Christmas is coming...

Carter has really enjoyed helping me out in the kitchen lately. We made vanilla covered pretzels the other day and he was my sprinkle guy...and boy was he liberal with the sprinkles!! 

   And here are some cute pics after church on Sunday...

 They are cooperating...

...getting a little silly...

...and then a wrestling match broke out (go figure).

Rocket Men

 Target had a sale after Halloween and my friend, Britta, picked up this adorable costume for the boys. Why wait a whole year?? Let's dress up NOW!!

 The boys really enjoy our costume box...too bad they grow out of them so fast!

Advent

Advent means "the coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important". As we anticipate Christ's birthday and remember His extreme importance, we have started a new tradition this year to help the boys (and  us) keep our eyes fixed on Christ in the Christmas season. A friend of mine wrote an Advent devotional which we read each night. After the reading, Tim has had craft time with the boys to draw or make something to remember the story we read. It has been really fun but I constantly need to remember to keep my expectations low as they boys sometimes just prefer to wrestle!

Here is a display of some of our craft projects:)

Crosby's 2 Month Check Up

Crosby had his 2 month check up this week and as we guessed, he is our biggest boy so far!

Height: 23 1/2 inches (68%)

Weight: 13 pounds, 11.5 ounces (87%)

We have noticed that his belly button was popping out and getting larger. Turns out he has an umbilical hernia which should go away on its own. Also, his right eye still won't fully open so we have to bring him in to a specialist on Monday.

 Looking good in his tie-dye from Uncle Dave and Michelle!

 He seems to enjoy baths and doesn't cry even when we get him out.

Watch out Crosby! Your brothers are getting ready to smother you:)

Treasure Hunt

The other day as the boys were going crazy, I knew I needed to come up with a plan. I had them grab their backpacks and told them to put 5 items inside that they would need for an adventure. It was quite comical what they selected-flash cards, stuffed animals, books, etc. Anyways, they put on bandanas, grabbed flash lights and the map that I made them and they were off. I quickly realized this game was way beyond their age but we went with it! They were on a quest for the missing jelly beans and even though I helped them every step of the way, they loved it!

  Cooper quickly removed his bandana and backpack and just kind of followed along:) Good times!

One More Post

I can't quite get a great picture with these three...I'm sure this will be a problem for a long time:)

 Even with no smiles or goofy smiles, they still are cute!

Magnet

Whenever we set this cutie down...

These two crazies flock to him

 It's cute but tiring all at the same time:)

Silly Boys

I called the boys to dinner the other night and they came out of their room giggling...here is why:) 

Afternoon at the "Pool"

The kids were getting restless. We still had and hour and a half before Tim got home from campus. So we decided (by we I mean me) to have a December beach party. They really got into it...for about a HOUR! 

 Carter insisted that we find his shades. 

 Laying out

 We blew up all our beach toys (again...by we I mean me)

 Party!

Carter grabbed our comforter for a water slide. I just love his creativity!

Crosby is 2 Months!

Our sweet Crosby is already 2 months old. Life really does fly by! Here are some pictures of him from the past month...

 It is amazing to me that he can sleep through all the noise that his two older brothers make!

 He started smiling this past month...we get the most smiles right when he is done eating. It still makes me tear up it is so sweet:)

 I love this picture-it looks like he is getting his praise on!

Our little Super Star

Crosby went through a really fussy/gassy stage but in the past week or two he seems to have moved past it! That is a big praise to God as he just seemed so uncomfortable and it was difficult to hold him all day with two other boys needing attention! He was also up a lot in the middle of the night for the same reason. We tried gas drops and gripe water but nothing seemed to help too much. For the past two weeks he has been going to bed around 10 and not waking up until sometime between 4-6 am. I feel like a new woman! He eats a ton during the day though...almost every 2 hours it seems. We love you Crosby Charles! You are getting so big, so fast...I wish I could slow you down sometimes so I can enjoy every minute!

Carter's Dance Moves

The other day I asked Carter where he learned his dance moves. He replied with, "Jesus. I learned them from Jesus, Mom." Here are his "inspired" moves!

Carter is 3 Years + 4 Months!

You are such a cutie, Carter Man! 

 Bonding with Crosby-you aren't as interested in him as Cooper but you are very gentle and sweet with him.

 You love to read and be read to. I think you'd be content to do this all day! And I'm so amazed by how quickly you pick up on what we read. I'll read you a book a couple of times and you remember most of it. It is so funny to me when you correct me as I read:)

 You love the alphabet and have started sounding words out to see how they are spelled. 

 It gets you into some trouble being that you are bigger and stronger but you LOVE wrestling with Cooper.

 You still love anything colorful. We went for a walk the other day in 20 degree weather and you chose a summer hat because it was so "beautiful"!

 You have really gotten into arts and crafts lately. It is fun watching you be creative.

A couple of random things:

-you rarely want to wear socks

-you have been known to hide unwanted dinner in your cheeks. I found chicken in your mouth over an hour after you left the table one night.

-you have wanted to do a lot more things by yourself including getting dressed and picking out your clothes

-for some reason you bring out all of your bedding to the living room each morning

-we got a night light for your room that turns blue at night and stay blue all night until the morning when it turns yellow. we got it so that you'd know when it was okay to get out of bed in the morning. it has worked great and you get SO EXCITED every night when it turns blue and again in the morning when it turns yellow. I think you have pulled us into your room the past 30 days and nights to show us!

-you like to help me with Crosby which is sweet...getting diapers, helping with bath time, etc.

And of course some Carter quotables:

-"Mom, is Cooper a stud?"

-"That would be AWESOME!"

-He walked in on a babysitter going to the bathroom and said, "Nice underwear! You are a really nice girl!"

-I asked Carter if he could believe he have 3 small boys in our family. He replied, "No mom, because we don't. I'm a big boy."

-At dinner time one night out of the blue: "I know how food works. It goes down to my belly, gets dirty, and comes out poop and pee."

-I asked Carter where he got his dance moves. He replied, "Jesus. I learned them from Jesus, mom."

-"Mom, I ate so much for lunch. I'm such a stud!"

Not So Casual Friday

I asked Carter what he wanted to wear on Friday morning and this is the outfit he picked out...tie and all! He kept it on all day too. Pretty impressive style at 3 years old:)

Cooper actually had his vest on first and when Carter saw it, he NEEDED to have one on too!

 "Cheese"!