No longer a baby, but a boy...

I'm not going to lie.  I've been avoiding this post.  It's been quite a while and I have had people demand that I update the blog.  Yes-I've been busy.  Yes-I have a million other things to do when I get home.  But that's not why.  I just plain didn't want to write about how my baby turned one year old. 
It went way too fast.  I started putting pictures together from the first year and couldn't believe it was possible....that my baby was a boy now.  I sobbed on the night of his birthday when I went in to check on him.  How can I make Carter grow in slow-motion?

Now that I have ranted and rambled, here it is...

Carter had a great birthday!  Even though he won't remember, I wanted this day to be one that we could show him was fabulous through pictures and videos.  We celebrated a few times, so I'll talk about one at a time.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  We are so blessed to have an open adoption with Carter's birth-mother.  A few days before the "actual day" Rachael, her parents, and her brother's cute little family were able to join us at our home.  It is alway great to catch up with them.  I love watching Rachael with Carter. I can tell how much she loves the little guy, yet she is kind and understanding of our place in his life.  He played with friend, Logan, opened presents, and touched the cake.  Apparently chocolate frosting is not is favorite thing on the planet.  (I quickly called the bakery the next day to switch the frosting for our family party).  It was an awesome day!

On his actual birthday, I took the day off work and we spent the day trudging though a blizzard of snow. Carter had his one year old pictures taken by my cousin, Tina, who did a FABULOUS job.  For dinner, we had macaroni and cheese, something Carter liked the week before but hated that day.  More on his food issues another time.... 

The weekend following the big day, Carter had a big party at the gym at church.  We invited friends and family members (41 people total) to celebrate with him.  Carter loved playing with his friends, cousins, and great-grandpa.  Now for the funny part-when we started singing 'Happy Birthday,' Carter's mouth dropped open and he looked around the room like something was wrong with each of us.  He was so tired from all the excitement.