Outside Fun

Yesterday, the temperature reached 61 degrees! Not all that warm, I realize, but much better than 30s & 40s. Because it was so much warmer than it has been, when Carter asked to play with bubbles, we decided to play with them outside. Shortly after we got outside, he decided that playing with his ball was far more exciting than the bubbles.

I've got my ball

Getting ready to throw it

Kicking it around the drivewayAn action shot

Swim Lessons

Over the past four weeks, Carter has been going to swim lessons at Butler. Well, at least as close to swim lessons as you get at 18 months. It was a parent-tot class so either Nick or I had to be in the water when Carter was. The good news was that even though it was a group class, Carter was the only one enrolled on our day/time, so we got lots of individual attention. Our goal was really just to try to make sure that he stayed acclimated to the water over the winter months so that we could avoid a meltdown at the pool this summer.

Overall, Carter did really well. He tended to do better on the nights when Nick got in the water with him compared to the nights when I did. By the end of the four weeks though, he had demonstrated his kicking skills, his ability to blow bubbles and "jump" in from the side (into someone's arms, of course).

One of the regular classes was cancelled because of a heavy snow fall, and we were scheduled to make it up on a Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the instructor didn't show up for the class. Lucky for us, Nick happened to teach swim lessons during the summers at the DCC, so he took on the challenge. I took pictures.

Play Date

We were so very lucky to get to have a play date with Connor and Deanna about a week ago. We started our morning two Fridays ago at Cafe Patachou and then came over to let the boys play in our newly re-vamped (and re-stocked with toys) basement!

It was so fun for us to watch our boys play together (or semi-together, which consisted of each of them wanting what the other one had!). They are only about two months apart in age, and it is so fun for Deanna and me to get to share all of the exciting things that they are learning and doing!

While the boys played, Deanna and I were able to catch up after quite a hiatus from spending good, quality time together. It was a wonderful morning and was what both Carter and I needed to kick off our weekend!

Thanks to D and Connor for a fun--much needed--morning!

My apologies

I apologize for the dramatic pause after the previous post. It was both unintentional and unavoidable. Our hard drive crashed on Saturday after I posted our news on Friday, and my fabulous husband has been channelling his inner Ge.ek Squad for the better part of a week. He successfully restored our computer to working order, and, thanks to his use of Carbon.ite for backing up our files, we haven't lost anything. Whew!

So, things here are well...and we've been pretty busy...just cold. We have had a nice little dusting of snow the past two days (I say "nice" completely in jest). I have some pictures, and thus some posts, that can share what we've been up to, but until we get them all fully restored, here are a few of Carter from last weekend when he was trying to unlock one of our interior doors with his set of keys.

Without Further Ado...

we'd like to introduce to you Baby Willis#2!!!

I am 12 weeks this weekend, so we are anticipating this little one's arrival the last week of August. Since I had a c-section with Carter we will know the date for sure sometime this summer. Nick and I are extremely excited about this new addition (who, according to the doctor, is doing very well). We are pretty sure that Carter is blissfully unaware of the future infringement on all of the attention he has been the sole recipient of thus far in his life!

We just wanted to share our exciting news! If you would, please keep our family and this growing little one in your prayers!

No need for toys...still

Carter is as busy as ever these days. It is so hard for me to believe that he is almost 18 months old!

Just as I posted about before, Carter continues to find ways to entertain himself that have very little to do with his toys.

Lately, he has been pulling all the toys out of his cabinet in our family room upstairs and climbing in the cabinet. Sometimes, he shuts himself in there and then swings the door wide open as if to surprise us! It is really funny. I am constantly amazed by his ability to entertain himself (a trait in which I was remarkably deficient as a child)!

Happy February

and Happy 6th Anniversary to us! We started off our day with a yummy pancake breakfast that Nick cooked for us. Carter loves pancakes...he ate 4 this morning! After an early nap (a nasty cough and molars trying to come through made for a rough past couple of nights for the little man), we decided to head out for a walk. Since today was the warmest day we've had in a while, we headed to the Monon to let Carter run a little bit. Run, he did.

We also had his umbrella stroller so that if he didn't want to run/walk, we were prepared. He wasn't interested in riding in the stroller. He was, however, very interested in pushing it, and would get frustrated when he would run it into the snow, and it would get stuck. Sorry, I didn't manage to get any pictures of that.

When we got home, I started making a cake. Carter has really wanted to see what is going on when we are working on the counter lately, so we moved the step stool so that he could watch.

Watching and signing his version of "help"--meaning help me get to what you have.

That is what I want!

Mmm. I get to lick a beater!

Getting the hang of it.

Thanks. That was yummy.