10 Years Later

never forgotten.

forever grateful.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2

Eight Months Old

Carter, at eight months, you...

• still like to be held, but you don't have to be
• love to be talked and sung to
• love to play in Grace's room with her and her toys
• love playing in the water in the bathtub
• say "da-da" and lots of other sounds
• love to growl
• play with toys (balls, rattles, Kenya) 
• are learning how to drink juice from a sippy cup
• are very ticklish
• laugh out loud a lot
• can sit up from lying down
• are crawling...backwards
• pulled to standing position today for the first time in the bathtub 
• always want to stand up
• are very grabby
• got your first tooth on August 12th and your second tooth is starting to come in
• were sick with croup
• can pick up your paci and put it in your mouth correctly
• love your puppy "lovie"
• absolutely love your sister
• want your Daddy all the time
• like being outside and going on walks
• sleep at night and take naps in your bed
• sleep through the night
• eat 8 ounces every 3-4 hours
• eat cereal for breakfast, and stage 2 baby food for lunch and dinner
• snack on puffs, crackers, bananas, and pizza crust
• can feed yourself snacks
• wear 6-9 month clothes
• wear size 3 diapers 

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday morning, we drove to the river and jumped in the boat!  We parked at a "beach" to let the kids play and swim.  While Andrew was throwing sticks at a dead turtle, Grace found a seashell or maybe I should say rivershell.  Whatever it was, it was definitely a treasure!

John and Carter went swimming.

Then our whole family went tubing!  This was Carter's first tube ride and we were all excited!  Except maybe Carter.  But he was happy once we started moving!

After a while, we decided to stop.  Once the boat and the tube slowed down, somebody fell off the tube and took someone else down with them!

Oops!  I could of either held onto the tube or Carter.  I chose Carter.  He did not care at all!  He actually likes water in his face!

Now, it was time to really ride!  FAST!!!

She LOVES to ride!

Carter had fun watching.

Grace made tubing look so fun that even Mimi had to give it a shot!

Carter loves to feel the wind in his hair!

Later, we headed to the "hunt house."  Sunday, Grace wanted to go fishing.  So, Mimi took us to the pond.

We got to the pond "hunt house" style!

Grace loved getting the crickets out!

John and Grace caught a few fish with her crickets!

Carter got in a little nap.

We came back home early Sunday afternoon to take Grace to the doctor.  She had croup all weekend, but didn't let it keep her from having fun!  On the way home, it got pretty bad and we were glad to be headed home.  She got a steroid from the doctor and was much better the next day!  Labor Day morning, this is what I woke up to. 

Carter was so proud to be sitting up in bed all by himself!  

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner.  Grace, of course, ate cookies before dinner.  She is allowed to do that at her Grandparents' house.  Their rules.  Not mine. 

Carter really noticed Taylor for the first time and he was very curious.

The puppy wasn't the only thing he was curious about.

We survived another fun and exciting weekend!  

Our Week in Instagrams

We went swimming at Aunt Terri's and Grace got to play with Tripp and Drew!  Since school has started, they have not seen each other much.  Grace was SO excited and had SO much fun with the boys!

John was a good daddy and got in the cold water and let Carter SpLaSh!

Now that Grace is at school ALL day, she is missing her Carter Man.  So...there is a LOT of LoViN' going on in the afternoons!

Carter must be going through a growth spurt because he is doing so much eating and SLEEPING!

This is where Grace slept the other night...on the FLooR.  (not sure what that is about)

Lily came over after school the other day and these two girls had fun, FUN, fun!

Carter is getting ready to start crawling!  He is getting up and rocking back and forth!  YAY!  and UH-OH!

This is what a teacher's bedroom looks like in AUgUst!  Ugh!

Carter is growing up so much!  Here he is sporting a MoHaWK and eating PiZZa!  Where did my baby go?

The First Day of School

Well...the day finally arrived.  A day that I knew was inevitable.  A day that I was hoping wouldn't come quite so soon.  A day that I have been dreading.  Grace's first day of school.  Yesterday, she started preschool.  I was NOT ready for my sweet, little girl to go school everyday, all day!  I know she will enjoy school and at this point in our lives, she has to go to school.  So, I loaded up on Mountain Dew and tissues and got her ready for her first day of 3-K!  She went to bed the night before all clean with her backpack full of crayons and glue sticks and her uniform laid out.  She was super excited!

I threw together a "Back to School" breakfast at the last minute!

And because she is my child, she LOVED it!

She was so ready to go to school!  I finally let her get dressed about 30 minutes before it was time to leave and she was quite full of herself!  She thinks this uniform is awesome!

After, I took a couple of pictures she was ready to get in the car.  I told her she had to wait a little longer and this was the look I got!

Once we got in the car, that brought a HUGE smile back on her face.  All the way to school, Grace questioned every turn I made.  She even accused me of being lost.  I said, "Grace, we are not lost.  I know where I'm going!"  Grace replied, "Oh!  I porgot!  We're not in da porest!" (as if you can only be lost in a forest-too cute!)  

She is such a BIG girl!

When Grace realized that people were at school, she definitely got nervous!  But, she was brave.  She took a picture with her teacher, Miss Graham.

She sat at her seat and began her puzzle.  She told me bye and there were no tears!  I was so proud of my sweet girl on her first day of school!