a coat and hat. I thought he would love it... Ha, should have known. He HATES snow, lol. I am so glad we don't live up north!! Unlike most kids that can walk around and don't really have to touch it. Anytime he sits down it is cold and wet and he can't stand to have it on his fingers! So I got out his little four-wheeler. He like sitting on that much better, but could still care less about the snow, lol. I snapped some adorable pics of him anyways. The first one on the collage was how it started, had to include that one.

He has been so funny this morning. He is just talking up a storm. We have been doing a lot of standing and practicing walking in his walker. When he wants to walk he will even tell me now. Sounds more like "ALK". I can't wait until we finally get in with our new PT. It has been a long wait, and I am anxious to start! He was also supposed to start at his school today, but due to the snow, it is obviously canceled!! Oh well, I guess we will start Wed. Wish us luck!!

On and if anyone didn't notice this is my third blog post today!! Yay! I am trying to not be on FB and my Photo boards anymore. It was time for a much needed break. I also am only going to be on my computer when C is asleep. So this has been a productive nap!! Wish me luck. Want to spend more quality time with my boys. This computer can suck you in, lol. I also want to take LOTS of candid pics of Carter to cherish forever!! I want to be able to look back and remember every moment with him!!
Enough Rambling, here are pics from today!! LOVE!

Courtney

Fun Day Sunday!!! and LOTS of Pics!!

2011-01-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a blast! We woke up early in the morning and we all laid in bed as Carter watched 1 episode of Mickey. (We have now limited to 2 episodes a day). Then Webb got up and went to Shnucks to get stuff to make breakfast. Afterward we went to the mall to get a few things and to let Carter ride the Carousel. He LOVED it. It was adorable. Every time we would pass Webb he would wave, point and yell daddy. Then after we passed him he would laugh and clap. Then we went to visit Meme and Poppy for a littly while until Carter laid his head on the floor and said "Night, Night" and let us know he was ready for a nap(I still can't believe he is now telling us when he wants to go to sleep!!). So then we came home, he napped while Webb and I hung out. Then last night Carter and I went to eat with Nana, Pops, and Allyson. Yay! Wonderful day spent with Wonderful Family!! <3

Here is he playing with his Mickey Figurine, lol.

and LOTS of Carousel Pics!!

Waving to Daddy!

This is so exciting MOM!!!

Last night it SNOWED around 4 inches here!! More Pics and another post to come.....
Courtney

He is my Heart!!!

2011-01-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

No other words really needed. And I couldn't decide which one I really liked better so I included both. :) Here he is last week, not feeling well watching Mickey. Luckily he is much better now. Only a little cough lingering around, but his personality is BACK!! Yay!! Here he is the same day playing in his PJ's and making funny faces. I love this kid!!!

More to come later today!!

Courtney

Lazy Days.....

2011-01-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

Look at those EYES!!!So the last couple of week we have had LOTS of Lazy Days and LOTS of Mickey Watching. On New Years Eve I woke up right at Midnight and watched Carter in his Crib. It looked as though he couldn't get comfortable. He had been running fever earlier in the day and had Tylenol before bed. So when I decided to go in a check him again. When I picked him up he felt as though he was on Fire. He was running 104.6. A quick call to the Neurosurgeon and we were off to the ER. So after a couple of hours of waiting on the ER doc(who happened to be the same one we saw a couple of weeks ago), she came in and asked, "So has he finished his round of antibiotics for his UTI?" UM NOOOOOOOOO. we were never told that he had a UTI. If you know how it goes- anytime a culture is drawn, whether it be blood, urine or shunt cultures, it takes 48 hours for the results to come back and if they come back negative they don't call you, but if they come back positive they call you with a recommendation of what to do next and also call your primary physician. Well NONE of this took place. So he had a raging UTI for 2 weeks!!! Can you say we were LIVID!! So that morning she wrote us a prescription for some very expensive antibiotic.

Well 2 days later he started getting red whelps. They first started under his arms and down his side and on the back of his neck. By the next morning, despite being given lots of Benedryl. The next morning he woke up with them all over his body. So Webb took him to the pediatrician. He was having an allergic reaction to that $800 antibiotic. So he prescribed him some amoxicillin and steroids. He is doing much better with that, but now has developed a nasty sinus infection. This has GOT to end soon. I need my Sweet happy baby back!!!
All he has wanted to do the last couple of days is want to be held and watch Mickey. Poor Buddy!

On a positive not I got my New lens yesterday!!!! I LOVE it. I needed something wider for indoors to be able to capture my little guy and how much fun he is getting lately. I LOVE that during the day I don't have to use my SL!! and I will start to take LOTS more pics indoor on what we do on a day to day basis!! This is really what matters the most anyways!! I want to capture every piece of him!! He is growing too fast!! Here are a few pics of me trying out my new lens on our Lazy day today. And these are not edited!! WOOHOO!!!

Look at his love for Mickey!

Courtney

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!!

2011-01-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

So Carter was not very fond of Santa this year, but who could blame him!! LOL I laugh everytime that I look at this picture!!

We had a very exciting Christmas. LOTS of pics below. I had to work on Christmas eve this year so we did Christmas with Webb's Family on the 23rd. We had so much fun. It is so fun watching the kids together. The just LOVE eachother. And all the presents were a big hit!! Here are a few of them opening their gifts.

And it is pretty much impossible to get 3 kids under three to sit still and smile for the camera. I took about 20 and these are the best we got, lol. LOVE them though and so do their Meme and Poppy!

This is our little angel sleeping the night that Santa came!! I LOVE these pics of my sleeping boy!!He just melts my heart!! There is nothing sweeter than this right here! Altough it is very hard to take pics in the pitch black!

Santa working HARD!!!

Carter in his new Chair from his Nana and Pops! We LOVE it!! and so does Carter!!!

Christmas morning, Checking out all the presents and a little overwhelmed!

Our WONDERFUL Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

And a few pics on Christmas with mom and dad!! Hate that we did not get a family pic, boo!!

Hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as we had!!

Courtney

First of Many Christmas'

2010-12-29T21:39:00.000-08:00

So our first Christmas outing was to my parents a few days before Christmas. They decided to cook for me since I had to work on Christmas eve and would have to miss my Mamaw's Christmas. It was DELICIOUS!! Fried Turkey, dressing, Green beans, etc!! Thanks so much Mom and Dad!!! I LOVE YOU more than you know!! Here are a few pics I took of C in front of their tree with his new walker!! LOVE them!! He also opened his very first Christmas presents of the season. He got a Hilarious yet obnoxious Laughing Monkey, a hammer that makes noise and Scamper the movie!! An ALL time FAVORITE in the Krug house growing up!!

Stay Tuned, many more Christmas pics to come!!!

Courtney

Fever, Bad luck and Holidays!

2010-12-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

So if you know my family very well you would know that Holidays in the Smith household are not usually a good time for us. Recap- Webb's first father's day- find man breaking into our car at the mall, webb's birthday 2010- Carter Diagnosed with Syrinx and non working shunt. The next week our car gets blown up in our drive way., Mine and Carter's birthday- Carter diagnosed with Grade 5 kidney reflux and has emergency vesicostomy the next day to prevent kidney and bladder damage. Our anniversary this year Carter has a Shunt Malfunction/Revision. Webb's birthday this year- Another Shunt Malfunction/Revison. Then a week later back in the hospital with a UTI. So with it being Christmas week, it did not surprise me when C started running fever on Saturday afternoon!

I decided to call the Neurosurgeon on call and they told me since he didn't have any other symptoms to wait it out and give him some Tyleonol/Motrin and wait and that if he had any other symptoms to bring him in. Well that night he did fine, his temp came down and hovered around 99.5 and he was symptom free(well except for some fussiness). So the next morning Webb left for the river with his dad to work on the cabin. So I was planning some shopping with Mom and Allyson that Afternoon. C was acting fine that morning so I laid him down for a nap and M&A came over. After he woke up and ate lunch he felt a little warm to me, so I took his temp- 102.6!!!!!!!!

So that landed us a trip to the dreaded Lebonheur ER. Usually we get VIP treatment with Carter having a VP shunt. But not this time. They were booked and there were probably 50 sick kids in the ER!!!! We waited 3 hours before being seen. I was NOT a happy Camper!! Thankfully we have uploaded some videos on my iphone so Carter watched movies, read books and was so good for the waiting. Carter's recent favorite movies are Mickey Mouse Club House and Backyardigans- the Pirates Episode, which is what he is watching here :)

During this time, webb was able to get home, pack our things, and get up there before we were ever seen. So after SEVERAL attempts to get an IV started and drawing some labs, Shunt Tap and having a CT and x-ray. We had no answers. Shunt seemed to be working fine(thankfully). They decided to keep us for observation. We didn't get into a room until 4am and Carter maybe slept 1 hour of the whole night, so when they let us come home the next afternoon we were beyond THRILLED!!

That night Carter threw up, and the next day started having a green runny nose and congestion. so it seems that it was all a Virus. This is your life if you have a child with a shunt. A simple virus with a fever lands you in the hospital with several Testing and long days/nights. This is why it is so important for us to be so diligent on washing hands and keeping away from sick people/kids.
This is one thing that I am nervous about Carter starting his Play, do Learn program. Which should start in the next week or two, EEK! Anyways we had a wonderful Christmas. and have a long post with Many Pics that I will have to do later. Too late right now. Here are some pics taken with my IPHONE, and the bottom is a video of how tired and miserable he is in the hospital. Poor Baby!!

Courtney

Carter's New Walker!! And MORE Progress!!!

2010-12-18T02:55:00.000-08:00

I always believed that my baby would walk one day, but didn't realize that after he first started that he would make progress sooooo fast!!! It is really unbelievable to watch him and his determination!!! We finally got the walker that we once ordered at the beginning of August. The one they ordered for him the first time was WAY too big!! No wonder he wasn't doing very well with it. So I picked this one up on Monday afternoon and would you believe that Monday night he was taking steps by himself with it!! And who doesn't love the Lime Green?!?!?! Look at him GO!!! For some reason my little video upload feature is not working so here it is uploaded.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt3U550CgJE
What we have been up to the last few days: work, work and more work!! Worked my three in a row and now I am off for a few days, with LOTS of Christmas shopping to do! Last night we went to Webb's Mamaw's Christmas party. I was fun to get together with the Family, then afterward we went to dinner with Ashley, Brent and kids. Today we will have yet another Christmas party!! I just can not wait until Christmas and seeing Carter's face when opening his new presents! Wish I didn't have to work on Christmas or Christmas eve, but atleast Carter has no clue about what day it actually is. So we are going to celebrate with Webb's family on the 23rd and Do Santa and my family on the Christmas Eve before I go to work.
Oh and Bridgette and I took the kids to enchanted Forest this week to see Santa. Lets just say that we got the "Screaming, Get me out of his lap" Santa pic this year! Ha they are too cute!!! will have to post pics of it later. But in the mean time: My handsome little man!

Courtney

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US!!!

2010-12-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

The boy that was born with an open spine.
The boy that we were told may never walk.
The boy who twice lost function of his lower extremities bc of a shunt malfunction, and we were told he may never regain sensation back.
The boy that has had 5 shunts, 1 spinal surgery and 1 bladder surgery.
The boy with endless determination and heart.
This is MY BOY and he is WALKING!!!!!!!!!
He has totally stolen my heart and I am sooooo proud of him and all of his accomplishments.
He is my HERO!!!!
Carter Allen I have learned so much from you, & you continue to AMAZE me and so many others!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep it up Carter Man!!!

Courtney

Dear Santa...... I can Explain.....

2010-12-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

How cute are these???? These are one of our Christmas Cards this year. I have a more formal card, but also wanted to do these, before he gets too old for this type of cutesy stuff. He was probably thinking "A photo session involving cookies, now that's more like it mom." LOL. Anyways worked last night and slept most of today. Went out to dinner with some friends. Hoping for a fun, laid back weekend and to maybe take C to see Santa this weekend. Will post pics! Oh and BTW Carter Burnt his hand pretty badly this weekend and he has just been pitiful when having to dress it. I can only imagine how bad it hurts. Was baking cookies with his cousins and touched the outside of the oven, and it was Hot enough to burn him pretty bad. Who would have ever thought that an oven could get that hot on the outside? I hope it heels VERY soon and he doesn't get an infection from it!!! Will post a pic of it later and one with his bandage :( Here are some of the cookie session outtakes: SOOOO CUTE!!!!

Courtney

New Year's Resolutions!!!!!!

2010-12-06T21:59:00.000-08:00

I have been such a terrible blogger lately. Heck, who am I kidding- I was never a great blogger!! But I am going to be trying something different now. It is my New Year's Resolution to do two things(but I am starting now!!!)- Start blogging more about Carter and his condition. I have been truely inspired reading someone else's blog and caringbridge about her son with SB. It is amazing how much Carter is changing and how much he is accomplishing lately and i want to Remember it Forever!! I think it will also be cool to have for him one day to read. Although I wish I would have done this sooner, I feel like I have missed out on sooo much!!! My second resolution is to start not having the computer out while Carter is awake and with me. It is so easy with a laptop to be on it while Carter is playing in the floor with his toys. I am not on it all day by any means and we do a LOT of playing together, but I do think there is always room for more PLAY and more PT!!! So that is it! Please hold me accountable if you see me starting to slack off with my posts!! oh not to mention I am going to try and post LOTS of PICS too(which I know is what people truley care about, :))
So what's going on Lately? Carter is Changing so much and getting stronger and stronger. He is starting to pull up on just about everything!! Today when Webb got home and put his keys on the end table Webb called my name and Carter had totally pulled up to get the keys off. Now that is WONDERFUL but also scarey at the same time! BC once his legs get tired, they just give out. He doesn't quite know how to get down gracefully yet. So if we are not right there with him he could fall backwards and hit is head on our concrete floors. I always joke that maybe we need a helmet for him. There is NOTHING stopping him. He is also talking a lot more! It is just crazy at this age how much they soak in!! One BIG thing is that he is starting a little school program next week. It is through special kids and families called Play do Learn. It is half typical pears and half special needs kids. The program sounds AMAZING! Their teacher to kid ratio is 3:1, which is just awesome. They also have a nurse and speech therapist. Also LATEX free(which is sooo important with SB kids- they are at risk for Latex allergies). So as excited as I am, I am a little sad too!! My baby is turning into a BIG boy!! I will add some adorable pics later!!!
Courtney

Carter on the Treadmill at PT!!

2010-08-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

So this is Carter last week on the Treadmill at PT. THis is only his second time on the treadmill and he is doing great!! LOVE seeing the progress he is making! There were several months that he seemed to not be making much progress, but these last couple of months after his latest shunt revision he has just taken off!! This week we also ordered Carter's first walker!! Such a HUGE deal!! So proud of my Boy!! Keep up the hard work little guy!!

On another note Carter has been sick the last day and a half. Last night he woke up at 10 with a terrible cough, congestion, wheezing, a fever and very snotty. We all got only 1 hour total of sleep!! This morning we went in to the sick clinic, which was the first for us and he has a pretty bad Upper Resp. Infection. He had to have an Albueterol Treatment and they started him on some meds for his cough/congestion. We also have an Albuterol inhaler to use at home PRN for wheezing/ Resp. problems. After coming home from the Ped appt he took a 4 hour nap that was much needed and he just went down for the night about an hour ago. Praying tonight is better than last night!!

Courtney

Where is the time going?

2010-07-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

It feels like yesterday that I was rubbing my tummy waiting to meet the precious life inside of me and now I am chasing around a very happy, busy, precious little boy!! I can't believe that Carter is already 17 months old!! He has changed so much over the last 2 months since his last shunt revision!! He is talking up a storm!! He says; Mama, Dada, Meme, Nana, Allyson, Ginger, Hi, Dog, No, Yumm, Eyes, milk, thanks, OK (I am sure there are more those are just the regulars!) And he really has changed so much developmentally too!! His favorite thing to do lately is climbing. He army crawls to any and everything that is at a taller surface and tries to pull up on it and crawl in it or over it! He also loves to act like he is flying in the air and flapps his arms as Webb whizzes him around the house like an airplane! This is so exciting and new! He has gotten so funny when we change his diaper to that he kicks and slaps so fast and so hard, all the while laughing with all he has. Its crazy to think that about a year ago he wasn't even really moving his legs at all and today he stood(with a little assisstance) at a train table at story time and played. He just continues to amaze everyone around him!! And on a VERY exciting note, he pulled up last week in the bath tub all by himself. We were taking a bath and he was playing with his ABC toys on his tummy when he reached up for the rail, pulled himself to tall Kneel and then to stand without ANY assisstance!! Ofcourse I yelled for Webb to come in there and he did it again!! AMAZING!!!!!!! We also brought a walker with home with us from PT this week to get Carter to practice standing at it and getting used to it!! We should order one this coming week!! Althoughit will be a while before he starts to use it (just the anticipation of using it is exciting!!)
These pics I took the other night sitting on the front porch for dinner and then after dinner let Carter eat some Banana and Chocolate Pudding which he LOVED. He has gotten very into trying to feed him self lately too.
Just wanted to update everyone on what we have been doing lately. We have been having a ton of fun and have had a couple of good Dr. Appt's too! So keep my little guy in your thoughts and prayers that he will continue to strive like he has been doing for the last couple of months!!! (I guess he is playing catch up from the couple of months that his shunt wasn't working!) Go Carter GOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Courtney

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!

2010-06-20T19:11:00.001-07:00

What a wonderful day to be called off of work this morning. Instead of getting up at 5:30, we didn't get up until close to 10!!! Carter slept until 9:50 this morning!! WOOHOO!!! So after some Sunday morning snuggles I got up and made biscuits and gravy (my mamaw's famous brown gravy- YUMMMMM!!), turkey bacon and cheese eggs!! Then off to pool at tommy and dora's we go. We hung out with the fam all day relaxing in the pool and eating wonderful food. Carter took a long nap, while I layed out on a float in the pool for the first time since I had Carter. It was GREAT!!! And then after he woke up we put him in the pool, and he LOVED it!! And one of my favorite parts of the day my father in law got an ice cream maker for fathers day and he made some DELICIOUS strawberry ice cream!! It was a great day, although I didn't get to hang out with my dad today. I plan on doing that sometime this week!! Here are some pics that I did for Webb's desk at work. I was so excited to give them to Webb and he LOVED them. I can't decide which of these I love the most, so I will include both!

I hope everyone had a great Father's day, bc we sure did!!! Oh and on a great note, our car didn't get broken into this year like last father'd day! Woohoo!! LOL

Court

What we have been doing over the last 6 weeks

2010-06-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

2 Shunt Revisions, 1 VERY SCARY seizure and LOTS of Dr. Appts!!!

This is why I haven't updated my blog lately. BUT, after seeing Dr. Boop today, Carter's shunt is finally showing that it is working!!! To make a VERY long story short about six weeks ago(the day of the terrible floods) on a Saturday after noon Carter woke up from his nap with a 102.5 fever. I immediately called Dr. Hanson, who told us to go straight in to Lebonheur ER. So we get checked in and the resident comes in and ordered a lot of test including at shunt series, cbci, crp, and neuro consult. Then the attending comes in a couple minutes later and says that he thinks that Carter has a virus and that he is only going to run a CRP. The CRP comes back in the normal range, so he discharges us home. We questioned him before leaving about seeing Neuro and doing more testing, but he thought that it was not necessary. Boy was he wrong!! So out the door we went. On the way out we discussed how we were excited to be going home although did not have a good feeling about it. So just a couple of minutes down the road Carter started PROJECTILE vomitting and started having a seizure where he became totally unresponsive, his eyes rolled back in his head and became totally gray. I have never been so scared and freaked out in all my life!! So Webb pulled a U Turn in the middle of Sam Cooper(ran over a small tree) and sped 90 miles an hour down Poplar and went through 5 red lights to get back.(BTW there was a cop following us the whole time and we had no clue). So I ran back in, completely covered in vomit with a limp baby. Immediately there were several drs and nurses in the room. The same attending came back in and told us that he still thought it was a virus with a febrile seizure(UGH!!!) but that he would order a shunt series and neuro consult now. So a little while later Dr. Muhlbauer's Fellow, Dr. Kimbal came in and told us that Carter's ventricles have quadrupled in size since jan and that his shunt was def. not working. At this point it was about 2am and they scheduled surgery for 7am the next morning. Dr. Boop was out of town, so Dr. Muhlbauer did Carter's revision. After Carter's surgery we just hung out in the room for the day and got to come home the next morning. Carter was much happier after we got to come home. I was so happy to be home, but still pretty shaken up from the whole thing. As a mom and nurse I just keep questioning what would have happened if we would have been home and Carter would have been in his bed when the seizure happened. I know I need to quit doing that, but it is HARD!!!
So the next few weeks Carter was doing OK, just a little on the fussy side, which is not like him at ALL!!! He is usally the happiest baby on the block! So a couple of weeks after his surgery we have his post op visit and every thing goes fine and he tole us that we didn't need to come back for 3-4 months. That same week we had Carter's 15 month check up. First off I want to say that I CAN NOT believe that my child is 15 months!!!! So he weighed 24 and a half pounds which was 42%. He was 29 inches and his head circumference was 49 cm which was up 2.5 cm in 3 months. So right after leaving Dr. Hanson's office I called Dr. Boop's nurse. We were not quite sure if the growth change had occurred before the last revision or if his shunt right now wasn't working. So the nurse called me back and said that she thought that it was probably fine that she would let Dr. Boop know and would call me back either way. So no phone call over the weekend. And no phone call on Monday, which was Memorial Day. So Webb left Monday afternoon for Baltimore for a conference. Well wouldn't you know that on Tuesday morning while I was at work at about 8:30 I received a phone call from Dr. Boop's nurse saying that Dr. Boop wanted to see Carter that Day to measure his head circ. and check him hisself. So Dora met me at his office around 9:30 with C. We waited for over an hour and then he checked him out. He then had a catscan and Dr. Boop walked in and said "Your not going to believe this, but Carter's shunt isn't working!!!!" WHAT????????? I was floored. Not even a month before we had just had it revised. He also told us that he was going to change the location of the shunt and that surgery was scheduled for the morning. And Webb at this time was in Baltimore. He quickly got a flight home and missed his conference (Thank you St. Jude for the speedy flight home) and I went home to get some things together and to clean up a little before surgery the next morning. (Thanks Allyson and Courtney for all the help) I don't quite know what it is, but I have to have a clean house and laudry done before I bring C home after any of his surgeries. I guess its the nurse in me that thinks about all the bacteria lingering around! I guess its also a way to help me deal with the stress of it all. Who knows, but my house was spotless when I brought my angel home! After the house was clean we went to eat at my parents house, before Webb got home and I took all of these pics. This sure doesn't look like a baby whose shunt isn't working does it?

So the next morning we were there bright and early awaiting surgery. Let me tell you as a mom that has had to hand off her baby several times to have surgery, it NEVER gets any easier!!!! After the surgery this time, he was in a lot of pain. We had to give him Morphine twice to help him sleep. Poor baby. But the next day we got to come home. It still baffles me that 24 hours after having brain surgery you get to go home.
These pics are from the second surgery, the day after surgery.

and this is how we found Carter after he came home and went straight to sleep, poor little guy was exhausted!!

The last couple of weeks have been better other than C has been running a low grade fever, which had me a little freaked, but we had our post op visit with Dr. Boop this week and it seems that this shunt in the new location is working. HOORAY!!!! and that he didn't think the fever had to do with the shunt. Just have to monitor him very close to make sure the fever goes down and does not get any worse. BC shunt infections are very bad and if he developed one we would be in the hospital for several weeks. But you can develop a shunt infection up to a year after it is placed, which is a scarey thought! So we are doing better now than we have in the last 6 weeks!!
Oh and I forgot to mention that the day of Carter's surgery was our 3rd Anniversary. I am so thankful for my husband and my best friend. He is my rock and keeps me grounded. I truely do not know what I would do without Webb!! So big holidays in our family have proven to not be such a good thing. Last year on Mother's day we were in Lebonheur for a fever for a week, then Webb's birthday his car gets blown up in our driveway and then father's day our car gets broken in to. I think that we deserve a little break now don't ya think.
And if you are wondering if this has slowed Carter down at all is HAS NOT!!! Over the last couple of weeks he has been thriving. He is finally saying MAMA (which is the best sound in the whole world), his is rolling all over the place, crawling everywhere and FAST!! and has been doing great with his braces. He even started signing "all done" this last weekend after finishing dinner at Cracker barrell!! I am so proud of my boy!!! I love him more than words and it just keeps getting better.
Sorry this post is sooo long, but hope that our next 6 weeks are NOTHING like our last! Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers during this hard time.
Love - Court

Helping Others...

2010-04-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

Sooooo I have been thinking lately about using this blog to help other parents and children with kids not only with Spina Bifida, but those with other health problem/ conditions that are similar to Carter's. We have been through so much and have learned so much over the last year that I would love to be able to help anyone else that may be going through something similar! To start out, I will give everyone a brief description of the health conditions that affect my son.
Carter has Spina Bifida Myelomeningocele, Hydrocephalus, Neurogenic Bladder and Bowel, a Syrinx, Low Muscle tone, Stage V Kidney Reflux, and now Allergies and possibly Eczema. (I think thats all?) We have had to do a LOT of research for each of these conditions and have had to become very creative. I will start working on a post for one of these conditions. What do you ladies think? Is this a good idea? I feel like while I was researching all of these things I would come across some blogs and get great ideas/ info that has really helped me out and would love to do this for someone else!!
But in the mean time I have gotten my NEW CAMERA!!! and a new computer monitor and calibration system!! Woohoo!! Here are just a couple of pics that I took last week with it!!

We bought an ERGO!!

2010-03-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of research lately on baby carriers!! Since Carter has been born we have used a Moby wrap and baby Bjorn. The Moby wrap was amazing when he was younger and kept him very secure and close to me. He LOVED the moby and would fall asleep usually within 5 minutes of being put in it. The only down fall of this carrier is it takes a few minutes to get on and it can be very hot in the summer heat. We also have used the Baby Bjorn which I also loved when he was little, but once he started putting on some pounds it killed my back if I wore it longer than just a few minutes. BOO!! Plus in the Bjorn, babies somewhat hang from their crotch, which is not good for little boy parts!
So, I knew I wanted a carrier that had a high weight limit, since Carter probably won't be walking an time soon. Since he is getting bigger it is getting harder for me to carry him for longer than just a few minutes, esp. since he can't really help me carry his own weight. I just knew as soon as it started getting warm outside I wanted him to be able to be out of his stroller when we go places so that he can see and not just be stuck in his stroller all day while we are out. I also knew I wanted it to be able to be used on my front and back and one that would not hurt my back!! I also wanted one that he would somewhat sit in it and not hang in it. So after lots and lots of countless minutes spent on the internet I found the PERFECT carrier for us.
THE ERGO BABY CARRIER!! http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/ This carrier gets RAVE reviews and even Webb is excited to wear Carter too. We bought the Black/Camel one and it should be here on Tuesday!! WOOHOO!! It has been tested on kids up to 40lbs but they say your could easly wear children up to 60lbs!!! And supposedly you could wear them for a couple of hours and it not hurt your back at all!! You can wear them on back front or hip carry and there are even accessories that you can purchase for it. Oh and there is also a sunshade that you can pull up over their heads when they fall asleep. I plan on going to the Zoo someday this week so I hope to get to use it then! Can't Wait!

Court

It's beginning to look a lot like SPRING!!!

2010-03-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

FINALLY we had some beautiful weather for a couple of days and were able to go outside to play!!! We went to My Big Backyard at the Botanic Gardens 2 days in 1 week and had a blast!! We were also able to go to the park 1 day and then swing in our swing in the backyard a couple days as well!!! I can not wait until SPRING!! I am so sick of seeing these same 4 walls!! Here are some adorable pics that I took of Carter Man!!

Courtney

CARTER ALLEN SMITH IS ONE YEAR OLD!!!!

2010-02-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

One Year ago today at 7:45am I heard the most beautiful noise in the world, the scream and first breath from our Perfect little boy! WoW I can not believe that it has been a year!! We have been through so much in this last year, at sometimes I never thought that we would make it to this point, but WE DID IT!!! Today is very bittersweet to me! I am SOOOOO proud of my little man in all that he is and has accomplished in this first, very tough year and at the same time I am sad that he is a Toddler now and not just my little snuggly baby anymore. I am also so proud of myself that I have made it to a year breastfeeding!!!!! This was a HUGE accomplishment for me! After having Mastitis and 2 yeast infections in the begining, not to mention supply issues, I never thought I would make it this far & I DID IT!!! Carter had his first cup of Whole Vitamin D milk today and he LOVED it. We had to warm it just a bit, but he sucked it down and was diliriously happy after wards!!
This last weekend we had Carter's First Birthday Party and it was AWESOME!! A HUGE thank you for all of those who pitched in and helped, I could not have done it without you!! Here are some pics from the party(thanks to Bridgette)!
So Carter had his 12 month appt this morning. I have been sick with a stomach bug the last couple of days so I wasn't able to make it :(. First time I have missed a single appt. that Carter has had and he has had LOTS!! Here are the stats: 20lbs 12 oz, 28" long, and 46.5 Head Circumference. He also had to get two shots, but Webb said that he didn't even cry! He's such a Big Boy!!
Just a few things that Carter is doing lately:
- He is army crawling all over the place!!! Esp. anywhere Ginger is! He bugs the crap out of her, LOL!
-He is sitting up very well on his own and doesn't really wobble anymore only when he wants to get on his tummy to move around.
- He is still breastfeeding morning and night and has now switched to Whole Milk with a sippy cup during the day (no more bottles)
- He is doing GREAT with finger food!! Have I mentioned that he LOVES food!! Any and all kinds! He has gotten where he has to have some sort of finger food at every meal.
- He is getting so smart and learning how to pick balls up and put them in the hole where they go or down the little ramp to make them spin. He just started this last week!
- We have moved to cloth diapers!! Bum Genius 3.0 pocket diapers and so far we LOVE them and have had NO LEAKS!! WOOHOO!!
- He says Dadadadadadada ALL the time!! Still No Mama Yet :(
- He has 7 teeth!!
- Will not sit still for mommy's photo sessions anymore!!
- Oh and have I mentioned, he LOVES kids!! Always laughs and chuckles when we are around other children, so cute.
- Yes he still does his deep chuckle and it is soooo cute!
- He pretty much goes to sleep on his own without a fuss most nights and sleeps through the night.
- Loves Remotes, cell phones and anything he can bang on things with!!
- He is bearing weight on his legs better now for a several seconds (much better when he has his shoes on!)
- Goes to PT once a week to see Mrs. Mary (which we LOVE) and she is so proud of his progress lately!!
- Oh and his Hair is GROWING like crazy!!
I think that is all for now, better go Carter is waking up from his nap!

Courtney

Birthday PICS by Brandie!!

2010-02-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

OMG I CAN NOT believe that Carter will be ONE tomorrow!! I don't have much time right now to post, but I have a post waiting to write about Carter's Fabulous Birthday Party!! But in the mean time I wanted to share new pics that Brandie took of Carter man!! OMG I AM IN LOVE!!!

http://delisiphoto.com/index.php/2010/02/24/happy-birthday-2/

http://delisiphoto.com/index.php/2010/02/22/so-very-sweet

How your life can change in just 1 week!!

2010-02-08T11:28:00.000-08:00

So a week ago today we were at Lebonheur for Carter's 1 year Urology test. Everything has been going fine as far as Carter's cathing routine, and he has not has had a single UTI in several months. Not since since we haven't had to reuse and wash his caths anymore. So I was really not that worried about going in for his urodynamics and VCUG. I just figured that this was just a "Routine" test that sucks to have to go do, but then we would be done for the next year. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!
First we went to meet Mrs. Judy for his Urodynamics test, which he did really well with. You have to stay completely still during the test and he did a wonderful job at that. So then after that test we went straight to get his VCUG. Have I mentioned that I HATE this test. They have to strap him down on a board with his arms above his head. NOONE should ever have to see your baby this way!! The Radiologist and the same tech were the ones that did his test after birth, which was nice. So right after starting the test the Radiologist looks at me and says "Carter didn't have reflux did he?" And I said "NO" and then she looked at me and said "well he does now!" My Heart SUNK!!! If you don't know anything about Kidney Reflux it is graded from 1-5, with 5 being the worst, and what do think Carter had, but of course Grade 5 VUR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesicoureteral_reflux)!! We couldn't believe it! He has had absolutely NO symptoms!
So after that terrible test we headed straight to Dr. Jerkins office, his Urologist to see him and have an ultrasound. I was terrified to go! When Dr. Jerkins walked in he said that Carter had been doing wonderful and when he saw the report and the images that he thought he was looking at the wrong patients chart. He told us that the cathing that we were doing was not enough to protect his kidneys and that he would have to have surgery! My Heart SUNK AGAIN! I mean are you kidding me, as if this child hasn't been through enough. He told us that the surgery that they usually do to repair this he is too young for, so they will do a temporary fix for maybe around 2-3 years until he is bigger.
The surgery that Carter underwent Thursday morning is called a Vesicostomy. You can read about it here: http://kidneyreflux.info/Vesicostomy.php. Basically the cut a slit around an inch and a half wide in the top of the bladder and pull it up to the skin and turn part of it inside out and sew it to the skin. So anytime his bladder fills with urine it leaks out. This will protect his kidneys, bc before when his bladder would fill the urine would go straight to the kidneys. Dr. Jerkins told us that during surgery he could tell that his bladder was already starting to show some irregularities and show some sign of damage, but it could have been worse and that its a good thing that we caught it when we did. Carter did really well with his surgery. Infact, before Thursday Dr. J told us that we would atleast be staying one night in the hospital, and maybe go home the next day depending on how he is doing. Well we got to go home Thursday night! We were thrilled. It sucks staying in the hospital, esp when Webb and I do all of the care for him, we might as well be in the comfort of our own home! We gave Carter his first dose of Narcotics that he has ever had post surgery on Thursday night. He had baby Lortab, we wanted to make sure that he was comfortable while he slept. He did a great job, but leaked through his diapers and clothes all over his crib.
The biggest challenge for us thus far is figuring out a diaper routine that is going to work for us. Right now we went up a size in diapers to size four, so that there would be a higher rise and we are using a newborn diaper across his incision to soak up the urine at the top of the diaper, if not it comes out the top and will get all over him. Since we went to that technique he has had dry days and nights. The downside of this technique is the cost. We are having to change him just about every waking hour and using two diapers each change. So we ordered some cloth diapers last night and are going to try those out. It may be more expensive up front, but could save a small fortune in the long run. So those should come in this week.
As far as my emotions, I have been holding up pretty well(I guess). But I do have my moments! I go from everything is going to be ok, to pissed, to sad, to frustrated and back to everything is going to be ok! But I just have to keep on going and stay strong for my precious boy. I just get pissed and hurt bc he has been through so much and does not deserve ANY of it(and this is just the beginning). But on one happy note, he has NO idea and is still probably the happiest baby I have ever seen. If you saw him today you would NEVER know that he had surgery less than a week ago. He is crawling and moving all over the place and acts like it doesn't bother him a bit.
I want to thank everyone that has been praying for and thinking of our family during everything we have been through, don't know what we would do without everyone, We LOVE YOU and truley appreciate your Good Thoughts!!
Sorry this post is so long, but on a happier note this week, I ORDERED MY NEW LENS!!!! and it should be arriving tomorrow, right before my Birthday and just in time for Carter's Birthday Party!!! YIPPEE!!
Here are a few pics post surgery in PACU:

Court

HE IS ARMY CRAWLING!!!!

2010-01-19T05:45:00.000-08:00

I am just ecstatic!!! My baby boy is army crawling!! It is quite possibly one of the cutest things I have ever seen, he looks like a little navy seal on the floor. I have a video on facebook if anyone is interested in watching. Although he has gotten much faster now. Just being honest with myself here, I do have to say it sometimes(ok well most of the time) it is very hard seeing and hearing what my friends and family's children are doing now, esp. when they are around the same age or younger (but I am just thrilled for them and the things their children are doing). I know people say don't compare your child to others and your child's normal is not the same, but sometimes that doesn't make it any better. There were several months in there that C had hit somewhat of a plateu. He wasn't sitting up, rolling over, crawling, etc. and those months were hard!! But it seems now that he has def. gained some motivation for wanting to explore new things and that has given him the drive to go for it!! He is not sitting up all the way yet(that is and has been my goal for his birthday) but he is doing much better!!
Oh and have I mentioned I have like the HAPPIEST baby EVER!! He smiles and laughs ALL day long. I can not believe that in a short 5 weeks that he will be 1!! It is going to be such a bittersweet moment! WOW how so much has happened in a year! A year ago I has huge pregnant, scared and excited of what our future was going to hold for our son. (The unknown if a very frightening feeling) A year ago I never fathomed I could ever love someone so much it hurts!! I have been planning his first birthday and the theme is puppy dogs :). I figured this was perfect since his LOVES dogs!
Carter is also jabbering up a storm now, he says dadadada all day long and is now copying the noises that you make! It is hilarious and so freaking cute. But of course no MAMA yet :(.
Ok well I better get off here, I hear him waking up talking in his crib.
Oh and BTW these pics are taken in an ADORABLE outfit that Bridge made C!! She is getting really good & I LOVE it! Just had to show off her work, with an cutie model!!
Courtney

Does it have Latex in it?

2010-01-03T07:32:00.000-08:00

That is just one of the many questions we ask daily when having a child with Spina Bifida. Last night we went to a Mexican Restaurant to celebrate my brother in Law, Hunter's Birthday. Towards the end of the dinner the waiter brought Carter a balloon. And the first thing that I did was check it all over to see if it had latex in it. Haha, but all the writing was in SPANISH!! But then we found out that it was made of Mylar (Sp?), so we gave it to him, and he LOVED it!! Before having Carter I never realized how many things contain latex! Here is a list of the things that contain Latex from the Spina Bifida Association website (http://www.spinabifidaassociation.org/atf/cf/%7BEED435C8-F1A0-4A16-B4D8-A713BBCD9CE4%7D/LatexList09.pdf).
On another note, I think Carter has caught another dang cold!! We just got over one and and he seems super congested AGAIN!! BOO!! So back to bulb suctioning, which he HATES, using the humidifier, using baby Vicks Rub, Using the Vicks plug in the wall Vaporizer and raising the HOB. Heres to hoping it goes away quick this time!! And I know I need to post Christmas pics and a Christmas post, but I will have to do that later, bc its time to go feed C his breakfast!
Later- Court

Welcome to Holland

2009-12-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

LOVE this wonderful example!!!

by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland".

"Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy"

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.

Spina Bifida updates and PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

2009-12-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

So it has been a LONG time since I have updated and last time we were going in for his Spinal MRI. Well what we found out was not very good news. Carter has what is called a Syrinx down the entire length of his Spinal Column. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syringomyelia). When his shunt wasn't working his extra spinal fluid builds in to the syrinx and compresses on the nerves in his spine, which can cause like a temporary paralysis. This is why he wasn't moving his legs very much. This is something that will not go away and we have to watch him like a HAWK to make sure and pick up if we do not feel that his shunt is working. But for now his shunt is working, THANK GOODNESS!! We also went to see a new Dr. Dr. Byrd and opthamologist so that she can measure and see if his optic nerve is being affected when his shunt isn't working. This is one of the reason's that Dr. Boop didn't think it was working and sent us for the MRI, bc his left eye was turning in. Well when we went to see Dr. Byrd his shunt was working and she said his Optic nerve looked PERFECT!! We are so thankful for every bit of good news we get. We went back to see Dr. Boop this week and he said everything looked good for now and we don't have to come back for 4 months. This is Def. the longest we have gone, the longest before then was 6 weeks. This makes me very Happy and nervous at the same time! Anyways enough updates on that.
So you ask what have Carter and I been doing Lately, well Photography Sessions of course!! Here are just some that I will include, he is getting so big!
Well Carter is waking up now, I will update with his 9 month stats Later! GTG

Court

Preparing for the next two days....

2009-10-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

So the next two days we will learn a lot as far as how Carter's shunt is working. Tomorrow we meet with a Pediatric Opthamologist to see if Carter has a sixth nerve palsy. ( Cranial nerve six supplies the lateral rectus muscle allowing for outward (abduction) eye movement. A sixth nerve palsy, also known as abducens nerve palsy, is a neurological defect resulting from an impaired sixth nerve or the nucleus that controls it. This may result in horizontal double vision (diplopia) with in turning of the eye and decreased lateral movement. ) This can be caused by too much pressure in the brain, if his shunt is not working correctly. At our appt. with Dr. Boop 2 weeks ago he saw that Carter's left eye was turning in and his fontanel buldging.
And on Tuesday morning we will learn the results of the spinal MRI that Carter had done last Thursday. And Based on these two results will determine if he has to have surgery again. We are desparatly hoping that the results are good and surgery will not be necessary, although it seems as though he will need it. These are a couple of pics from the MRI. Poor thing was so tired and hungry. He did not eat bw 8-3!! That is a long time for him he usually eats every three hours during the day! But he did great!

Well yesterday we took our little man to the zoo for the first time. We also bought a zoo membership, so I am sure we will be making many more trips!! Carter did really well, he enjoyed watching the turtles and fish swim he also liked the polar bear and just being outside and people watching. These are a couple of my Fav. pics:
It looks like that Polar bear is starring at C, like he wants him for dinner!! Yikes!
And on a Really exciting note, Carter has been lifting and kicking his legs a lot the last 2 days!!! He has never really done this so we are VERY excited about this!!! Oh and are those not some adorable baby legs!! And I don't know if you can tell in these pics, but his hair is growing at rapid paces!! And it stands up everywhere!! It is sooo cute!!

Courtney

2009-09-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a poem that was sent to me today from a very dear friend, Thank you so much Tiffany!!
(Although Carter will definately Laugh and Play, actually he already does), but I LOVE the meaning of this poem!

HEAVEN'S SPECIAL CHILD

A meeting was held quite far from earth,
It’s time again for another birth.
Said the angels to the Lord above;

This special child will need much love
His progress may be very slow,
Accomplishments he may not show.
And he’ll require extra care,
From the folks he meets down there,

He may not run or laugh or play,
His thoughts may seem quite far away.
In many ways he won’t adapt, and he’ll
Be known as handicapped.

So let’s be careful where he is sent, we want
His life to be content.

Please, Lord, find the good friends who, will
Do a special job for you.

They will not realize it right away, the leading
Role they’re asked to play.
But with this child sent from above, comes
Stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they will know the privileges given,
In caring for their gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild, in

Heaven’s very special child.

Carter Man Update

2009-09-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

Post Copied from Carter's Caring Bridge Page:

Sorry we have not updated in a LONG time. For the most part Carter has been doing Wonderful over the past 3 months. His little personality is coming out more and more every day and he has been talking up a storm! We now have a new Physical Therapist & she is great!!! She has to remind me that what Carter is doing now is "normal" for him, and his "normal" is not the same as everyone else's "normal". At this point he has wonderful head control, he rolls from his tummy to his back and he is sooooooo close to rolling from his back to his tummy. He also can sit for short times unassisted & loves playing with toys especially anything that lights up and makes noise.

Have I mentioned that he loves to eat and I am enjoying making all of his fruits & veggies. I have been steaming the fruits and veggies, and then pureeing them in the food processor and freezing them in ice cube trays & he LOVES it!!

I can not believe that our baby is already 7 months old!! I get very sad thinking about it!! People always would tell me to cherish all the moments, bc they go too fast and I don't think that you truly understand that until you are a parent! At his 6 month check-up he weighed 16-12 and was 25.5 inches. He has been sleeping through the night for several months (Yay!)
Well on a not so great note, we went to see Carter's Neurosurgeon for a routine check up and he doesn't think that Carter's shunt is working like it should be, we were sent for a CT that day and they also scheduled a MRI. We will be having the MRI this Wednesday and we are desperately hoping that it is working and that he will not need surgery, although it seemed that Dr. Boop was leaning more towards needing the surgery. We will know more once the results are back. Please be thinking of Carter this Wednesday, as he has to be sedated for the MRI and can not eat for 4 hours beforehand(which to him will be the bigger issue, that boy LOVES to eat!)

And on a happy note, I have entered my Precious boy into a Baby Gap Casting call. I thought it would be something fun to do and it would be awesome if he won! I don't think that any special needs/ Spina Bifida baby has ever been the picture of BabyGap & of course I think that he is the Cutest baby in the WHOLE world!!! So we would appreciate your vote if you can. All you have to do is register (it takes about 2 min and you can check the things at the bottom so they don't send you additional emails) and you can vote on each picture once every day. Here is the website: http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/CourtSmith0602/
We will try to update when we here the results of the MRI and when we know if Carter will need surgery. Thanks in advance for everyone thinking about our precious son!!
Oh and I LOVE this pic, but he will kill me for it one day, LOL!!

Courtney

We have a new PT!!!

2009-08-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

So today we met with Carter's new physical therapist!!! She was AMAZING!! She was so knowledgeable and I think she is going to be wonderful for us!! She even gave us homework, which we were very excited about! After nursing school I never thought that I would ever say "I want homework!" But it also kinda pissed me off today when we left thinking about the type of care Carter was receiving from our other PT. I knew she wasn't the greatest but I never knew she was that bad until today. It was like opposite ends of the spectrum! Carter did really well too! The main things that we are going to be working on right now is head control, sitting, finding his feet, and his right foot. If you ask me I think his little piggies are PERFECT!!

Carter Month by Month

2009-07-08T12:07:00.001-07:00

Gosh he has gotten so big so fast!!

Our Happy Boy!!

2009-07-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Happy 4 months little man!!!

I can't believe our little man is already 4 months old!!! I really can't believe how fast time is going! Carter's four month stats are: 15lbs 1oz, 24.5 inches and 41cm head circumference. He is getting so big and so much fun. He also had to have shots at this appt, but didn't even cry! I will have to add his 4 month pic later (since I can't find the cord to put the pics on my computer). He is really starting to get a personality right now. He has started talking so much, and the other night in bath tub he was so excited that he was splashing water everywhere!! He is also laughing out loud which is so dang cute!
I also started back to work about 2 weeks ago. BOOHOO! I was very upset about this and not looking forward to going back, but it hasn't been too bad! I am very thankful that I have someone that loves him dearly to watch him!

One of his favorite activities is laying and playing in the pool. It is so funny how he just lays back and chills out!

Our last weekend at the river was so much fun! We had some great friends Courtney and Lance up and my sister, all for the first time. We had a lot fun relaxing on the TN river!

Oh and have I mentioned that he loves his Daddy!!! When I have trouble getting him to sleep(bc he has now started fighting his sleep) all I have to do is hand him over to Webb and he is out like a light! I am so thankful to have a husband that is so involved and such a great daddy!!

This week Carter has become much more active as well. He is now grabbing things, and sitting assisted for just a second or two. We are so proud of how well he is doing!!

Well thats all for now, you can thank Bridgette for this post, LOL!! She says I'm a terrible blogger!!

He ROLLED over!!!!

2009-05-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Happy 3 months to my little man & happy Memorial day weekend!!! (pics to come later with his onesie) And would you believe that on his 3 month birthday the little angel just rolled over! Like it was nothing, one moment he was staring Allie Ruth in the faceand then the next second he just rolled over! (This pic is mid first roll!!)We spent Memorial Day weekend at our cabin at the TN river, with some of our closest friend, or really more like family. Although we did not get to go out on the boat very much (due to the weather), we had a much needed, very relaxing weekend. Carter Loved the boat and slept almost the whole time that we were out. He looked too cute in his life jacket.We also spent a lot of time on our new deck, which I love!! Carter loves being outside, so we bought a rocking chair for the deck & he loved it! If only we could find some miraculous way to make all of the misquitos and bugs disappear!! Ever since we bought our cabin I have been complaining about the bugs, but Webb just tells me its no big deal, well he woke up Sunday morning with a moth on his forehead and went straight to town and spent $100 on stuff to kill bugs, LOL. He sprayed around the house with this thing attached to the water hose, sprayed with a hand held thing, bought a bug zapper(which will be more of entertainment than anything), citronella candles, a misquito fogger and bug bombs!!! Hopefully the bug problem is now solved, I bet a bug won't come within 1000 feet of the place, atleast thats what I hope!!!

So haven't updated in a while, mostly bc we have been crazy around here!! In the last 2-3 weeks we have had 2 hospital stays 3 days each for a fever of unknown origin. The finally ruled it to be a virus, but he also had an upper respiratory infection and a slight UTI. His fever got up to 104.3!!! Anytime that a baby with a shunt has a fever, it is a BIG deal!! They have to be very certain that the fever has nothing to do with his shunt, bc if it did he would have an infection in his brain and we were told if this happens, we would more than likely be looking at a 2-3 week hospital stay!!! NO FUN!!!!! Of course we are still feeling the effects of the hospital stay, pertaining to Carter's sleep habits. Before he stay he was sleeping one 8 hour stretch at night, which was fabulous!! But with all the machines and people waking him up during the night we started again waking every 3-4 hours. Hopefully soon he will fall back into his normal routine! So we have been more than a week with no fever now, thank goodness!!!

Carter also had his first of many physical therapy sessions this last week and he did wonderful. She gave us a couple of things that we could work on with him, but said overall so far he is developing great and commented on his great head control. I can't wait to tell her this week that he rolled over! It feels really good to see him hitting develpmental milestones on time!

Oh and did I mention that I got a new camera!!!! I am sooooo excited! I already had a wonderful SLR camera, a Canon Rebel XTI, but I needed one smaller to take everywhere with me and be able to carry in my purse or the diaper bag, so after some research I chose a Canon Powershot and I LOVE it!!! It also shoots videos! Here are a couple of pics that I have taken so far:

Hopefully it will not take me so long next time to update!! Did I mention I only have 3 weeks left before I have to go back to work? BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! I just left Carter for the first time this last week for 1 hour at three months old and in three weeks I am going to have to leave him for 13 hours, it makes me nauseous to think about!!!

Courtney

Just Starting...

2009-05-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to give this blog thing a try. I Love reading other people's blogs, so I thought it was time to make one for my own. Webb and I welcomed our miracle little boy, Carter on Feb. 24, 2009. He is 10 weeks today!!! Wow how time has flies when you are having fun!! Carter man has Myleomeningocele Spina Bifida and had surgery to repair his spine and a shunt placed two days after birth and everything went smoothly. I will explain later exactly what spina bifida is and what all it entailed.

Well 1 thing that our little guy does like a champ is EAT!!! He also is a great sleeper at night, which I am very thankful for!!! He wieghed in at 6lbs, 8oz at birth and was 20 inches. Well at his 2 month check up he weighed 12 lbs 2 oz!!!! And he was 22.5 inches. He is growing and changing way to fast and I cherish every minute I spend with him!!!

Two of Carter's favorite things to do is go on walks in his stroller and bath time!!! I am also very lucky in that I am able to stay home with him for 16 weeks, which means I only have 6 weeks left!! I wish that I could hit the jack pot and not go back!!!! Well I am off to feed this little man, AGAIN, lol. I will try to update often, esp. pics!!! (bc I think so far I have taken like 5000) haha!! I have added a couple of pics to show you how much he has changed the last two months!!

P.S.- If you would like to follow Carter's Journey with Spina Bifida his website is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/carterallensmith

Courtney