Happy Birthday Carter!

Today my oldest turns 4 years old!! It is amazing how much he has changed and grown in those four short years. I can't imagine life without my boys and feel very blessed to add another one to the mix this summer!

Here are some things about Carter at 4 years old that we want to remember:

• He is such a little helper. He wants to help me do everything. Although this can be exhausting, I will take advantage as long as I can! :) He just finished helping me make a special lunch for his birthday.
• He is so tender-hearted. He is easily upset and can cry over hurt feelings VERY easily.
• He loves being at home. He would rather be home playing than just about any where else. He has recently started enjoying playing board games and asks to play them all day long.
• He loves Seth and is pretty protective of him. Even though Seth drives him crazy at times, he is always willing to help him and play with him.
• He loves going to preschool and church. He calls preschool days his best days!

We plan on bowling this afternoon and eating together as family to celebrate. It should be a fun day!

My sweet boy on the day after he was born! (2005)

First birthday! (2006)

Almost two years old and holding his new baby brother! (2007)

Third birthday! (2008)

This morning after he got his birthday present! He loves his new bike! (2009)

Riding inside because it is raining outside!

Party Time Again!

This weekend we had a family birthday party to celebrate both of the boys' birthdays. They had so much fun seeing almost all of their family. They were especially excited to have their cousins, Ella Ann and Rane, staying at their house all weekend. This was the first time we have seen Rane (he was born January 9th). He is such a cutie and we all loved loving on him all weekend. What a good baby! I am praying that our 3rd little one takes after him! :)

The boys wanted to hold Rane as soon as he got there. They both did a good job but needed some help. Excuse Seth and his lack of pants. He has decided that wearing clothes is extremely overrated!

Nana, Papa, Uncle Spencer, Aunt Katie, Uncle Craig, Aunt Kasey, Ella Ann, and Rane all arrived at our house on Friday afternoon. We spent all day Saturday surrounded by lots of family. My extended family came down in the morning to see Spencer and Katie and their kids since they don't get to see them very often. Zach's mom and dad, known as Grandma and Grandpa at our house, came in the afternoon for the birthday party. They also had Carter and Seth's cousin, Dylan, with them. We all had a great time, but we were exhausted after the party!

The boys had a sports balls themed party. That is their favorite thing to do so I took advantage of their common love of balls! We had plenty of balloons, a yummy football cake, and lots of good food. Seth is trying to get a head start on the cake here with Aunt Kasey.

Between Christmas and his birthday, Seth has mastered opening gifts by himself. He loves it!

They got matching firefighter dress up sets. They love them and have already worn them several times.

Seth got his own big chair. He keeps pointing at it and saying "my big chair". Now maybe he'll leave Carter's alone...

Both of the boys acting a little embarassed while we sing Happy Birthday. Seth has his tongue out, which is what he does when he is shy or embarassed. :)

Blowing out the two sets of candles together!

They both LOVE cake!

Carter loves his new leap frog toys. He plays both of them all the time!

Trying to get a picture of the kids after church. They weren't too interested in picture taking and I finally bribed them into getting this halfway decent picture. Poor little Rane is not happy!

Seth wanted to hold Rane all weekend. He loved on him so much!! He'll be a great big brother!

It was a great weekend! Thank you everyone for coming and celebrating my boys' second and fourth birthdays! What a fun time with all our family!!

Party Time!

Last week we celebrated Carter's 4th birthday with his first friend birthday party (in the past we have only celebrated with family). Carter and his friend, Jackson, had a joint birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. They had SO much fun! We limited the guest list to their preschool class and almost every one was able to come. Carter had been anticipating this party for weeks! He had been planning his pirate party since summer 2008. It has definitely been a long time coming!






Carter with his pirate cake. He has asked for this cake since last summer. It is always on display at Publix and he usually asks about it every week. I could not even think about getting him any other cake. :)

Carter and Jackson blowing out their candles!

Seth eating the yummy birthday cake!

Carter getting his birthday medal from Chuck-e-Cheese. He is so proud of his medal!

Jackson and Carter playing air hockey.

Seth LOVES Chuck-E-Cheese! We had a hard time keeping track of him. He would run off and be across the room taking someone else's tokens before we turned around. Needless to say, he enjoyed Carter's birthday party as much as Carter did! :)

Carter opening his gifts from all his friends!

Happy Birthday Seth!

My sweet baby turns 2 today! It is amazing how quickly he has grown up and changed into a little big boy instead of a baby. :) Here are some things we love about Seth right now:

• He is so much fun to play with and I love watching Seth and Carter grow closer every day. They play so well together (most of the time).
• Seth talks more and more every day. He just recently started putting some words together to make sentences.
• He loves to give squeezes and can be a big cuddle bug right before his bedtime.
• He asks for Carter all day on Tuesday and Thursday when Carter is at preschool. He gets so excited when we pull into the car rider line to pick up Carter.
• He loves any kind of sweet treat. He can hear a wrapper 2 rooms away and comes running. He loves cake and cookies and asks for a bite from everyone in the room.

I guess he can enjoy a few more months as the baby of the family before our new little one arrives in July. He will be a great big brother!

Seth on the day he was born!

Brothers!

Seth at his first birthday party!

Opening his presents this morning.

Mixing up cookie dough this morning to make Seth a cookie cake - the boys love to help in the kitchen!