Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Troy Homecoming 2009


Abby and me. Abby and her roomies were sweet enough to let us stay at their apartment. Mike and I had such a great time spending time with Abby!













Mike, Uncle Woods and some other LXA alum.













Amanda, me, Braxton, and Owen.














Mike and Nathan being goofy. Or were they about to kiss?









Nathan, Mike and Kevin.
















The 3 Mommas. Melissa was excited to tell everyone that she is expecting Baby Amos #2!!!!















Jess, April, Selena, Jennifer, Melissa and Amanda. The Chi O's showing support for the Trojans!












Jess, Amanda, Susan and Kim at the band party.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Jack's first day of school




















Wiping my sugar off.





DHS Class Reunion




Me and Owen, about to go to my reunion.








Everybody knows Wolf,and Wolf knows everyone! He swore that Mikewas his classmate. As a matter of fact, Mike was one of
the first people to get a hug from him.







Amanda and her husband, Chris. Amanda has been my friend since the 2nd grade!






Me and Mike!







Seniors 99

Friday, October 16, 2009

School Supplies

So today, Jack and I hit up Wal-Mart for school supplies. We are still short a pencil box and safety scissors. I am still wondering why my 3 year old needs a pencil box, maybe for his crayons? Jack is so excited that he got glue, crayons and paint! I think Monday may just be easier than I am anticipating. Wish us luck!

Monday, October 12, 2009

The pumpkin patch

Jack had so much fun at the pumpkin patch this weekend! We went to Aplin Farms where they had a pumpkin patch, sunflower fields, corn maze and farm animals. We started out by taking a wagon ride out to the pumpkin field.







We got fresh cut sunflowers. They were beautiful!






Jack loves to smell any kind of flower! He said that the sunflowers smelled very good!







We all picked pumpkins. Jack wanted a small pumpkin to take home.





The boys with the giant spider.








FYI- We still cannot figure out a second name for Owen. Mike and I just can't agree. It seems like Jack was so easy to name. Help!


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What works for us

Now that we know the gender of the baby, I can finally shop for him. Not that I need to do a lot, but we will have to get new furniture for Baby Carty. I have spent most of my evening looking at baby bedding and I think I have found something that I like. Well, I love it, to be honest. So, hopefully this weekend, we can get it ordered.

Jack started talking about his baby brother in a positive light today. Mike and I have pretty much decided that Little Carty will be called Owen, but we don't have anything to go with it. Jack says it should be Owen "Thomas". Can you guess why?

Today, we also paid Jack's tuition for K-3. He will start right after fall break and he can hardly wait. I am so nervous that he is going to "real" school. I know that he will fit right in because there are mostly boys in his class, which is good because he doesn't really care to play with little girls very much. He is growing up so quickly, I just can't seem to imagine him going to "big boy" school.

Jack starting school has made me think about the things that I have learned in these short 3 years. Some of the lessons that I have learned were learned the hard way and some were just common sense to me.

1. Not all kids require a strict schedule! I always put Jack to bed at the same time at night,
but I usually didn't make him take a nap. I didn't feel like I should waste both our time and
energy on something like that. Maybe I have an abnormal child, but he has never really
fought sleep that much. I just never made him feel like he absolutely had to take a nap.

2. If you wake a baby up every few hours to eat, how will they learn to sleep through the night? I know that babies need so many calories per day, but Jack always ate just as much
in his 12-14 hour day as some babies do in a 24 hour period. He also slept through the
night at 2 months and I firmly believe that the reason was because I didn't wake him up to
feed him.

3. Our doctor would not allow us to change Jack's formula, even with severe colic, I now
disagree! Jack's pediatrician in Montgomery was a very old school doctor. Apparently, he
never had a baby with colic! He always told me that changing formula was a last resort.
Stupid me, I never did the research to see that there is formula specially formulated for
babies with colic.

4. When you choose your baby bedding, don't forget that your baby will very soon be a
toddler and your toddler will probably outgrow that "babyish" bedding. When I bought
Jack's furniture and bedding, I made sure that the crib converted and the bedding would
also suite a toddler. When we converted Jack's bed to a toddler bed, I was soooo glad that
the bedding was just a tad bit "older" than the baby look.

5. I don't believe in making a baby sleep on his/her back. Yes, I know, research this,
research that! When we brought Jack home from the hospital, he would sleep for a short
time on his back, but when we put him on his stomach, he slept much better and longer.
When we were babies, the research said that stomach sleeping was better and we all
survived!

6. Allowing your child to make their own decisions teaches them to think on their own.
Whether it be a meal or what to do during the day, I always give Jack a choice, or at least
make him feel like he made the decision.
7. Most importantly, I have learned to do what is best for Jack, not what a book tells me
or a doctor tells me. Every child is different and not all methods and research are right for
all children!

Jack teaches me something new everyday! I have so much more to go!

Monday, October 5, 2009

It's a boy!!!!!!!!


Today was the big day, the day that we have waited for finally came!!!! After months of being told "you're having a girl" and "we need another girl in the family", we got the news that we are in fact, having another boy! We are so excited that Jack will have a baby brother and a best friend. As Mike says, "I have my boys!" We couldn't be more thrilled!


We decided to take Jack with us this morning as well as "Grandmother". I started preparing Jack last night for what we would be doing at the doctor's office. He was not interested at all last night. This morning, he seemed to welcome the little bit of conversation that we had. He was amazed at the big screen that his little brother's picture was on, for about a minute, then as a normal 3 year old, he lost interest.


As soon as the ultrasound tech put the wand on my stomach, we knew it was a boy!


In true, Jack Carty fashion, Little Carty showed "the goods". There was no doubt and the ultrasound tech didn't even have to tell us. Most importantly, Baby Carty is very healthy. His weight is a little above average as well as his measurements. Since Jack's weight was so low, Mike and I were excited to hear that Little Carty is above average.

Mike and I are so excited!!! We know that he will be called Owen, but we can't think of another name to go with it.

Saturday, October 3, 2009




This weekend was a fun weekend for us! On Friday night, we went to the homecoming game at Dothan High with Abby and Ryan. Dothan played pretty well and Jack had a good time. I took my camera with me, but when I tried to turn it on, the battery was dead. So, no pics from Friday night.
Today, we went to the Seller's twins (Abigail and Ethan) birthday party. The twins turned 4! Jack had a lot of fun playing on the playground and popping bubbles. It was great to see Kim and to catch up with her family.