The Van Ordens
Giraffe - Jacob
Carter had a fun time at Hadley's costume party yesterday. It was very hot which is why Carter doesn't have on his puppy dog ears for most of the pictures! We all enjoyed seeing the little kids in their costumes. There was also yummy food, pumpkin and cookie decorating! Thank you Hadley for a great party!
Picking and eating pecans with Aunt Lacy!
Carter turned 18 months old last week! I can not believe how fast time flies and how big he is getting! Bailey normally gets in the picture with Carter but he was too excited to sit still so Bailey skipped this picture. Carter has just about all of his teeth now and needs his 5th haircut! He is our own little "chia pet!"
Check out Carter's new bed! We set it up over the weekend and decided to try him in it for the first time last night! He did great! After his normal routine of bath, massage, brushing teeth and reading stories we put him in the bed and he went right to sleep! He didn't even try to get off the bed! We went in to check on him and the picture above is how we found him! He's so cute! We do have a rail but I decided not to put it up because I wanted to see if he would actually stay on the bed. We put pillows on the floor just in case. Well, at 6am this morning he rolled off. He only fussed for a couple of seconds. We went in there a few minutes later only to find him asleep on the floor between the rocking chair and the ottoman! I imagine he just rolled off the bed and kept scooting around until he got comfortable enough to go back to sleep. We picked him up and put him back in the bed. He went right back to sleep! He still tosses and turns all through the night so I think tonight we will try the rail. I tried the bed with the rail on at nap time and that didn't work! All he wanted to do was get up and play so I put him back in the crib! I am sure this is going to be a "try, try again effort!"
Carter had a great time at Burt's Farm picking out the perfect pumpkin! Mimi and Pop were in town for the weekend so we all took a family trip to the pumpkin patch! It was a hot day but we enjoyed taking pictures of these HUGE pumpkins. The pumpkins that were really small Carter thought were perfect for throwing! We indulged in some delicious pumpkin muffins on the way home and had a fun family day!
Carter loves trucks these days. He likes cars too but he has the best time playing in Brandon's truck.
Future ball player!
Check out that form! Throwing with the right . . .
throwing with the left!
On Sunday Brandon had his last baseball game. It was the third game of the play-offs. After the game Carter enjoyed playing on the field. He was right at home! Carter discovered a bag of baseballs and proceeded to take them all out and practice his pitching arm or arms! As of right now, Carter throws with his right arm sometimes and with his left arm sometimes! Who knows, he may just be a MLB player one day! 
We just got back from a wonderful end of summer week at Folly Beach, SC. Brandon's family flew in from NY and PA and we all met at the beach. Folly Beach is about 12 miles from Charleston, SC. We had a really good time and enjoyed the last few days of summer. We spent 1 day touring Charleston and learning all about it's history. We rode a fun horse drawn carriage through the city being pulled by Bandit. We spent lots of time at the beach and pool and enjoyed just listening to the waves. Carter still wasn't very sure of the rushing waves. He would walk from the chairs to the tip of the water and turn around and walk back. He did this for about an hour. Every now and then he would let his feet get wet. He much preferred looking for anyone that had a ball. Carter loved playing in the sand and looking for seashells. We had a wonderful time with family and look forward to an annual trip each year. Thanks Mim and Uncle Gary for such a fun week!
Folly Beach is a popular place for the local surfers (little black dots above). Early each morning they were out surfing. On this morning, we counted 42 surfers close to our condo!
Carter is terrfied everytime I vacuum! Maybe I vacummed too much when he was an infant while sleeping and he had nightmares! Who knows! We bought him a play vacuum in hopes that would help ease his fears. He loves his play vacuum and has been "vacumming" ever since we took it out of the box, it even has similar noises as the real thing. So yesterday we got out the real vacuum to see if this toy attempt had worked! He isn't cured yet! At least he can look at the vacuum and walk by it without screaming and crying! But when I turned the vacuum on, his fears came rushing back. Carter was shaking and crying as usual over this mundane chore! I am sure it is the noise that bothers him the most. Hopefully one day he will get over his fear! Notice that his curls are gone too; at least for a week! Carter had his 4th hair cut yesterday! It's very short but hopefully that means we won't have to go back so soon!
I celebrated my 30th birthday on Sunday! While I wasn't excited about such a milestone it wasn't bad. My parents came for the weekend for Brandon and I to have an evening out on Saturday. We had so much fun. We started with a movie followed by dinner at McCormick and Schmick's which was then followed by chocolate fondue at The Melting Pot. It was all so delicious! On my actual birthday on Sunday we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner and also enjoyed some of there yummy cheesecakes! All in all, it wasn't too bad turning 30. Though, I think I will be forever 29 or maybe 25 :o)
So what do you do with a 16 month old while waiting for a delayed flight at the airport . . . give him whatever keeps him happy! Carter loves the cell phone these days. Every time he sees someone on the phone he looks for mine. In the airport, everyone is on the phone! We were in New York over the weekend for a wedding and of course we were delayed leaving Atlanta!
GIRL!
