The "Nukie Fairy" has come and gone...

As most of you know, Carter typically does not go to bed without "the trifecta" - his Nukie, blankie and "Buster" (his stuffed dog). While we are fine with him having his little blankie and Buster with him at bedtime, we decided it is time to break the habit of having a Nuk before he gets overly attached. For the past week we have been telling Carter that the "Nukie Fairy" would be coming to our house soon to gather-up all of his Nuks and bring them to the other new babies in the world, but that she would leave a gift for him in place of the Nuks. When I asked him what he thought the "Nukie Fairy" might bring him, he said "colors" (which means coloring crayons or markers). Luckily we happened to have some extra packs of coloring supplies around the house that he had received for gifts but had not yet opened. So last night was the big night -- as usual, he asked for his Nukie at bedtime, but we said that tonight the "Nukie Fairy" was coming to our house so he needed to leave them out for her to take. Luckily he had no problem with that and went to bed without it! He slept through the night great, didn't ask a thing about it this morning, and was thrilled to find his gift of new "colors" that was left for him. Mission Accomplished!! Whew!

"I'm Skiing"!!!

Here is a video clip of Carter "skiing" (he was actually just about to the bottom of the hill but was scooting himself along nicely) -- if you listen closely, you can hear him excitedly say "I'm skiing! I'm skiing Uncle John - I'm skiing!"
Very cute... :)

New Years Eve in Lutsen...

We had a wonderful last minute trip to Lutsen over New Years this year and were lucky enough to have mild weather (if you call 5 degrees mild) so we could take Carter skiing for his first time! We stayed in a quaint little condo at Lutsen Resort with a beautiful view of Lake Superior. My sister, Jesse, and her husband, John, joined us for skiing, relaxing (massages for Jess & I) and ringing in 2010. Here were some of the highlights...

First night at Lutsen Resort - 12/29
John & Jess (poor Jess was sick the whole trip!) - 12/30
Getting dressed to go skiing! Carter was definitely blessed with the Miller quads!- 12/31
Outfitted and ready to hit the slopes! - 12/31

Kyle and I with our little skiier! - 12/31
Carter's teacher and hero on the slopes, his Uncle John! - 12/31
Loving it! - 12/31

Couldn't stop smiling! - 12/31

He's a natural! - 12/31
The boys with their skis - 12/31
Jess and John were nice enough to bring us this delicious New Years Eve dinner of shrimp scampi, filet, twice baked potatoes, bread -- and some cocktails of course :) - 12/31
Jess & John's dog, Boomer, didn't quite make it until midnight - neither did Jess & Carter :)

Basement - (nearly) DONE!!

We are beyond thrilled that the basement project is 99% done!! And thanks to many contractors, Kyle and especially my father-in-law, we were able to get it done just in time to host two Christmas celebrations! We are so grateful that my father-in-law, Dave, was willing to use so much of his vacation time from work to help us out -- he painted, scrubbed, cleaned, tiled the entire bathroom (shower & floor), laid the slate bar flooring and installed the toilet. Things were very rushed towards the end, but carpet was laid on the 23rd and we had our first gathering on the 25th -- whew! The last few things to do are paint touch-ups, installing the bathroom sink/accessories and bar sink, laying the rubber flooring in the workout room, and decorating. It has been wonderful for Carter to have his own little playroom downstairs (though we continue to find his toys strewn throughout the house) and for us to have a wonderful space to entertain! We look forward to having many fun gatherings in the coming years! Here are a few snapshots of the nearly-finished basement. Enjoy...

Bar looking from family room - 12/23
Beautiful slate flooring in the bar -12/23
So THRILLED to have carpet and some furniture down here!! - 12/24
Living Room - 12/24
TV Niche - 12/24
Pool Table and Foosball area from living room - 12/24

Dave's handywork on the tile floor/shower & toilet! Now all we need is a vanity top/sink & accessories and the bathroom is done! - 12/24
Carter's "mousehole" underneath the stairs where he keeps his big stuffed dog and sleeping bag :) - 12/24
Carter's playroom - 12/24

End of 2009 Recap...

2009 was a wonderful year for us and the last couple of months were especially exciting (and busy) - from a family wedding to Carter's 2nd birthday to (finally) finishing the basement to all of the holiday celebrations, we were blessed in so many ways this year! I've posted some pictures to highlight the fun we had towards the end of the year, beginning around Halloween. Enjoy!!

Happy Halloween -- yeehaw cowboys!!

Enjoying an unseasonably warm November afternoon at my grandparents farm in New Richmond - 11/08
Carter helping his Great Grandma Maloney and Grandma Mary pick apples at the farm - 11/08
Carter's first naptime in his big boy bed: he unpacked all of his pants from his dresser and threw them into the hallway -- not off to the best start :) - 11/16

Some of the Opitz women at Jillian and Erik's rehearsal dinner - 11/27

Here comes the ring bearer -- what a stud with his hand in his pocket! - 11/28
The Casey family with the soon-to-be Mr. & Mrs. Haugen - 11/28
My beautiful sister-in-law and I - 11/28
Carter's 2nd birthday! We had dinner at El Toro that night and then opened gifts - he loved his new train set - 12/03
The cake I made for Carter's 2nd bday party - 12/05
Picking out the perfect Christmas tree - 12/06
Carter's first set of stitches after smacking his chin on the coffee table while jumping around with me in the living room - he handled it like a pro!! - 12/20

Enjoying the first several inches of snow from this year's Christmas snowstorm! - 12/24
Such a good helper! - 12/24
Kyle and Carter had such fun jumping in the snow! - 12/24
My little snowbunny ;) - 12/24
The kids were in awe of Santa - especially Carter (check out the look on his face)! - 12/24
All the kids with Santa - Isabelle, Owen, Gavin & Carter - 12/24
Our perfect Christmas Tree on Christmas Day morning - no one could believe it was real! - 12/25
Nothing like waking-up to A LOT of fresh snow on Christmas morning - our backyard looking especially magical and peaceful! - 12/25
Christmas morning pancakes - yum! - 12/25
Sporting nothing but a diaper and his new Santa "skidder" socks - oh, and his stocking full of candy of course - 12/25
Kyle, Carter and I spent another fun morning in the snow on Christmas Day. While Carter was more interested in shoveling, Kyle and I reverted to our youth and built this snowman in our front yard - we felt like kids again! :) - 12/25
Our insanely delicious Christmas Day meal was this TurDucEn (Turkey, Duck and Chicken with 3 kinds of dressing/stuffing) - so delicious! Thanks to my parents for bringing it and Brine's for making it! - 12/25
Carter and his cousin Kieran sporting their new PJs from Auntie Maggie - and striking a very odd pose! And can you believe the height difference between these boys, especially considering they are only 5 weeks apart! - 12/25

New Years Resolution...

My New Year's resolution for 2010 is to keep up with the blog!!! I know my last few posts have declared that we are back in full swing and then we disappear for several months, but I think I have my system all worked out:

With Carter in daycare 2 days a week, I will devote some time one of those mornings to updating the blog for the week -- so you can expect new blog updates every Tuesday or Wednesday (and if something really exciting happens or I find some spare time, there might just be some bonus days added in -- lucky you!!) :)

Wishing you all a wonderful start to 2010!!!

WE'RE BACK!!

I know, I know -- we've done this before: said we were going to catch-up on the blog and then we disappear for another 3 months.

"So what gives" you might ask? Well, I was lucky enough to have Carter home with me all summer while juggling a new influx of real estate business (which has been fabulous!), but that left me with very little time to keep up with this blog.

We recently found a wonderful new daycare for Carter, where he will spend 2 full days/week playing and learning with his new friends. With some of my newfound "freedom", I hope to update the blog at least once/week! Woohoo!!

Stay tuned for some good updates... :)