18 Months...I can't believe it!

What a fun month this has been! We have continued to work on the new house, and it is finally starting to feel like home. We feel so blessed to be closer to family! C is at such a fun stage! Being a speech pathologist, I am in awe at his love for words and his use of language. He LOVES trying to say new words, and his comprehension just amazes me! Three weeks ago, he brought tears to our eyes when he helped Daddy say his first prayer. He prayed for all the people that he knows well and the squirrels of which he named "Boo" and "Bebe". He thanked God for his milk and of course, his bread! He has also started naming all of the people in his Bible. He calls "Moses", "Mo" and of course "Mary" goes with Trinity instead of "Joseph"! (His babysitter's name is Mary, and he plays with her granddaughter at their house whose name is "Trinity"!) He also knows Jesus, Peter, John, Daniel, and David. His other favorite thing to do is sing. He LOVES TO SING! He can hum, which amazes me, and he can keep a tune! He sings "Holy...holy...holy", "ABC's", "Twinkle..Twinkle", "Jesus Loves Me", "E..I...E..I..O", "B..I..B..I..B" (no that is not a typo), and the list goes on! As always, it has been so much fun this month viewing life through the eyes of a child. He is trying to become more independent. He LOVES being a handyman, trying new foods (except meat), climbing, going to the park, interacting with people, and being outside. Thank you, God, for blessing us with such an amazing little boy!

This summer Carson's sweet KK is living with us! Carson just loves her to pieces! Here he is giving her a kiss. What a sweet boy!! He wakes up every morning saying, "KK?"

A few weekends ago, Carson was able to spend some time with his great-grandmother, Nannie! He asks about her all of the time. Here he is showing off how he can climb in the basket!

Carson is enjoying some chocolate cake with Grandy! Three weeks ago, he started saying everyone's name in the family! This cake MAY have been the bribe to say Grandy's name!

Carson has started realizing the power of words. He has started coming over to us and saying, "hand". He will then want you to stand up and follow him. He will then say, "play...play...play". Of course it works every time!

My special Mother's Day gift! It is hard to acknowledge myself as a mother when it comes to Mother's day. I still think of it as a day to celebrate my mother and my grandmother. They have both been such an amazing example to me as a mother! They are the most selfless people that I know! Maybe someday I will be able to fill their shoes!

Kelli, Nannie, Mom, and me

Carson loves riding in his car! He loves anything that has to do with the outside!

This past week has been crazy busy in our household. It is the end of the school year so that always means banquets. Last Thursday night, we were able to go to Brandon's golf banquet! It was a very nice evening. We are so proud of "daddy" as his first year as a head golf coach. He did an amazing job! He is an amazing example to all of the boys that he coaches, and I am so thankful that Carson has such an amazing person to look up to!

Here is Brandon's first group of varsity golfers! Way to go guys!

On Friday, Brandon put on his first field day! No, this is not his normal attire! It was 80's day! I am thankful that coaches don't dress like this any more:)

Let FIELD DAY begin! Here the kids are transferring marbles between their toes to the other bucket! Yuck...can't stand the thought of that!

C and daddy at Field Day! Wish I would have taken a picture of them in the three legged race! Sooooo cute!

This past weekend, we spent lots of time with family. Here C is swimming for the first time this summer. He loved making his boat go "boom" in Mimi and Pop's pool! The water was a little chilly, but I am sure it won't be long before he wants to get all the way in! So fun!!

C and his sweet Mimi!

Here C is playing some ball with Grandy!

Carson swinging with Granna and Grandy!

Carson and KK

Carson loves to swing. Our biggest challenge is getting him off of the swing! He also loves to have someone swing beside him. Here he is swinging with Granna and Grandy!

Happy 18 months, Little Man! We love you sooooooooooooo much!

Feeding the Ducks

I can remember looking at pictures of when I was about Carson's age where I was feeding the ducks with my Bob Bob. That is all I could think about when we went to feed the baby ducks last night. Oh, how I wish he could have met Carson. Someday! I can't even imagine how much he would have loved our little man. Carson's face lit up when he saw all of the baby ducks coming his way. Well, they were coming for bread but he didn't know that! There is no better time than being outside enjoying God's creation. I am so thankful that we were able to share a small part of it with little man last night. He only cried once and that was when we had to leave! We just don't understand what "we will come back" means yet!

What a fun, yet busy month this has been! Although we have our moments where independence is sprouting, it is so neat to see how much this little boy is learning. This month has been filled with exploring and saying so many new words. He says more words than I can count, which makes his mommy, the speech pathologist, thrilled! I love all of the new words he attempts. Since moving into the new house, there are several projects we had to tackle right up front. So...little man has become used to having visitors in our home very quickly. He has learned many of their names which just puts a smile on their faces. The man working outside, he calls "To" (short for Tony). He will run to the window saying, "To..To" to see if he is there. He also greets "John" the tile guy and "Brent" the plumber. God gave us a very friendly boy who is not shy to tell anyone "hi", not even the animals. He has also learned to climb on everything, which is fun, yet scary at times! This month he has started becoming a little more picky when it comes to food; however, he continues to love to try new things. I will say he doesn't like cucumbers! He has learned to put the foods he doesn't want in the cup holder of his tray. (Guess that is better than the floor!)

Carson has a fascination with all of Brandon's tools. He is especially in love with daddy's mower and his drill (aka.charger)!

Carson is in the explorer stage to say the least. He especially loves discovering new things outside!

Carson used his spoon by himself to eat part of his yogurt! He tried so hard. He wants to do everything himself!

Carson is holding one of his new "chargers" and looking for his mower to go fix. His new word is handyman. He has been helping daddy around the house so it was only appropriate to teach him "handyman". He leaves out the "d" so it comes out "hanyman". So cute, I have to say!

Yes, our little man has a belly but we love it. There is nothing like having a healthy baby! A couple of weeks ago, I told him that our good friend, Mindy, was having a baby and pointed to her tummy. He immediately pulled up his shirt and said, "baby?". He loves pulling things around the house. I have to say that he thinks objects with cords are pull toys! I am not sure how long our toaster is going to last:)

Here is C and Mimi. He has started saying lots of names, which include "Mimi". So sweet!

C is helping out at the garage sale! He looks so big sitting on the swing!

Aunt Ashley and Carson or as Carson says it, "Ashee".