Growing, Growing, Everyday!

This post is kinda random stuff all put together, so bear with me!If there's one thing I've learned so far as a parent, it's that children never stop growing! Imagine that! It seems like Carter is in a new phase everyday! He is still super cute (I'm sure I will always think so!) He is grabbing things all the time--on purpose now. He sits up in his bumbo pretty well. We've given him cereal a couple of times (I will post some pics of that later). He's just all around a great kiddo!

The Friday night after Thanksgiving, we got to spend some time with Jared's brother Jason, his wife Rachel and their son Caleb. Every time Carter and Caleb see each other, Caleb gets so excited. Carter still doesn't quite know what to think about it all.
We also recently had some pictures taken. Here are a few of my favs:

The family pic:
The sisters and kiddoes:
The Cousins:
And, here's our little reindeer! He absolutely loved wearing his antlers!
Thanks for checking in with us!

This One's for Kate!

We recently made a quick trip back to Kentucky to get a few things at our house when we were gently reminded by some friends that we were terrible bloggers! So, this post is in honor of Kate...sorry it's been so long!!!

In the last two months a lot has happened! We celebrated Elli's 2nd birthday. As you can see, she got her own guitar and she was absolutely thrilled! She was so cute through the whole celebration. She really enjoyed her "Happy Birthday cake" and "Happy birthday presents."We also made a family trip to the pumpkin patch. It was the second week of October but it felt like the middle of July! So, we made our trip quick!



Today Carter is celebrating his 4 month birthday. I just got caught up on his baby book...I guess it was about time! Carter is the sweetest little boy you'll ever see! He is very smiley most of the time. We had a rough last month fighting congestion and a cough, which made it very hard (for all of us!) to sleep. He has put on the weight that the doctor wanted him to. He's about 14 lbs now. We go to the doctor tomorrow for his 4 month visit and more shots.

Carter is very ticklish all over and will just melt your heart every time he laughs. He is still very snuggley! He is able to reach out and grab things--sometimes on purpose, sometimes he's just lucky--and we are really working hard on sitting up! Most of all, we are reminded daily that we are truly and amazingly blessed to have this little boy in our lives!

By the way...we have a great house in Kentucky for sale if anyone is interested :)

Two Months Old!

Well, yesterday Carter had his two month birthday! We celebrated by taking him to the doctor (lousy, I know!). Carter had to get a shot and we had him weighed and everything. We found out that Carter dropped to the 5th percentile for his weight. So we are working hard to get his weight back up using some supplements. I think our generation has this stigma about formula...some how we are lesser moms if we have to give our babies formula. But, I had to get over it and realize that my body wasn't providing what Carter needed. That's hard to swallow as a mom...that you can't give your child what he needs. But, since we have been supplementing Carter's meal times, we have noticed that he is sleeping better (and longer, yay!) and he is much happier when he is awake. All of those times I just thought we was "fussy" he was actually probably hungry. Makes me sad to know that I let him go 2 months without realizing what the problem was! Anyway, here's a pic from last night. He fell asleep on my mom's bed and we decided he must be playing air guitar in his dreams :)
Also, be in prayer for Jeremy and Amanda. They are en route to pick up their son in China. We can't wait to meet Ezra Jackson when they return! Check out their blog at www.norrisfamily.squarespace.com.

Visit to West Tennessee

This past Friday we went on a trip to West Tennessee to visit with my grandparents. They live on a nice big farm west of Jackson, so it's a great place for kids to run and play! It has been awhile since I've posted anything about Elli. She is 22 months now and full of energy. Thankfully at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house she had plenty of things to do to fill her time, like...

Checking out bugs...

Kissing baby Carter...

Swinging on a big girl swing (for the first time!)...

Tickling Carter's feet...

Swinging with Pawpaw...

Running up and down the wheelchair ramp (over and over again)...

And, of course, just being cute!

Here are some other pictures from our visit!

Elli, Carter and Pawpaw

Elli, Carter and Mawmaw

Yaya, me and Carter

Elli, my Uncle Bill and Carter

Grandad, Carter and Me

All in all we had a great visit in West Tennessee. It was great for everyone to get to meet Carter and Elli kept us entertained for the entire afternoon! This last picture is from the morning after our visit, but it was too cute not to share! Elli loves her cousin Carter and really wants to hold him and love on him all of the time. So, we make sure we have baby dolls on hand in case we need a distraction. Saturday morning was one of those days! I thought she was too cute holding her baby in my sling! So sweet!

Catching Up!

Well, this post has a few things that I didn't have time to blog as they happened. Back before we moved, Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Amanda and Cousin Will came for a visit to meet Carter. They were also kind enough to stay with Carter while Jared and I attended our last church service at Simpsonville. Here are a few pics from their visit!

When Carter turned 2 weeks old, he was allowed to have his first paci! He loves it. When we first gave it to him, it was almost as big as his head!Then we moved to Yaya and Grandad's house and a few weeks later Carter had his one month birthday. Needless to say, he wasn't too cooperative for his one month pictures!
Whew, it's exhausting being a newborn!

One Month Old

Well, Carter will be one month old on Thursday. It's hard to believe how fast time flies! Well, I feel like I need to give everyone an update on where we are in our lives right now. We've had a lot of changes in the last month. Of course, on July 15, Carter entered our world and turned it upside down from the get go! One week before Carter was born, we sent a letter to our church membership with Jared's resignation. Two weeks after Carter was born, we packed up the car and moved to Tennessee where we are currently living with YaYa and Grandad. Jared is now the children's minister at a church here in the Nashville area. So, if you're keeping tabs, in the last month Jared finished school, we had a baby, resigned from his job, started a new job and moved a two week old baby to Nashville. whew...we're tired!

Anyway, despite all of our life changes, things are going well. Carter seems to be adjusting to his new home pretty well and Jared and I are very lucky to have the help of my parents! Carter can already hold his head up on his own for about 10-15 seconds. He is sleeping most of the night...waking up only to eat once or twice. He has his fussy moments, but overall, we have the best baby in the world! He is pretty easy going during the day, but I think he gets bored with me sometimes!

Today I realized I hadn't had a quiet time since we brought Carter home. I can't imagine why not?!? So, today after we got our baths and got dressed, Carter and I sat down to have our first devotion together. We read in Luke about the Centurion that had such a great faith and then we prayed and sang some worship songs together......okay, I sang and Carter fell asleep, but it was still a sweet time together. I am so thankful that God has given me such an amazing son. I can't believe he was almost a month old before I took the time to slow down and read him God's word. I am ashamed! Keep me accountable and help me be the mommy Carter deserves! This should be happening everyday!

We Made it Home!

Aren't I a handsome boy?! Well, we came home from the hospital last Sunday and have been having so much fun at home! We went to the doctor on Wednesday and found out that I am almost back to my birth weight, so we were excited about that!

This is our first family picture at our home.
Yaya helped us get home from the hospital and then got to stay with us until Tuesday! We were sad to see her go so soon, but then....
Grandaddy and Grandmommy got to come and stay for the rest of the week!
On Wednesday we got a surprise visit from my Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Jan!So, overall we have had a whirlwind of a week! I have gotten lots of cuddles and snuggles and might even sleep through the night if mommy would stop waking me up to feed me and change my diaper! Grandmommy and Grandaddy just left, so mommy and daddy are on their own! I hope they don't fall apart without anyone here to help them!!