Loving EPS1!

These are pictures from Carter's first day in his new Early Pre-School classroom. He is doing AWESOME!

18 months old...

Yesterday, Carter turned 18 months old! Where has the time gone?! In such a short time, we have seen our baby turn into SUCH a little boy. Who knew that several months ago, when he started saying words, we should have been recording them. Nana Stephanie told me we should! But we didn't...and all of a sudden, he has hundreds of words. No, not kidding. The pediatrician wanted to know if he knew 8...seriously...8. Tim and I sat down last night and started trying to make a list. It's silly. We stopped. It felt like we were making a list of words that WE knew. So when I say hundreds, I mean it! (And he still does tons of sign language as well). It's adorable to hear him talk...He even speaks in sentences. For example: "Mama shoot ball?" "Baby shoot ball?" "Oh no! Where is it?" And he says "I love you" now. MELTS MY HEART!!

Moving on...he just moved up a classroom at school too. Generally they don't move the kids up until they are closer to 2, but they thought he was developmentally ready...and he was getting a little "restless" and "aggressive" with the other 1 year olds. Haha! So he is the youngest by several months, but doing great so far.

Favorite things...Carter LOVES school. He talks about Emery and Andrew in the mornings - his best little buddies, who he has been with for quite some time. At home, he has always got a football or a basketball in his hand. Yes, still a ball obsession. He also LOVES books. Especially his Elmo book. OBSESSED with all things Elmo. And his other favorite books are actually Little Golden Books. Bought them at Half Price books - didn't really know if he would be interested in them. And figured he would tear them up since they have "real" pages. He loves them! His 2 favorites are Count on Sesame Street and The Pokey Little Puppy. He loves playing with Tyson - and Grace. Although he mainly just chases Grace and tortures her with a flashlight. Learned that from Daddy. He loves to dance. He loves to sing songs - ABCs, Row Row Row Your Boat, Bumblebee Song, Ten Little Monkeys, Hot Dog (the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song) - just to name a few. He has also really started to notice airplanes. He loves to point them out in the sky when he sees them, or hears them. But when one flies by, he usually looks at me and says "More please?" Or "Again, again!" So cute. He has a little play airplane that he flies with his hand - even tries to make the right noises - adorable. (I think he learned that from Cousin Alex).

This is already so long - I should stop - although I could think of a million other things to say about our amazing little boy! Some fun random pictures below...from church (with his friend Park), playing at home & outside & with Jack, and even a few from the Fort Worth Zoo! YES - HE PETTED A SNAKE! Yuck!!!

Rock Star!

The only way to stay cool...

Water, water, water! I think that has been the theme of the summer. Most days that Carter and I spend together, we find some way to stay cool. So here are pics of some of our adventures. I will explain as we go... The picture above and below are from a water park in Bedford, celebrating Brayden's 1st birthday!

The next several are from what has to be our FAVORITE place for the summer. The splashground at Frisco Commons Park. We have played there with Jessy, Jackson and Nora. Allison met us one afternoon to hang out, Daddy has accompanied us a couple of times, but it is pretty much just Carter and I at least once or twice a week! It is awesome...only problem is when Carter gets sidetracked by bigger kids playing football, soccer, etc. Most of them have been so gracious with him, letting him get in the occasional kick or throw (see last pic).

The next few pics are from our trip to Old Town Aquatic Park in Lewisville. We went and met friends from church: Jennifer, Susan and Susan's three adorable little ones Luke, Sarah and Charlotte. We all had such a fun time...there was a splash area, a pool shallow enough for the kids to play safely, a slide, a lazy river...it was AWESOME!

A picture taken by Daddy. Speaks for itself. Lol!

The next set of pictures is from our trip out to Irving to go to a water park with Nana Stephanie, Kristen, Brayden, Misty, Emmarie, Cindy, Nevin and Roman. It was very similar to the water park in Lewisville. Such fun!

Houston - Part 3 - First Trip to the Beach!

I have to say the BEST day we had in Houston, was definitely our trip to Galveston - Carter's first time to the beach. (And for you Galveston haters - I may be partial because I grew up on that beach. BUT the beach was clean and beautiful. And the water was clear! It was great!) Anyways, Tim and I are both SUCH beach people. We love the sand...the water...the heat...everything about it. And it seems that Carter followed right along in our footsteps, because he LOVED it! The picture above is when we first got there, and he was standing at the edge of the water just looking out in awe. And the first picture below, was when his tiny little feet first felt the ocean water. He had no fear! All he wanted to do was run out into the water and swim. He loved playing in the sand. And of course he made friends with whoever he could. He got to pretend surf on a guy's board...he played fetch with people's dogs...and of course got to kick a soccer ball with a little boy down the beach. It was such an awesome, awesome day! Cannot wait to go back to the beach!