Toddler Prayers

Typically at meal times, we will pray as a family. If Tim or I ever forget to initiate prayer, Carter will be sure to remind us! Often times he asks to pray. Here was his latest:

Dear God,

Thank you for the hope we have in You.

Thank you for all the treats I get for going potty.

Thank you for colorful things.

Thank you for all my toys.

Thank you for everything.

Amen

:)

Labor Day Weekend

We weren't planning on traveling over Labor Day but at the last minute we decided to head to the Carroll cabin and see my parents and the Worums. It was such a relaxing weekend and fun to see family. Shannon and Bud have a dog that our boys absolutely adore-they chased him and played fetch all weekend long. Even so, we will not get a dog. We will not get a dog. We will NOT get a dog!!

Cousin Sawyer-she is getting SO big! And she is adorable:)

Nana and crazy Carter!

We made pizzas and s'mores in the campfire one night...the kids loved it!

Hanging out in the hammock

Trying on Bud's sweatshirt...I could not get Carter to sit still for a picture. No surprises there!

We are still working on "gentle" hugs:)

Update on the Rooms

We made a couple of changes over the weekend:

New curtains in the boys room...

And we hung a couple of things on the walls in the baby room...

Carter helped make some signs for the baby. He is getting pretty excited!

Soooooo, we have the room set up, welcome signs, a "home from the hospital" outfit for the little guy. We still need to finalize his name and we are good to go!

Singing Saturday

So this morning we were all in a singing mood...

Carter went first and his song creation went something like:

"Carter and Cooper, brothers for life. Bah dah dah dah..."

Then Tim started singing and I helped him finish a little ditty:

"We have two crazy boys and one more on the way. What were we thinking 8 months ago today?!!!!"

Happy Saturday!

The Baby Room...in progress

I was in the Cities for a weekend with my college girls a couple of weeks ago and they helped me pick out a wardrobe from Ikea. Here it is all assembled (thanks mom for the manual labor)! This baby room is jam-packed being that we have a guest bed in there for now. I'm sure he won't mind! Now...we just need to name the little guy:)

The Boy's Room...in progress

This post is mainly for the grandmas that wanted to see our progress on the boy's rooms! Tim had the idea of putting up a Carter and Cooper jerseys above the boy's beds (Carter and Cooper share a room). Then we found my old Sioux jersey and added a Hawkeye jersey. Tim tries to convince people that it was his from college as well:)

Matching Boys

Our dear friends, the Levangs, just loaned us more of their boy clothes. In looking through the latest bins we realized the boys now have matching pjs:) Sort of dorky but they think it is fun! And aren't they so cute??!

Carter's 3 Years + 1 Month Update

A couple of quick updates from this past month...

-Carter has started to wipe off all of our kisses....stinker!

-He consistently thanks God for, "toys, friends, family, colorful things and the color blue"

-The other day he put his head on my belly and asked if he could listen to the baby. When I asked him what he heard he said, "Goo goo gah gah"!

-And the quote of the month: "Mom, I like to organize just like you. I organize my toys, my clothes, even my hugs!" ...now that is my kid and that is organized!!

Cooper is 1 Year + 7 Months!

The biggest update with Cooper this past month is that he is talking so much more! In the past week or two he has started to say:

More-which sounds like "mo"

Carter-which sounds like "Carcar"

Uh Oh

Baby

All Done-which sounds like "awww duh"

Snack-which sounds like "k" (this is also how he says milk)

Hot-which sounds like "hhhhht"

Keep talking Cooper John-we love it!!

More Pics from the Cabin

Like I mentioned before, we went to Grand Rapids to my parent's cabin and got to see my parents and Tim's parents! We were having our staff retreat there starting on Monday so we headed over a couple days early.

Carter got a baseball bat and balls for his birthday and both the boys enjoy playing. Cooper mostly holds the bat and carries it around like a caveman:)

There was a lumberjack fair in town that we took the boys to. Carter enjoyed his first taste of cotton candy!

Cooper especially loves music and "helping" Papa play the banjo.


What sweet boys!!

Carter is 3 Years Old!

It always starts out fun with these two...running, laughing, playing. And then right after this picture was taken, Cooper yanked Carter's hair and the fun was OVER!

I found this picture on the camera the other day...I guess Tim let Carter play outside in his underware:)

Here are a couple updates from Carty-man in the past month:

-He called us Casey and Tim consistently. He hasn't done it as much lately but for about a month straight it was quite entertaining!

-Carter loves having his back and neck rubbed

-He really has enjoyed puzzles lately

-When we are out for walks he roars at birds and like to chase them

-Cooper has started to get a little more attention lately. When this happens, Carter starts copying whatever Cooper is doing so he can get attention too:)

-When I let him pick out his outfit he always goes for the "most colorful" shirt or shorts. He LOVES colorful things.

-He has no fear at all when we take him to the pool. He'll just jump in no matter how deep. We've really got to keep an eye on him:)

-Quote of the month: "Mom, will you build me a fort so I can decorate it?"

-A kid @ the park was scaring kids by roaring. Carter said, "That's ok but plz don't scare my mom!"

Carter's 3rd Birthday (part 2)

Two days after his birthday, Carter got a 2nd party with all four grandparents! We made the trip to Grand Rapids and Tim's parents met us at my parent's cabin for the night.

I love this picture-Carter was way more into this party that the picture shows but both grandmas are obviously having the time of their lives!!

Carter LOVES frosting...he normally doesn't even touch the cake!

Cooper isn't as picky-he eats it all:)

Presents! Mike and Sherah got him his 1st bike! Now if he would just have a little more than 30 seconds of patience to learn to ride it:)

Lots of Cars gifts including this huge coloring book-thanks Shan and Bud!

Cooper even got a gift-a book with animals and he is "mooing" in the picture:)

Carter's 3rd Birthday (part 1)

Blog fail...Carter's birthday was over 2 weeks ago! I'm going to blame it on all our traveling and now my OCD nesting. Anyways, here we go...

As you may have seen from a previous posted video, Carter had very specific requests for this birthday. I have to say, I felt some pressure to meet his standards! He seemed very pleased though.

He requested that A LOT of people be at his party. We invited as many as we could handle:) The Eastons, Wurglers, Ayashs, and Tammy joined us for a little cake and ice cream. He loved the company and attention!

Carter made specific requests for sprinkle cake and colorful ice cream. We found both and again, he approved!

He also asked for a Disney Car's themed party. I'm not much of a themed party thrower but we found some decorations and he ended up getting lots of Car's gifts as well.

All in all, it was a success!

30 Week Pics

So here is a list of the ridiculous things that people have said to me in the past couple of weeks:

1. College student #1: When are you due?

Me: October

College student #1: Oh wow, I would have never guessed you had that much longer to go with how large you are.

2. College student #2: When are you due?

Me: October

College student #2: Huh...so do you get just a ton bigger with every baby?

3. Cafeteria worker in Medora: It has been so fun seeing you get so much bigger every day out here.

Me: Same to you (Just kidding-I bit my tongue)

4. Burger King worker: Let me guess, you are due any day now!

Me: Nope-I have 2 1/2-3 months to go

BK worker: Well, then you must be carrying twins

Me: Nope again

5. College student #3: Wow Casey, you are huge!!

Do people ever think before they speak? I mean really?? I know I am getting bigger and that is a great thing because this baby is healthy but COME ON!

Doctor Appointments

I took so many pictures of the boys this day and this was the best one...they are fast and DO NOT like to sit down!

After Carter's 3 year visit, here are his stats:

Height: 38 inches (58%)

Weight: 34.3 pounds (76%)

After Cooper's 18 month visit, here are his stats:

Height: 31 inches (21%)

Weight: 24.7 pounds (33%)