The Long Awaited Update!

Alright... alright... I have heard enough!!! I KNOW that I haven't updated the blog in forever but I have good excuses (kinda). We have been super busy and so this is going to be the mother of updates with plenty of pictures and video.

So first... about three weeks ago we went down to Mission Viejo (possibly for the last time as my parents are moving to Boston anytime now) to hang out with my family and go to the Orange County fair! Maddie LOVED it! She got a caricature done and got to see tons of animals and people. She had a blast! She also got to go to the Santa Ana Zoo where she saw even MORE animals. Needless to say, she loves animals! She also had a blast with my family as she was spoiled rotten. Enjoy the pics and videos (oh and there are a couple of pics at the end from Mac's grad)





































And round two... a week after we went down to MV, my parents came up to see us! Once again we had a blast going through storage boxes and having Maddie play with my baby stuff. We also went to feed the ducks at Mooney's Grove where we went on a boat around the pond. Maddie wasn't the biggest fan of this and got out and went down the slide with Aunt Mac and Nana. Overall, it was a great time!






























And now... as far as an update about Courtney and I... right now I am in the interview process in order to get my Training officer job. If I get the job (which it is looking VERY good that I will) I hope to start sooner than later! Courtney took her board exams for nursing today and we are crossing our fingers that this came out well! Other than that... not much going on with the Carters. Maddie is SO close to walking and still only has two teeth but seems to be teething all the time. Other than that she is loving life, learning words, and trying to walk!

Just for Danny

Ok Danny, I know my last update was the 29th but I've been kind of busy ok!!!!! Sheeesh! Anyway, more to come, I just have to sift through pics!

Cheers!
Ash

Yikes

So... yeah... I'm well aware of the amount of slacking that I have done... but I will try to make up for it by writing as much as I can!

First and foremost... the dog. So we adopted Cornelius from the SPCA and they have these little fact sheets about dogs and they made Cornelius out to be the perfect dog... and in many ways he was. He was very loving and wanted attention... but... he also had many problems (I won't say the SPCA lied... but... well... they lied). This dog was NOT potty or poopy trained and in a new house, with a baby, this is a problem. It became such a problem that, after about a week, we decided that he just wasn't a good fit for our family and we regrettably returned him to the SPCA. We wish him the best and hope he finds a forever home.


Ok, now with that sad news out of the way, lets get on to some more stuff. So my job thing hasn't worked itself out yet... but hopefully I should know by the end of this week or early next week as to whether or not the prospects are looking up! So, I'll keep you posted.

Ms. Maddie has progressed like you wouldn't believe. She has made a few tentative "steps" and can stand up by herself for ten seconds at a time now. She should be walking within the next few weeks or so. She is also learning words and ideas more and more. She can identify dogs, cats, and ducks by their names and can then mimic their sounds. It is VERY cute. She can also point to her head and teeth when asked, "Where is your head/teeth?" Also, extremely cute. She can also say "tree", "Momma", "Daddy" and a very primitive "thank you". She leans in for kisses when you say "I love you" and loves to eat! She eats everything and anything and has fun doing it!

Some other things... we have been taking her to swim classes so that she can get used to the water, I wouldn't say that it is successful quite yet but it is a work in progress. Also, my mom came to our house last week and Maddie LOVED it. She put on a show for my mom and my mom helped to teach her many of the things listed above. This weekend we are going down to the OC and will be going to the OC fair! It should be a blast. Enjoy the pics and the videos!

Similarities

Am I the only one that sees a similarity here? 

(Credit should go to my wife for pointing this out)

Video Blog

Hey All, I know the video wasn't working earlier so I changed format. There are still some bugs to work out and I'm not entirely sure why this isn't working properly but that first video is my video blog... in leu of writing. You can hear my voice fine but there is some problem with lag in the video... so I'll leave it like this for now but hopefully will be able to fix the problem later.

Cheers!

Blog Update

Hey All, I am trying to load a couple of videos that contain more info but until I can get it to work, feast your eyes on some new pics! Tschuss!