Happy Birthday Carter Michael!!

Happy, happy fourth birthday to our little man!! We love you more than you'll ever know!!

I'm sitting here in disbelief that you are four years old...it seems like just yesterday we were anticipating your birth, yet when I try to remember what life was like before you were here I just can't seem to remember. You are everything we hoped for and so much more.

You have grown up so much this past year. You are very tall for your age, a good head above most of your friends. You are so handsome with your beautiful blue eyes and your awesome head of blond hair. As you've always been, you are lean yet solid...to the point I can hardly pick you up any more. You are still the world's best snuggler and I hope that never stops! (Although it will be a beautiful thing when you decide to stay in your own bed all night long and quit sneaking into ours...)

You have the most tender and caring heart I've ever known. You love your family with everything in you and are always looking out for the best for others. You are an amazing big brother - you adore your sister and take such great care of her. So many times when she is messing in your things or getting in the middle of what you're doing (times when I would be irritated and frustrated with her if I were in your shoes), you are patient and loving with her. The times when she hits you for no reason, you sit there, never laying a hand on her. You are patient and kind and have taught me so much about loving others.

You love to learn. You work hard at everything you do. Several times your sweet teacher, Mrs. Julie, has told me that you were upset with her because she made you stop working on a project before you were finished because you were working so hard on it but all the other kids had finished theirs long before. You have an attention to detail that is nothing short of amazing. And you have such great manners - recently you went with some friends to play after school while mommy had a meeting. When I came to get you, all the moms were bragging on how great you were. You sat still, ate all your lunch, said please and thank you, and did everything they asked you to. Oh Carter, you make us so proud.

You have really grown in your faith this year too. You love Jesus and ask the most thought-provoking questions that just make my heart melt. You have a faith that trusts even when things seem impossible and you find such joy in praying about something and then seeing how God responds. Watching you grow into a young man of God is one of the greatest joys we have as your parents.

You still love your trains but have broadened your horizons this year to legos, Cars, tractors and Spiderman. You love to read and work on puzzles. It's not unusual to sit at the table for hours working on a 200+ piece puzzle. You have been taking gymnastics (it's a combination gymnastics/karate class) and love it. You also love to run and play outside and have recently developed a love for baseball and basketball.

You are the most amazing young man and we are so very blessed to serve as your parents. Thank you for the grace you extend us when we mess up and for the love you lavish us with that never ends. You are such a special boy and we love you with everything in us. I will wrap up this post with a story from last week that tells of your selflessness:

You developed a pretty bad case of bronchitis last week and we ended up at the doctor. You had to get a steroid shot, which you did not want, but were brave enough to take. You were upset after the shot because it hurt, and the more you cried the more you coughed. I let you cry for a minute or two, then it was time to get our stuff gathered and head out. You composed yourself enough to leave, and as we made it to the waiting room, Campbell decided to climb into one of the chairs and stay a while. After telling her to come on several times, I grabbed your hand and started walking away (please note: I would not have left her there!) saying "Come on bud, we're leaving. See you later, sis!" You stopped dead in your tracks and started sobbing, begging your sister to come along so she wouldn't be there alone. You were so concerned about her well-being, despite being so sick and hurting from a big-boy shot. It broke my heart that you thought I was going to leave her (parenting lessons from a three year old...we get them quite often) but was overjoyed with your concern for her. You always put others ahead of yourself, just as Christ modeled for us.

We love you, handsome! Happy, happy birthday Carter Michael!!!

Happy Birthday Campbell Grace!

It is hard to believe that our baby girl is turning 2!! Happy Birthday Campbell Grace! (And happy St. Patrick's day to the rest of you...)

Mommy and Daddy love you more than life itself and can't imagine what our lives would be like without you. Campbell, each day you remind us that God's plan is so much greater than our own.

You surprised us with an early delivery and were so very, very tiny. At 5.7 pounds, you were the smallest baby I had ever seen. I remember wondering if you would ever fill out your preemie outfits. Now at two years old, you are still a little lady, but you are growing so quickly we can hardly believe it.

What started out as a calm and laid back nature has evolved into a young lady that knows what she wants and will do what she wants when she is ready, not a moment sooner. You did not start walking until a week before you were 18 months and once you decided you were ready, there was no stopping you. You've been the same way with talking...you understand everything and can communicate quite clearly, you just rarely choose to use words. But when you do, you are so articulate. You are quite opinionated, especially when it comes to getting dressed. We will go through multiple options each morning before you agree to something, then the same goes with shoes and bows. I love that you know what you want and will stick to your will until you find it...I'm believing that will pay off down the road when peers are pressuring you into things you know aren't the right things for you.


You love life and find joy in almost everything...until you get frustrated about something and then watch out! But as soon as the temper-tantrum starts, it is over and you're back to our sweet baby girl. You love, love, love puppies and adore your baby. Or as you say "BAAAAAABY". You think your brother hung the moon and want to do everything with him. We love watching you two together - it makes us happier than you'll ever know that you two are developing such a loving relationship. Your daddy is most definitely your hero. Any time you see a phone you hold your hand to your ear and say "i daddy" (hi daddy)...that's your way of asking me to call him so you can talk to him. Any time you see any item of daddy's around the house you say "at's daddy" (that's daddy's). I love nothing more than picking you up from Mother's Day Out or LifeKIDS and watching you see me, drop everything and come running to the door yelling "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

We pray God's blessings over you and his plans for your life. We know they are great and many. We are honored to serve as your parents - it's a role we do not take lightly. Happy, happy birthday to our precious daughter. We love you so.

Enjoying the sun!

We are quite thrilled that Spring is finally giving us glimpses! It rained and rained all day Monday, but today was beautiful! (Minus the wind...) Over the weekend we bought a new camera and are having a lot of fun figuring it out. Here are a few ones of the kids today.

Campbell has discovered the art of blowing bubbles. Nine times out of ten she isn't successful, but that one time makes all the other less successful times worth it. She entertained herself for such a long time this afternoon. She is growing up too fast...

And speaking of growing up too fast...who is this young man and what did he do with my little boy?!

Any given Sunday...

Sundays at our house are normally pretty low-key, playing catch up or spending time with family. Recently my sister, Robyn, came to play with the kids and join us for dinner. Here are a few pictures of the fun:

Robyn is the artist in our family, so Carter always has fun with her. This day they were using Carter's new art set to create some lovely pictures. And as you see, his new bike helmet was protecting his head the whole time. He got a scooter for Christmas from my parents and they got him a helmet to go with it. Mom bought a size 5, thinking he'd have room to grow into it. Not so much...we couldn't even get it on his head! So she exchanged it for a helmet for an 8 year old. I'm sure it's cause he gets his brains from him Mom! Ha! He's been wanting to wear the helmet in the car lately. I can only imagine what people are thinking as they pull up next to us...

While they were working on the masterpieces, Matt was tightening up the legs on our kitchen table which were starting to wobble. Campbell, not wanting her Daddy to miss anything, was right there helping him out.

After she was sure he had everything under control she decided to kick back on the floor and start singing. She has been doing this a lot lately - laying down with her feet in the air just having a ball. It cracks me up every time! I think this picture is so cute and perfectly captures our little lady. She has really developed so much personality the last few months. Our once passive and laid back gal is now quite spunky and so funny. I'm not sure what we ever did without her!

Cherishing the moment...

So I'm sitting at the computer doing my best to get caught up on the never ending piles of paperwork. The house is silent, both kids are taking naps after a fun morning at the Science Museum with Aunt Brookie, Cousin Chesney (today's her first birthday...Happy Birthday Chesney!) and Gran.

A few moments ago I hear the swoosh-swoosh-swoosh of movement down the stairs and my sweet little boy appears and asks if he can sit in my lap. I clear the way and let him climb up. In no time he is asleep again. He's hot and sweaty, and truth be told, the boy I will always picture in my mind as a baby hardly fits in my lap anymore. Instead of thinking about how uncomfortable I am and he must be, though, I'm choosing to cherish this moment. Because my sweet boy is sound asleep in my lap and I know moments like this won't happen much longer. Carter Michael - I love you more than life.

Please excuse the mess in the background...I told you I was working on it!