4.5

Recently Carter had his half birthday and since both kids' birthdays are in December during a very busy time we try to make their half birthdays a little extra special. He has now reached the age where when asked how old he is, it's no longer just "I'm 4" but "I'm 4 1/2."  That extra 1/2 makes a big difference in his world.  And, the more I think about it lately….an even bigger difference to me.

Carter has always been a busy boy. Walked at 9 months old, climbs everything like a monkey, needs to touch/taste/feel every.single.item on earth to learn more about it and enjoys all things physical. When he turned 4 I was excited for a new chapter.  One that all my friends had said was super fun and enjoyable as the preschool years usually are.  But, what I found instead was a very challenging, questioning, yelling and disobeying little boy who was constantly butting heads with me. I don't even like to say it but I didn't even enjoy being around him much for about a 3 week span because it was so difficult.  Matt and I bought 3 parenting books in a matter of 2 weeks and I almost read one of them in a span of about 3 hours. I would hold back the tears when I picked him up from the sitters house after hearing he threw not one, but 2 rocks at his best friends head, just to see what would happen.  I called and texted many friends to get parenting advice.  This was super hard for me.  I work with moms all day long and shell out advice on any matter of issues…why couldn't I figure out my own child?!

Well, as all things go in parenthood I realized it was just a phase.  Carter and I found our balance and that awful, newly turned 4 year old phase passed by quickly.  Thank the Lord!

We have now entered into a new phase and I'm really hoping this one will last for a very long time.  Carter is a freaking amazing child. (I know all mom's think that about their own kid but mine is way more amazing than yours…just let me think so alright!)

He is smart and observant.  The way he looks at illustrations in books and points out similarities of characters or missing details is mind-blowing. Just when I think he isn't even listening he asks some thoughtful question about a sentence I just read or wants to learn more about a particular word or phrase that was mentioned. 

He is strong. This kid eats all day long and loves vegetables more than anything. My 46 inch, 52 pound, size 1 shoe, 4.5 year old towers over every other child his age.  And he loves it. He runs fast, plays hard and sweats like a NFL linebacker. He can keep up with kids twice his age and never even realize they are twice his age.

He is loyal. He has his best friend who just happens to be our sitter's son and they are like brothers.  They compliment each other, wrestle and tackle each other and love each other as much as they love their little sisters. He protects and defends him when others are around.  But, he is growing more loyal in other ways too.  I've noticed how he sticks up for Lucy when we are out.  He reminds others that she is his little sister and wraps his sweet arm around her shoulder to quietly let her know he's got her back. He is now seeking out new friends at the park and will stick by their side until it's time to go. He is my social extrovert.  It's fun to watch him be so courageous and ask someone to be his friend. 

He is curious.  His new nickname is Curious Carter. The only way he can learn is to touch. And then touch again. And then touch one more time.  It drives me crazy most of the time but I am now appreciating his personal learning style and trying to meet his needs the best I can. Often he'll remind me, "But mom, I have to touch something so what CAN I touch?"  It's a loud reminder and puts me right in my place.  

And, he is goofy. He always has been and it just continues to get better and better.  He has taught me how to really laugh, how to get outside of my comfort zone and just have fun. He makes me want to jump right in and join him instead of standing back to observe. Of course he's entered into little boy potty talk but most of the time it's just pure silliness.  I hope this never ends. 

So, to my big ol' grown up 4.5 year old…..thank you. Thank you for making every day a joy.  I'm going to savor these moments and this summer as long as I can.  Because soon enough you'll be 5 and then 5.5.  Love you buddy. More than you'll ever know.

Read more...

an all-American weekend.

 I've been saying this for a while but I think we should just make 4th of July the 1st Friday of July every year. Besides technically it's called Independence Day so it shouldn't matter if the day falls on the 4th or not.  It's so nice to have it on a Friday because you automatically get a 3 day weekend and can stay up late to watch fireworks!  Anyways…enough about that.

We headed up to the beach house for the weekend.  It's the perfect getaway to watch fireworks because you can sit on the deck and look out over the water to see a great show…and it's free! 

 We spent the weekend playing at the beach, going to the park, playing tag in the yard and going for lots of walks around the neighborhood.  Lucy got to spend some quality time with Grandpa Tom too.  He's been teaching her a few games on his IPad which she loves!

 Carter took a turn with the camera and I was actually really impressed with his skills.  He took both of these all by himself!

 We spent a whopping $4 on fireworks this year for the kids. 2 boxes of pop-its and a bag of those pull the string noisemakers.  The kids thought they were in fireworks heaven!

 We ended the night with some homemade apple pie (Carter's choice…until he realized he didn't like the crust) before staying up late to watch fireworks.  The kids finally went to sleep around 10:30 and of course were up bright at early at 6am….lucky me.

 The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and finishing a few puzzles.  I was so proud of my 100 piece Toy Story puzzle I completed when the kids gave up after 2 minutes.  I never just sit and finish things like this so it was a big deal…until Matt made fun of me for making it a big deal.  Whatever, I was excited!

 And…the America's cutest cheerleader!  Happy 4th of July!!!

Read more...

#32.

 I just celebrated my 32nd birthday about 2 weeks ago.  32?!?  What? 

To celebrate Matt and I went on a weekend getaway, without the kids for a little adventure and alone time. It was timed perfectly with a wedding for one of my old college roommates. 

We started the weekend at my in-laws who graciously watched Lucy for us for 3 days while my parents took Carter to their house.  The kids loved having one-on-one time with their grandparents and it made it a bit less hectic to only watch one child.

I got to open my presents before we started the road trip!

 First stop was in Cashmere at Anjou Bakery for a delicious breakfast.  Homemade cinnamon and vanilla rolls.

 Then we were off to Leavenworth to go white water rafting!  I went rafting about 10 years ago in college but Matt had never been. We knew we wanted to do something fun to celebrate the day and after finding an amazing Groupon Deal we were sold!  Matt's mom was terrified we might die but I'm here writing this blog 2 weeks later, so needless to say we were fine.  :)
It was such a fun trip.  4 hours in the boat, lots of rapids and lots of cold water!  The guide knew it was my birthday so there were a couple times he steered the boat in my direction to get hit. On one of the last rapids we got a little too ambitious and stopped paddling too early which ended up causing our boat to tip over!  Matt and another girl fell out which made for a dramatic rescue but when it was all over we just laughed and moved on.  I would recommend rafting to anyone!  So.much.fun.

 In our boat was a guy who is a professional skydive instructor.  His 9-5 job is to jump out of planes!  He actually works not too far from our house and gave us his card so I'm thinking I might just have to go skydiving for my next birthday!!
After rafting we quickly changed and headed over to a local brewery for dinner.

 After dinner we got back on the road and headed to Yakima for the rest of the weekend (that's where the wedding was). On our way there we passed by the wind turbines in Ellensburg. I've never been so close to them before and didn't realize how huge they really are!  This picture really doesn't do it justice, they were crazy big!

 Since it was still my birthday and I hadn't had any birthday dessert yet (that cinnamon roll was just breakfast, right?) we ventured out for a casual Target trip to buy random things we didn't need and then DQ Blizzards. I'm never one to pass up ice cream but this was so big I couldn't even finish it.

 The next morning we slept in, found some breakfast and then I somehow convinced Matt we should get pedicures. He nervously agreed and luckily we found a place with a guy who spoke English and TV's that had the World Cup on.  The perfect first experience for him!

 Later that afternoon we drove out to the vineyards for some wine tasting.  Yakima has some beautiful wineries all within a few miles of each other. We went to 3 wineries, spoke with some of the wine makers and brought a delicious bottle home with us.

 Later that night it was time for Meagan's wedding!  Meagan and I lived together for 3 years in college and she is such a fun, smart, beautiful woman.  I couldn't be happier for her to have found her husband.  Such a great couple and loved spending the evening with my 2 best friends. Heather and Katy and I don't see each other as often as I'd like so having a few hours to catch up was just was I needed!  Love you girls!

 Meagan was stunning in her dress!

We ended the weekend with a trip to the local Farmer's Market the next day, delicious coffee and a quick stop at the outlets on the way home before meeting back up with the kids.  Probably one of the best birthdays I've had in many, many years! 

Read more...

strawberry picking!

It was a random Sunday in early June. We usually spend the morning rushing to get out the door for church but somehow this particular morning we were already dressed and ready to go at 7:30am, with an hour to spare! So, instead of going to church as a family and enjoying a sunny, lazy Sunday with no plans we decided to ditch that idea, change our clothes and drive up to Bellingham for a day of strawberry picking!

First we stopped off at Boulevard Park.  This is probably our absolute favorite place in Bellingham, maybe the whole world. It is one of the first parks both of us ever went to when we started at Western, spent countless hours "studying" with friends during Summer quarters, went on hundreds of walks over the years on the waterfront and even got engaged down at the dock.  Lots of amazing memories have been made at this park.  

 After letting the kids run around for a bit we drove up to Boxx Berry Farm to get picking! There are some really nice farms closer to our house but we really drive up for the delicious strawberry shortcake you can get in their farm store and the kids love the super old playground that is next to the fields. Besides, who needs a lazy Sunday when you can make it long and busy!?
Last year I took the kids by myself and it turned into one of the messiest trips we've ever had. I was happy to have Matt along this time to help pick more berries and be on the clean up crew once we were done.

 The kids got right to work picking eating the berries in the field.

In the end we picked about 27 pounds!

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating, playing and running into some old friends.  Such a fun day and now fresh berries in our freezer for the whole year!!

Read more...