Pumpkin Time

Picking the perfect pumpkin took all of 2 seconds for Carter.   He found the perfect, "Carter-sized" pumpkin on the first try.

Caleb was much pickier.  We had to look over every section of pumpkins, and it took a lot of persuasion from Daddy before he would select his pumpkin.

Holding their pumpkins

Happy boys at the pumpkin patch

Matt helped the boys carve their pumpkins.  They told Matt exactly what they wanted and helped during the process.

Carter's finished pumpkin

Caleb's finished pumpkin (with a strobe light inside)

Update on the boys:

Caleb: School is going smoother now.  Week 4 of school, Caleb finally admitted that school didn't seem so long anymore, and it was about that time that a few days he would even say that school was fun that day.  Now the only things we're running into are some minor bullying issues.  His personality is such right now that he's a "teacher's pet" and "goody-two-shoes," not necessarily bad traits but they don't always go over well with other kids in the class.  There's a kid that picks on Caleb occasionally by doing things like standing behind him in line and poking him, etc.  He's too afraid to tell the teacher because he doesn't want to be a tattletale, and he's also too afraid to stand up to the kid and tell him to stop.  We've talked about this situation and others like it at home focusing on standing up for himself and also being like Jesus in trying to be nice to the kids that might be picking on him so hopefully they'll want to stop.  These situations are SO hard on me as well...I want to protect Caleb from anything bad in the world and it makes me hurt inside so much that these minor bullying issues are going on.

Saturdays are very busy now with Caleb's soccer and baseball games.  Caleb is very competitive in both, especially soccer.  No matter how tired he is or if he falls down etc., he is up and after that ball to try to score a goal.  He's getting better at being a "team player," i.e. passing the ball to teammates instead of always trying to shoot a goal himself and celebrating when a teammate gets a goal instead of being disappointed that it wasn't him that made the goal. :o)  I'm always so proud of the fact that he never gives up and is running constantly the whole time!

Carter:  Carter is a funny, funny boy.  His moods swing from one end to the other so quickly!  He can be a sweet, lovable boy one minute, but the moment he hears the word "no" to a request, a huge tantrum inevitably follows.  So we're working on accepting a no answer appropriately.  He's definitely not a good friend to kids his own age.  He's very bossy and gets very upset if a kid his age is doing something that he doesn't think is right.  We especially have issues with his cousin, Gavin.  Gavin adores Carter, and I'm not sure why because the minute Carter gets around Gavin, he starts bossing him around and yelling at Gavin for something innocent that Gavin is doing.  Gavin is just all smiles about it all and according to my sister, Ariane, he talks about Carter all the time at home.

Carter's vocabulary never ceases to amaze me as a new word will pop out of his mouth each day that I didn't even know he knew the meaning.  He speaks in sentences so well.  His speech isn't perfectly clear, but most people can understand him really well.  Some words he still can't say, but that he uses all the time: he calls movies a "vie" and band-aid a "ban-ban."  Potty-training came much easier for him than Caleb, and he potty-trained sooner than Caleb as well.  (Carter was potty trained by 2 years and 3 months, and Caleb was closer to 2 1/2.)  We still will have the occasional wet bed at night, maybe 1 or 2 times a month, but if he needs to go really bad in the middle of the night, he usually is pretty good about waking us up and telling us he needs to go.  He's not quite tall enough to go independently, so he needs our help any time he has to go potty.

I don't know that I've ever mentioned Carter's missing tooth.  He's missing a lateral incisor up top; according to the x-ray at the dentist's office, he has the baby tooth, but it doesn't look like the parent tooth is there to push the baby tooth in.  So in about 5 years or so, we'll have to start looking into retainers or other solutions for this missing tooth.  Anyone who knows me well knows how much I care about teeth (although you wouldn't think that considering the fact that my husband is in braces still and had major teeth issues growing up), so I was pretty bummed about it all.

Carter's a sweet kid, and I've loved this one-on-one time that we've had together while Caleb is at school and before Bryson joins our family!

Pregnancy Update: Countdown is 2 1/2 weeks till my due date.  For some reason I've been feeling like he will come early this time, but that wasn't the case for the other two so I don't know why it would be different.  I'm always nervous about labor each time, but this time I'm specifically worried about getting to the hospital in time.  The first labor was 12 hours and the next labor was 3 hours.

I quit running this past week.  4 weeks out from my due date I ran 3 miles and the next two times I tried to run during the week, there was a lot of pelvic pressure and I felt it was time to quit.  I'm still playing singles tennis once a week with a friend though.  I just have to concede a good shot more often now instead of running the ball down.  My weight gain is 26 pounds so far, blood pressure normal, no swelling, the baby is quite active, and he has the hiccups all the time.  At my last ultrasound at 36 weeks, the baby weighed approximately 6 pounds, and the doctor predicts he'll be around the same size as my first two babies (7 lbs 11oz and 7 lbs. 13 oz).   I feel great--although the last month is definitely very uncomfortable and I have a lot of lower back pain--and I attribute it to my exercise throughout the pregnancy.

It's been good to spend this last month organizing (see my previous post about my Happiness Project).  I've been going through clothes and organizing every closet in the house.  I've also been making freezer meals in preparation for the baby.  After this week, I'll have 5 meals made and plan on continuing to make more up until he comes.  I also just finished my 2009 year for another blog book!  I just need to proofread and order.  I'm using Blurb to print my books because they download each post of my blog to a page in the book and format for me.  Usually I don't like the way it's formatted though, and I still go through each page reformatting, but I was very pleased with the final product of my first book.