Buckeyes and Birthdays!

Has anyone else noticed that I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing? I always promise myself that I'll get better at keeping it updated but somehow that never happens. Go figure.

Anyhoo, the Carter Posse had a busy September and October! Our weekends were filled with birthday parties and of course, Ohio State Buckeye and Colts football games! GOOOO BUCKEYES! (And of course, GOOOO COLTS!)

Does anyone else feel like 80% of the population was born in October?! I swear we know more people (ourselves included) that have October birthdays! We celebrated Pressley's 3rd birthday with a smaller-than-usual party @ Nina's house and then surprised her at home with her very first "Gourmet" kitchen! She loves it!

We also celebrated Travis' 30th birthday in October! I (Lacey) planned a surprise birthday dinner for him in downtown Indianapolis and all of his closest friends came! He was so surprised! It was a great night! He claims that turning 30 is "no big deal" so it was just another birthday for him:)

Back in September, Travis and I traveled to Illinois to stay with our good friends Matt and Shannon McCollom and to go to the Ohio State vs. Illinois game! We had a great time with Matt and Shannon and the Buckeyes were victorious!

Some recent pictures of our "adventures"...

Pressley getting ready to head into her cheerleading class @ Indiana Elite. This little lady loves Cheerleaders. Ohio State Buckeye cheerleader in the making perhaps?

Me and Shannon in Champaign for the OSU/Illinois game!

Travis and I need this RV! GO BUCKEYES!

The Carter's:)

Travis' Surprise 30th Birthday Party!

Nick, Jeff, Travis, Andy and Josh...roommates @ Ball State

Pressley baking some cookies in her new fancy kitchen!

Pressley and her two grandmas on her birthday! Gigi (Marla) and Nina (Lori)

Making a cupcake wish

Mommy and her big 3 year old:( I wish she would stop growing up!

Halloween! Pressley and her friend Carter (otherwise known as the cutest Harry Potter I've ever seen)

"Where's the candy?!"

The cutest girl I know...

She's getting so big...and a little too sassy for her own good!

Pressley and her best friend, Aiden Coffey. Travis and I met Aiden's mommy and daddy

(Rac and Whitney) in our birthing class when I was pregnat for sis. We've been great friends ever since!

Our first game of the year and Pressley's first Colts game ever! She loved it...for 20 minutes:)

She loved watching the players run out onto the field:) She bleeds blue and white like her mom:)

GO COLTS!

Our summer in pictures!

Pressley @ gymnastics

Tom Petty Concert! We had so much fun! We also saw Brad Paisley and Jack Johnson in concert this summer! We love concerts!

Me and my longtime friend Shannon in Chicago for our friend Tony's 30th birthday celebration

Pressley and her friend Carter (and my college roomies little boy). They go to school together:)

Gigi and Papaw came to visit us:)

Our friends Andy and KaCie hosted a corn hole tournament at their house. Travis made it to the final two teams and lost:( He was bummed.

Eat your heart out Bill Dance!

4th of July with my friend Valerie's kiddos. As you can tell, it was hot!

Lacey's 10 Year High School Reunion!

Me and my friend Tammy @ the reunion. She lives in Georgia and I never get to see her:(

Pressley @ gymnastics class

My friend Carly giving Pressley her first "big girl" haircut:)

Emerson and Pressley @ the Splash House in Marion

Cousins Slumber Party. My niece Anna and Pressley.

A Big Step!

WE DID IT!

We finally closed on our lot last Friday, August 13th. We are officially proud land owners!

For those of you who don't know, Travis and I sold our house last summer and moved into a two bedroom apartment. Why you ask? Two reasons. First and foremost, to pay off our debt and second to build our dream house after that debt is paid off.

Even though the entire process is a work in progress, last Friday was by far the biggest step we've taken so far by purchasing our lot. Up until now we've been saying "when we buy our lot we'll do this and that"...now that we actually own the lot, it's much easier to put our dreams of building this house in focus and to keep on forging ahead with our master plan. Construction is set to begin next spring (March/April) and we hope to be finished by this time next year.

After it's all said and done, we will have lived in our tiny apartment for two years. In the beginning we were pretty negative about the entire situation but the past year has flown by and Pressley has adjusted to "apartment living" like nothing ever changed. As long as she is happy, we are happy.

We have been busy making fun (yet stressful) decisions! Appliances, flooring, paint colors...just a few of the selections we have had to make:) Travis is "over it" and I'm having fun!

We'll keep everyone posted on our progess as things move along!

XOXO,

Travis and Lacey:)

It's been a while!

Yes, we're still alive!

I know it's been quite a long time since I've created an entry, but that's because we've had so much going on (and I'm a little unmotivated, I'll admit it!).

For those of you who don't know, in August Travis and I sold our home in Fishers and moved into an apartment in Noblesville because we are preparing to build a BIGGER and BETTER house in Pendleton! It's been an interesting transition to say the least! Going from your own home to a small apartment (with a 2 year old) has definitely been trying at times, but we continue to remind each other that this is a temporary home and all that matters is that we're together!

Pressley is changing and growing so fast! We celebrated her 2nd birthday at the end of October and also transitioned her into an actual pre-school/daycare. She loves it! Within only two months Travis and I have noticed a positive change in her behavior and learning skills. She is counting wonderfully and loves to sing all of the songs she learns at school, however, right now her favorite song to sing is "Happy Birthday" and I have no idea why. People continue to ask us when we're going to have another baby. We will definitely be having more, but not for at least four more years! We want Pressley to be in kindergarten before we add another babe to the Carter clan:)And we also want to get this whole building-of-the-house thing out of the way before adding more to our plate! We have so much going on right now!

We had a great Christmas! We were able to spend time with all of our family this year! It is sometimes difficult to see everyone since Travis' family lives so far north. We opened gifts on Christmas day at home and then traveled to Hartford City to eat Christmas dinner with my mom and my sister and her family and then opened more gifts! After that, we traveled to Elkhart to spend some time with Travis' side of the family! We had a busy few days and now we are exhausted:)

In other news, Travis' company was sold this fall and will be moving their operations down to Canton, Georgia within the next year. He has a job if he wants it, however, we've decided that a move to Georgia isn't what we want to do. He has started looking for a new job and will hopefully find something new soon! Keep your fingers crossed!

Enjoy the pictures from the past six months of our busy lives!

Wishing you all lots of love and a wonderful 2010!

XOXO,

I surprised Travis with tickets to a Buckeye game for his birthday! This was my very first OSU game and it was fun but COLD! GO BUCKS!

We took Pressley downtown to see the lighting of the tree on the circle! Again, very COLD!

Travis' Grandma Beryl came all the way from Florida to visit!

Santa brought the only thing she asked for, for Christmas: a super cute baby doll stroller! Thanks you Santa!

Pressley and gymnastics coach, Mr. Troy

Me and my mom at Thanksgiving

She loves her mommy's shoes!

My birthday celebration with two of my best friends!

We took Pressley to her first concert this past summer: Brad Paisley! And she loved it!

Our family photos taken in November