Carter's Birthday

     For Carter's birthday, we woke him up by singing Happy Birthday.  Then we opened some gifts and skyped the grandparents.  We took Carter to McDonald's for breakfast and then went to the park by our old apartment.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Carter had so much fun walking and playing on the playground.  He even made a new friend, named Oscar.  Oscar would speak Chinese to him and then Carter would talk back in gibberish.  It was really cute.  I had to go to parent conferences after we left the park.  Later on I met Carter and Blair at Genki Sushi for dinner, which you know is our favorite.  After dinner we let Carter try his first ice cream cone ever.  It was a really perfect day!

 After just one year, you have changed so much!

12 months old

        Happy Birthday Carter!  It's official, my sweet baby is ONE!  I tried to take his picture each month, but missed 3 months along the way.  This has been the best year of my life.  Carter has made every moment more meaningful.  Watching him grow and learn each day has been incredible.  He literally changes every day.  This past year has flown by and I knew it would.  I've done my best to document every little thing Carter has done.  I'm just so proud to be his mommy.
        This month, he learned to walk and what a difference that makes.  Blair and I are running around like crazy to keep up with this boy.  He is really fast, but he doesn't know how to run yet.  He's pretty good at falling safely and doesn't even seem to notice.  We're having so much fun letting him walk in the malls, parks, and on the waterfront.  Everyone stops to watch because he holds his hands in the air and babbles the whole time.  Sometimes he just screams with excitement because he LOVES to walk.
        Carter knows 4 words now, daddy, dog "da", hey, and uh-oh.  He uses them in context, too.  The only thing is "daddy" applies to all humans.  If I drop something in the kitchen, then I will hear an "uh-oh" coming from the living room.  His favorite game is throwing his stuffed animals out of his crib and yelling "uh-oh" each time.  When he picks up the phone, he'll say "hey" just like I do.  Whenever he hears a dog bark, he will say "da".  One time I wasn't looking but I heard him say "da" and when I turned around, a dog was walking towards me.
        I knew it was time to get rid of the paci and I was a little nervous how he'd respond.  He only took it when we would go to sleep.  We stopped giving him the paci at bedtime first and that was not even an issue.  Next we stopped at naptime and he was totally fine.  Carter's officially off the paci!  
        He loves when I sing to him.  He will even clap and sing along.  He likes "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "I Love You Lord", "Jesus Loves Me", "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Rain, Rain, Go Away", and "If Your Happy and You Know It".  He loves to watch daddy play guitar.  He likes to touch the strings and the knobs.  He loves to play hide and go seek (he will really come find you) and peek-a-boo.
        He weighs 22 lbs. and I'm not sure how long he is.  I'm a little concerned because he hasn't really gained any weight in 4 months.  I stopped nursing the day after his birthday, he didn't even miss a beat.  He loves cow's milk and adult food.  He wants to eat everything I do, but Salt and Vinegar chips just aren't a good choice for Carter!  He will beg, scream, and whine until he has something to eat, too.  Since he's so independent, he prefers feeding himself and kind of uses a spoon correctly.  Thank God for our dog being on vacuum duty.
      I love you Carter, Happy 1st Year.  What an amazing adventure!! 

Love,
Mommy and Daddy
   

Carterpillar's 1st Birthday Party

     One of my favorite children's books of all time is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  We decided to use the book as our theme for Carter's 1st Birthday because he loves the book, too.  As Blair was making the invitations we realized that we could add an "R" and make it Carterpillar, which was just perfect.  We had the party a week before his real birthday because I have parent conferences next weekend.  After 2 months of dreary weather, the sun finally came out for Carter's special day.  All our friends showed up to help us celebrate.  Carter took a nap before the party and when I brought him in the living room, he started to cry because he was so confused why there were so many people there.  The rest of the day was full of smiles and excitement.  I was surprised to see Carter continually weave through the crowd to find me.  Our little house was packed.  Later that evening, right on cue, Carter walked the length of our living room and back without stopping.  He was so overstimulated that he walked all around the room, back and forth, until he was falling over from exhaustion.  It was amazing watching him walk for real!  What a perfect day!

6 Year Anniversary

    Usually, Blair and I don't make a big deal out of our anniversaries, but this year we decided we should try to make them more special.  All week, Blair had been dropping hints that he was planning something.  He kept saying, "Don't worry, I've got it all figured out."  He's really good at putting fun plans together and surprising me.  So Saturday morning, he tells me the first leg of our anniversary starts at 8:30 a.m. and that there is surprise for me in the fridge.  The surprise was a Dr. Pepper, because they aren't easy to find in HK.  Then he told me to open my gift, which was khaki shorts from Zara.  At 8:30 am, we hopped on the bus to Shatin, but I had no idea what we're going to do there.  Blair leads me to the Royal Park Hotel for a breakfast buffet.  Nice!  I think basically I just ate a whole pig, my plate was full of bacon.  They had a pancake station with toppings including all kinds of yummy syrups. I made some cool designs on my plate and came back to the table with a challenge for Blair. "See if you can make a fancier design than I did." So Blair comes back with a plate that memorialized our anniversary with "6 yrs" written in syrup! How romantic... Afterwards, I felt entirely too full (sick) and didn't get hungry until like 10 hours later.

     We went back home until our friends Brad and Emily showed up to babysit Carter.  How sweet of them!  This was our first date without Carter.  As we left, I felt very light without a stroller, baby, and a diaper bag.  Blair took me to Central and we had drinks and cheese on the roof of the IFC building.  We then left to go to Soho in the Midlevels.  We ate at the ZGrill, but I was not hungry at all.  In fact, I felt a bit sick.  Blair ordered the Surf-n-Turf and I just ate some of his.  At 9:30 pm, my eyes started closing and my body was shutting down.  Blair begged me to wake up, but after waking up at 7 am everyday, I'm just not used to staying up past 10 pm.  As all the westerners filled the streets of Soho to begin their night, Blair and I started our long journey back to the countryside.  We live over an hour from HK island and we often wonder if it's worth the trek to get there.  Brad and Emily said Carter was a perfect, little angel.  No crying fits or diaper explosions.  He smiled, laughed, and slept right on cue.  Thank God for 6 years of marriage and for this new stage in our lives.  Even though, I know it's important to get out and have a life, the truth is, I'd prefer to be home with my family out here in the village.  Thank you Blair for being so thoughtful and romantic!  You are such a sweetheart.

My 31st Birthday Party

We ate at an Indian restaurant named Surya for my 31st birthday. After that, we went to Starbucks on the harbor. Thanks everyone for helping me celebrate.

Blair ate like a king!

Guess where Melanie went to high school, Vestavia!! Small world. Too bad she graduated from Auburn.

Tim and Connie have been my friends since my first stint in HK, they are the best!

On the right is my sweet friend Amber, her baby boy is due 10 weeks before me!

Man talk, you know... football, guitars, iphones...

Hannah and Eugene's Wedding

Hannah and Eugene had their wedding in beautiful Vancouver on July 10, 2010.

I felt so privileged to be in their wedding, especially as the only Caucasian, hee hee.

Her sister Sarah, made the most whimsical cake . Everyone loved it.

Jamie's Bachelorette Party

Jamie

Toilet paper dresses

We had a private pole dancing class, my arms are still sore, four days later.

On to the clubs. We were getting stared at sooo bad, go figure.

Jamie had to complete funny dares at the bar, like getting a piggyback ride from a guy, rub a bald guys head, and pretend to walk down the aisle with a random guy, who didn't speak any English. Thanks to Beth and Eunice for planning such a fun night! I hadn't stayed out that late in a long time!

Surprise Party for Blair's 32nd Birthday

SURPRISE!!!

I spent 2 weeks planning a party for Blair. I was convinced he had noticed all the subtle clues, but he had no idea. It worked out even better than I could have expected. We squeezed about 20 people into our tiny apartment. I made tacos and everyone brought yummy treats. Our friend Kathy made Sangria, which everyone loved.

Afterward, Blair said it was the best birthday ever. Then he reminded me that I had thrown him a surprise party when he turned 30 also. I've managed to surprise him twice! I must be quite sneaky.