Our BUSY Boy

Time just seems to be flying by, our little baby Carter is already 13 months!  Here are a few of the ways he keeps us entertained (and exhausted!):

 He's a climber! (though this one was with a little help from his Dad)  Carter will climb anything!  And if there isn't something available for him to use to climb he will pull it from another area of the house.  The worst is when he attempts to climb onto the stove and turn the burners on!  (Don't worry - I'm quicker than him)

 

He's interested and INTO everything and anything.  If there is a cupboard, drawer, dresser, box, shelf or closet he will unload it.  We've purposely left the knobs off of our lower kitchen cabinetry so Carter wouldn't be able to get into them but lo and behold he figured that one out yesterday!

 He chooses when and where he wants to sleep and sometimes this can happen in a matter of 30 seconds!

 He definitely lets his opinions and emotions be known - Happy or Mad!  (PS - Dylan the Mohawk was brought back specifically for you!)

And best of all this little stud muffin makes us laugh and reminds us daily how lucky we are to be his parents!

Thankful

I snapped these photo's yesterday, and I'm thankful that even though it was -25 C outside that the sun was shining brightly into our home making it cheery and warm!  When we first moved into this house and I couldn't stop complaining to my brother about all the wretchedness of it, he told me to tell him something I liked.  My response was all the sunshine coming through the old warbly glassed windows.  I'm definitely loving the house a lot more than when we first moved in but even with all the hard work Mike was done to make things pretty, new, and clean, the sunshine we get is probably still my favourite thing.  I will eventually put up some before and after pictures but were aren't quite to the "after" phase yet.  

And really what I'm most thankful for is my darling little diaper clad boy to run around and play in the sunshine with!

A whole year

 How did..  

 

 

                     THIS......                                                            turn into THIS so quickly?

This past Saturday we threw a bash to celebrate Carter boy's first birthday.  It was tons of fun and I'm grateful to all the family who made the trek up to Calgary to celebrate with us.  I apologize in advance for the picture overload but I just can't help myself!

The simple party decor.  I made the banner with felt and plan to resize it and permanently hang it in Carter's room.

 Please take note that the cupcake wrappers are CLEAR and it was my motherly love that layered all that brightness at midnight the night before the party.

 Some good times with rock band.

 Opening the gifts.

 It's hard to see in this pic but that was the Birthday card from grandma Balderson.  It had a picture of a dog and Carter LOVED it. 

 Kissing the dog card.

 Onto the next present ... still holding the dog.

 ....and still holding the dog!

 Birthday sled!

 Rides!

 He was a little nervous about all this.  He kept looking around at everyone else to see what the appropriate reaction was supposed to be.

 Assessing the situation...

 ...  digging in ...

 ... chowing down!  He was pretty hesitant to eat these.  I think he thought the colour unnatural!

 Cuteness.

And when all was said and done of course it was the box he liked the most.

Christmas Cheer!

Here's a pictorial account of what our Christmas week entailed!

Getting acquainted with THE MAN.

Chinese food with the Dahl clan.  Don't mind Carter sans
t-shirt - we forgot a bib.

Lethbridge Nativity.

Dahl Christmas Pinata!  Probably
one of my favourite traditions
from Mike's side of the family. 
Here's Carter taking his first official
swing at it.

Nativity on Christmas Eve at my grandparents.  My brother
had the camera and sadly this is the best shot of the
whole cast.  In case you can't tell Carter is playing the
role of a thirsty Shepard.  Luke (my nephew in the shriner's
hat!)  was somewhat dissapointed that the wiseman didn't
have a larger role!

Christmas morning in Taber!

Partners in crime.

My little bro.  He's single ladies!!

Christmas day in Magrath. 
Loving the horse!

Just missing Mike's dad in the photo to have all 4 generations
of Balderson men. 

Magrath basketball tournament (Mike with his brother
and twin sisters).

Christmas round 2 with all of
Mike's siblings.

With all our Canadian Christmas gloves!  I apologize for
the newlyweds in the back row.