5 Generations for 2 Generations

When I was born, we took this picture:

My Great Great Grandma Merrill Carter, Great Grandpa Wayne Carter, Grandpa Bruce Carter, Dad Jim Carter, and Me Allyson Carter {Drake}

When Dean was born we took this picture:

Dean's Great Great Grandma Ida Carter, Great Grandpa Bruce Carter, Grandpa Jim Carter, Mom Allyson {Carter} Drake, & Dean Drake

And this one:

Great Great Grandma Ellen Putman, Great Grandma Jackie {Putman} Carter, Grandpa Jim Carter, Mom Allyson {Carter} Drake, & Dean Drake

Happy 3rd Anniversary

"...Even at my best, I'm better with you"
{theme song for the show 'Better With You'}

I can't believe it's been three years! This third year has been a big one for us.... becoming parents, moving across country, and starting medical school. Each of these has really been a blessing to us and our marriage. Today I am more thankful, happy, and excited to be married to Alex than ever.
Can't wait to see what these next three years bring us!

For video of our wedding day go HERE

Before we were husband and wife

Love you Mr. Drake

On Moms...

"Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face"

-Eat Pray Love

With Mother's Day and Dean's first birthday a week apart, I can't stop thinking about this whole mom thing. Its crazy. I've talked with friends out here about how it might be psychological, or something, but it feels like everything I do is 'tainted' (for lack of a better nicer word) with mom-ness. I can't dance without feeling like a dorky mom. I feel like I can't dress without my outfit reading "Mom." Even if they are clothes that made me feel cool in college not that long ago. These days I'm lucky if I get make-up on, if I'm out of pajamas before 10am, if my toenail polish looks decent (as I sit here with naked nails and a bottle of polish a foot away from me on the desk, calling my name).

Then Dean talks. Or laughs at himself. Or eats solids. Or walks. Or squeals as I chase him.

Then I'm pretty okay with my mom-ness. I'd much rather play chase or wipe his snotty nose than put on make-up anyway.

{Well, okay, most of the time}

:)

If you haven't seen this, take a break to watch this video.
My favorite part:
"Allyson {ok ok, he said Mothers} Mothers, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours...Yours is the work of salvation, and therefore you will be magnified, compensated, made more than you are, better than you are, better than you've ever been"

Watch Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbYLKVgwztY

So if I trade in my cool dance moves {ok, maybe not even cool before I was a mom}, to be a better person than I've ever been {with or without mom-ness}, to get to hang out with a kid like Dean, I'll take it. Happily.

{warning: content below is mushy}
I love my mom and am so grateful for the sacrifices she has made to have me and be a loving mother. It's crazy how much more grateful and appreciative you are when you become a mother yourself. I love you mom, and can't say how much I adore, appreciate, love, and look up to you! And to all you other mothers in my life.
Happy Mother's Day!

Dean is 12 months...

My baby is 1 year old
Here's a quick flashback

{For more, see 'Dean by the Month' on the right side of the blog}

12 months
Stats:
Height: 31.5" {95%}
Weight: 24 lbs 11 oz {90%}
Head: 19.5" {off the charts}

Yeah, my big kid...

{Dean's cheesy smile when he's being a ham for the camera}

Hmmm..What to say about Dean as a 1 year old....
-experiments with walking, but knows that crawling is faster, so he usually picks that.
-although, he loves walking while holding our hands because he can do that fast and with confidence
-finally adventurous with eating and fun to feed! I had a friend who said a while back that it was cool that her and her baby could eat the same things. Now I can finally say that too!
-his favorite foods right now {if he won't eat anything else, I know he will eat}: multi-grain toast, graham crackers, grapes, chicken nuggets, cinnamon life cereal, mandarin oranges, big-people oatmeal {as opposed to the Gerber stuff}, macaroni and cheese, and pouch foods like this:

He still will not eat baby food from the jar, and probably never will. But he loves to suck these pouches like they are a straw. Whatever works Dean...

-loves waving bye and says "aiy-ya"

-Says "mama" and "day-ya"
-still curious about everything and exploring

{check out the cutest tip toes you'll ever see. He'll even get up on point if desperate enough!}

-started pointing this month! SO cute! Points to what he wants and where he wants to go if we're holding him. Haha he points out towards things, but his pointer finger usually faces upwards.
-pats us on the back when we're holding him. Yeah, we're going to assume patting instead of hitting...
-putting that new climbing skill to mischievous use...
-loves the clean up game. Not that he actually knows he's cleaning up, but he likes putting things in containers... hope that sticks around :)
-obsessed with lids. We have snack bowls with lids for travel, and I'll take a treat out, then he'll put the lid back on while he chews, I'll take one out, lid back on, and it continues
First Easter
First Birthday
It was an amazing, crazy, life changing first year. And we can't wait for many many more with this guy!

Birthday Party for Baby Dean

For Dean's birthday I decided to do a mustache party to celebrate our "Little Man" turning one. It was awesome. The food, the friends, the park, and even the weather! We were worried it would rain, but the temperature was absolutely perfect and there was no rain! We have had wind recently, and that even took a night off! I couldn't have asked for a better night all around!

Thanks to those of you who came! It was nice of you to come and fun to have you there!
For those of you who were not able to come, here is the run down:

The Set Up
Beautiful Houston Park. 3 minutes from our house.
The park could not have been prettier than it was last night
{Awesome tree right?!}

Us moms love to hang at Houston when the weather is nice. But since we are always there taking care of kids, isn't it only fair that the dads did this

While the moms do this?
The Food

Chili and Hot Dogs, Sides, Reeses Brownie Cups, Marshmellows on sticks, and Drinks

The Mustaches

The Game: Guess the famous mustaches.
Can you?

The next '"Famous 'Staches"

A few more friends

Dean's favorite parts:
Food Sweets

Don't let the look of concern fool you. He LOVED it of course.

His Balloons

And Petals
At the end of the night, the dads and kids were playing with the tree. The dads would shake the branches so petals rained over the kids, while the kids ran through them. Dean was obsessed and he looked like he was in heaven.

Notice the cute crossed feet

Happy birthday little big man!
We love love love you!