11.09.2014

Carson is TWO!



Actually he is two years and 5 months old. I've been remiss.

The last five months have been quite bizarre with Cargy. His personality is becoming incredibly strong. Good and bad. It is like he has come into his own. He has emerged from baby boy to this very unique and very funny little person.

Off and on throughout the last two years I have been SO sure that Carson was going to be our less challenging child. Every now and then he would go through a bit of a phase, then he would level back out and be so easy.

Those days are gone.

Cargy has an enormous vocabulary and has been talking in sentences (and paragraphs) for the last six months. He says really funny things and especially likes repeating things that he hears from Carver.

Carver and Carson have an interesting relationship. They can play exceptionally well together. They especially love wrestling on the couch, playing with swords and shields, or just running down the halls chasing each other. They also fight constantly and purposefully irritate each other. So many laughs and so many tears shared between those two.


The boys are sharing a room now and the transition was relatively smooth.


They take awhile to get to sleep-- usually because of Cargy wandering the room and messing with Carver. But they both sleep through the night without any issue. Carson wakes up first every single morning but Carver has learned to sleep through Carson's morning shenanigans.

Daniel and I both struggle with disciplining Carson. He is exceedingly cute and he has a really quirky personality. He is naughty, completely mischievous, and totally deserves punishment on so many occasions. Then we try to stick him in time out and he does something cute and we laugh and then he laughs and, well...we are working on it.


Carson loves candy. In any form. It is a legitimate addiction.

He loves loves loves pumpkins. And apple juice.

He loves the big gray cat that visits us daily.

He loves to be "held like a baby."

He loves kisses and hugs and "fist bumps."

He loves balloons. And coins. And Mickey Mouse.

And ketchup. He really loves ketchup.

Carson started school this Fall and he goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He loves school. Every day he walks in like he owns the place. Barely a backward glance. So different from his big brother.

He has this enormous grin and infectious laugh.



Carson is exactly the age right now that Carver was at the time of Carson's birth. Recently I was remembering how, when Carson was a newborn, I used to look at Carver and try to picture what Carson would look like at that age. And now here we are. It feels surreal. And sweet. And it hurts my heart just a bit.

I don't know.

Having two boys, relatively close in age is interesting. The boys look different and have very different personalities, but I think the most interesting thing has been realizing how different my relationship is with each one. Not more or less, just so very different.

The other day I was so stressed, and busy, and worried about getting all of my work done and juggling all of the things in my life and I was thinking that it would have been so nice for Carson to go to school three mornings a week.

And then I realized what I was saying.

I want to hold on tight. I want to love every moment. Or at least be thankful for every moment, I'm pretty sure I will never love every moment. But I'm always grateful. Carson is this precious two year old. He is uniquely himself. He is slowly becoming more challenging, and infuriating. But, that is ok. Because I love that he is mine. Even when he is so very hard.




I'll hold him "like a baby" for as long as he likes.



11.06.2014

Easter Festivities

Though I love minor holidays, I really love major ones.

There is just something about Easter. But there is a lot of pressure with this holiday. Easter is important. It matters. It is easy to make a holiday fun but how to make it meaningful.

Because Easter matters. It is the occasion of all occasions. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of God's promises. The ultimate sacrifice to save a fallen world. It is humbling.

And so much more than eggs and bunnies and such.

But it is a season of celebration, and eggs and bunnies made their appearance. And I like to celebrate with the sweet boys of mine.

Coloring the Easter placemats.



Carver's Easter party at school.



Crafts. There are always crafts. 



Easter eggs!


And decorating the eggs.

Easter baskets are my FAVORITE.


The rain boots from grandmama and granddaddy were a big hit.


Heading to church Sunday morning.


Our traditional meal in the Easter eggs. This time it included a picnic dinner.


Carson's first Easter egg hunt! He loved it :)


One of my favorite Easter traditions, so far just with Carver, is Resurrection Eggs. A dozen eggs are filled with symbols from the Easter story. As we read the eggs we talked about the symbol and Carver loved holding each item. It was fascinating to watch as he memorized which item went in each colored egg and even learned the order of the eggs to correlate with the story. I know he doesn't completely understand the importance of all this but we're trying to focus on teaching him and it has been sweet to watch him learn and hear him ask questions.

Easter was a happy and fun time...6 months ago.

One day I will get this blog caught up.

10.16.2014

Spring Phone Dump

One day I will not be running 6 months behind on my blog.... Here are a few miscellaneous pictures from our Spring happenings.

When Carver was at school, Carson and I got to play a bit. Last Spring was when he really started loving playgrounds.

An easy activity meant for Cargy that Carver just had to participate in as well.

A rare quiet moment with both my boys.

Sleeping on my random clothes pile...

Fun with Eli at Everland!


Corn! 

Carver did a great job helping with dinner. 

Morning at the library. They are obsessed with the rain boots.


Carson playing in my makeup.

Carver and Eli "exercising."

Carver's first time rock climbing! He did such a great job.




We stayed close to home for Spring Break this year. So much fun hanging out at camp.



Finally the weather warmed up enough for regular trips to the park.

Cargy slowly became more and more destructive and mischievous.

Mother's Day 2014.

A favorite activity.


Carver likes to take pictures of his artwork to send to Grandmama!
Sidenote: what is up with his hair? 



This quickly became the preferred place for "using the bathroom".... Right in the front yard. It was months before I could get him to stop dropping his pants all the way down to his ankles.

A few teacher appreciation gifts for Carver's teacher, Ms. Jennifer. We loved her and we miss her.





Field day at Carver's School.

Carver's last day of school! And ultimately his last day at TLS.


I told Daniel we should give Carver a short summer haircut...

And this abomination happened. It has been almost five months since then and Carver has still not had another haircut... Trust me, this will never happen again. Never.
This was a fun kick-off to our summer. Cargy's first tick... Gross.