Today

Today I woke up at 6:00 with a little nose pressed against mine and a tiny voice saying, “Mommmeeee…I was sleepin’ in my bed and woke up and can’t find my panties.”

Today Carter said his first sentence. I was in the bedroom and heard him cry out and then the sound of pounding feet. When he got to me, he looked up at me and said, “Zha zha…poosh…me.” [Translation: Hannah pushed me.] He even put his little hand on his chest and pushed himself to make sure I understood. Of course, Hannah denied it, but I suspected that what really went down was Carter pushed Hannah and she retaliated. So I made a big deal of telling both of them not to push each other. (See how long that lasts!)

Today I made amends with a dear friend and told her how much I care about her. True friends are too hard to find to let something so ridiculous come between us.

Today I took my children to the store and they acted like little angels. Unlike the last time we were there, when they ran around like wild animals. Guess that little “understanding” we came to the last time really made a difference!

No doubt about it…

As I was going through some old photos last weekend, I found these. It’s almost scary how much this little girl favors Hannah:

 

It’s unbelievable that my daughter looks so much like me at her age. Guess we know what she has to look “forward” to!

Another thing that strikes me in these pictures is the bond between my daddy and me. Look at him…in the floor doing “exercises” with me after a long day’s work. (Notice how he still has his boots on.) I see this same bond between Pop and Hannah. Those two are like peas and carrots. What a lucky little lady to have so many people to love her and spoil her. We are SO blessed!

He’s a big boy now.

It’s official – Carter is now a big boy with a “big boy” haircut! Hannah and I took him to the barber shop yesterday to get his first haircut. He looked so “growny” sitting up in that barber’s chair…

He was a little unsure of the snippers at first, but his big sister did such a good job of distracting him with a water bottle and her big sister chatter.

 

When he got really antsy, I gave him my cell phone and he pretended to call Pop. After a few minutes, my phone rang – and it was Pop. Turns out Carter had really called him!

I was so proud of both of my babies – they behaved like little angels in the barber shop (wonder if my threats had anything to do with it?).

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In other news – today is my birthday, and Hannah has had a ball with it. She’s sang her little song over and over…

Guess what I heard from a little birdie – Mama is turning 30…

Of course, she had a little help from her daddy on that one.

She picked out the prettiest necklace for me – it has two gold hearts that say “mother” and “daughter.” Jason said she picked it out all by herself and said, “Mama needs this one. It has a heart for me and one for her.”

I also got a Tom Tom – I just LOVE gadgets!!

The kids helped Mama decorate my cake, and it turned out SO cute. Then they piled 30 candles on there. I thought we were going to need the fire department to get them all put out, but the kiddos helped me get the job done.

So now I’m no longer in my 20’s. A little bittersweet for me, but I’m looking forward to many more special moments and memories yet to come.

Backtracking…

Wanted to share a few pics from Christmas:

 

Carter helping Daddy put his new fire truck together.

 

 

Even though this isn’t the cutest expression of hers, I wanted to share this to show how Hannah was decked out on Christmas Eve. She’s wearing her most favorite Rudolph shirt (the one I couldn’t get off of her for longer than a day at a time) and her reindeer antlers she made at school.

 

The tractor Santa brought to Carter is a tad too big for his short little legs but just right for my short ones. So Carter and I made “arrangements” for him to ride his tractor. If he got points for ambition and effort, though, he’d be tractoring all over the place!

By the way – his shirt says “It hurts to be this handsome” :)

 

Hannah’s big gift from Santa was this “real” horse that she immediately named “Ornament.”

Carter has become such a little chatterbox. His thing right now is to recount our mini-fireworks-extravaganza from Thursday night. You wouldn't know it by the way he talks about it now, but he wasn't a big fan of the fireworks. He watched his daddy and Josh light the fuse and then trembled as he watched it go up. By the time the "boom" came, his head was buried in my shoulder. I think he may have actually seen the "boom" once or twice.

Anyway...here's a little clip of our dinner conversation. I tried to translate as we went, but he threw me off at the end. See if YOU can guess what he's saying...

Give up?

He's saying "Santa Claus" and "ho ho ho" and "Merry Christmas." (It took me watching this about 3 times before I figured it out, and I speak fluent "Carter-ese".

The way he talks is so funny -- one word at a time -- over and over -- until you repeat it back to him. I guess that way he knows you got it. Even though his vocabulary is pretty limited, he's quite adept at getting you to understand him. Hand signals and full body language is helpful, too.

Christmas and New Year's was wonderful for our family. Everybody was healthy, and we got more than we possibly needed. I even put some of the kids' toys up (on top of the china cabinet), and I'll pull 'em down in a few months when they're tired of the rest of them.

Hannah's favorite gifts were "little miss pet shop" toys; a big Radio Flyer spring horse (which Carter thinks is his, too ... but then Santa didn't exactly put a nametag on him); several games, a smaller horse with a saddle, brush, etc.; and a stuffed "Mada-NASACAR" Alex toy.

Carter got a big pedal tractor -- too big for him but just right for Mommy to drive with Carter on the hood; tractors; and a big truck hauler full of hot wheels.

Mommy got a digital video camera that Daddy picked up at the Walmart after-Thanksgiving sale and took back the day after Christmas when it quit working. Still waiting on the new one to come in. Hannah and Carter gave me a pretty necklace and a feather all wrapped together. Before I opened it, Hannah said, "You're gonna like this so much you're gonna cry." She meant the feather...not the necklace. Turns out that the day she went shopping with Pop, she picked out the necklace for me and found the feather in the parking lot. She's so thoughtful!

Daddy got new seat covers for his Jeep and a t-shirt from us. It was kinda crude humor, but so totally Jason.

Even though I say this every year, I think we're really going to scale back next year. Focus more on the important stuff than the gifts. We have everything we possibly need and want...we are so spoiled! (But blessed).

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In other news...did y'all notice that it's a little chilly outside?