Fun Outdoors

The kids and I have spent a lot of time outside in the yard lately. I have a feeling all this carefree time spent out back will be short lived though, once the awful Texas heat is in full force here in a few weeks. Oh well, we are going to enjoy it as long as we can. Good thing our neighborhood pools are opening up soon!

Ella from her perch. She enjoys her little set up on the blanket with her toys under the shade of the umbrella! 

Pretty girl! 

Enjoying his water table. This will be our 3rd summer with this, and he still loves it just as much as the first!

I can just see all the girls swooning over his eyes and eyelashes already!! 

I might be biased, but what a beautiful child!

Always a ham for the camera. I look forward to the day where he will actually smile or me! 

Definitely looking forward to lots of pool time this summer! Although, taking the two kids by myself  pretty much stresses me out just thinking about it! :)

Brothers & Sisters Day

Today is Brothers & Sisters Day, and my kids celebrated their sibling-hood by wearing their big bro/little sis shirts!

They just love each other so much....

 ....and I'm so grateful they have one another!!

 They will truly share a special bond for life! 

Zoo Pictures

A few weeks ago, a bunch of us from the play group went to the Dallas Zoo. I meant to post pictures, but we've had a very busy few weeks, so I never got around to it. Carter has been several times before, but this was Ella's first trip to the zoo, and even though she stayed in her stroller most of the time and didn't really have any interest in the animals, I still want to document it! It was a fun day.... the weather was perfect, and we all had a great time!

 Lunch time! The babies had a picnic and the big kids sat at the table....

 Here are a few pictures that Laura took.....

I'm thankful to have Mommy friends that take great pictures when my hands are full and I miss a cute shot!! 

 The 5 big kids!

....4 of them have baby siblings, and Graham has a baby brother or sister on the way!! 

 And the 4 babies....

 These two were roaring like a lion, I believe, and then laughing hysterically at themselves. So silly! 

Carter at 3 Years!

I posted about Ella at 6 months yesterday, but I can't forget about my big 3 year old boy!! I waited to do these last two posts because both of them had their well checks yesterday with Dr. Nail. So here is a summary of Carter at 3 years old!

• Weighs 32 lb 7oz, and is 38 1/2 inches tall. He is in the 75th-90th% for both weight and height. The doctor thinks he will be at least 5'11 or 6' tall as an adult!
• Carter passed all his developmental tests with flying colors! Again, how very grateful and blessed we are to have a growing, happy, healthy and very handsome son!
• 100% potty trained (since the first week of February) -  nap time, night time, and all! You almost never have accidents. In fact, I don't think I have changed sheets first thing in the morning in over 2 months! So proud of how you ditched all diapers, embraced those undies, and literally never looked back!! 
• Carter's favorite toys/activities right now include: puzzles, dinosaurs, all his action figures and cars (Toy Story & Cars the movie are his very favorites!), and anything sports - baseball especially.
• Carter can recognize all his letters, upper and lower case, and can also tell you all the sounds they make. He is very interested in reading and writing, and really loves to play with his Scribble & Write. He will literally sit quietly and play with that thing for close to an hour! 
• He is a very talkative and wordy little boy. Not only does he form long sentences and have a huge vocabulary, but he just doesn't ever stop talking in general. There are very few quiet moments in our household these days. If he's not talking, he's making noises with his mouth (you know, those little boy noises!) or singing, or babbling or baby talking to his sister or the dog..... you name it.... he is just ALWAYS making noise! 
• Carter is a very strong willed child with a definite stubborn streak. These attributes are causing us a few behavioral issues right now, but nothing out of the ordinary of your typical 3 year old, I'm sure. He definitely challenges us daily, and has taught us both more patience over the last 12 months than I thought was even possible! 
• Carter is so sweet and loving towards his baby sister. In the 6 months she has been with us, he has never  had any aggression or anger towards her, no jealousy, no mistreating her, nothing. He is truly the best big brother.... always looking out for her, getting her toys for her, reading her books, and teaching her about the world. He HAS to give her a night-night kiss before each nap or bedtime.... in fact he has gotten really upset with me a few times for putting her down for a nap and forgetting to tell him so he could give her a kiss. He also loves to go with me in her room to get her once she's woken up. He loves all the big smiles she gives when she is all rested up, just like we do! He is constantly laughing at the silly things she does, or cheering her on when she does something new. He is one proud big brother! He just loves everything about her, and I know that love for her will only grow!
• Carter is a really good little friend lately. He has gotten so much better at taking turns and sharing, he plays extremely well with others about 95% of the time. (The other 5% its usually just one of THOSE days!) He will tell you that his best friends are Daddy and Mason, which I think is absolutely adorable. Other friends he plays with often and always has so much fun with are Gavin, Graham, Tyler, Carlos, John, and his cousins, Gavin & Devin. 
• Carter really seems to love his school and all his classmates, and he absolutely adores his teachers! I just love when he comes home telling me all about what he did or learned that day, singing his songs from chapel, and showing me what he made. He truly seems to have such a great time, and his teachers have nothing but great things to say about him always, so I guess he saves all those tricky behavioral issues for Mom and Dad at home. :) Thankful for that!

Carter, you are such a joy! Even though this age definitely poses it's challenges, all the wonderful and funny things about you right now outweigh those tough moments, for sure! You are so funny, loving, energetic, smart and handsome.... more than a Mommy could ever ask for in her perfect little boy! We love you so much, and cherish every day we get with you, sweet little man! 

And now, enjoy a picture overload of my big, 3 year old boy!

Ella - 6 months!

My little girl is now 1/2 a year old! She turned 6 months last Saturday, the day after Carter turned 3. Here is a summary of all the fun things she is doing right now, and 6 months pics below!

• Ella is 15lb 15oz and 25 1/3 inches. According to Dr. Nail, she is developing wonderfully and hitting all milestones for a 6 month old baby! So very grateful and blessed with a beautiful, healthy girl! 
• Still sleeping 11-12 hours at night, and takes one short morning nap, one short mid-day nap (usually in the car), and a long afternoon nap.
• Sitting up on her own without assistance.
• Getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth as well as getting onto all 4s from the sitting position- it's probably just a matter of a few weeks before she takes off!
• Grabbing at absolutely anything within reach. Phones, remotes, anything at the dinner table and generally anything she isn't supposed to have are her favorite things to go after! She really loves to chew on my purple rubbery phone cover. Any time I'm in a pinch and need to buy 5-10 minutes with her, that's what she gets.... and it works like a charm every time!
• Loving her brother so much..... everything about him! She's all smiles when he is around!
• Doing great with baby food, and constantly trying new things. So far she's had bananas, apple sauce, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, mango, avocado, and carrots. I'd say pears, apple sauce, and sweet potatoes are her favorites by far, and squash and peas are her least fav (don't blame her!). Green beans and peaches will be coming soon! And I'm pretty proud of myself for making all of it, too!
• She is so much more of a friendly baby now than she has ever been. While she still is very attached to the 3 of us, she is a lot more smiley and sweet to faces she doesn't yet recognize or to strangers, and she doesn't seem so scared of them!

Happy half-birthday, baby girl! :)

Lots of pictures this time! She is so expressive these days, and always has such a cute and funny look on her face!

Hands in the mouth..... always!

 Big girl!

 Love this grin!

 And this is her new thing - sticking her tongue out and grinning really big around it! Really adorable!

 So pretty!

 Those eyes!

 Very serious.

 Up on all 4s (and ready to be done with this photo shoot!)

 Little sweetheart

Ella's 'Yuck' Face

Ella has been a pretty good eater thus far when it comes to new baby foods. I can tell she's not that fond of certain things, but she pretty much swallows whatever I shovel into her mouth without any fight. With that said, I've kind of been missing those hilarious faces from her when she is grossed out by something. Yesterday I gave her avocado, and she finally made me giggle with her 'yuck' face and pitiful baby gags. It reminds me of a little video I'm sure a lot of you remember of Carter eating green beans! I definitely think Carter's video is hard to beat, though!

Carter's 3rd Birthday Party!

We invited a few of Carter's closest little buddies to join us at the park for a small party for him on Saturday. Even though it was very windy, it was cool, and it wasn't raining.... so definitely a success in my book! Carter had such a good time celebrating with all his little friends and family..... thanks so much to everyone for coming!

A little play time with his friends first.....

 Sweet Olivia! Soooo pretty!

Singing Happy birthday.... he sang it to himself, so cute!

 Cupcake time, finally!

 Gotta love these messy boys!

Time to open gifts!

 Carter hasn't touched an 'old' toy all weekend!! :) He is truly loving everything he got!!!

Done with gifts, now time to play some more!

Such cute best buddies!

 Oh, to be a care-free 3 year old little boy!!

 A birthday hug from Mason

 Carter and Tyler being silly!

 They look like they're planning something....

 So sweet! He really loves all of his little friends so much!

Thank you again to everyone that took the time to celebrate our little man with us this weekend! Carter is so blessed to have so many kind and wonderful people in his life!!