Morning Chat

Every morning Karter likes to talk to mommy before he takes a nap. Try not to get hypnotized by the swing!

I'm ready for you, Grandpa and Grandma!!

IMG_4114, originally uploaded by minnesotagrays.

Karter's Grandpa Kim and Grandma Terry are coming north to visit the Minnesota Grays for the weekend! While we don't have much planned, I'm sure that Karter will keep us all entertained.

Karter is ready to see his Grandparents - and get spoiled to death!! It should be a fun weekend in Hampton...

Proud Mommy

IMG_4170, originally uploaded by minnesotagrays.

Kristoffer was so proud of Dana this week! Both on Sunday (during Sunday school) and Monday (during Bible study), Dana gave up Karter temporarily to the nursery. Believe it or not, proud momma allowed someone else to watch Karter without her in the room!

That's a big step for her...and shows just how much Karterman is growing up!

We have LOTS of new pictures of Karter online - check these out!

Just Relaxin'

IMG_4167, originally uploaded by minnesotagrays.

Karter LOVES to lay down and put his hands behind his head just like this. He does it all the time!! It's as if he already knows how to relax and be the coolest baby on the block!

I guess when you turn three months old, you get to relax a little!

Karterman in Action

I was able to catch Karter playing today. Please ignore my baby talk!

Picture of the Day

Karter loves to stand up in his exersaucer! Today he discovered that if he hits things on the saucer they will make noises...everyday is a new adventure here in the Gray household. The exersaucer is just one of many toys that have taken over our living room!!

We Now Have a YouTube Site

All of Karter's videos (like the one above and below) will be able to be viewed on our new YouTube site: CLICK HERE FOR OUR YOUTUBE SITE.

We will also have a link to it on the right hand side of our blog! Hope you enjoy!!

First Online Video of Karterman!

Our first crack at posting a video - catching Karterman in action!! He was playing on his activity mat, but unlike Rascal (who's a ham!!), Karter got a little camera shy once Dana turned on the video camera.

Kristoffer Gray = Official Election Judge

"I, Kristoffer Gray, solemnly swear that I will perform the duties of election judge according to law and the best of my ability and will diligently endeavor to prevent fraud, deceit, and abuse in conducting this election. I will perform my duties in a fair and impartial manner and not attempt to create an advantage for my party or my candidates."

This is the oath that I had to take at 6:00am on Tuesday as I was sworn in as an election judge for Minnesota's primary election. Yes, I am an official election judge! Before the polls opened at 7:00, the other judges and I had to get the polling place (Hampton city hall/fire station) ready. As the Ballot Judge, I was in charge of the ballots (initialing them as correct, counting them) and placing all of the signs outside (including raising the flag on the flagpole).

The primary was not the most meaningful for most Minnesotans. While our Senate race this year was on the ballot, the two eventual winners (Norm Coleman -R; and Al Franken - D) did not have any realistic challengers. For that reason, the election in Hampton was not well attended. In the five hours of voting that I worked, we only had 12 voters go through. Six were poll workers - and one was Dana!

Regardless, it was great training for the general election in November where we are expecting 200-300 voters in Hampton City Precinct. The ladies I worked with were fantastic! Dixie is a spunky lady in her mid-eighties who made us all cookies. Mavis, the Head Judge, was very organized and patient - and shared all the gossip about Hampton politics. Mary Lou made handmade rosaries and was the perfect fit for Registration Judge. Eileen loved to crochet while she helped people enter their ballots into the machine and handed out "I Voted" stickers.

It was great meeting and talking to these ladies - and I think they loved having a twenty-something male to talk to! It was fun to get involved in the voting process, and I can't wait until November!

Sleeping Baby

Karter has always been a good sleeper. From the first night at home he has only woken up one time a night, and would usually go right back to sleep after filling his tummy with milk. However, for almost the last month our little man has been sleeping through the night!! He will usually wake up around 5:30 or 6 when Daddy is getting ready for work. He probably just wants to tell Daddy good morning and to have a good day! Mommy will then feed him and back to bed he goes until about 9 (still sleeping now!). Isn't he just the cutest little sleeper!

New last week, Karter learned that his hands actually work! Dana was holding his toy elephant in front of him (of course singing a song that goes with the toy!) and Karter reached out and grabbed it. It took him a few tries to actually hold onto it, but once he had it, of course it had to go to his mouth for a good taste! Who doesn't explore new things by tasting them? It is fun to watch him grab for his toys that hang from his car seat. He is grabbing for everything now...his favorites have been mom's hair and necklaces!

Hiking in Minnesota

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to enjoy the Land of 10,000 Lakes while we hike at state parks. On Monday, we decided to take Karter on his first of these hikes. We went to William O'Brien State Park - right on the St. Croix River bordering Wisconsin and about 30 minutes north of St. Paul.

We also always take Rascal - and let me tell you, Rascal LOVES hiking! While you can CLICK HERE for all of our pictures...here is a quick sample of some of those pictures of our great day!

Here's Dana and Rascal

Kristoffer and Karter (who is very excited!)

A beautiful view of the St. Croix River

Happy Labor Day!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Labor Day! We had a fairly crazy weekend - cutting down the tree in the backyard, cleaning up the limbs from that mess (CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF THAT FUN), Saturday insanity (if you want to know more, just ask), church, disc golf, cookout with friends, shopping at Target/Home Depot/Greg's Meats/Ace Hardware...and that only includes Saturday and Sunday!

We had friends over for supper on Saturday night - Nick, Ali, and Henry Tokar and Mark and Katie Hokanson. It was great to see the two babies interact with eachother! We also spent alot of time on Saturday and Sunday playing with Karter - CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES OF US PLAYING WITH KARTER.

We had a very fun weekend - but we are very tired to start the new week. In case you haven't heard, the Republican National Convention is in St. Paul. That is going to make work for Kristoffer a little stranger this week. Alot of the skyways are closed, and protestors are scheduled to try and shut down some of the traffic to downtown. We have talked about going to St. Paul just to check it out (and maybe see some of our favorite "celebrities" like Sean Hannity, Shepard Smith, etc.), but...it's probably not too safe for babies since teargas was sprayed today - and they didn't even have the full convention schedule!!

We did go hiking today...and will post pictures and information about that early this week...HAPPY LABOR DAY!!