Remembering Nana V.

My dear Carter Lee,

Our little family is so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that surround and support us.  With all my heart, I wish that one of those people were your daddy's mom, your nana.  Three years ago, grandma Melody went to live with Jesus in heaven.  She was sick for a while, and God wanted to make her well again by calling her home.  We miss her everyday, especially your dad.

My heart breaks that you didn't have the chance to meet her.  You'd have really loved her, and she would have adored (and spoiled) you.  Here are a few things that we want you to know about her:

1.  She was a wonderful mom.  Your dad has told me numerous times that your grandma was his best friend.
2. She was hilarious!  Her jokes weren't always appropriate, and she always said exactly what she thought, but if you were around her, you were most definitely laughing.  Your grandma's laugh was the LOUDEST laugh I have ever heard.  Once, when your dad was a teenager, he heard her laughing clear across Meijer.
3. She loved every single holiday.  The house was always decked out with holiday decorations.  For Halloween, she wore this hideous old man mask and would jump out and scare anyone she could.  For weeks I would be nervous walking around their house for fear of her and her mask.
4. She was the best cook!  I still make a lot of her recipes.
5. She was kind and caring.  At her viewing and funeral, so many people came to show and tell us how much Melody meant to them.
6. She would have loved you so much!!!

One day you'll get to meet her...and hopefully she doesn't have her old man mask on:)

Chocolate Day!

Chocolate Day at Shipshewana is one of my favorite days of the year!  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you are missing out.  It is like a scavenger hunting for chocolate while you shop.  Best of both worlds!

Carter experienced the fun this year with Pam, Allison, Eric, and me.  It was an amazing fall day.  I was nervous about how Carter would handle being in a stroller for a big portion of the day.  Now that he is mobile, he prefers to be on the ground.  He did GREAT!  All the sights, sounds, and smells held his attention all day.  I'm sure when he grows up he will want nothing to do with shopping with me, but for now, I love having him in tow!

On the Go....

Well, since I last wrote Mr. Carter has mastered crawling.  It is so fun to walk into another room and hear his hands pounding the floor as he crawls to wherever I am.  When I say "his hands pounding" I am not exaggerating-he slams his hands down with each crawling step he takes.  It makes it really hard for him to sneak anywhere!

Wait, I take that back.  The one place that Carter does sneak to is Hendrix's food bowl  If it is anywhere in sight, that is exactly where he is heading.  The other day, I plopped him into middle of the kitchen floor, left for less than a minute to grab his diaper bag in his bedroom, and came back to find him in the hallway chewing on a piece of the dog's kibble. Yuck!  I guess I'll have to find a new place for Hendrix to eat so that Carter doesn't.

Besides dog food, he is eating everything in sight and no longer gags at different textures.  Travis and I have learned the value of cereal puffs and how important they are to take EVERYWHERE.  No matter when he last ate, what time it is, or how many teeth are popping through Carter is happy when he has his cereal puffs.

Speaking of teeth, he now has three and is working on the fourth.  Every once in a while you can catch a toothy grin. Carter got his first toothbrush the other day.  He likes the taste of the bubble gum toothpaste, so he doesn't mind having them brushed as long as he gets to chew on the toothbrush for awhile afterwards.

As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm pretty sure he is saying "da-da."  Okay, let's be honest.  He says it all the time.  At first I told Travis that it didn't count because he was just making the noise.  We agreed that we wouldn't accept it as his first word until he actually knew what it meant. So now that he says it when Travis walks in the room, I guess it counts. Bummer...

Oh Technology...

Well, our computer is down for the count (I'm typing this on a TINY borrowed netbook) and we are very impatiently waiting for the computer guy to call us.  Be assured that we are collecting lots of great photos and videos to share soon.  Here's a look forward to what will be covered:
Crawling
Dog food
Da-da
Teeth
and much, much more.  It has been an exciting few weeks in the Vonderau household!