Carter 8 months.

First of all, two posts in one night!  Impressed?  You should be!  Andy is flying so I actually have access to a computer! (mine only works if its connected to the Internet via a cable, which can only be reached if it is on the floor of our bedroom.  Therefore, to use the computer I, too, must also be on the floor...on my stomach because the cord isn't long enough for the computer to be on my lap...complaining?!  perhaps ;)   Second, I have four loads of clean laundry I am avoiding along with a sink full of dirty dishes.  You get the picture =)
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Carter, you turned 8 months this week!

You weigh 21 pounds.   You wear size 12 and 18 month clothes and I often wonder if you will ever stop growing so quickly! Soon you will be as big as your sister ;)

You continue to be a ray of sunshine in our house!  You have changed a lot the last few months.  In your 6th month you started eating solid food.  You are a pretty picky eater and won't eat anything green.  You really only tolerate a few things: prunes, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, apples, and oatmeal.  Do you see a trend?!  Eventually you will have to eat some more vegetables!  You nurse every 4 hours during the day.  You take a bottle without issue, which is such a relief to this mama!




You began rolling from back to belly late in your sixth month and began really rolling everywhere in your seventh month.  You now go from one end of the room to the other!  You also began sleeping on your tummy once you began to roll over.

You can sit up on your own now, but you have yet to figure out how to get from sitting to your belly/back gracefully.  You fall over rather hard and have several bruises on your head to prove it!  You put anything you can find in your mouth and drool like crazy! There are two teeth just about to pop through your bottom gums!  I can't imagine what your grin is going to look like with teeth in there!  Speaking of your grin, you smile ALL OF THE TIME!  It is cute to hear strangers excitedly comment "ohhh, he smiled at me!".  I don't bother to tell them that you pretty much smile at anyone and everything! ha.

45 

You ALWAYS wake up this happy!

You sleep pretty well. You take 2 naps a day ranging from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours.  On occasion you need a third nap around dinner time if your naps were short that day.  Some nights you sleep straight through and other nights you wake up once (anywhere from 3-5am).  I nurse you for a few minutes and you snuggle right back in for more sleep.  You really are a sweet little snuggler!  I can hardly get enough of it!  You melt my heart over and over each time you press your face into my chest.  I hope you always stay such a sweet boy!

I can't stop taking pictures of you when you sleep
snuggled up on my chest.  This is my most favorite
thing in the whole world.

You still adore your sister!  (and she adores you!).  The two of you have started "playing" together a little bit the past few weeks and it is great fun to watch.  She gets a little rough with you at times, like trying to pull you across the room or giving you an eye or mouth exam when she is pretending to be your doctor!  However, she hasn't hurt you too badly (yet) and even when I have to give her a hard time for being too rough, you are typically giggling the entire time!  You sit up in a big boy seat in the tub now and that has transformed bath time into on of your favorite activities.

We love you, sweet boy, and have so much fun watching you grow!  It is already hard for me to remember what our life was like before you joined our family!  You are such a special blessing!

fun with the Canadians!

We had our first non-family visitors last week!  It was super exciting because we weren't sure when we would get to see the Steinforts since they moved to Canada.  I guess I should explain the friendship from the beginning - Andy first met Emily and Race while in college in Colorado, I came into the  friendship while we all lived in Charleston, (we spent 6 years together there and they had Molly Paige and we had Olivia), then they moved to California!  It was a sad goodbye 2.5 years ago, but even the Air Force can't keep good friends from finding ways to visit each other!

The Steinforts now live in Canada (what a geography lesson, huh?!), but they were on their way to Texas so they stopped to see us in Oklahoma!   haha.  Sorry for all of that.  I just got started with the state naming and I couldn't quit!  However, it does go to show that true friendships will last no matter where you live!

We spent Friday morning at the park:

We spent Friday afternoon playing in the backyard and enjoying several pitchers of margaritas!

mmmmmm!

Emily trying to teach Olivia to do "popcorn" on the trampoline

I had lots of help gardening!

We went out to dinner Friday night.....

and had a "till next time" type of goodbye on Saturday morning (after pancakes, of course!)...

We are so thankful for Emily and Molly Paige being able to stop by for a quick visit! Perhaps the Air Force will let us all live in the same place again.  Until then, we will continue chasing each other from state to state and country to country to keep our friendship going!

(almost) wordless Wednesday.

story time!  such a great big sister.

loving daddy's hat.

mmmm, toes!

shopping for mommy's garden.  wonder how
much the girl in the pink pants costs?

nothing better in the world....

naps are always better when you sneak out of bed and
put your pink tutu on.  I hear it helps you sleep better!

Saturday morning - someone is ready for the day,
and someone is not ;)

extreme swinging.

Things get a little wild when bis sister is the one pushing the baby swing!

p.s. Please disregard our terrible looking yard!  We had the weeds sprayed, and although the desired result was obtained (they died), we now have entire sections with nothing but dirt and dead weeds.  We didn't realize the grass was so sparse in places.  Needless to say, the yard needs some TLC!  It is driving me nuts!

wordless Wednesday.

of the iPhone variety.

in Olivia's words...

All words that have came from Olivia's mouth the past few weeks.....quoted word for word (I write them down as they happen because they make me laugh so much!)

O: Mommy, you are so sweet to give me a drink of your water.

O: Mommy, you have a brother and his name is Baby Levi.  And your mommy's name is Dora.  Your daddy's name is Andy.

O: Mommy, we need to clean up this mess!
OR
O: Mommy, who made this mess? 

Daddy: Hi, Olivia.  Are you cooking in your kitchen?
O: No, I'm just over here pooping!

O:  Mama, I have to go poop.
Me: Okay, let's try and go in the potty.
O: Nah, how about we try and go in my diaper.

Me: Olivia, I washed your red bappy for you.
O: So it doesn't stink anymore? (it had milk spilled on it)
Me: Nope, its fresh and clean now!
O: -runs and hugs my leg "You are such a great mommy!"

O: Mommy, are you wearing a dress?
Me: Yes, I am wearing it for my date with Daddy tonight.
O: Make it spin, Mommy!  Twirl around so I can see it spin!
--I twirl around the bedroom--
O: Wow, Mommy, that was so beautiful! 
haha....her measuring stick for "beauty" is all about whether a dress can twirl or not!

Me: Night-night Olivia.  I love you.
O: Night-night, Mommy.  I'm won't be scared tonight.  I know that God is with me. 
---this seriously brought tears to my eyes!  My prayers of her knowing and feeling God's love are being answered!--

--Carter was crying in the other room and Olivia stops what she is doing and hollers:
O: Carter I'm coming, sweet boy!  No crying!  Olivia is coming!  --arrives by his side. "No more tears, Carter.  Olivia is here.  Why are you sad?"

Easter 2012

We were able to go to Oklahoma City and spend Easter with my sister and her family this year!  Olivia was SO excited to see her cousins!  She talks about them every single day, and nothing makes her smile bigger than me telling her we are going to "Eli, Drew, & Jordan's house"!!

We've also started calling Olivia our little Evangelist because she was so excited about the Easter story that she told everyone all about it all day long!  She just couldn't hold back her excitement in telling about "rolling back the stone", "the empty tomb", and that "Jesus is alive!"  It made my heart so happy to hear her talking about Jesus!

dying Easter eggs

the big egg hunt before church!

Olivia, Jordan, Eli, Carter, Drew (from L to R)

love!

enjoying the Easter feast Aunt Cathy prepared.

The week before Easter, the Easter bunny also made an appearance at Andy's work party/egg hunt.  Let's just say Olivia was not a fan ;)  Look at the death grip she has on her daddy's collar!  Poor thing.  She was excited to go see the Easter bunny, but then when he appeared she freaked out.  I asked her what was wrong and she said "Mommy, I thought the bunny was small!".  The poor girl thought we were going to see a real bunny!  I felt bad for not explaining it better.  She had a good time looking for eggs though! 

Holding her brother up is hard work! ha.  This was
snapped just before she let him go and he tumbled
forward off the step!  Ahhh, good thing my reflexes were
fast and I caught him before his head smacked the wood floor.

wordless Wednesday.