Happy Birthday, Carter!

Dear Carter,

Five whole years today! Not only did you turn five today, but I sent you off to school for the first time ever on your birthday....with a cookie cake in hand to share with your friends of course. Not being with me all day on your special day is just a reminder that you aren't a baby anymore. You are in school now! You have places to be and people to see. 

This past year, you have grown leaps and bounds. You started really making friends and becoming such a social little guy. We had numerous friends over for you, and we have gone to many activities for you to be with your buddies. And making friends has really given you such boldness! A boldness that you didn't have before. You started loving things like Vacation Bible School and church choir, and Sunday school because you got to see your buddies. I love that. It's a bittersweet feeling. I am so happy that you are becoming bold and social, but for the first time in your life, you are happy to leave Mama and home. I am thankful, oh so thankful, but there's just a tiny twinge that independence causes in a mama's heart. The first day of school last week, you ran right in and never even told me bye! So proud of you! It is truly amazing how you've grown and matured and how secure you have become this year.

This summer you learned to SWIM! And not only did you learn to swim, you are jumping off the diving board and diving for rings in the shallow end. You are a little fish!

You also started taking taekwondo which has been so hilarious and so great. You really love it, and I see it building your confidence weekly.

You are the big brother in this casa, and you are fulfilling that role with your head held high. You are always making sure Emerson is taken care of, entertained, and constantly giggling at you. And even though you and Coop fight and argue and pester each other, you love him so much, and you look out for him, and you always include him. He is your best buddy, and when you two aren't fighting over the ipad or a light saber or Molly the cat, you have an absolute ball together. The perfect brothers for each other....so different and yet so close.

This year you have started to tell us how much you love us and are constantly giving us compliments, making us art work, and helping me cook dinner and set the table. I can really start to see your manners develop and a sense of other's feelings develop. I can see the Lord beginning to work in your heart and show you how much you need Jesus in order to be kind and selfless. You are really starting to pray with more awareness of your sin and your need for help. And I love the gratitude that permeates your every prayer. Thanking God for the lamps, couches, rainbows, and everything in sight :)

You love Legos, Star Wars, all things things sugary, chocolate milk, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, crafts, drawing, painting, wearing pajamas, taekwondo, shooting guns, your bike and your tractor, anything Ole Miss related, the ipad, your beloved Molly the Cat, and so much more. You are a kiddo of many loves.

I love you, sweet boy. You are my buddy. My first baby. And the vessel through which God has changed me in so many ways.

I am eternally grateful for your life and the past five years. I couldn't be prouder of the way you've grown. How courageous you have striven to be, and how you have learned to lean on Jesus even as a little boy. 

Praying for the best year of life yet for you. 

You are my sunshine.

Love,

Mama

Here is look back your year:

Happy Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!

8 months

Emerson is 8 months old! I don't feel like I've taken 8 of these monthly pictures. She is just as happy and giggly as ever. This month she started reaching for people, hiding her face in my shoulder when she gets shy, wearing a bow, having an opinion about her whereabouts, and has had two more teeth come in for a total of six. Sister is growing up fast! 

First Day of PreK and Swingin'

Today was a big day! Carter started PreK at Regents School of Oxford which a small classical, Christian school. He will go everyday from 8:00-12:00. I can't believe the lazy mornings are over. Saturday mornings are going to be coveted over here now! I haven't had to be somewhere at a certain time every day in five and a half years! I gotta get my tail in gear.

Mondays and Fridays are P.E. days, so he got to wear his P.E. uniform with his new "Ole Miss shoes" as he calls them. Perfect! Always helps make the first day go smoothly when you feel like you look super cool. 

He had a fantastic first day. Praise the Lord! You just never know how new adjustments will go, do you? But thankfully, he ran right in, hung his bag up, and didn't even tell my goodbye! When I picked him up, he was smiling from ear to ear. So thankful. Let me tell you, I had that baby covered in prayer from head to toe!

I asked him to tell me all about it when he got in the car, and he said, "I only want to tell you a few things, Mama, not everything. And I'll tell you when we get home, not right now." Haha! What a little stinker! I got a few things out of him in the car, but when we got home, he told me they learned about God, went to P.E. where they jumped rope with pretend jump ropes, his friend Bo from his school last year sits by him at his table, and that his favorite part of the day was playing Star Wars on the playground with Cooper and Henry. Oh and that he got a cookie for being so good. Way more detail than I expected! I'll take what I can get.

Coop, Emerson, and I didn't know what to do with ourselves, so we headed to the park for some swingin'. I think Coop liked the special attention, but I could tell he missed Carter and didn't quite know how to act without his sidekick.

I absolutely love this pic of Sister. She is going to have to be a trooper in the car as we go back and forth from two different schools over the next 10 months! I have no doubt she will do just fine. Sweet baby girl hardly ever makes a peep.

Here's to a great school year! Whoop!

Star Wars Party!

We celebrated Carters' 5th birthday Saturday with a Star Wars Lego party. And boy oh boy did he ever have a blast! He felt like the coolest kid on the planet. And I loved every minute of it. Birthdays are such a fun way to make a kiddo feel special and celebrated. In my opinion this little boy deserves some celebrating! What a fun five years it's been!

We made light sabers out of noodles and shiny duct tape. They were the hit of the party! All those kiddos ran around eating swirl lollipops and whacking each other on the head with those light sabers. Ha! So fun.

A sweet lady in Oxford made his cake. I thought it turned out so cute. 

I wish I had a picture of his face while we were singing. He had this shy little grin and kept looking at me then looking back and everyone singing. Priceless.

Emerson was eating her bottle so she missed out on this pic. I knew better than to take her bottle away for a picture.

But no worries, she was there...charming everyone of course.

I think they were ready to dig into that cake! He has such a great group of buddies.

Carter and his sweet friend who dressed up for the occasion.

Another birthday party in the books! Hard to believe my buddy is five whole years old. He is such a joy, and we loved celebrating his little life. Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!!!

Coop can swim too!

Our little Coop Coop has suddenly become a little fish too! The other day a friend of mine was over and wanted the boys to show her how they could swim. I told her Coop hasn't quite learned yet. So we went next door and lo and behold, he jumped in the water and started swimming! Not even kidding! He just did it and now he's jumping off the side and swimming all over the place! 

Carter got a BB gun as you know when he learned to swim...we are not above a bribe/reward over here! So when we asked Coop what he wanted, he said CANDY! Haha! We tried to talk him into something better, but he insisted on candy. Such a little boy decision. So Joel took him to Walmart and bought him a loot of candy. He was especially happy about these tic tacs. So proud of him for learning to swim! Two kiddos down, one to go! 

I rock my kids every single night before bed. Always have and will continue to as long as they will let me. I rock the boys together since they sleep in the same room, and this night E wouldn't let me put her down, so I rocked all three at the same time :) What's funny is I usually sing three or four songs and say a prayer, but this night, they were trying to impress Emerson and my voice was going away, so the boys sang the songs.  Loved it! Blessed mama over here.

In other news, Emerson has enough hair for a bow!!! Look that those teeth :)

Who's face is funnier? Mine or Emerson's? Hahaha! The things we do to get a smile.

And last but not least, we had back to school night Thursday. Overwhelming. How am I going to remember all that info? Carter is so excited!! Praying he stays excited and loves it and has an awesome year.