The holidays are over and we're finally starting to get our house put back together. We had several wonderful Christmas celebrations and we're very thankful for such loving family and friends. We started celebrating in mid-December with a little sugar cookie fun with the neighbor kids. Santa even made a special appearance, but the kids weren't too thrilled to sit on his lap. We didn't get many smiles out of the kids, but we were able to remove the look of FEAR from their faces for a short while.
We traveled to KC the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with the Hubert side of the family. Carter had fun playing with his three boy cousins and they showed him a cool, new game--"Gone fishin'." Of course, grammy & grandpa bought him his very own game as soon as we got back to Mac. The little booger is even learning to cheat at the game...we're in for it.
We spent Christmas eve and morning at home. Carter really started to grasp the idea of "Santa" this year and he was very interested in leaving cookies and milk out for the big guy on Christmas eve. We also left some carrots on the front porch, because you know, the reindeer get hungry too! He loved opening gifts and had sheer joy in his eyes with each new gift. He totally fulfilled our expectations this year and we think the holidays can only get more fun as he gets older.
We left Christmas day to go spend a few days at Grandma & Papa Allen's house in Salina. There we opened more gifts and had lots of fun with the cousins. Finally, the weekend after Christmas we celebrated at home with Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Lou & Unc. The adults enjoyed some Rock Band and Carter wore himself out jumping in the bounce house he got from Grammy & Grandpa. That thing works wonders for getting a toddler to sleep at night!
Lots of changes going on at the Allen house since Christmas. We finally found a new bedroom set for Carter, so mommy & daddy painted his new big boy room. We officially moved him in about two weeks ago and he's doing ok. Some nights he struggles to stay in his bed, and he finds every excuse in the book to yell for us (potty, drink, book, supper, kisses, light on, etc.). He fell out of bed a couple of times, but since we've put the rail up, he's doing better. We've also been potty training hard core for about three weeks now. Carter is doing excellent! We still have accidents every now and then, and of course he doesn't stay dry at night, but he is doing very well and he's all about getting a treat and a sticker every time he goes on the toilet.
We're about 10 weeks away from baby #2's arrival. We found out in early December that we're playing for "team blue" again, as Carter will have a baby brother. We're trying to make some of the changes (potty training, new bedroom) now, because we think Carter may have a bit of a rough time adjusting to a new baby. He's turned into a little bit of a mommy's boy lately, so we're trying to encourage lots of daddy time. Not much else going on...but we're all ready for spring!!
