Personality Change

It amazes me how much Carter has changed in the last few weeks and days. He talks a good bit, albeit in "Carterish". He has gotten so good at going to bed and telling us he wants to go "nightnight". School has gotten better, especially if they are outdoors when I drop him off. We jump on our bed (he jumps, we sit) and sing the "No More Monkeys...." song. He is hilarious b/c he will make a serious face and jab that pointy finger around as if he is telling us to behave.

One of my favorites is that he loves and knows his two "nanas". He will go to the kitchen and reach/ask for a "nana" and then is brilliant enough to go look at the picture of Nana and point and call her "Nana". They may be more things in the world that he calls nana, but knowing he's got these two straight is very pleasing!!

Carter's Big Day

We took a weekend trip to Thomasville, which was fast but fun. Carter got a lot of advanced birthday goodies from his Papa Jeff & Gre Gre. The big birthday #2 is coming on 9/11, but we are having his party the Saturday before, 9/8.

Since he is great in impersonating a monkey on a daily basis, we are having a Curious George/monkey themed party. I'm working hard to get those last minute plans squared away. It doesn't take much to entertain a 2 year old, but let's hope for no rain. I have a terribly unorganized house and a garage full of building supplies due to the upstairs rebuild. I don't know where I'd put everyone inside!!

I'm sure it will be a fun day, and I'll post lots of pictures!!

Slacker ...

I have been a slacker at posting lately. Last week was a blur and this week won't be much better. The weekend flew by. Ryan and Duane (neighbor) were working upstairs most of the weekend. We are adding a small playroom and new bathroom upstairs in the area that is empty attic space. It has been an adventure. Everything I would have normally stored in the attic is now in our guest room and/or garage. We are drowning in stuff. It is coming along great, but it is very time consuming since we are doing it ourselves. Luckily, Duane is quite talented and Ryan is a trusty assistant. I'll post some pictures on the status. Everything is framed. Plumbing and electrical are next. Hopefully we'll be all done by Christmas and can move onto to more projects. Next up, a very kid friendly and organized garage.

Halloween already...

There is Halloween stuff everywhere. So I'm having to go ahead and decide on a theme for this year. Daddy chose last year...so Carter was Albert the Gator. I'm leaning toward a Monkey... b/c he acts like one anyway.

Practice makes perfect...

Carter has a little plastic golf club that we let him practice around the house with. It has been so terribly hot outside we haven't let him play out there for over a week. Until recently he basically would putt inside, now he goes into full drive mode. I bought some new plastic practice golf balls so every window in the house would not need to be replaced. He hits them so hard and high off the ground, we really have to duck and dodge while he practices. It sure does wear him out and get him ready for bed though. Ryan filmed him playing last night, so if I can get very tech savvy I'll try to post the movie. Try being the key word!!

My monkey

We were a little reluctant to leave mom at school this morning, but I left him with the Director (who loves him) and they were going to do some office work (he loves that). I think he was mad with me for a minute, but I'm sure he got over it quickly. Hopefully, he'll have a better day in the big boy room... after all, they have a slide in the middle of it...how fun is that!


UPDATE: Monkey ended up having a good day. He even gave his new teachers kisses and hugs when we left. So far so good.

Terrible Almost Two's

We have another month to go, but the Terrible Two's have been going strong lately. Today was expecially rough. Carter is unsure about the teachers in his new room at school, I can tell. He wanted to go to his old room today, and he certainly didn't want me to leave (separation anxiety has kicked in big time in the last few weeks.) Needless to say, I became unsure about one of his teachers when she told me it was easier on both of us if I left him screaming. Sorry, I can't do that. So I hung out for a while myself and expressed my displeasure with that comment. Now I've come to the office to do a little work and I'll go back to spy on him a little more. I'm going to try that room out two more days then I'll have him moved to another 2 year old room. I only want him around people that have BIG HEARTS!! I've been more than pleased with his school but this one person barked up the wrong tree.

Etsy & Oka b ( no, not on drugs )

Etsy: This is the creative chicks Ebay. You will have to check out some of the stuff on here. Everything has to be home made, etc. Here's a link to Coleen's goodies she has on there, but after that check out the other stuff...

http://littlebutterbeans.etsy.com/

Oka b: This is the grown up Crocs. Oka b is a company that is from the Atlanta area. I found these shoes about a week ago and they are made from a similar but heavier material than the cute kid Crocs, PLUS they have "massaging beads" on the top of the flip (or the flop). The kind I got is the open toe with the interchangeable bow. It comes with a grosgrain ribbon bow, but you can change it however often you like. I tried them out last Saturday when Coleen and I "worked" and weren't 100% sold b/c it was 150 degrees outside and they are black. But I've worn them in the office twice and they are great. They also have a closed toe with ribbon coming out in the Fall. Those would be great for teachers...I'll have to let Gigi give them a try. The run small, so you'll feel you are getting a huge size. I had to get their Large which says 10/11 in size, but I'm a 9 to 9.5 now. Check out the great website name!

http://www.shoesthatloveyou.com/

Bitter Blogger

Okay....I introduced Coleen to the blog world...and she has successfully created her own. And with her creative prowess it is much cuter than mine. To use one of her favorite words, she's a "Punk."

Regardless, check it out b/c she will update you on some of the "work" adventures we have experienced.

http://littlebutterbeans.blogspot.com

Pictures...

Check out the Bickel Pics link on the top left... I will be updating pictures as often as possible. I have to get organized...

Well Rested.. or so

We all had a full, great night sleep for once. We all have varying degrees of severity with our smokers cough and frog like voices... we will soldier on.

Carter is transitioning into the 2 year old room at school. His birthday is a month away, but his "buddies" are both about 2 months older and they like to move them up together. Carter is their ring-master and his teachers rather not separate them. Suits me, I'd rather him learn as much as possible...although, he is already a genetically gifted little monkey.

No sleep for mommies

I have been up since 2:30 AM and I am now in the office. I will refrain from posting any ramblings today due to the fact they may never stop nor make sense...

Update from the Carter Tour...

Not to brag...but my child will make Tiger's ability look like chump change. Carter is quite the professional. Currently he is mastering his posing skills on his follow through. Quite impressive. He also has ventured into the area of teeing up the ball. He takes a little assitance from his caddy to get the tee in the ground, b/c he just doesn't have the time to handle the small stuff himself. Gigi has purchased a bag for his growing collection of clubs. He is quite the organized golfer. We have pefected two foot putts. He will start giving lessons soon to the golfers he sees on tv missing those shots. He gets quite frustrated with them, and tends to yell toddler explectives such as, "Oh NO" and "Uh OH". We are working with him to improve that temper!!

A Blog Beginning

I've decided to upgrade on the Bickel Baby log we started last year. The Google world is much better. I will be updating soon with stories, pics, and more.