5th Birthday

Dear Carter,

Today you turned 5 years old!  It is hard for me to believe that you have been around for 5 years, and sometimes I can't remember what life was like 5 years ago.  I can tell you it sure wasn't as good as it is now!!!  You make our family so happy, and we are beyond blessed to call you our little man!  

You love to get up early, and sneak into my room to steal the ipad.  You will watch your favorite shows on Netflix while Mommy and Daddy sleep in a bit.  You also love to get outside and play any chance you get.  You are obsessed with the weather, and that is the first thing you check in the morning.  You always report to me if it is going to be sunny, cloudy, raining, etc.  You love to play with Kinley, especially chasing and hiding.  You love to watch football with your Daddy, and your favorite team is the Seahawks!  

Today I looked at you and told you I wasn't ready for you to go to Kindergarten next year.  I said maybe I would just keep you home with me.  Your response "Mom, you have to let me go.  There is so much that I have to learn at school."  Sigh, you are wise beyond your years little man!

Thank you for choosing me to be your Mommy Carter.  I could not imagine a more loving, caring, or spunky little boy!!  I love you with all my heart Carter Joseph.  Happy Birthday!!!!

Love, Mommy  

18 Months

Kinley had her 18 month check up today.  And, no big surprise here, but she is perfect!!!

Weight: 22 pounds (10-25%)

Length: 31.9 inches (50-75%)

Look at those numbers!  What a stud she is!!!  She had to get one shot, and she didn't even flinch!  Proud Mommy moment right there.

She is going to have to get surgery to fix her laryngomalacia, which we will probably schedule to have done before we move to Montana in May.  We might be dreading that just a little bit...

Kinley is such a joy to us.  18 months is one of my favorite ages, and I just want to soak up all her goodness.  She is starting to talk a lot, and constantly trying to keep up with Carter.  She stands in the bathroom when she has to go potty and calls me.  If I get her on the potty, she will actually go!  We love you Kinley Grace, you are amazing!!!!  

CHEESE!!!!

Thankful

This year has thrown some curveballs our way.  We have had to deal with some stuff that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but we have survived.  And in the end, we still have what matters the most.  Our little family is such a blessing, and we are strong!  This Thanksgiving I am so thankful for my little family that keeps me going each day.  

Reading

This little girl is something else.  She dumps out all the diapers from the basket, plops her buns down in it, and starts to read a magazine.  There is never a dull moment with tornado around!  Love you little Kinley!!

Halloween

Halloween in Hershey is like nothing I have seen.  It goes on for weeks and weeks.  They open Hershey Park on the weekends, so we were able to take the kids there and have a blast yet again.  They also have a huge parade where the kids racked in the candy by the buckets.  (Pictures were taken, but they were lost on the stinkin card... Grrrr)  You could do something different every night for 2 weeks.  By the time Halloween is finally here, its time for it to be over!  The kids are not going to understand why Halloween is only a day in other place of the country...

This year Carter wanted to be the blue batman.  He loves superheros even though we don't let him watch them on TV at all.  It must just be the a boys blood.  So, I made him the blue batman, and he loved it.  It is still a favorite toy to play with daily.  Kinley had to use a hand me down dragon outfit.  I attached a bow to it so it looked a little more girly.  I was kind of upset that I couldn't get her a frilly, girly outfit at first, but Tim insisted on this.  And, I am glad.  She was so so adorable in it.  And, she only got called a boy a handful of times!

We trick or treated just in our neighborhood and the kids made out!  Seriously, it is crazy the amount of candy they got! 

Happy Halloween for the sweetest place on earth!

Kinleys loot!

  

Corrupted

I love it when I am able to capture pictures like this, on a beautiful day!  With it being fall, I told Tim we were going to go take some pictures of the kids in the leaves.  I had such a fun time capturing their smiles, they were being such hams.  I even got a picture of Carter laying on his tummy, Kinley on his back, and they were both smiling at the camera!!!  Ahhhh, make this Mamma happy!  And then my SD card filled up, so I switched out cards and captured this family photo.  What a successful day!  That is until I got home and tried to download the pictures onto the computer.  It informed me my card was corrupted and could not get any of the pictures off!  My heart dropped.  Not only did I have the wonderful pictures from that day, I also had all my October pictures (all 1,500 of them) on there, including the pumpkin patch adventures and some Halloween fun!

Tim and I have each spent countless hours trying to retrieve the pictures and have been unsuccessful.  So, here is a post to the lost pictures.  Sorry kids, you were sooo cute that day!!!!

Well, about a week after the crashing of my card, I decided that we were going to recreate our perfect picture day.  Unfortunately, our wonderful tree that produced such an amazing backdrop had dropped all the leaves and looked nothing like it had on that day.  So, we were on the hunt for another perfect spot.  By the time we found a place, the kids were cranky and ready to take naps.  So, Carter refused to smile.      

And this is what I got.  Yeah, not what I had imagined.  Tim and I were mad at him at first.  But, looking back, I can do nothing but laugh.  What a crazy life we live. I am glad I was able to capture it in the photos.  And you can be guaranteed when Carter calls me complaining about his kids one day, I will pull these pictures out and laugh right along with him!

When we got home, Carter decided that he felt bad for not smiling, and said he was now willing to smile.  So, I plopped him down in the leaves in the front yard and got these beauties.  Not sure why we drove around town looking for the leaves... 

Riding

One thing Carter learned to do while we were in Colorado was to ride his bike without training wheels!  He watched his cousins riding on 2 wheels, and he was ready to give it a go.  Tim and I have always talked about which one of us would teach him to ride, and which one of us would be the one holding on to the bike before we finally let go.  Well, neither of us go to do it!  Carter just kind of did it himself!  I was so amazed and I know Tim was in total shock when we sent him the video!  Good job Carter, we are so proud of you!!!!

Taking the training wheels off!

There he goes!!!

Why must they grow up so fast?!?

Colorado

Ok, now that is has almost been a month since my last post, I guess I will catch you up on what has been going with us!  

At the beginning of September, I took the kids to Colorado to spend some time with Aunt Nanna.  She recently moved to Colorado Springs, so we wanted to check our her new amazing house.  It was also Aiden's birthday, so that was an extra bonus!  We always have a fun time with Nanna, so it is no surprise that this trip was a blast for the kids and me.

Kinley went on her first plane ride to get to Denver, and I can safely say she is no fun to fly with!  We had to wake up at 4:45 in the morning to get to the airport in time, so I thought for sure she would just sleep on the plane.  Boy was I wrong.  She kept me constantly trying to entertain her for the whole trip.  The first leg of the flight, she cried and screamed for a good 30 minutes while the plane was landing.  The next flight, she stayed awake the whole time, and finally closed her eyes as the plane was landing.  Great timing Kinley.  Carter on the other hand loved flying and was more then happy to just watch movies on the Ipad the whole time.

The day we got in was Aiden's birthday, so we had fun celebrating with him!  During our stay we went to the zoo and did lots of shopping.  We also got to spend some time with Jessica and her boys Bjorn and Anders.  We had never met Anders, so it was nice to finally be able to introduce Kinley to her boyfriend!  You know you have a good friend when you can spend 2 years apart, and within minutes feel like you were together that whole time!

Ian was also kind enough to watch all the kids so Andrea and I could go out to a nice dinner.  We went to the melting pot, and it was amazing.  I am pretty sure I have never eaten that much food, ever!  Thanks Andrea, I wont forget that meal!

In case you are wondering, Kinley was no better on the flight home.  She cried or screamed for much of the 5 hours we were on the planes.  On the finally flight, when we heard the wheel come out for landing, she finally closed her eyes.  Never a dull moment! 

     

Take Two

Carter started his second year of Preschool at the beginning of the month.  He was so excited to get back to it after a long summer.  And, he is going 4 days a week this year, and loving it!!!!  Carter says he still wants to be a policeman, so we will see... :)

Love you little man!!!

Brotherly Love

Melissa surprised the kids and me with a day trip to Philly.  It was so much fun, and such a wonderful opportunity to get to see the city.  Melissa used to live in Philadelphia, so she was an amazing tour guide.  She actually got me to walk the streets in downtown.  We ended up eating a lot through out the day.  Like, a lot...  We started out the day with donuts and pretzels that we found in Reading Terminal Market.  We then walked to go see the Liberty Bell.  And, then we went to get a Philly Cheese Steak from Joe's.  Yummy!  My first real cheese steak and it was so wonderful!!!  Walking back to the car, we realized that we were passing one of the best sushi places, Morimoto, so we stopped in for a second lunch.  Oh boy was it yummy.  Carter wouldn't touch it, but Kinley would not stop eating!  I had to cut her off because she was not sharing with everyone else! :)  

We then drove to IKEA for some retail therapy.  And, then to Whole Foods to cap off our day.

Thank you so much for the wonderful, refreshing day Melissa!!!  You have been an amazing friend to our family during this medical journey.  What a blessing!!!

    

Hershey Park

What an awesome summer we have had playing at Hershey Park.  We got season passes, and it was so worth it!  It is so awesome to be able to go to an amusement park whenever we wanted!  We live about a 5 minute drive from the park, so when ever we got an itch to ride some rides, we were off!  I took the kids a few times a week, either to the water park section, or to just ride some rides.  We also would spend a lot of evenings after Tim got off work closing down the park.  I am so thankful we got to live this close to Hershey Park, and that we were able to use it as much as we did.  Most of our favorite memories from this summer are from Hershey Park.  Tim and I have also enjoyed a few date nights just riding the roller coasters all night long.  Thanks Melissa for watching the kids while we lived it up like young kids!

     

Camping with Old Friends

We had a wonderful time this past weekend camping in Pennsylvania with Rick and Shari and their new baby girl.  Being so far away from home, it is nice to catch up with old friends and reminiscence about the good old days!  Carter loves Rick so much, he actually started calling him his "Best Buddy".  Its cute to see him latch onto someone who means so much to Tim.

We had fun hiking and hanging out on the beach.  Kinley is almost impossible to keep track of at the campsite.  She is so busy, and continues to live up to her nick name Tornado.  

Thank you so much for the great weekend Rick and Shari!!  It was a refreshing time from the chaos at home!!! 

   

End of the World State Park

We took a day adventure to End of the World State Park.  Carter had a blast swimming in the river and fishing.  Kenai also had a wonderful time getting out swimming.  At one point, Carter was floating down the river, and started screaming because he thought Tim could not get him.  Kenai was down river from him, and she started whinnying and barking for him.  She started swimming against the current as fast as she could, until she reached him.  It was a sweet moment, and made us so thankful for the amazing puppy she is for our family.

  

Timmy turns 34!

Wow!  I can't believe Timmy turned 34!  We are actually getting kind of old around here...  When people say time flies, they aren't kidding!  We had a simple celebration for Tim at home after he got off work.  I made him his favorite meal, ribs, for dinner.  And, he got a strawberry pie for dessert.  

Happy birthday Tim.  I hope this year brings wonderful adventures for us, and amazing opportunities!  We love you!!!!

Peachy

Kinley LOVES peach season!  I turn my back, and she has a whole peach in her little hands, munching it down.  If you try to take the peach from her, she will scream until you give it back.  Funny little thing!

Sleepy

Carter had his annual sleep study at the beginning of the month.  We gave him the option to take Mommy or Daddy, and he chose Daddy.  :(  I tried not to act sad about it, but I really wanted to go with him.  As much as I hate sleep studies, I really like being there to support my little guy.  So, I stayed home with Kinley, and I sent the boys out on the adventure.  

Tim said Carter did so well and really enjoyed the night.  I think his favorite part was the fact that they gave him snacks to eat in bed!  When they were all done, Carter kept asking when the next sleep study was, because it was so fun!  Cute little kid!  We sure have come a long ways, when you look back at our first ones we had to do!

  And, staying at home wasn't too bad.  Melissa and I met at the outlet mall and shopped the night away!

Cape Cod

When Melissa said she needed help watching Lilly while she had meetings in Cape Cod, I jumped right on the opportunity for a trip!  I have always wanted to explore Cape Cod, and I am so happy that we were able to go.  I love the ocean, so this place is right up my alley!  We stayed in Chatham at the Chatham Bars Inn.  It was an amazing resort with their own private beach and beautiful pool.  While Melissa was busy in her meetings, I would take the kids out to play on the beach.  Can't beat that!  Since trying to take 3 kids out to a restaurant seemed a bit daunting to me, we ended up doing room service for dinners.  I think I could get used to that!  Carter kept asking when the man was coming to the door to bring him food!  

Thank you so much for the wonderful vacation Melissa!  It was a once in a life time experience, and I am so glad we were able to par take in it!

Boston

Melissa had a wonderful idea to hit up Boston for a quick visit on our way to Cape Cod.  We packed a lunch so we could eat at the park, and we enjoyed walking around a bit.  I really loved this city.  I can not wait to take another trip there and spend some quality time checking everything out.  Thanks for braving the traffic Melissa, I loved it!!!

Potty stop at the Four Seasons.

Anyone remember Make Way for Ducklings?  We found the ducks!

This place is so old!

Parking garage!

Lake Winnipesaukee

The kids and I decided to take a vacation road trip with my dear friend Melissa last week.  It was such a great time!!  Our first stop was her parents lake cabin on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.  We had fun swimming all day and playing in the sand.  It is a rough day when you realize you have spent all day in your swimming suit and are longing on the porch with a beer in your hand!  It was fun to hang out with Melissa after the kids had gone to sleep.  We got to gossip and chit chat just like we were young kids again!  We took a boat ride one day into a cute town to buy ice cream and baked goods!  The girls loved the boat ride so much, that as soon as we got going they were sound asleep.  Kinley actually did not want to wake up even after we had made it back to the cabin.  Cant complain about that!  Carter impressed me so much with his ability to jump off the dock into the water!  He is such a little fish!!  (He did not get that from me...)  I also jumped off the dock, which was quite a feat for me.  I fully expect to see the video on youtube any day down.  

Love It

Nothing can top being a Mom to these two kids!!!  Love them with my whole heart!!!!

New Words

Kinley decided to say "Night Night" to Grandpa on Facetime the other night!  It was so cute!!!  She was in the tub when we were talking to him.  We had to hurry up and say goodbye to him since she started grunting and was threatening to poop in the tub.  But, we made it to the potty!  Good Job Kinley!!!

So Kinley now officially says: Dadda, Mamma, Brother, and Night Night.  She is growing up so fast!

First Party

We had such a wonderful day celebrating Kinley's First Birthday.  Some of our dear friends joined us to celebrate our little lady.  I made Kinley a ladybug cake.  It was so much fun!  And, I am pretty proud of how it turned out!!!  Tim rolled his eyes at me when I told him I wanted to make a cake for her, but he was happy to let me do it since he was on call the day I was going to be making it.  (Apparently I get a little uptight when constructing these cakes...)  I first made her smash cake.  And, I was super proud of how it turned out.  And then I tackled the big cake and it just got even better!  What a fun thing to do!!!  

We had a BBQ with hamburgers and lots of good food.  Tim set up games to play in the yard, and we had fun just hanging out.  Then it was cake time!

Kinley really enjoyed her cake.  I knew from her personality that she was going to get into it and do justice to that ladybug!  Oh boy did she have fun!!!

Thank you to all who helped celebrate our sweet girl!!  What a blessing she is to our family!!!

Canning Season

Whoop whoop! Canning season is here!! The kids and I picked sour cherries on Saturday and came home to can some pie filling. I also put a batch on the dehydrator. Oh yummy!! Today we went and picked blueberries, and I just canned them in juice so I can decide later what I want to make with them. Unfortunately I had my first canning causality. It was so to loose a whole quart of blueberries! :(. Next month peaches start, so we are just warming up the canner!!