Family at Chelsea and Jared's bowling alley

Hello Everyone,

First of all I want to welcome Lydia into mortality. I can't wait to see her. Carter can't wait either. Get well Jennifer. After watching Afton go through labor only confirmed, once again, my gratitude for being a male and not having to go through labor. I'm much rather be on the sideline trying to make myself useful, or in Rob's case getting chewed on, than
have to go through the actual labor. Thanks for the pics Jen and Rob. Keep them coming.
The highlight of the month for Afton and I was going to Utah over Labor Day weekend. We had a fun time seeing
everyone and getting caught up. Except for Jared, I think we saw too
much of him. (Those on the Dad's boat know what I'm referring to). It
had been a while since we've made it to Utah during the summer and we
finally got to see Dad's big toy, Lazy Daze. Carter had a lot of fun
playing with his cousins, Tyler and Brady. It was fun watching him
interact with other kids his same age. It was a fun trip even though
it was a bit physically draining. I got something while I was out
there. Mom thinks it was allergies, which runs in the family. I would
hate to admit that's the root cause. Afton and Carter caught a same
thing while we were there but to a lesser degree. But now we're back
home, healthy, and into our routine again. We have learned to love the
routine and are working on refining it. It seems pretty busy but we
have fun with it. A normal weekday with no special event scheduled is
something like this (and yes, Carter is sleeping through the night,
thankfully):

-Wake up
- Afton gets Carter ready for the day
-Go on quick family walk to the park (Clayton does pull-ups, Carter stares down by-passers, Clayton and Afton catch up)
-Get ready for work (Clayton drops Carter off at day care)
-Work
-Afton gets Carter from daycare
-Go on walk again (optional)
-Dinner
-Carter baths and eats
-Carter goes to bed
-Watch Oreilly Factor
-Clayton works on Stratplace
-Sleep


On another note, Afton and I got new shutters installed on all the
windows on the front side of the house and new hardware for the
kitchen. They both look great and help the house look much more
updated.
We're happy and moving along here in San Jose. I hope everyone is doing well. We look forward to hearing from everyone.

-Clayton

Well - we aren't the best at blogging it seems! It's been a little while!!

We've been pretty busy in the daily grind of things. We're both working full time, Clayton is still working with the start up (an additional 20 hrs a week). I take care of Carter while he does his "2nd job." And... we decided to rent our condo. We had a short term renter and just moved in a longer term set of renters last Sat. I never REALLY thought we'd ever be landlords... and certainly never thought we would be landlords in the Bay Area but what can you do? It's funny how things work out sometimes. But needless to say it's been pretty busy around here and we're getting into the routine of things, albeit a very busy routine. We were talking the other night and we've decided we wouldn't know what it would be like to just have 1 job, or what it would be like to not have a huge list of things to do after work each night! I guess things will just be a little nutty for a while.

The "moving in" and organizing at our house is moving slowly but surely. We are hoping to have our living room put together in the next couple of weeks. The boxes in the garage are slowly dissipating to where you can actually see garage floor! We aren't yet at the point where we can pull a car into the garage, but we'll get there someday. :)

Our baby is healthy and growing (like a weed!) and we're both healthy and happy so things are good. We try and squeeze in an occasional date night or fun walk to the park when we can. Last night I made fresh lemonade from the lemons off the tree in the backyard, picked a TON of grapes and cut up some of our apples. There's a sort of rustic-ness about growing your own food and I think we've decided it's the simple joys that we're most grateful for - seeing our baby smile when he 1st wakes up in the morning, watching our lilies grow, fresh roses in the bedroom, a glass of homemade lemonade. There are so many little miracles all around us - we're having fun enjoying them!

This last month is full of new updates for the Clayton, Afton, and Carter family. We moved into our new home in the neighboring city of San Jose. The house is located about 8 blocks from eBay
headquarters where I work. My commute is literally 5-8 minutes! I
love it. I like to avoid Bay Area traffic whenever and however I can.

Afton and I have been busy making the home our own by painting and
moving in all the stuff that we have been able to accumulate over the past 4-5 years. We are just about settled in now even though there are hundreds of things we would eventually like to do to this place. We are getting a large amount of boysenberries and I took Mom up on her recommendation to make boysenberry freezer jam. It's pretty good --especially on ice cream. Our cat, Spartacus, has already gotten in a cat fight with a neighboring cat in our back yard. I hate to inform everyone that he lost the battle and got a nice scratch (or hole) on his back. We had to take him to the vet and they did an operation on him. He has now been wearing a coned collar and consistently runs into doors, walls, couches, and everything else in his way. It's a little
sad but it is also provides many hours of entertainment.

On a professional note, Afton just went back to work yesterday and we've found a good day care solution with a Peruvian
family. They only speak Spanish in their house, which we like. We
think it will expose Carter to some different cultures and customs.

I've been busy working with eBay. We've been launching some new
interesting features to eBay's website (right on the homepage) and I've been one of the chief architects on the solutions, which has been giving me some good exposure. If you're interested in the details give me a call. As for my spare time, I'm still doing some side work for a Bay Area start-up. It's a new website (content aggregator) for business execs. We're planning on going live with our Beta site in about a month.

Afton and I are also continuing to adapt as new parents. We find ourselves talking about new subjects such as: 'How many poops did Carter have today?' and 'What color and texture was it?' I'm also starting to believe in Karma because Carter has been going on a throw up rampage and I've favorite his target. If all the
stories that Mom and Dad have told of me throwing up are true then we definitely know where Carter got this habit from.

New pics posted in the gallery of our boy - check it out!

A few shout outs:

Congrats to Jared for his graduation!
Happy Birthday to Rick!
We're looking forward to seeing Dad & Kelli this weekend
Go Celtics (bring back the legacy)

Love,
Clayton, Afton, and Carter

So... one of our new nicknames for Baby Carter is the "Keebler Elf." Maybe it has something to do with his ears sticking slightly out and his bald head, but we like to joke that he looks like one of the little tree folk that make fudge striped cookies and crackers all day. :)

The other newly-acquired nickname is the "Cottage Cheese Factory" but that's a little less 'cute' or perhaps the less glamorous side of Carter and of parenthood. (I know you're thinking... was there EVER a 'glamorous' side??)

Right now we're busier than ever. Clayton is still working full time with eBay/Accenture - which is really more than full time because of the crazy weekday AND weekend hours. He's also working with a startup part time - averaging around 10-20 hrs a week. I'm home with Carter for another 6 weeks or so on maternity leave and trying to do my part to take care of Baby Carter while running the house and keeping it clean for showings and open houses. I'm also working hard at researching and interviewing nannies and day care options. I've had 4 interviews already and have another 5 scheduled this week. It's such a hard decision to even contemplate leaving Baby Carter at all (well... maybe not AS hard when he's screaming at 3am) but also to try to decide which care option will be the best for him and for us. So many big things happening and so much change all at once.

NOTE TO SELF: Having a baby, having a husband working 2 jobs, trying to workout your work and child care situation, buying a house, trying to sell a condo, and moving all at once is NOT... I repeat NOT for the faint of heart!!

I keep saying that I feel like the mole who's just coming out of the hole and beginning to see the light of day again! Baby Carter is 4 weeks old today and I'm just starting to get out and about and feel like I'm finally figuring some of this mothering "stuff" out. Nursing is coming easier, sleeping through the night is still hit and miss but does happen from time to time, and I'm figuring out little tricks every day to help the baby sleep better and more on a schedule. I'm also getting used to the idea that I'm no longer an individual, but part of a pair and I love my little man more and more each day!

Of course, I use the word "little" very lightly. He's 4 weeks old today but has already outgrown all of his newborn sized clothes and is in size "3 months." He weighs over 11 pounds and still eats like a horse. He is so expressive and cracks me up all of the time. One of my favorites is the grumpy face - which I call the "Winston Churchill."

A la Clayton's blog entry, here are some quick facts:

Weight : over 11 pounds
Age : 4 weeks today
Clothing size he's currently wearing : 3 months
Percentiles (as of pediatrician appt): 100% for height, 71% for weight, 55% for head
Nicknames : Prince Cartier, Great White Shark, Haus, Mommy's little burrito (when he's swaddled - be sure to roll the R's when pronouncing)
Clayton's plans for his son : Basketball Power Forward