Couples' Retreat 08 & Thanksgiving

We've been busy, busy lately, but not a whole lot to post. Cary and I went to Couple's Retreat a few weekends ago. It was so nice to get away, even if we did take Carter with us. Oddly enough, I don't have a single picture of Cary and I together from the weekend. One of us was behind the camera the whole time, I suppose.

Me and my sweet friend Stephenie who is joining the Mommy club in January!:


Scott & Kels:


My cute Dad & Mom:


The group from this year's retreat:


Later that week, Carson started running a fever that he kept for 5 days. Poor kid. I'm so sick of the sickies and we're early in the season. One plus, I suppose, is that I've only had one sick kid at a time. I feel bad for them though.

Wednesday, I decorated for Christmas. Early, I know, but I've been listening to Christmas music for a few weeks already, and I didn't want to spend Cary's day off decorating. So I let the boys help me hang ornaments on the tree. It was pretty funny. Caden took every ornament he touched apart, so I kept handing him the same ornament after a while. Carson did great hanging the ornaments... on two branches. I should have taken a picture. Most of the tree was bare, but one branch in the front and one branch in the back had at least 10 ornaments each. He was so proud of himself. Needless to say, I rearranged the ornaments during naptime.

Carter has become very smiley lately. I love this stage when they become so interactive and just a look from us can light up their world.



This year, we spent Thanksgiving at my aunt's house with family and friends that live in the area. It was a nice and relaxed day with great food. Here's a shot of Carter from his first Thanksgiving...little Turkey. :)


I believe we're in the beginning of the teething stage...check out this drool. About 4 pictures later, the top half of his shirt was wet.


Carson wanted to hold Carter this morning, and Caden (Mr. Me Too) wanted to hold him as well, but was content for a moment when I helped him sit next to Carson. It seemed like such a great picture moment, but I've noticed recently that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a good picture of all three boys. Out of 20 pictures, this was the best...


Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are so thankful to have each of you in our lives!!

Cheers & Jeers

Jeers to mice in my house. ick ick eww shiver... can you envision my totally creeped out dance???

Cheers to mice poison and exterminators who take care of it all. Yay for dirty jobs.

Our Trip to Houston: A play by play

We went to Houston for Cary's sister Emily's wedding. It was a busy trip, and the boys were at their limits many times, but it was fun as well, and many memories were made. So much happened, that I'm going to make this a mostly picture post so that I don't miss too much.

We got in on Wednesday night pretty late. Thursday, we hung out while Cary worked during the day and then went to dinner with Shawn's family (Em's new hubby) and cruised a really neat shopping area around there. Carson and Caden got to meet the other kids that were in the wedding and had a great time playing with them.

Friday morning, Carter and I went to get my nails done with the other ladies in the wedding, and then to the Bridesmaid's brunch at Jasper's. It was SOOO good. Cary hung out with the Carson and Caden. Cary was such an awesome dad, he always is, but especially on this trip he really had the boys all on his own a lot, which with little sleep for the boys, and no schedule, was a real task. I'm so thankful for you, babe! I don't know what I would have done without you!!

Friday afternoon we got the boys all ready in their halloween costumes and trick-or-treated around the neighborhood before heading to Emily & Shawn's rehearsal/welcome dinner.


Carson trying to be a tough cowboy:






This is a great picture of the boys' personalities. Carson is a thinker, and Caden is busy:




This was Caden's first real year trick-or-treating. He was quite content with his very first piece of candy. He didn't care so much about getting more as long as he had one. Carson was hilarious, and thought that he should get a handful, or 2 or 3, at each house.


Checking out the loot:


Our little pumpkin:


Saturday was the wedding, which was beautiful!! I can't wait to see the pictures, and hopefully I'll post a few on here when we get them... For the boys, however it was a very difficult day. They didn't have a nap, and the wedding was during dinner, so there were frequent meltdowns. Thus is life... It was so nice to see family that we hadn't seen in a while. Some pics from the day...




A happy moment with Aunt Pat, Cary's aunt:


Kisses for Auntie Stephanie (Cary's sister):


Sweet Kynadee, the boys' cousin, and her daddy Mason:


Cary's Aunt Linda, and his cousin Graham:


I don't have any pictures of the bride and groom or Cary's folks or the wedding party, but hopefully I'll get some soon.

Post wedding, the boys crashed almost immediately:




Sunday, we grabbed lunch and went to a park so the boys could work off some energy. Mason, Danielle and Kynadee joined us, as well as our friends, Jamie & Billy, and Cary's mom and sister, Stephanie.

A sleepy smile:








(Mom, doesn't this remind you of the picture that was on our bathroom wall in the house in Pueblo???)


Sweet girl:




Billy & Jamie:


Sunday night, we went to our dear friends, Lindsay & BJ's house for dinner. It was such a fun time, and it was great to meet their twins, Preslyn & Ella. It had been much too long (and two kids for each of us) since that last time we were able to spend time together.

Carson, Hayden & Caden playing in their playroom...I SOOOO need one of these!


Sweet Ella:


Sweet Preslyn with Lindsay. Right after this, Preslyn dove off the couch (slowly) to cruise with Ella. They are such sweet babies!


Monday, we got to meet our friends David & Staci and their kiddos in College Station for dinner. It was an adventure, and people looked at us like we were crazy with our 4 adults and 6 kids, but it was lots of fun!


Tuesday, I woke up with a stomach bug. Yay me! Poor Cary got to corral the boys and pack up mostly on his own until I was able to get out of bed around 3...that was a miracle in itself! For a while, we thought I would be staying an extra day. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better and so far no one else has gotten it. Seriously, I have never been more thankful for Cary than I was this past week. He had to take on so much of the responsibility that we usually share.

To our family and friends: it was so nice to get to spend time with those of you that we could! It has been too long. We love you all!!

8 Weeks & A Drummer Boy

This past weekend we were blessed to have a weekend away with our church staff. It was such an awesome time of rejuvenation for us as a staff, and was much needed. It's so nice to be able to minister with people who are so eager to do God's will as a team. Carter went with us of course, so he was loved on by many, and my Dad got to fix his favorite baby hairdo:




We like to try to go to our youth's sports and school activities as we can, but this year our attendance has been pretty slim since we were having a baby and all. We did get to go to one of the last home volleyball games of the season for one of our schools though. It was fun because we got to see 3 of our girls play at once. The boys always have such a good time at the games. Carson got to hold a poster while he cheered as loudly as he could, and Caden and Carter made the rounds to all of our friends that were there.

Loving on Pastor Russ:



Carter has been with us for 8 weeks now. He's such a good baby, and we're starting to see him awake a little more frequently...little being the operative word. He still has the bluest of eyes. He is starting to smile more and LOVES to look at lights. He's been a bit of a flirt with me at times and it's fun starting to see his personality come out. I think he's going to be pretty laid back, but we'll see.

A super sweet family in our church decided to give Carson their child's drum set since he had outgrown it, and Carson has had so much fun with it. Here is a video of him doing his very favorite thing.


We're heading to Houston tonight for Cary's sister's wedding. It should be a fun time, and I'm sure I'll have pictures galore to post. Everyone will get to meet Carter for the first time, and many of the extended family will also get to meet Caden. I'm so excited for Emily and Shawn, and am so excited to get to be a part of their special day!! :)

Comfort

Caden has always liked things that are soft and silky. He has a small blankie that he sleeps with that is satin and minky fabric. He likes to touch things that are soft and suck his thumb. Ever since he was a little bitty thing, he would hold his ear while sucking his thumb, and more recently, he has been sticking his hands down his pants. Evidently his rear is soft. This picture was captured at our end of summer church picnic in September.

The Circus & The Best Hiding Place in the Woild

I blogged several months ago about how I had gotten Carter a coming home outfit that I LOVED. Since he came so early, he didn't get to wear it home. He finally got to wear the outfit for the first time Sunday, so I took pictures since the outfit was special to me, and one that will surely go in his keepsake box.





This picture cracks me up...


Last Monday, Cary and I got to take the boys to the circus, thanks to my Aunt Jess! I'd never been to a circus before, so I was super excited, and was not disappointed. It was so fun. The animals were so cool to see in person. The elephants were my favorite. And the boys (Carson especially) were so impressed with the motorcycle tricks. It was such a fun day.


Funny Carson Stories
The other day, during a particularly difficult naptime, I thought Carson had finally fallen asleep around 4:30 PM. When we were ready for dinner around 6, I went in to get Carson up, and he was no where to be found. I looked in his blankets, under his bed and in his closet. I walked around the house calling his name loudly, and nothing... And then I started to panic a little bit. I thought maybe he had snuck outside. I knew he wouldn't take off, but who knows what would have happened had some random person seen a 3 year old wandering around alone. So Cary and I both went outside and start calling for him. We went all around our front and back yards trying to find him with no luck. After a bit, I decided to check his room again. He has this storage thing that has small buckets in it for organizing, and we throw his stuffed animals behind it, so on a whim, I decided to look in the stuffed animals. Sure enough, underneath all of the stuffed animals, Carson is sound asleep. I don't know how he slept through all of our hollering. He woke up then, and looked at me. And I said, "Carson, I was so scared! I thought you were lost!! Were you sleeping in here the whole time??" and he said, "Yeah!! This is the best hiding place in the WOILD!! (world) He was so incredibly proud of himself, Cary and I just died laughing! We couldn't help ourselves.

Then this week, we've all had colds. When Carson first got it, I asked him if his ears hurt because he was messing with them. He felt one of them and said, "No, it's still bendy." Then I asked him if his nose was stuffy, and he felt it with his fingers and said, "No, look, it's still soft." :)

I love that kid.

Pumpkin Patch and Carving

I LOVE fall!! All of the leaves around here are golden and red. The air is turning cooler, and I love the scent of fireplaces each evening. I've wanted to take a trip to a pumpkin patch ever since Carson was born, and it's never worked out until this year. We got to go a few weekends ago. It was a cold and rainy day, but we stuck it out, and it was a ton of fun! Carson and Caden loved picking out pumpkins! Then Cary, my dad, and brother, Austin took the boys through the corn maze. They had fun, but met us in the car totally covered in mud! It was crazy, but surely a day we won't forget!



This pic was over exposed, but I wanted to use it anyway...














My mom and Carter hung out under a tent the whole time we were there, and Carter slept the whole time!










Then a few days later, Cary, Carson and I carved our first pumpkin.