Toddler Hide N' Seek is the BEST!

Carter has been very into the "mommy hide" game recently (otherwise known as "Hide and Seek"). We haven't quite perfected it since if we are playing upstairs he goes to hide in the closet and proceeds to BEG me to come in the closet to hide too.

Now, I just can't explain to him that if we both hide (especially in the same place) there is no one to find us -- still, we play this way and he loves it... over and over again.

Yesterday morning I told Carter it was time to go while he was in his highchair coloring. Considering he could not GO somewhere to hide, he decided (in his toddler logical mind) to simply hide behind the marker he was coloring with. I realized what he was doing and the dialogue went like this,

"Oh, Carter is hiding. Where is he? . . . Is he under the couch?"

"Noooooo," says Carter clenching his whole body behind his safe place marker.

"Oh, he must be in the bathroom"

"Noooooo!"

"Is he behind the MARKER??"

"YEEESSS!" as he whips away the marker and reveals himself. Cute : )

Shutterfly Pictures

Just an FYI - there is a new shutterfly album of pictures at http://thegalbreaths.shutterfly.com/action the password is march22. Enjoy!

In Honor of our Godmother . . . .

As many of you know, Kathryn and Gary Dyksterhouse are the godparents of Carter and little Kelsey on the way. They recently moved to Mississippi and we miss them very much. I have never thought of Kathryn without being so proud and thankful she is in my life. To me, Kathryn is a sincere example of a Woman of God; she has a dependable grace, a transparent yet growing Faith, and a consistency to love despite circumstances. She has always been insipiring to me. For these and many more qualities, Phill and I are so proud to name our daughter after her. Kathryn's full maiden name is Kathryn Elaine Sturdivant. We know our daughter will love her godmother just as we do, as Kelsey Laine Galbreath.

Thanksgiving In Hilton Head

We had so much fun in Hilton Head this year celebrating with Gramie and Pop-Pop. Carter was ecstatic to be back at the beach again after being there with Mimi and Pops a couple weeks beforehand. We are very thankful that he started to actually enjoy the sand and run around on his own - a very different reaction than we got this summer.

Happy Halloween

Giddy Up! What else could Carter possibly be but a cowboy riding a horse this year. He stayed in his costume enough to 'trick or treat' down our little street then the horsey got tired (as you can see in the second picture). Carter enjoyed seeing Hailey in her doggie costume too - maybe a bit confusing but fun all the same : )

The last picture was taken with Carter's Halloween Hero - Shrek (our neighbor's blow up spectacle). We had to take Carter to visit Shrek down the street about twice a day the whole month of October. Has he ever even seen the movie Shrek? Nope.

The rest of the night was spent waiting for little monsters to come to our door. Carter loved giving out candy with Mimi - and was very generous with it too!

October At Its Best . . .

We have been busy letting Carter experience the season of Fall and Halloween. This year has been so much fun watching Carter explore what it's all about. We picked out our pumpkin with Gramie and Pop-Pop.

Carter's best friend, Hailey, was there too. As you can see, he is in a moment of bliss -- praying to God that this moment of hand holding and pumpkins never end.


Berry Patch Farms

Carter went with his playgroup buddies to Berry Patch Farms in Woodstock recently. There were goats, pigs, and chickens to watch and most importantly a REAL tractor to sit on. The farm was great but I realized that driving 45 minutes on a hot day during nap time to basically sit on a tractor (which is ALL Carter was interested in doing) could have been simplified greatly by going to Pops' tractor down the road. Who knew the kid loved tractors so much?!

The day ended with a fun hayride, which Carter loved because it was of course pulled by another tractor!

Here We Are

Ok, I finally gave in to the peer pressure of doing a blog. This is in part for those people who, for whatever reason, so desperately wanted me to do this. But also in part for me. If you know me at all, you know I love to write - something that has been missing from my life for about 5 years now. So I'm hoping that now with another child on the way, this will be in some way therapeutic for me. We'll see.