December/January Phone Dump



INK! Play date at the museum to celebrate the Adoption Day Anniversary for a sweet friend's baby boy. We are so thankful for these friends. I am SO annoyed I didn't get pictures of the boys together.



A little naptime interruption. I heard Carson yell and went into the room to find Carver trying to quickly climb back out of the crib after waking up his little brother.




Watching Nana sew.




Carver snuck out early from naptime. I found him in the kitchen eating poptarts. When I walked around the corner he immediately said, "Here you go!"




Sick day for the big boy.



Current favorite salad. Shrimp (dredged in cornstarch and sauteed in a little olive oil until crispy), sundried tomatoes, chickpeas, lettuce mix, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

My favorites.

Woody costume!

Cargy had a sick day too.

"Play-doh truck!"

Grandmama and Granddaddy got Carver a train set for Christmas. He LOVES it. Daniel made the table for it that conveniently pushes underneath Carver's bed. Carver usually does not like to share his train with Cargy. I hear, "No, Cargy!" and "Stop, Cargy!" ALL THE TIME. This was an unsual occasion when Carver  was sharing nicely.

Carson is pulling up! Fascinated by watching Carver in the tub.

$10 plastic shopping cart from Walmart. Impulse buy. Best $10 I have ever spent. Endlessly entertaining. I find the strangest things that Carver has collected and put in his cart.

Puzzle set from Aunt Courtney (and family). He is completely obsessed. And REALLY good at puzzles.

A little rainy day Monster Bowling in the hallway. Also from Aunt Courtney and family.

We spent some time naming the monsters. Three were named "Daddy," 2 were named "Emma" (classmate), and 1 was given an indistinguishable name.

Icicles on the Pilot.

Crafty time.

"Hold your phone, Mommy!"

A quick day trip to Asheville. Carson's first time in our favorite city. Napping on the way there and about to lose the pacifier.

A quick trip to Mast before lunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe. Sadly, no picture of Tupelo. One day (soon I REALLY hope), we will kick the renters out of our house there and have a nice vacation home in Asheville. Please God, let that happen soon. I miss it.



He's just ridiculously cute.



We're in potty-training hell. It is not going well.

Sitting in his favorite position (and the only way he will sit on his own), unloading his toy bucket.

Carson- 8 Months

The baby boy is getting so big! He is just seeming so much older these days. More independent, more personality--it's crazy. He is not exactly an easy baby anymore. Sadly, those days are gone. He is still super affectionate. The downside is that he prefers to be held all of the time. He has never slept through the night-- or slept an entire night in his own bed. He REFUSES to take a bottle. He shows very little interest in his baby food. He hates riding in the car.

But, he loves to cuddle. He smiles all the time. And has a sweet belly laugh. He is very inquisitive and wants to see everything, grab everything. He loves his big brother and the dogs. He is tough-- he barely cries when he gets bumps or bruises. He does the "army" crawl super fast and can move all over the house. He is pulling up now and seems very proud of this new skill. He says, "Dada" and refuses to say Mama. He sneaks glances at the T.V. when I am not paying attention and adores his pacifier.

We've spent the last month working on transitioning him out of his pack 'n play and into his crib in his bedroom upstairs. This means that I am sleeping in the guest room upstairs and watching the video monitor constantly. It has been an exhausting month. We've had a couple of good nights and a lot of tough ones... One day I know he will sleep through his night and we will get back to a little bit of normalcy. Just not sure when that will be.

So even though he isn't incredibly easy, he is incredibly sweet.

He gets onto his hands and knees all the time-- then drops back to his belly to crawl.

Working on drinking out of a sippy cup.

Carver likes to take Carson his toys...

Pulling up!

Oh sweet boy.

Lea's tag is endlessly fascinating for him.

He doesn't sit on his own quite yet, though he loves to "sit" on his knees like this.

He chews on everything.

He LOVES playing with toys-- especially in the play room upstairs.



First night in his crib.



Christmas in Winston

On the day we left to spend Christmas in Winston Salem, we had a little celebrating to do before we could get on the road.

It was Carver's 3rd Birthday!

For the second year in a row he woke up to a room full of balloons :)

Since I was doing a little traveling after Christmas without Daniel, we had to drive separately to Winston. Carson rode with Daniel (he prefers the big truck), and Carver rode with me so he could watch DVDs in the car. Both boys did really well for the drive.

This year we were able to be at Daniel's parent's house for about 4 days-- longer than usual. When we got in on Friday we headed out to dinner and then back home for birthday cake and presents.

On Saturday, Daniel went hunting with the men in the family and Nana and I took the boys to the Children's museum in Winston. Carver loved it.

Carver also did a little baking with Nana.

And the boys played with Carver's birthday toys.

On Sunday we went to church and relaxed at the house.

On Monday, Christmas Eve, Daniel and I ran some errands in the morning included some last minute shopping, a stop at Krispy Kreme (which apparently has its origins in Winston Salem), and lunch from Bruegger's.

That night we spent time with Daniel's Dad's side of the family. Dinner and a gift exchange. We don't see this side of the family often, so it was nice to get to reconnect with them.

Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve of course.

Christmas morning was especially fun this year because Carver seemed extra excited. He understands the whole unwrapping presents thing a lot better now and gets really enthusiastic about it all. He pretty much helped everyone unwrap presents.

Then Daniel's mother's side of the family came over for lunch. We LOVE seeing all of these aunts, uncles, and cousins.  The boys were both exhausted (and grumpy) so they spent the afternoon sleeping. Which was actually kind of nice for us-- we were able to just enjoy the company and not be quite so involved with the boys.

I think I especially enjoyed Christmas this year. We were in Winston for a little longer than average so our time felt more relaxed and less rushed and scheduled. Carver really enjoyed celebrating his birthday and Christmas and seemed to understand so much more this year. We were able to see much of the extended family and it was such a blessing to watch them love on our boys.

We left early Wednesday morning to head up to Baltimore. This time a long travel day. Never good with these kids... especially the wee one.