Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I haven't blogged in a while, and truthfully?...it's because something's gotta give at this time of year. We have been doing so many really fun things since I last blogged, and I would love to get on here and document them, but I haven't. We had Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities with lots of picutres...The boys are doing and saying such precious things, but they are also 3 and 1...bottom line... 

I. have. no. extra. time. 

 I wanted to get on here and post this last post - probably for the year...maybe for a long time... Maybe the holidays are making me all sentimental, or maybe just overwhelmed...or a little of both, but I'm thinking about buying some journals and shutting down the blog. I am trying to simplify in the hustle and bustle - trying to notice things that are unneccesary... I can just jot down their stats and the cute things they say in a journal (much faster than blogging)... and {BAM} it's already there for them to have in the future... Old school, but simplified.... sounds nice (and, let's face it...you could all keep up with me from facebook/instagram/etc...!). The truth is that my blog just makes me feel a little behind all the time, and I don't like that feeling. I also never do anything with the posts... I have also thought about putting the effort I used to give to blogging into a yearly photo book and update it (like a blog) but then have it printed at the end of the year...I think that would be a better use of my "computer efforts..." 

Ok, I didn't mean to make this into "Late night thoughts from Carrie on blogging and time..." - all that to say - I'll be back later (probably next year) to let you know my decision on all of this...so here you go,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, from my family to yours!!!

Update on the Boys

I didn't blog in September, I took very few pictures, and I barely took any video...I have been setting up/decorating our home like a mad woman; working/shopping at the fall consignment sale here in town; changing our address; and figuring out our new insurance/ finding new doctors and dentists for all. It makes me tired just thinking about it...

The other day, I started feeling a little bit sad that I haven't kept up with the boys "records" like I used to. I don't want to forget, but our lives have been so crazy! So here you go, an update for the record books with a few cell phone pictures mixed in (sorry about quality...it's all I have for this post:) this is what I can remember at the time!

MILES

This little cowboy will be 17 mos old tomorrow! I can't believe how fast time flies. He keeps us going strong. He runs/climbs from the time he wakes up to the time he collapses in his crib out if exhaustion. He loves his brother so so so much! He has to be doing exactly what Carter is doing at all times - no exceptions. The other day I had Miles at home by himself, and I found him calmly playing on his own the way I remember Carter playing at his age. It made me realize that he is not as different from Carter as I thought...he is just never free to play by himself. Ahhh the life of the 2nd child! What a precious little boy he is!!!

"Hey mom! Want to take my picture?"

First real haircut!

Post haircut trip to Wendy's! His 2 food loves: ketchup and white cheese dip :)

A real cowboy! Love it!

I told you he is a climber... he loves the coffee table!

Some bullet points:

• @ 15 mos: 31.5" tall and weighs 25lbs. 7oz. 

• The rest of his teeth (molars and canines) came in over the past 3 mos...no fun, but glad it's over!

• He sleeps great! About 8pm to 7-8am. 

• Wakes up super happy!

• Starting to really try to say words...some of the common ones are haa (hot and or hi), mama, dada, nana, bubba (probably my favorite:), muh (milk), nie nie (night night), duh (dog), and more I am sure. He is talking more and more every day

• We dropped his morning nap over the past month. He now takes one long afternoon nap, and we have more time in the mornings for outings.

• LOVES Carter! He tries to touch him at all times...drives Carter a little crazy! 

• Favorite toy is Mr. Potatohead - he could play with it for a long time!

• Getting good at playing in our playhouse! He can go up the stairs and down the flat slide on his own, and he is super proud of it! 

• Loves to throw balls for Fischer

• Loves to knock daddy down while wrestling... over and over and over
• Really likes books and reading - although for only a few seconds at a time. Loves to sit down with a stack of books and turn pages and point and grunt say the words :) 

• Favorite activity...climbing. Climbs on Carter's bed and jumps...Climbs on my bed and throws all my pillows off.

• Discipline: testing boundaries / strong-willed / starting to throw mini-tantrums

"Funny" story: While trying to get ready to go on a walk = hat and tennis shoes, the boys were playing...after some quiet (never good) Carter came running in my room saying "Miles put poop on me!" Sure enough...Miles had gotten into his diaper and wiped some on Carter (luckily nowhere else)... After cleaning that up, I ran to get my socks while they were playing in the living room...when I got back, M was sitting on the kitchen table in a pile of frosted flakes he had poured out for himself! Goodness, they keep me on my toes!!

CARTER

Big policeman brother is 3 years 2 mos old now and he keeps us busy and laughing! Consistent discipline has been huge with him recently. I have been trying really hard to start having Carter memorize some Bible verses to go along with my discipline. The ones we have worked on the most are "children obey your parents" (he adds "and your family") and "be kind and compassionate to one another" (he adds "and Miles")!  When he gets a spanking (which is multiple times most days at this point) he will many times say "I forgive you, mommy" when it's over. Glad he doesn't hold it against me! :) He is a loving big brother and really enjoys M on most days. We have what are known as "Don't look at me Miles" Days as well. That phrase pretty much says it all as far as those days go... Carter is such a fun 3 year old boy. He is loving living near his grandparents! We are spoiled and loving it - living so close now.

First arcade game!

Petting a rabbit at Sandy's Stables.

"Miles, you sit in the little chair because you're a baby. I'll sit in the big chair because I'm a big boy."

Great climbing trees in our driveway! Terrible pic...sorry!

Daddy and Granddaddy took C to his first high school football game. He came back saying "Bulldogs in the house!" (Not something either adult he was with cheered while there) Ha! He is a sponge.

Here are some bullets: 

• @ 3 years: 40" tall and weighs 39lbs. 3oz

• Wakes up at exactly 6:45 am almost every day. Like. Clockwork.

• He is so smart! He has great spacial reasoning. He dropped 3 toys on the floor and looked at them and said "look daddy, a triangle!" 

• He has a great imagination too! Kevin had a camp chair and 2 moving boxes in the back yard. Carter put the boxes on either side of the chair and said "look daddy, an airplane!" He later told me it was just a "tend" plane (pretend).

• We have had to talk seriously about safety. He told me he was going to push his button and fly like Buzz Lightyear off our back porch (about 20ft high)!!! Not. Kidding. 

• Obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates!!! Got a pirate ship and plays pirates a lot...

• He loves to "dress up" right now. I got a bunch of hats at the sale for him to use...policeman and cowboy are our favorites...gonna be a pirate for Halloween...saving that costume for the end of the month...

• Loves climbing the trees in our driveway.

• Started really learning how to catch the ball and play catch with daddy.

• Can hit the ball when Daddy pitches it to him!!!!
• Daddy reads Carter a book or two before bedtime everynight, then mommy sings him some songs.
• Favorite bedtime songs are "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus (there's just something about that name...)" and "Amazing Grace" After singing "Amazing Grace to Carter the first time one night, he asked me what amazing grace was. I explained to him that it was God's amazing grace that sent Jesus to die for us to save us from our sins and live in our hearts. He replied "yes mommy, and dinosaurs live in my heart too." :) Now when I sing it, he really listens to the story. The other night I was in the middle of "I once was lost but now I'm found..." and he said "Mommy, did she lose something?" So we talked a little about being lost and then finding Jesus. I highly recommend singing the old hymns to your toddlers. They will like them, and I can't imagine a sweeter way to share the gospel with my son.

These are our boys and we love them both with all our hearts!!! Here's a picture just for smiles: 

Miles liked the bike ride more than he let on in this picture!

Happy Fall Y'all! 

We've been busy...

We have been busy lately renovating and moving into our new home. We get our kitchen sink tomorrow, and we will sleep there for the first time soon...very soon! 

Because of all the renovations we have done (more to come on that later) we have had various subcontractors working on our house. Carter calls them "working men." He calls them this to their face which is embarrassing for mommy- oh well.

He wakes up every morning and wants to put on his shorts with pockets "cause he's a working man." Needless to say, he has been loving watching them work!

I am excited about being back soon with a big house reveal post, but until then, it's back to work we go...

10 Years Later

Today was Kevin's 10 Beauregard High School reunion! We had a fun time at the Opelika Municipal "Monkey" Park. I had to explain to Carter that there wouldn't be any monkeys there.

We had a good time with old friends. It was fun to see people we hadn't seen in 10 years - especially since we were dating at the time he graduated back in 2003 - I wish I could find a picture of us then to post now. I have one, but it's in storage :) That's my excuse for everything right now! Here are some pictures from the day at the park.

Class of 2003

...and their families...

Senior Basketball Team Members

We had fun riding the Rockybrook Rocket! We rode this train as kids :) I'm pretty excited that our new home is walking distance away from this park!!!

Choo Choo! 

The last 10 years has been SO FULL of wonderful memories, here's to 10 more years!

Three Year Portraits

Aunt Bamie took Carter's three year portraits the other day in the tiny "downtown" area where my parents live. I love them! She really captured his personality at the fun age of 3! He seems like such a big boy sometimes, but he is still such a little kid :) Here are my favorites:

...and if those didn't bring a smile to your face...

One Year Portraits

Aunt Bamie took Miles's One Year portraits the other day. We have had so much going on, we were a little bit late getting them in, but I love them! I love that he was in the wobbly walking phase for these precious pictures! Here are my favorites...

Carter is 3!

I can't believe our boy is 3 years old. That's more than half way to... shhhhhhhh - kindergarten (insert tear). I can honestly say that every year he gets to be more and more and more fun! Yes, discipline / fits / etc... will always be a part of life with a toddler, but this is a super fun age! I'm trying to treasure it because I know it will be gone so fast!

Carter LOVES birthdays, so the week before his birthday, we talked about his birthday coming up. I told him we would have a birthday party, and he said "I eat cake? I have birthday candles? I sing Happ Birday to You?" Everyday he would wake up and ask if it was his birthday, we would talk about the fact that it was still a few days away, and he would keep patiently waiting. I wanted to do something big so that he would KNOW when he woke up that it was his birthday, so we did this...

...we crepe papered him in and filled his room with balloons. That morning, he woke up and I heard him saying "help, mommy, help!" He could see the balloons in the dark, but didn't know what was going on....I snuck my way into his room and turned on the light for him. He looked around, got out of bed, and said "Wow mommy! Wook at all these balloons!!! This my balloon birthday!" :) Success. He was thrilled with his birthday balloons. We probably played in there for about 45 minutes! 

Since we are living at Nana and Papa J's house right now, we had a pool party with a few friends and family. It was a beautiful day, and Carter had such a fun time playing with his family/cousins/friends! I found some Toy Story decor at Party City since our birthday party decor was in storage! 

He got a fishing pole from Grandmama and Granddaddy, and he was a pro by the end of the day!

Of course, we had cake and sang "Happy Birthday to Carter" one of his all time favorite songs :) He was beaming with joy the whole time we sang to him! We swam, ate, opened presents, and had such a fun day! 

Yes, that is his finger in the cake - just couldn't wait...

I love that Carter is 3! The growing up part is bittersweet, but I just love that he can tell us what he's thinking!!! At the end of his birthday, I was lying in bed talking to him about the day. We always sing a song at night, and he requested that we sing "Happy Birthday to Carter" again :) Then I told him that 3 years ago he was the special gift that God gave to his daddy and me, so that's why we celebrate with gifts. I told him that God made him so very special, and handsome, and funny, and kind....he looked at me and said, "Yep, Mommy, and God made me tired." 

Ha! It was a good day, and we were all tired and ready for bed that night...

For the record, here are some more funny things you've said lately that I don't want to forget...

1. We were playing army men ("Uncle Jason"), and you wanted the men to hit at each other, and you said "he has a float!" I realized that you thought all the army men were holding fun noodles. We then had a fun noodle / army man war :)

2. You gobbled up the zucchini on your plate...turns out you thought it was "Zoo Candy" 

3. You made a mess at supper. Daddy told you "We'll clean it up." You thought your friend Will was going to come clean it up. 

4. I was trying to talk about something at supper with Daddy, Nana, Papa J, and "Uncle" Matt. I stuttered and said "o-o-obligation" and you thought that was hilarious! You started poking fun at me and repeating my stuttered word! You are your father's child :) 

5. We were swimming in the pool. Daddy and I always come up to you with our hand out of the water like we are a shark and say "Duh-nuh, duh-nuh, duh-nuh" like the Jaws music....a little while after I did that one time, you started swimming around with your hand out of the water saying "donut, donut, donut." You're such a funny kid!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Carter! 

I love you, and I love that you love birthdays and parties as much as I do!