Our Precious Blessings: 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.