Happy Friday!!! & Happy Weekend!!!

#fatbaby

I mean, who doesn't love Chick-Fil-A's waffle fries?

Hang in there!

Does you week have you feeling like this? Well, it's Wednesday! So you're halfway! Hang in there!

(Isn't she just an angel?)

Wrenn's Baby

When we sat baby Oakley (the kiddos' first cousin) in Wrenn's lap, the girl about lost her mind. She loves him. She laughs and smiles when she sees him. And she tries her hardest to get to him. I'm pretty sure #fatbaby just wants to eat him, but just look how happy she is. And how adorable they both are. At just 5 months apart, I'm sure these two are going to make a lot of memories!

Wrenn, Can You Say Dada?

(We're on vacation this week!!!! But I have a few posts scheduled out this week for you. Enjoy! )

Wrenn started saying "dada" the past few weeks. It's been hilarious watching Christopher try to capture it on video. He's so excited and wants to share it on Facebook. But every time he starts recording, she stops. And as soon as he stops trying, she says it.  LOL

Dancing the Night Away

We went to a friend's anniversary party last weekend. It was kid-friendly so we drug the kids along complete with cards, iPads, and other things to keep them busy. Those things were not necessary because my kids were the life of the party. They stayed on the dance floor. It was so awesome dancing the night away with them; we had the best time.

(Meanwhile, the baby was being passed from stranger to stranger, dancing, and getting fed watermelon!)

Wrenn's Doll

Wrenn was given this baby doll at Christmas, but it's been sitting in the rocking chair in her room. I handed the doll to Wrenn the other day while she was on the changing table. She grabbed the dolly by her pigtails, looked at her, and laughed! Then she kept looking at her, talking to her, laughing, and kissing her.

When I was telling someone at work how much Wrenn likes dolls, they told me she'd make a good mama. <3

Carter's Birthday Surprise

I love discovering new things about the boys and their personalities and character traits through behaviors. When I asked Landon what he wanted to do for his birthday with his friends, he gave me this long list of friends and had these grand party plans, including lots of specific details (ahem, like his mother).  Carter, on the other hand, gave me the names of two boys and wanted to go see a movie and have a sleepover. Simple, quiet, and low-key (like his daddy).

One of the boys wasn't able to make it so his birthday fun consisted of one really good friend and Carter was completely happy with that. The original plan was to take them to the movies to see Inside Out and have the boy sleep over.

Then I started thinking...  We got tickets to the Carolina Railhawks soccer game instead! I sent a message to the Railhawks on Twitter asking if they could do anything special for my birthday boy, which resulted in them allowing us to sit on the team bench during warm-ups!!! We didn't tell Carter our plans until we actually pulled in! The funny thing was that he was bummed for a second about not going to see the movie (!!!!!), but after I explained that we would still go see Inside Out soon, he was excited!

He loved watching the guys warm up (FROM THE TEAM BENCH!!!!!) and even got high-fives from some of them, including the goalie!

He had fun watching the game and we won 3-2! And Carter's favorite soccer player, Messi may have been replaced by a new fave...NACHO!!!

His friend slept over and they had some fun the next morning playing cars, doctor, and shooters. #boys

Don't let me forget...I have to get him to the movies soon to see Inside Out!!!

 

Hey Little Ladybug!

Carter's Day

Per the usual, Carter woke up to a floor full of balloons and a room full of streamers for his 6th birthday! I hope the kids always remember that fondly (and do it for their kids!).

We looked at his birth announcement and tiny little footprints together. He had lots of questions about my pregnancy, his birth, and him as a baby. I thoroughly enjoyed thinking back on Carter as a baby and having this conversation with him. He was such an angel as a baby.

I made him his favorite breakfast, orange rolls. I personally think everyone should start their birthday with a candle in their favorite breakfast. 

He has been wanting a Paw Patrol play set for such a long time. Every time we go to Target, he takes his money, walks over to this play set, and I have to break the news that he doesn't have enough money. He usually ends up buying a movie instead of saving his money up so that he can buy it the next time. So we bought it for him for his birthday and his reaction was everything we thought it would be! 

Also, big brother is very much into Pokemon (not just collecting, but actually playing the cards). So naturally, Carter has been wanting his own Pokemon cards. We took it a step further and got him his very own Pokemon binder too! Landon drew the most awesome Pikachu cover for it. Carter was over the moon happy. I've seen him carefully organize and reorganize his cards multiple times since getting his binder.

He got to choose how we spent the day. First, lunch at Bojangles. Yup. Bojangles. The kid doesn't like Bojangles. But it has this cool mysterious vibe because we never go there because it's too spicy for me (and for him when we went one other time in their lives). So we went. He ate lots of fries with the yummy seasoning all over them. And maybe two bites of a chicken tender. Whatever. It's your birthday, man. 

Then we had an awesome afternoon at Pullen Park. They rode the carousel and kiddie boats. We walked around the pond watching the geese and ducks. They played on the fun playground equipment. And we rode the train around the park. It's such a great park - highly, highly recommend you go if you live anywhere near the Raleigh area. It's got a cool history and was the first public park in NC.

We had a great day celebrating our Carter Bear turning 6!!!

Read about Carter at 6 years old here, our family birthday celebration here, and details about his friend birthday celebration to come...

Pastor Carter

Carter Bear really enjoys reading his Bible. I catch him with his nose in it often. While we were in Christopher's childhood church last weekend for a family gathering, Carter called me into the sanctuary so he could give me a sermon on Daniel. Do we have a future pastor here?

Date In the Woods

While in VA for the 4th of July, the Mister and I took some time to go four-wheeling on his parents' farm alone. I love the feeling of fresh, farm air on my face and whipping through my hair in the quiet and empty woods. I wrapped my arms tight around my man as we felt free for those few moments alone. We stopped to pick and eat wild blackberries and take selfies. We chatted away the whole time about lots of different topics. It may have only been a 30-minute retreat, but always wonderful for our souls.