Christmas with the Sparks

We spent the second half of our Christmas in Stillwater...

The boys love bonding with Grampy and Mimi

Carter got excited about ALL of his gifts. The grands really spoil our boys!

Carter is still into Sesame Street. Mimi even wrapped his gifts in Sesame paper which was a hit!

Uncle Mike and Aunt Sherah got Carter a Spider Man costume. Tim tried it on right in front of Carter but it still scared him a little bit:)

And even at 2 1/2 years old, the wrapping paper is still really fun!

Christmas with the Carrolls

We celebrated the first half of Christmas in Edina...

Cooper had a great time climbing over the gifts!

Carter was very excited about his new Elmo CD!

I even got a little cuddle time with Sawyer:)

And Carter got some good reading time with Papa:)

Carter is 2 Years + 4 Months!

If I could pick one word for Carter this month it would be SWEET! He has been so good with Cooper and really is bonding with him. He is just saying the most heart-warming things too. Here are some examples:

-"I love spending time with you dad!"
-"I love when you read to me mom!"
-"Thank you for this food. It's really tasty!"
-"I love you so much Cooper John"
...Wow! That is all I can say:)


Cooper gravitates towards Carter and although sometimes he gets in the way, Carter usually welcomes him with a hug!

Here he is helping Cooper with his bottle. These pictures are pre-haircut:)

He is pretty proud of being such a big help!

It has been pretty chilly outside but Carter loves playing in the snow.

Carter has also shown us his organizational skills this month! He often times will sort the food we give him for snacks or meals...Oh boy, I don't know where he gets that from!!

Cooper is 10 Months Old!

Cooper is already 10 months old...crazy! He has been pulling himself up on everything these days as you can see below.

We even captured it on video...

His babbles are still mostly incoherent but earlier in the month he started saying "mama" and "dada". He is just so adorable!

Carter loves watching him try to pull himself up on the couch. I do often have to referee though to make sure Cooper doesn't get tackled!

Playing with Dad

Carter has so much fun playing with dad! Whenever I break out the camera though, he stops playing and just wants to see what pictures or videos I have taken:)

A Day in the Life of Cooper (8-9 Months)

Our sweet little Cooper is growing up fast!

Yet Another Trip to Minnesota!

We piled in the minivan once again this month for a little road trip. First, Tim and I had a student conference in Minneapolis and my parents watched the boys. It was the first night I was without at least one of my kids for well over a year...wow!!! I definitely enjoyed it but of course missed them:)
Tim had his annual Director's Training which was also in the Cities so I stayed in Edina with the boys and afterward we picked Tim up and had a couple of days in Stillwater. It was great to see both families! I wish I took my pictures but here is what I've got:)

Carter with Grandpa Steve's old football helmet on

Nana and Carter goofing around

A quick shot with Aunt Shannon. Shannon and Sawyer played with us all day on Monday-what a treat!

Cooper and Sawyer hang in out together:)

The Last Days of Fall...

We were blessed with such an amazing fall! These pictures were all taken in November, believe it or not! Now we are buried in snow and haven't even played outside because the temps have been below 10 degrees....oh North Dakota!

Family Pictures

Our dear friend Kendra took a bunch of family pictures for us a couple of weeks ago. I was so surprised by how well the boys did! Carter loved posing as you can see below:) Thank you Kendra! www.hadleyphotographyfargo.com

Cooper's 9 Month Doctor Visit

Our little scooter is still little:)
Height: 27 1/4 inches (10-25%)
Weight: 19 pounds, 13 ounces (25-30%)

Carter is 2 Years + 3 Months!

A couple of days before Halloween I had Carter try on his horse costume. He was excited about it but wanted me to try it on as well:)

This past month has been filled with more hilarious Carter comments:

-While jumping off the couch and trying to land on his feet Carter yells, "I'M A BOY!!!"
-Whenever we hear him in the morning we go in his room to get him. He can get out of bed himself but he always waits for us. The first thing he says when we open the door is, "I'm awake mom/dad!"
-He has called me many different things this month: mom, mama, Casey, buddy mom, mama Spark, Casey mom, Mrs. mom....always entertaining
-He loves building things only to wreck them. While wrecking things he yells, "Bang it, whack it, crash it, wreck it, ding it, knock it...."
-He has also become the master manipulator. He will suggest something and then I'll repeat it in a question to make sure I have understood him. After I ask him if that is what he meant he says, "Okay!", like it was my idea:) Example:

Carter: Can I have some juice, please?
Me: What did you say? You want some juice?
Carter: OKAY!!!!

Also, he has really gotten into coloring with crayons and colored pencils. We printed off a couple of Sesame Street people and now he asks for more Sesame Street friends to color almost every day:) He still LOVES Sesame Street!!

Cooper's Dedication

We had Cooper dedicated at church on Sunday. Both grandparents were in town to celebrate with us! We decided to bring Carter up in front of the church with us as well and he was very excited about the microphone that dad was holding. Then he asked repeatedly while looking out at the congregation, "who are ALL these people??!!" Cooper was calm and easy-going as usual:)

Halloween 2010

At this point I'm not sure who enjoyed Halloween more, Carter or me! It was so fun to watch Carter go house to house and get excited to meet new friends. I was probably more excited about the candy...which he hasn't asked for at all:) Cooper was a good sport to get bundled up and go along with it all.



Nana and Papa were still in town after the Hall of Fame/Cooper's dedication events so they were able to come around the neighborhood with us.

Our friends the Eastons and Wurglers came over to join us as well. Carter loves his friends!! He is a little older and definitely took the lead:)

Carter and Emma sporting their costumes!