Learning to be a big brother.

Last night, Carter attended a Kid's Class at the hospital to learn things about babies and being a big brother. First he was able to look and pictures of babies and ask questions. He wanted to know why they are wrapped up? Then he watched a video about a little girl whose mom was having a baby and how she felt. Next he got to practice holding a baby "doll" and change a diaper. Lastly, they had the kids wear gloves, shoe covers, masks and hats, like doctors and nurses do, so that the kids would not be afraid of them. We then took Carter to see the nursery at the hospital and where mommy would be.

Practicing holding the baby. He is concentrating so hard. Tonight he told me that he has to hold "my baby" gently with one hand on her head and the other on her bottom. He did listen last night

Time to change the diaper. He did a good job with the help of daddy. Tonight he told me that "my baby" might cry if she has stinky in her diaper. Following that he said that she would talk sometimes and cry others. It will make him mad that she does not talk to him.Here he is in his "hospital" gear.

Well, I am 35 weeks now and Baby Girl Toole will be here before we know it. We don't have name yet, but one will come to us. We are working on the finishing touches and I am working to get things organized. I think that is my favorite part. We will keep you posted.

Fun in Indiana

We drove to Indiana the day after Christmas and made a stop in Indy at Aunt Amy's. The next morning we drove to Warsaw. Here we were greeted by my mom and she was so excited to see Carter.

Can't you see in these pictures how much fun they had. Carter really liked to tease Grandma. He is getting such a personality.
Grammie came on Saturday night to spend some time with us. It was so nice to get to spend some time with her and Carter enjoyed getting a John Deere pillow from Grammie.

Aunt Amy also enjoyed playing games with Carter and playing teacher and aunt with him. She is so good with him.Here is my cousin Allie playing with Carter and his train dominoes.Cuddle time with Auntie Karen. They played and made blanket forts. Sorry Boo and Matt, I did not get a picture of you with Carter.On New Year's Eve day we drove to Shipshewana to visit my college friend, Kelly and her family. The boys just love playing and being together. Carter really liked all of the Amish Buggies and decided that he really wanted a remote control buggy. Only if I could find one.
This picture shows Chip (4 years), Carter (3 years) and Carien (2 years).
The happy John Deere tractor boys.Here are the boys riding an old wooden indoor carousel. They loved it.
Kelly and I posed with me at 32 weeks pregnant and Kelly at 28 weeks pregnant. We are both having girls.

It only snowed on New Year's Eve, but Carter still wanted to make a snowball. Went outside for a little bit and threw snow around. He was all bundled up and had a great time, but it was too cold for him. Here he is posed on the snowmobile sled that my grandpa got me when I was little. Every year I take him outside and pose him on it. This year he thought it was alot of fun, but more snow probably would have helped.

We bought horns to blow on New Year's Eve. Carter had to have the green one because he will tell you that is his favorite color. There was no way that any of us were going to stay up so we made him wait until 8pm and then told him it was time for the horns. He had a great time.

We are now home from Indiana and getting back into the swing of things. Taking down the Christmas decorations is my next priority and then working on getting baby girl stuff and house stuff organized. For those of you that know me well, understand my need to have things are in place.

Also, thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful Christmas cards. It is always so nice to hear what everyone is doing and see the great pictures.

One last picture. Carter loves to dress up so Aunt Amy got him a Dale Jr. costume half price after halloween. He loved it.

Christmas Day Fun

Carter and Mommy made cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Carter was very into decorating and then setting out the cookies for Santa. They were all gone in the morning. He was so excited.

We went to look at Christmas lights and stopped at Krispy Kreme for a "hot" doughnut. Carter is not typically a huge sweets fan but he does like his glazed doughnut. He also loves the hat.

Christmas morning was so much fun for us and for Carter. He was so excited that Santa came to bring him presents and was so sweet with each of his gifts. We went to Nana and Gramps for a late lunch and the kids had a lot of fun opening presents there. The first picture is of Carter waiting patiently for his turn to open a present and then he has fun opening his Tonka Crane.

We had a wonderful Christmas and left the day after Christmas to head to Indiana to visit my family. I will post pictures about our visit very soon.