Christmas Pictures

Christmas Eve

"Yay, Santa brought me my first bicycle!"

"Um, excuse me Uncle Jon. I believe that bike is too small for you!"

Merry Christmas!

Kelsey's Signature Moves . . .

I think we have another dancer on our hands. How my kids inherited their musical genes, I'm not sure. Regardless, it's so fun to watch her begin to move to the beat.

Tis the Season . . .

Though Carter looks quite frightened, he did tell Santa he wanted a new bike and gave him a big hug and a cheery "Merry Christmas" before we left.

I took a little video of our Santa experience this year - mainly because I was so thrilled to NOT have a child screaming in his lap and I thought it was so funny to watch Kelsey nonchalantly playing with Santa's beard the whole time.

Two Weeks Post Surgery - we're still alive!

In case you've been wondering where we've been or what happened to us . . .

This happened two weeks ago. Phill's dreaded knee surgery.

He had an "ACI and DFO".. or outside the doctors' terminology... they took his knee cap off to regraft cartlilage in two places (cartilage they took from his last surgery and grew in Boston for 6 weeks) and then they cut his femur bone in half in order to realign his leg. He was sent home after 5 hours in surgery and a whopping 45 minutes in recovery. We have 5 rehab machines in our bedroom and we're almost done with a second bottle of pain pills. My new bed is the couch and if I am up at 4am - it is usually to massage a foot, refill an ice machine, or nurse my 10 month old. Life is crazy but the blessing is that Phill IS improving every day and the surgery was successful so far - meaning within a year, our daddy will be back on the basketball courts running! Any prayers in the meantime are always welcome.

Carter is going to have a tough time not wrestling with his daddy every night. But this kind of Daddy-time will have to suffice for now.

Taking It Seriously

It's Sporties for Shorties time again. This season - BASKETBALL. Which if any of you know Carter, this is his favorite sport. We can attribute this to his absolute passion for the movie "Air Bud" and his father's love of the game.

The practice/game/mass chaos is only 30 minutes long but let me tell you, this kid puts in %110 effort into every second. The rest of the team use portable fisher price goals. Not Carter, he goes for the real deal goal (lowered to 6 feet of course).

The poor guy is drenched in sweat afterwards. If anyone on his team earned that Capri Sun, its our boy!!

Again I am twisting your neck around to watch this. So sorry - I'll do better next time. This is a short clip of one of the MANY (Phill quotes 35) goals he made on Saturday. I think seeing Carter do so well as a 2 yr old at basketball ranks in Phill's top 3 proudest moments EVER! Phill makes Carter feel like an allstar every basket he gets - yells, high fives, and a pick up to twirl around the gym are in order each and every time! (In fact, I had to give him the "you might want to tone it down for the other parents" talk afterwards). He said he didn't care what anyone thought, he wanted Carter to feel as proud as he did because Carter deserves that. And he's probably right.

The Galbreath Look

I have been told by my mother-in-law numerous times since Carter was born that he has the "Galbreath Look" when something doesn't sit well with him. But it wasn't until this picture (three generations of the "galbreath look") that I realized just how well Carter has perfected this trait.

Kelsey's Dedication

I tried to get a good picture of the two of them. Turned out quite comical.

Carter: "Smile Kelsey!!"

Mommy: "Hug your sister" (Carter: you mean headlock her?)

Kelsey: "Yay for Mommy!"

Shoes and Clapping

Kelsey is 9 months old today! She sported her first kicks yesterday! She's growing so fast. Still not attempting to crawl but LOVES to stand so I thought some great first shoes were in order!

And Kelsey did what any girl does when she gets a new pair of shoes - she claps for joy!! Kelsey began clapping for the first time yesterday and she can't stop. Out of nowhere she begins clapping and making a "yaaaay" sound. And of course Carter calls me into the room every single time to tell me she is clapping. He's sincerely proud of his little sis.

HALLOWEEN

"Are you kidding me Mom? I have to be a caterpillar and brother gets to be a basketball player?"

"Okay I can have fun in this!"

Please note the size of this cupcake that Carter BEGGED for - only to eat about half a bite thankfully.






Our poor Kelsey was really sick on Halloween night. She ended up runinng a high fever and turns out she had the Roseola Virus. She was such a good sport.


Carter fully enjoyed Halloween this year with all the candy! Lollipops are by far his favorite as you can see.

Fall Fun

We had a "Carter Day" last week. He got full attention (well the most I could do and still tend to Kelsey's basic needs) We threw leaves in the air and played much longer than usual outside.

He also got a special trip to the mall. He loves to go to the Pet Store there, see Mickey Mouse at the Disney Store, and get a cookie for the ride home.

October Fun

Camping with a Toddler 101

Well the "real" camping trip happened. Phill ventured with Carter to the North Carolina mountains with 2 of his best buddies (John and Jason) and John's son, Jack. The plan, which was very well organized, was to stay 2 nights with the boys in the woods. But the rain happened instead. Jack and Carter look more than thrilled to be thrown under this tarp while the men set up the tent.
Still the boys made the most of it and stayed one night. I got a call at 9:30am the next day saying they were moving to a nearby cabin. Phill can answer this his own way - but if you ask me, I think the rain was a good excuse to escape to civilization with 2 toddlers. The long chats by the fire, hiking and fly fishing are quickly dismissed when there are little ones to entertain and watch over.
Kudos to Daddy though, for taking the time to have a weekend getaway with Carter and making it so much fun for him (AND for keeping him safe and warm). Carter still got to roast marshmallows and catch fish at the cabin.

Word Play

It is a somewhat hectic moment in the Galbeath household. It's lunchtime. Kelsey is hungry and tired - and letting us know it. The TV is on and I am trying to get carter to sit down for lunch so I can feed Kelsey. It's so chaotic that Carter asks for the TV to be turned off. And our little word play begins . . .
"Great idea Carter," I say turning off the TV. "Sometimes it's just nice to have some PEACE and quiet!"
"What'd you say Mommy?" says Carter (this is his 'go to' response when he is confused)
"I said it's nice to have some peace, huh?" I say.
Carter looks down at his plate of food very intently, "Mommy, there's no peas here today."
"Not peas, Carter. PEACE. You have peace when everyone is happy and quiet and calm."
Carter still looks rather perplexed at this explanation but decides to hold up his cheese and says, "Oh, then what does this PIECE of cheese have, Mommy?"
I decide to give up. Smiling, I respond, "That piece of cheese has to be eaten. Now eat up your lunch bud!"

I love interacting with a toddler as they learn new words - or not in this case. We'll try again for "peace" another day.

Kelsey's Giggles

Five ways a mommy knows she has a toddler and a baby in the house . . .

#1 Your nursing pads become frisbees and you don't even blink because your toddler is safely entertained so you can spoon feed the baby in peace.
#2 You are so deseperate to go on a walk that if the biggest obstacle you have from one of your children is that they refuse to take a bag off of their head (pretending to be a "big scarey monster" of course), then you just let it go and proceed on your stroll, ignoring the odd looks from neighbors who probably think you are quite ashamed of your child.
#3 Pictures of your baby dressed for winter are taken on a sunny day because who knows if you'll remember to snap a photo when it really is cold outside.

#4 Your toddler gives you this "you are just going to sit there, Mom?" look when you bring him to a great big playground and try to sit down to relax on a bench. I guess it wasn't a "watch me play" day, huh?
#5 Your baby's favorite toy is her spoon simply because it is the only object not taken out of her hands by her older brother.




More Pictures to Share:

Kelsey is still "anti bottle" yet she is pretty sure about the sippy cup of milk that her brother is drinking.





Happy Kelsey!

Peeling an orange with Aunt Kathryn and Mommy on the deck.

Happy Birthday to Mommy - dinner plans made by Daddy with her two best friends, Molly and Kathryn. A FUN girls night!
Playing with Cousin Sam. We are loving getting to spend more time with Sam these days since his mommy is at home with him now and we go to the same preschool!