Carter's First Birthday Festivities

Carter’s actual first birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so it worked out perfectly to have his party on his special day!  We selected a zoo theme for his birthday party because one of the first outings Carter went on in his life was a trip to the Knoxville Zoo.  We go to the zoo very frequently, and he always enjoys it!  So we thought a zoo theme was the perfect fit!

We sent out invitations reading:

All the zoo animals have gathered to say

Let's have a wild party for Carter's 1st birthday!

So swing on by like a primate,

Four to six on April 13th is the date!

The Zorio Zoo

Our Address

Give the Zoo Keepers a Roar (RSVP)

 

We were thrilled that after sending out invitations almost everyone was able to make it!  The following people attending Carter's first birthday party:  Fred, Andrea, Charlie, and Olivia; Chris, Alana, and Colt; Jeff, Amanda, and Audrey; Arlene and Corbin; Marc, Kim, and Anthony; Kim and Jay; Laura and Sylvia; Pop and Lolly; Grandad and Nana; Eric, Emily, Drew, and Hayley.  It was great to have so many friends to come help us celebrate!!

 

Zoo themed dinner and dessert plates and napkins.

The food table with a zoo/jungle look!

We had Penguin Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

and Hippo Ham and Cheese Sandwiches.

We enjoyed some Cheetah Chips.

Zoo Animal Crackers, of course.

And Kangaroo Kabobs

 

Some beverages in the watering hole.

Here are the party favors for all of Carter's

friends.  The sign says, "Attention Zoo Keepers and Wild

Animals:  Thanks for swinging by!  Please take a party favor!"

Each bag has the friend's name and says, "Thanks for making

my party wild!"  Obviously there's a net covering this table

that zoo keepers use for catching large animals!  :)

Inside each party favor bag, Carter friends got

an animal mask.

They also got a little package like

this of zoo animal crackers inside

their goodie bags.

Here's a closeup of the one of

the goodie bags!

I made this shirt for Carter to go

along with the zoo theme.

Our Zorio Zoo sign in the backyard.

One of our favorite parts of visiting the zoo

is going in the petting zoo, so we figured

it would be fun to have a petting zoo

at our zoo party!  Here's our sign.

I don't think anyone saw this other than family,

but inside the house I set up this little table with

one of the birthday invitations and Carter's scrapbook of

his first year.

Carter loved checking out the sweet baby bunnies

that were part of the petting zoo!

Carter learned a new word, "goat!"

Here he is with Cinnamon the goat who

was part of the petting zoo.

Carter walked around in the petting zoo

area like a big kid.

Dawson loved the goats more than anyone

else, I think!  He was constantly petting and

feeding them and walking them around the yard.

Both of my sweet boys with Cinnamon the goat.

Carter with Pop petting Danny the goat.

Carter petting Danny some more.

Carter with his Lolly watching as

Colt and Hayley hold bunnies.

The kids got the opportunity to feed the goats

treats out of ice cream cones.  Dawson loved this!

And then they just fed them out of their hands.

Andrea, Olivia, and Colt checking out the bunnies.

Dawson taking a turn playing with the bunnies.

Me and the birthday boy!

Carter showed off his walking skills

at the party.

Some friends enjoying their food.

More friends enjoying food.

Carter in his zoo animal highchair

with the giraffe balloon and animal

print bunting I made. 

The smash cake I made for Carter.

Carter LOVED his smash cake.

He made a giant mess which was just fine.

I eventually had to take it away because he

was eating SO much of it!!  I wanted him to sleep

at bedtime and was worried with all the sugar he wouldn't!

Here's the cake I made for all of

the party guests.

A few more smash cake pictures.

Dawson spending a little more time with

Danny the goat.

Dawson told us that Carter wouldn't know

how to blow out his candle so he would

help him this year.  So here's his candle

being blown out by big brother meanwhile

Carter points to his smash cake!

We had everything ready for the party the night before, so the morning of Carter's birthday we decided what could be more perfect than a birthday zoo trip!  We got to the zoo when it opened about 9:30 and stayed about three hours.  It worked out perfectly to have lunch at the zoo, then we got home and the boys napped until party time which gave us a little time to set everything up in the backyard.

Here's Carter at the zoo in his other birthday shirt.

We had fun playing in the Wee Play Zoo when we first

got there because it was a little chilly outside, but it warmed

up nicely to about 70 later.

The zoo has a huge sandbox area that Carter

got to enjoy for the first time on his birthday.

We all had fun here!

Mommy and birthday boy Carter

at the zoo.

Daddy and Dawson riding the lion.

 

Carter opening a few birthday gifts.  He was

so excited to open them!

 

We had such a great time celebrating Carter's first birthday!!  Thanks to everyone who helped us make his day special!

Carter is ONE YEAR!!!

Our sweet Carter is ONE today!!!  I really cannot believe how quickly the past year has flown by.  It really seems like we just held him in our arms for the first time!  At one Carter's personality is starting to show more than ever before!  He loves to laugh, be silly, and make faces, and his very favorite person to do all these things with is big brother, Dawson!  Carter is always looking for his "Bu bu" (brother), and sometimes just shortens it to "bu!"  He tries to do everything Dawson does, and we're usually surprised by all the "big kid" things Carter really can do! 
Carter can be so wild and loves to "play rowdy," but he's a really big snuggler too!  He loves to snuggle up when you hold him, and he gives great hugs and open mouth kisses to the side of your face!  SO sweet!  I love when he hugs me, pats, and he says, "awwww."  Too cute!
Carter's favorite phrase this month has been "uh oh!"  He says it A LOT-any time he drops something, falls down, can't reach something, OR is ABOUT to drop something he says, "uh oh!"  It's cute to hear in his sweet voice.  He has started asking to go outside this month too.  The first time he pointed out the window, signed more, and said, "More OUT!" when we had just come back inside from playing.  Most of the time he just asks, "out? go go? out?  go go?" 
He also says, "Mama," "Dada," "Bubu," "Goggie" (this is for Doggie, he says it when he sees one or hears one), "Go go," "Bye bye," "Hello," "Hi," "No no," "Boat," "Light," "Bird," "More," "All done," "Book," and "Yay!"  I'm sure there are a few words I'm leaving off this list, but these are at least his most commonly said words and phrases. 
At 11 months we were instructed to test Carter's milk allergy by giving him dairy.  We started by giving him yogurt and then whole milk, and GUESS WHAT?!  No allergy!!  We are SO thankful that he outgrew it!
This has opened up a lot of new possibilities of things for him to eat.  However, Carter has become somewhat picky over the past couple of weeks.  I'm not sure if it's because he's been trying so many new things as we're trying to move away from the baby food I've been making and move toward regular food or if it's just because he has learned he doesn't have to eat everything.  Right now his very favorite foods are oranges, peas, bananas, bagels, and chicken casseroles or chicken pot pie.  This month he started telling me "No no" when it was time to nurse and he would want his cup of water.  I asked the doctor about it and he gave us the go ahead to start him on whole milk and said to be thankful he weaned himself rather than having to do it myself.  Carter loves drinking milk and water from a sippy, and hasn't looked back! 
Since right before he turned 11 months, Carter has been sleeping through the night.  It's amazing to get a full night's rest! I don't take it for granted at all.  He seems much happier on a full nights rest too!  Carter has unfortunately cut out his morning nap, and he only naps ONE time a day!  I can't believe he cut this nap already, but at least his afternoon nap overlaps with Dawson's nap!
Carter still loves bath time, and he doesn't mind a bit when he gets water all over his face and in his eyes.  I can't wait to get him in the pool when it warms up.  I think he will love it.  We always bathe Carter with Dawson and sometimes we all FOUR end up soaked from all the splashing these two do in the tub!  It's always loud and they're always laughing though.  Bath time is a favorite for Carter. 
Carter seems to have a pretty independent personality.  He prefers to walk on his own, not holding on to our hands-even out in the yard where the ground is uneven.  He doesn't mind at all when he falls.  He is also content to explore and check things out as long as he can see me and is being entertained by himself, Dawson, or of course me.  When we leave him whether it's with the grandparents, in the kid's area at the gym, or in church nursery, he sometimes cries but he gets over it in less than a minute and usually after I'm out of sight.  When the boys stay in the kid's area at the Rush while I work out, Dawson is always sure to give me a full report of exactly what Carter did while I was away.  Carter loves having his brother around, and he has gotten really attached to him.  Recently if Dawson goes somewhere, like somewhere with a grandparent or with John while Carter stays with me, Carter has been crying for his "Bu bu."  He will just ask for him over and over.  It's pitiful, but sweet!  I know he loves Dawson so much.  I can only imagine the fun these two are going to have together as Carter continues to learn to do more.

Nora Kate at 22 Weeks!

Everything has been going great with Nora Kate these past few weeks!  I'm 22 weeks pregnant, and it has gone by SO quickly!  I can't believe in 18 weeks we could be holding her!!  She's gotten stronger and more active, and I can constantly feel her moving around!  It seems like she's ready to keep up with her busy brothers!  Every morning when I wake up the first thing I notice is her movements, and lately they have woken me up a few times.  Of course, John and Dawson have both been able to feel her move plenty too.

I had my most recent doctor appointment last week (at 21 weeks), and Nora Kate and I are both healthy.  Last week I also had the really detailed ultrasound we get due to family history.  With Dawson and Carter I had these at UAB, but now that we're in Tennessee there is a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital in Knoxville who can do these.  The ones we had done in Alabama were about 30 minute ultrasound, but this doctor was VERY thorough and the ultrasound lasted about an hour and ten minutes?!  It was great to see our sweet Nora Kate on the screen for that long.  At first she was relatively calm, but after about 15 minutes she got pretty lively so I got to see all those movements on the screen!  Everything looked healthy on the ultrasound, and they calculated her weight at 21 weeks to be 13 ounces which was right on track.

We have started to prepare some for Nora Kate's arrival.  We have had fun buying some adorable girls clothing-John is having just as much fun with this part as I am!!  We have her bedding!!!!  I love her bedding.  It's a light pink and taupe damask pattern and very girly!  After Dawson's birthday we are going to begin working on setting up the nursery, and then I will post pictures of the bedding.  We also have her baby book, which I'm planning to begin putting ultrasound pictures in and writing in this week!  I also had fun this week making the boys matching bow ties, but I didn't leave Nora Kate out-I made her three headbands with bows to match her brothers' bow ties!

Nora Kate is obviously growing.  Here are the pictures to prove it!  :)

 

 

18 Weeks Pregnant

19 Weeks Pregnant

(Now that we know Baby Zorio #3

is a girl, I decided to start wearing PINK

for all the pictures!)

20 Weeks Pregnant

HALF WAY?!

21 Weeks Pregnant

22 Weeks Pregnant