Carter at 5 months old!

Totally stole this photo off of my Sister's page because it was just too cute! He is such a happy baby! Enjoy.

Babysitting Carter

So Sherry and Matt decided that they needed a father's day date night and had chosen a late afternoon movie and I got to babysit! He is such an easy baby even though he'd been sick the whole week prior and still had a bit of a cough he was happy and smiley. Sadly, I came down with his cold within the next couple of days and almost lost my voice from coughing and hacking so much! It all seemed to land in my chest...I'd swear to it that I could almost purr...gave new meaning to "sexy phlegm" (like Phoebe on Friends always said)! I felt lethargic and crappy for the whole week...but luckily I was able to hold it together for the last week of summer school by taking LONG naps every afternoon! O-well I had a blast hanging out with him and I feel better finally, although I still have a lingering intermittent cough due to the leftover goo in my lungs that hopefully will vacate my chest soon! Fingers crossed! :)

Doggie Tricks!

So ever since I got my treadmill I'd always wanted to train Baylie and Ginger to run on it like I'd seen on an episode of the Dog Whisperer. They had trained a fire house dog to run on one because they couldn't leave the station to take him on normal walks. I just figured on days where it is too hot, too rainy, too cold or when I just don't have the time to exercise them it'd be a perfect substitute! I started pretty them pretty slow where the belt was at a slow crawl so they'd begin to understand that they needed to move their legs. Baylie caught on pretty fast and I was able to bump up the speed rather quickly....Ginger however was a different story, she sprawled her legs out trying to stop the belt from moving and I thought she'd never catch on!

Babysitting the Friesen's

So Matt and Leah had a Fed-Ex work dinner to go to and Leah was worried that she wouldn't be able to go because she couldn't get ahold of her mother and didn't have another sitter lined up. I didn't like hearing that she would have to stay at home with the kids while Matt got to go hang out with other work couples so I volunteered to watch her 3 kids. At first I think Leah thought I was kidding around but I really didn't mind and because we always go to the dog park together with the kids they are already pretty good about listening and respecting what I ask them to do or not do...so I really wasn't worried about 3 hour evening with them. The hardest decision was whether I went to their house or the kids came to mine so Leah asked the kids and it became unanimous...all at the same time the kids screamed Melissa's House again and again!!!! So that was that! Leah packed up some string cheese and some goldfish crackers for the kids and then over they came. We of-course began our evening by playing ball in the back yard with my girls. Andrew and Isabelle even played in the dogie pool and leave it to Isabelle to SIT in the dog's water dish! Madison didn't care to play very long outside...so after a while she decided to go in and watch a movie made special by me pulling out my big black beanbag for her to veg. in. Once it started getting dark outside and I got the kids dried off we all came inside to play. I had bought some "Magnetixs" a couple of years ago when they went on clearance at Target and this was the perfect time to make their debut! Andrew and Isabelle played with them for quite a while and even Madison stopped watching the movie to play for a bit. Somewhere around 9 everyone was tired (including the dogs) so we started a new movie and took up residency on the couches for a snuggle fest. Poor Isabelle...she was so offended that Baylie and Ginger would not let her lay on them (like their dog Dakota does)...every time she'd crawl over to them and try to put her head on their bellies, they'd jump up and move to another sleeping spot! It was funny and sad all in one! I tried to explain to Isabelle that my dogs are used to playing with kids but they aren't used to being laid on like pillows like her puppy is...sadly she did not accept my explanation! :)

Nephew Update!!!

So when my sister Sherry posted this updated photo of my Nephew Carter I stopped dead in my tracks! Of all the photos I've seen this one catches her likeness more than any other--it's a spitting image of her as a baby (except the blue clothes and thicker eyebrows)! Normally in pictures especially those when he was newborn I thought Matt's features were the more dominant but then he makes some faces that are totally Sherry! Either way, he has changed so much since January...it'll be exciting to see how he continues to grow and change! I also stole some of the close up face photos that my sister recently posted on her blog because they were super cute...and WOW...I'd totally KILL for his eyelashes!!! I swear, it always seems that boys get the long lushes lashes and us girls pile on the mascara to imitate such lengthy lashes!