Pool Time!

Well, we survived our first pool visit of the season!

 And I could not have done it with out Carter's puddle jumper and Ella's new spring float! 

 I wasn't sure how Ella would like this float, or if it would even work well for a baby her size, but as you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed it! She just lounged back, relaxed, and was so happy to watch the others and play with her bumble bee! 

 And Carter is loving his freedom to move around the pool all by himself! 

 Mason and Connor came to swim with us, and we had the whole pool to ourselves! So nice!! 

 The babies loved playing and splashing around on the wide, shallow step. 

 So fun! 

 She loved it all! 

Taking two small kids to the pool is tough, but with the right tools, and friends that come to play, it's perfect! 

Great Wolf Lodge

This weekend, we left Ella with Nana and Grandad, and took Carter for an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge. We went with the Tye family, and Carter had so much fun with Mason! I'm so glad he had a little playmate there with him.... they both had an absolute blast!  

The boys with their Dads in the wave pool.

 This pictures cracks me up....  Carter squirting himself and Mason aiming at the Mommies. Such boys.

Fun with the water squirters

 Carter & Mason walking around in the raft... they thought they were so big!

 Fun in the waves! 

I was so proud of Carter for going down the water slides!! Such a brave boy!

 Carter & Mason.... just look how happy they are! 

Fun in the outside pool with Daddy.

 These two were some seriously tired boys, and they both passed out on the couch when we went back to Nana's to get Ella. 

 What a fun way to spend the weekend. Looking forward to next time!! 

Carter's School

I haven't really mentioned anything on the blog about Carter and his school since January when he first started..... mostly because there wasn't much to report. He has always loved his school, his classmates, and his teachers, loves going, and always seems to have a great time.

Today was the last day for him in Class G, so I thought I'd post some pictures of what Carter has been up to at school this semester.

On Thursday, May 10th, Carter and I (and Ella, too!) attended his class' Mother's Day Tea. It was sooooo cute!! We had fruit, muffins, and cake, along with tea and lemonade. I'm pretty sure Ms. Lynn had all of us Moms crying after her little speech about how much she loves each and every one of our kiddos. So special.  Each child made a few special gifts for their Mothers, including a tote bag with their hand prints and a booklet of pictures from their school year. Since I don't have pictures of my own from Carter at school, I'm going to post some pictures of the picture booklet they made for me. I love seeing my big boy in his school environment!

First Day..... such a baby face! 

 Carter holding the flag for the pledge, and having snack at his Valentine's Party

 Holding the flag again, and Carter and Daddy at donuts with Dads

 Wearing the armor in chapel, and cheesing it up BIG time

 Saying the pledge, and wearing his police hat on the day the Prosper PD came

 Sweet boy looking so big! 

And a sweet little letter from his teachers. 

I'm so, so sad that I do not have one picture of Carter with his sweet teachers. :(

 Also, Carter and his class with Ms. Sarah (Romp teacher)

 and Carter and his class with Ms. Julie (chapel teacher)

And here is a questionnaire Carter filled out for me for Mother's Day..... this made me laugh!

Then, last Thursday we headed up to his school for Splash Day! Carter had lots of fun playing in the water with his classmates. 

Carter and his friend John going through the car wash.

 He thought this pirate duck was so funny! 

 Loving the shamu and sprinkler ball! 

 Ella came too, and she enjoyed watching all the action from her stroller! 

 So much fun! 

 And they finished with a snow cone. 

 Mmmmmmm.

We were so very happy with everything relating to Carter's school experience this year. All the teachers, classmates, parents, and everything else have just been such a blessing for Carter, and we couldn't have asked for anything more. Looking forward to more of this wonderful school next school year, as Carter will be attending on both Tuesdays and Thursdays in the fall!!

Ella at 7 Months!

Happy 7 months, pretty girl! Here is what you're up to lately.

• You are officially VERY mobile this month. You've started crawling, and you absolutely love your new found freedom. You still aren't too fast and you never go too far, but that'll change very soon, I'm sure! You also love to go from crawling to laying to sitting up, too, and then back again! You're definitely very entertained by all your new skills! 
• You've become very attached to Mommy again. You'd be just fine if no one else held you, ever. Not sure why you've gone back to being so cautious about others. At Uncle Matt's graduation, you would cry if anyone else held you besides me, and if I walked away? Oh, forget it! Hopefully just a phase, but we've gotta keep working on that!  
• You started doing this cute little fake smile thing. It's this funny look you get on your face when you are a little nervous or unsure of someone or someplace. It kind of looks like a half smile, but you raise your eyebrows and I always feel like you could crack at any moment when you have this look. Definitely so cute, though! 
• You HATE to have your diaper or clothes changed. Just the sight of the changing table gets you fussy, and you have the most pitiful cry anytime we lay you down on it. Most of the time you're sleepy, so that makes sense. But you still hate it! 
• You've started to babble a lot. I've heard, "ba ba" and "ga ga" the most, but this weekend you started doing both "ma ma" and "da da"..... and that makes your parents VERY happy! :)
• Not exactly sure of your height or weight, but according to our scale, you're about 16.5 lbs.
• Nursing 5 times a day, and still having a lunch and dinner of baby foods. You've started to have an opinion about what you like to eat, so I often have to mix veggies with fruits. 
• You've also started feeding yourself a little bit! You've so far fed yourself peas, puffs, bread, and baked potato. Yum!! We have started giving you a sippy cup with water in it, but you don't have much interest in it other than gnawing on the spout. 
• Yesterday I watched you pull up to your knees from the sitting position on the side of your crib. Yikes. We have since lowered it. :)
• You still love watching every move your big brother makes, and you now make your way towards him when yall are playing on the floor. That means you've become a little bit of a toy snatcher... and Carter is not a fan. He's doing great with trying to understand that you are just interested in what he is doing, and you're not trying to take his toys away from him. Patience!
• Your naps are the same this month: one morning cat nap, one early afternoon cat nap, and one long afternoon nap each day from about 2p-5p. Still sleeping wonderfully at night, 8p-7a.
• You've been in the baby pool for the first time already. You seemed to like it. We haven't been to the big pool yet, but I have a float for you! Maybe one day in the next few weeks Mommy will be brave enough to do that with two little ones! 

Little sweetie at 7 months!! 

Big brother had to get in on the mix during our photo shoot! HAHA!! 

I love that she is the one pestering him and pulling his hair!! 

Ella Crawls!

Ella has been threatening to crawl for several weeks now - getting up on all fours, rocking back and forth, and in the last week or so she will go as far as taking 1-2 crawls forward with her arms, a leg follows, and then she collapses. Well yesterday I saw her headed for a toy, and sure enough! She's been doing it all day today, too! I think we officially have a crawler! Our baby girl started crawling on her 7 month birthday....  how special! (And a 7 month post will be coming soon, too!)

Ella, you're too big! Love you! 

Matt's Graduation

My older brother, Matt, graduated from UNT today with his bachelors! YAY!! We are very proud of you and your accomplishment, and we had fun celebrating with everyone today! Didn't have the opportunity to take too many pictures, but here are a few that I managed to take.

We love you, Matty! Congrats again!

 There he is!! 

 Getting ready to walk.... the picture I took of him walking across was VERY blurry. :(

Meanwhile..... Ella played with my necklace to keep entertained. And yes, she had her own seat. :)

She got pretty restless sitting in my lap, so I had to take her out and walk her around a few times. But we found a solution with the necklace and my phone cover!

 And Carter sat so nicely with Uncle Andrew and played on his phone and with his Scribble & Write. 

 He did great! I was so proud of him! 

Later at Matt's graduation party, Ella and her cousin Monroe did a little playing. They were so cute together! I wish I got more pictures of the two of them, but it was kind of hectic, so I'm  lucky to have gotten these. 

Ella says, "Ummm, excuse me, but can I get my shoe back?!"

It was a really fun day with family, and we were so glad to have been able to celebrate such a happy occasion with everyone!