Carson's First Parade

It is amazing to see life through the eyes of a child! I just have to wonder what he was thinking as he enjoyed his first hometown parade! Yes, it was chilly, but it didn't seem to bother our little man...

The Wizard of Oz

Just look at this smile!

Carson and Grandy anticipating the next float!

Not everyday that you see an 18 wheeler in a parade!  Yes, it is carrying the football team!

 

22 Months-old

Well, another month has flown by.  It is hard to believe that fall is here and that birthdays and holidays are around the corner.  This month I have tried to slow life down a little bit and not be sooooo busy.  I have tried to appreciate the small things in each day that make each day so wonderful.  During this time, it has made me even more appreciative of all of the blessings in our life.  I am so thankful that God created relationships so that in some way we can experience what he feels for us.  So...each day I am reminded of God's love through the eyes of a precious little boy.

Some of my favorites from the month...

1. Listening to Carson talk to his Heavenly Father while attempting to close his eyes: "Dear God Fathers, thank you for mommy and daddy. (pause) Food. (pause) Eggs. Toast.  Mimi Pop.  Granna Grandy.  KK.  Jesus name AMEN!"  (Of course his prayer changes daily, but each day I am reminded of the "little" things to be thankful for.)

2. Watching Carson become Daddy's little boy:  This month Carson has become even fonder of his earthly Daddy.  From the running to the door when Daddy comes home to the crying when Daddy has to stay for a meeting after church, Carson LOVES his Daddy.  Their two favorite things to do together are to watch cartoons and eat a snack in Daddy's chair and to play choo choos! (Oh..and to "fix" things!)

3.  Observing Carson with others:  Carson LOVES his friends.  He constantly asks over and over about many of his little friends.  Whether it is going to the park or going to Bible class, he is constantly aware of each person, especially when they aren't there and he was expecting them to be:)

4.  Listening to this boy sing:  I know that I sing alot by many people standards.  It brings joy to my day, but to see a little boy sing about his Jesus just melts my heart.  This month, Carson has started singing "Thank You Lord for Loving Me".  He can sing every word without cues.  I love the changes in pitch! I also love when he gets into a song and claps his hands, closes his eyes, and really sings it out!

Carson taking a bath at Nannie's.  We were blessed to get to stay at her house on our last visit since mom and dad were having some work done to their house.  Thanks, Nannie!

Carson putting gas in Nannie's mower.  Man he loves to mow!

Carson eating waffles at Nannies!  Yummy!

 Carson and Grandy

Carson and Granna

Celebrating Pop's Birthday

 

Love those kisses, Pop!

 

Man, this boy LOVES to mow!

 

Carson playing at the park

 

The HIGHLIGHT of the day

 

"Bye, mowers!"

 

Love this boy:)

 

Smack kisses for mama!

 

My two boys!

 



21 Months-Old

It is hard to believe that in 3 short months our little man will be turning the BIG 2!  I know that I say it every month, but time flies!  This month has been filled with so many moments to remember that it is hard to write them all down.  First and foremost, we said our good-byes to Brandon's Granddaddy and Carson's Great-Granddaddy.  He will be greatly missed!!!!  I am sure that Carson won't remember this so I hope that by writing it down he will know that his Great-Granddaddy was the one to give him his first pair of boots!  This was a tradition that started with Brandon and has been carried down.  Brandon has many great memories of growing up with his Granddaddy and since I have been around so long, I have my own list started.  One thing that I appreciated about Granddaddy was his concern for my Pappa.  Granddaddy and Pappa only met once, I believe, but it was like they had known each other forever.  Granddaddy always asked me about him and had genuine concern for him when he was sick.  I can only imagine the stories that they are now sharing!

The thing that I want to remember this month about our little man is all of the funny things he has said.  Being a speech pathologist, I am sooooooo interested in language development and Carson seems to amaze me daily. 

This month....

1. Carson started learning how to sing in a deep voice and a high voice.  He dips his chin in his chest, puffs out his lips, and sings the ABC song.  So...funny!

2.  Using his "deep voice", he came around the corner the other day and said, "Daddy, Tickle Monster coming!"

3.  Yesterday, Carson listened to his "Carson" c.d. at the computer.  I had briefly left the room, and I returned to him blaring out "Jesus Loves Me" saying all of the words perfectly. 

4. Carson has started mimicking everything that we say..some of my favorite new words are "actually" and "probably". 

5.  Carson continues to love mowers, measuring tapes, weed eaters, edgers, cement trucks, front end loaders.  Everytime we are in the car, we are on a constant hunt for these things.  He asks over and over and over, "Where's mowers?"

6.  Carson loves his family and friends...he is constantly asking for different people.  He especially has a love with KK.  We had to call her on Skype the other night.  The two of them made "soup" through the computer.  He just doesn't understand why she can't just come over!  I am so thankful to have a little boy who genuinely loves others. 

So...this month the blessings continue...what a MIGHTY GOD we serve!

 

 

 

 

 

   

If Money Wasn't a Factor...

I would tell you that you must visit the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country.  It is very rare that I will give a place rave reviews, but man this place is fun!  I have told so many of you about our stay that I thought that I would post some pictures so you could see for yourself.  This past weekend, Brandon and I were able to take a take a mini vacation to San Antonio.  This trip had a dual purpose... Brandon had a golf conference, and we never really celebrated our 10th anniversary.  The best part was that most of this vacation was paid for because man this place can get expensive. 

So...if you ever see a Groupon...call me. 

Little man stayed with Mimi and Pop for the three nights we were away.  I missed him dearly, but it was nice to spend some much needed time alone with my husband and my God.  I think time away is one of the best ways to renew our Spirit and our mind.  Brandon and I spent a lot of time being able to dream up ways to serve our Father and share His love to those around us.  Now that we are back home, the real work begins!

Thank you, Mimi and Pop, for taking such good care of our Little Man!  He had a great time!


A look at our room!  If I had to have a picture of a longhorn in our house, this would be the one.  This picture doesn't do it justice!



Here is a look at the scenery around you.  It is located literally out in the middle of nowhere, it seems.  Love it!



This is the smaller kids play area!  Carson would have loved it! 



Each evening, we were able to make smores over the campfire!  Yum!

The slides.  Oh..what fun!  There are two really cool ones and one decent one!  Best part...hardly any lines!

Oh...yes, we rode!  (Many times!)  Brandon will tell you how many times he dunked me on the double tube!

Oh...did I forget that they have a lazy river?  Man, I wish I had one of these!



20 Sweet Months

I feel like time is passing so fast that I am having a hard time soaking in these fun months.  Carson is growing so fast in every way.  I wish I had a tape recorder for each sweet thing he says.  This morning at church he decided he didn't want to go to the nursery so he sat with us.  It has been about a month since he has been in worship service because he just loves to talk.  Well, this morning during the prayer, he was looking around and he said, "mama...sleeping".  He was telling me that the people behind us were all sleeping.  Then, of course, at the end of the prayer he shouted out, "AMEN".  Oh...life in the eyes of a child!  At home, he is repeating everything we say, and he loves trying to say new words.  Some common phrases heard around here are...be patient, I love you toooooo, mama ok?, daddy ok?, mama play, daddy play, go get stool, oh where oh where could the mowers be, snack please, cookies?, graham crackers?, Jamba juice?, treat?, and cartoons?.  I wish I could reflect his inflection in my writing!  Carson is very much into the Sesame Street characters (even though he rarely watches them), mowing, fixing anything and everything, and choo choos. 

Again, I thank God for such a sweet, little boy.  I wish I had even the slightest word to express how much I love him!

I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures this month, but last Monday, we enjoyed a trip to the zoo with daddy.  Oh...what a fun day!  This was really the first time that C LOVED all of the animals.  He said that his favorite was the elephant!

Sandestin 2012

This last week we were blessed with the opportunity to go visit one of our favorite places, Sandestin, FL.  This was Carson's 2nd time to the beach, but I don't think he remembered last year's trip:).  This year, my mom, dad, sister, brother, and sister-in-law joined us for the journey.  This was my parent's and sister's first time to Florida.  We rented a suburban and traveled 14 hours down there and 13 hours back.  My little man was a trooper the whole trip.  Thanks to great friends, we were able to borrow a portable dvd player so he enjoyed watching Elmo and the other "cartoons".  I had packed many zip-lock baggies full of activities to keep him entertained.  He also enjoyed many snacks on the road.  We  also turned his carseat around for the first time, so it was seeing the world from a totally different perspective.  Here are many pictures of our journey!  We wish we were still there!!!



Carson loved digging in the sand and making "soup".




Grandy and C blowing bubbles.

 

Sweet KK and C.  This year the seagrass was the worst we had ever seen.  Typically, the ocean is so clear.  This was our first day at the beach, and the worst seagrass day!

At the Destin Harbor

McGuire's had dollar bills everywhere.  It almost felt like we were in a cave!

Don't know why I think this picture is soooooo funny!

Celebrating Uncle J's 35th birthday for the "first" time!

 

Daddy and Carson enjoying snuggle time and cartoons!

We took a boat ride to seek out dolphins!  Thankfullly, we were able to see several!



Carson on his first train ride!  He is fascinated with trains right now (in addition to lawn mowers)!



Carson dancing the night away with KK.  He put on a show and got an ovation at the end of the song!  Not sure where he gets this from!

Why don't we live here???

  

19 Months-old

19 Months-old: Mr. Inquisitive

Well, I am a little behind in posting this month.  Our internet has been going off sporadically, and it seems that it is always not working when I actually have a chance to post.  The summer is flying by.  We have been blessed to have my sister here for the first part of the summer!  Carson continues to amaze me each day by the things he says and the love he has for everyone.  He is a very loving, sweet boy to everyone he meets.  He is talking up a storm.  I love to hear what he is thinking about.  Yesterday morning, he was singing a little song in his crib that he created..."Oh, where oh where could my mommy be?  Oh, where oh where could she be."  It isn't quite that clear, but we know what he is saying.  His other favorite line is asking "where" different people are..."Where K.K.?".  Along with that, he wants to know "what" people are doing..."What daddy doing?".  He continues to be fascinated with trucks, tractors, and tools.  We have been watching the splash pad go up in our neighborhood.  He has loved watching the process.  We actually were able to go last week, and he had a blast!  We all did.  You will see in the pictures below.  This past month, C has become a little more of a picky eater.  He is using his independence a little more as he continues this toddler stage.  I realize through what I do that it is temporary and will get better.  Just last week, we reduced him to one nap a day.  It is working so far.  He is sleeping later in the mornings and getting a good nap after lunch.  As C gets older, I hope I remember all of these little things.  It is the main reason I write them down.  It is amazing what life looks like through the eyes of a child:)  Now for the pictures!  Enjoy:)



Grandy and Carson playing on the slide.

K.K., Carson, and Grandy

Carson playing in his tent that he got from the Jones'.



Carson loves his blankets!  This one was made my Martha Wright and is especially a favorite.  He also has a fascination with "two".  He asks for two of everything.  So...how many blankets does little man sleep with?  You guessed it.  Two.

Here is Carson participating in his first VBS.  Yes, he was a little young for the 2 year-old class so K.K. tagged along beside to help with some of the tasks.  He loved it!  Now every Sunday he asks for "more puppets". 

Carson giving his best friend, Trinity, a big hug or something like that.

Just look at those smiles:)

Carson and Daddy at the cool new splash pad!

One Cool Dude

K.K, Daddy, and Carson under the mushroom!