Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus visited our house last night.  His reindeer at all the glitter food in the front yard but Santa left a few crumbs from the cookies on his plate.  He delivered a basketball goal with two balls as requested by Jackson.  The boys love playing basketball in mom's kitchen.  They also got a lot of new books, train sets, ornaments for the tree and other fun toys. 

Jackson got a bicycle that trails behind our bikes.  Now Carson can have the bike trailer all to himself.  They both got a kick out of riding around the neighborhood.  It was good exercise for mom and dad too.

Drew got a huge helicopter that we have flown three (3) times today.  Jackson loves watching it fly.

Carson said, "Happy," today.  He is so cute.  He also loves to give his brother hugs.

3 Years Old and 14 Months Week 3

The boys have been sick this week.  Jackson has pneumonia and Carson has bronchitis.  Needless to say, we have not done much.  We did make Chex Mix, fruit cake cookies, gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate reindeer for Jackson's preschool class.

Last Friday, we went to Nicole's house for a family Christmas party.  Each family brought $5 gifts for the kids to open.  It was fun to watch them tear through the paper.  All the kids are so excited about Christmas!

Jackson tells me daily that Santa is going to land on his roof and come down the chimney with presents.  He wants to know if the reindeer will come inside too.

At the doctor's office, Carson weighed 30 pounds and Jackson weighed 42 pounds.  Both kids have big feet.  They are growing up so fast.

Carson is talking up a storm.  He is saying "santa, ball, brother, dog, Riley, good, hi, all done, outside, shoe, down."  He repeats everything.  In the morning, I say, "Hi" when I open his door.  Carson says, "Hi" back.  Then I say, "How are you?" and Carson says "Good."

3 Years Old and 14 Months Week 1

 
Jackson is loving every minute of Christmastime this year.  We started decorating for Christmas this week.  We decorated inside and outside the house and then went to the mountains with friends to cut down a Christmas tree.  The boys were very helpful trimming the tree except they take off more ornaments than they put on.  Also, the candy canes were a bad idea.  I found Carson eating one right before bed last night plastic and all.

 

Jackson told Santa that he wanted a charger for the helicopter.  We tell Jackson the helicopter has to charge when we are tired of playing or he would never stop.  I guess he thinks we need a better charger or that two might be more helpful.  He also wants a basketball goal with two basketballs.  I think the second ball is for Carson so Jackson will not have to share.

 

We believe that Santa may have been Santa Claude, Santa's Claus's brother from the South Pole.

 



 

Jackson is trying to keep Carson in the picture in front of our tree.  Carson is too busy walking around to be contained.  Jackson helped Drew saw the tree down.  We hung out at the farm for about 2 hours waiting on Santa Claude.  The property is beautiful and we had fun playing badminton with the boys.

3 Years and 13 Months Weeks 3 and 4

Wow!  What a busy two weeks!  We went to Weston, FL with Nana and Papaw for a week.  Jackson, Drew and Papaw got to go fishing with Uncle Zack.  They all caught fish off the Florida keys.  Jackson and Carson had fun playing with their cousin, Kaia.

Jackson and Carson did a lot of swimming at the resort's pool.  Jackson loved jumping off the edge of the pool.  Carson preferred floating around in his raft.  We built sandcastles with Nana at the beach one day.  It was too choppy to get the boys in the ocean but we walked along the beach.  Papaw took us to see alligators.  Both boys touched the baby alligator.  Jackson said, "It will bite me," when I asked him if he wanted to hold the alligator.  What a smart boy!

Carson has spent the last two weeks perfecting his walking.  Now, he does not crawl anywhere.  We officially have a toddler and preschooler in the house.  Jackson starts preschool tomorrow for half a day three days a week.  He is excited!

We spent last week with Grammy and Poppy in Savannah.  All five cousins were there for Thanksgiving.  Jackson was the oldest at 3 years old and Jillian was the youngest at 9 months old.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of chaos! Poppy said their house would never be the same again. 

Jillian, Jayla, Jackson, Carson and Kaia

3rd Birthday Party

 

Jackson celebrated his 3rd birthday at the airport.  We sent boarding pass invitations.  He choose to have a pull apart cupcake cake in the shape of an airplane.  He helped me make airplanes out of Tootsie rolls, a stick of gum, two lifesavers and a rubberband.  The parents and kids had a great time watching the planes take-off and land.  Carson would point and yell, "Ane. Go. Go. Bye. Bye."  We were at the park by the airport for 3 hours and Jackson was still amused by the planes at the end of the party.  I have never seen him sit so quietly and just watch.

2 Years Old and 13 Months Week 1

Happy Halloween!  We carved a pumpkin with the boys.  Neither one of them wanted to touch the gooey insides.  Jackson loved blowing out the candle inside and asking me to "fix it."

We had the neighbors on the street over for a potluck before the trick-or-treating started.  Jackson loved running around with all the big boys.  Jackson did not understand about trick-or-treating until it began but he got the hang of it fast.  He was running from house to house watching for spooks along the way.  He told us it was "a great party."

Both boys went as skeletons.  Their costumes were glow in the dark pj's. 

Carson is cutting two molars this week.  He said Riley.  It is funny to hear him talk when Jackson would not at this age.  Both boys are getting so big.  We bought Jackson size 12 shoes this week.  Our neighbor who is in kindergarten wears an 11.5.

Jackson fell into a table leg this week and ended up with 5 stitches in his eyebrow.  It is healing well but still bruised and sore.

2 Years Old and 12 Months Week 3

The boys spent the week battling a cold that they picked up on our trip north.  Carson has had his second ear infection in a row, so if the fluid is not gone in two weeks when we go back to the doctor, they will probably recommend tubes.  Carson was in the 97% percentile for his weight, height and head.  He is 28 lbs and 32.5 inches tall.

I took the boys to the airport to watch the planes.  We are having Jackson's birthday there next weekend.  The only problem with taking them is they never want to leave.  I finally told them we were going to race a plane.  Of course, the plane won.  Jackson is talking non-stop about his party and the planes.  He helped me make favors for the party yesterday.  We used a Tootsie roll, a piece of gun, two lifesavers and a rubberband to make airplanes.

We took the boys on a bike ride this morning.  We went to see all the Halloween decorations in the neighborhood.  Carson yells, "Spider."  It is pretty cute to see them get so excited.  They do not appear to be afriad of the spooks at all.  Our street has had fun booing each other.  You get a bucket of treats on your doorstep with a poen that says the spooks are out having fun.  You put a Boo in your window and then boo two of your neighbors.  It is supposed to be a secret but Jackson remembers where we put our buckets and looks for them each time we pass the neighbor's house.  He says, "My bucket went there!"

2 Years Old and 11 Months Week 3

We took the boys took the boys to see their cousins, Jayla and Jillian, this last week.  It was our first time meeting Jillian.  She is already 8 months old!  The kids played well together.  The drive from North Carolina to Pennsylvania was beautiful.  All the leaves were changing colors.

The boys great Nana moved in with Aunt Patti this year.  Aunt Patti rescues animals and lives on a farm.  She has horses, lamas, deer, chickens, geese, dogs, cats and peacocks.  The kids had a blast at the "zoo."  Jackson got to ride a horse and loved it.

Carson learned how to walk in a hotel room this week.  Grammy took care of the boys so that Mommy could help Poppy and Daddy at Onex.  Grammy took the boys to the Erie zoo.  Jackson is still talking about the monkey.

Anyone that knows Drew knows that he shakes his leg.  Jackson was sitting in the kitchen on the stool today and wanted us to see his leg.  He was making it shake.  It was so funny!

2 Years Old and 1 Year Wek 1

Friday night we went  to eat downtown off the food trucks.  There were 11 food trucks from all over the city that parked on one lot.  Drew got pork belly tacos that were amazing.  The kids had a wonderful girlled cheese.  I found change on the ground and gave it to Jackson.  I told him it was money and Carson started yelling, "Money!" Man, they sure do learn early.

We took the boys to the pumpkin patch this weekend.  There was a great hayride through the woods to the pumpkin patch.  The boys both picked little pumpkins out of the patch.  We also got a big one to carve.  Then, the boys got to ride the cow train.  It was little cattle cars made from 55 gallon drums and they were pulled by a tractor.  However, the kids thought they were driving.  Next, both boys rode real horses for the first time.  Jackson was a natural!  He loved riding so much Drew bought him tickets so that he could ride again.  Carson spent the whole time trying to get his helmet off.

Carson learned to high five this weekend.  We took the boys to the contemporary service at the Methodist Church this morning.  Carson is teething so he was screaming in the nursery so I just took him to service with me.  He loved the music.  A lady in front of me started waving her hands to the music.  Carson thought she was high fiving so he had his hands in the air too.  It was hilarious!



 

2 Years Old and 1 Year Old

I cannot believe that our baby just turned 1! We had a football themed party for him.  All the kids had fun playing together.  It was the first time that we had gotten to see come of our friends since moving back.  Carson did not smash his cake.  He just licked the icing.  However, Grammy did catch him in the cupcakes prior to the party.

We took Carson and Jackson to Lazy 5 Ranch on Carson's birthday.  Carson was afraid of the animals at first but by the end he was hanging out the side of the car trying to get them to come closer so we could feed them.

I took Jackson and Carson to the apple orchard with their friend Millie.  Jackson loved picking apples.  Both of the boys sat in the orchard and ate apples.  Then, we went to see the pigs and look at all the little pumpkins. 

Jackson caught his first fish on Sunday.  There was a a stocked trout pond and Grammy and Grandpa's cabin in the mountains.  He did not want to touch it but had fun fishing!

 Jackson was caught climbing his first bookcase this week.  We heard Carson crying and went to check on them.  Drew found Jackson three rungs up on the bookcase throwing books on Carson's head.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "Messing with the books."

Both of the boys have an ear infection.  Jackson weighed 40 lbs and Carson weighed 28 lbs at the doctor yesterday.

2 Years Old and 11 Months Weeks 1 and 2

Goodness!  I am so far behind on blog posts.  A lot have happened in the last month.

One of our best friends from Charlotte, Darren Reilly, came to see us in Washington.  He and Drew got to play the Liberty Lake golf courses and Coeur D'Alene.  Darren said Coeur D'Alene was the prettiest course he had ever played and that is coming from a pro golfer.  Jackson loved playing with Darren.  They played disc golf and Darren pushed Jackson around in the mini coupe in the backyard.

Our best friends in Washington, Paul, Emily, Jake and Alec Crowley, through us a going away party.  It was a barbecue theme since we were going back to the South.  We had a lot of friends that came to wish us farewell.  It was fun!  Later, that week, we finished our packing early and headed off to see Glacier National Park.  We saw two mountain goats on the way to Whitefish, MT.  Whitefish was a beautiful little town.  Glacier was pretty but we only saw one deer and a bear.  We still like Yellowstone better as far as wildlife goes.

Gammy (it was supposed to be Grammy) and Poppy (it was supposed to be Papaw) came to see us over Labor Day.  They helped us finish packing everything up and then we all headed to British Columbia.  Kelowna had some beautiful wineries.  We also went over to Halcyon Hot Springs for the day.  Both boys loved swimming in the pools.  Jackson asked for a life jacket the first night and then by the next morning he was swimming just laying on a noodle.  We were all very impressed!

Mommy flew home with Jackson and Carson while Daddy drove the Subaru and the dogs.  Jackson was an absolute dream on the planes.  We took three flights.  Each time I would ask him if he was ready and he would say, "Yes, I am ready.  Are you ready, Momma?" After our third flight of the day, Jackson asked to go on another plane.  I told him I was done for the day.  He has been asking to ride on a plane ever since.  Carson was fine except for take-off and landing.  I think that the pressure really hurt his ears so he would cry.  Drew made it in two 17 hour days from Washington to Tennessee. 

We spent the weekend in Tennessee seeing my family and friends before we finished the journey to Fort Mill, SC.  We are right across the border from Charlotte, NC.  The neighborhood is very family friendly.  Jackson is calling it home which makes me feel better.  I spent a week answering the question, "When are we going home?"

Carson is saying, "Bye-bye, brother, bottle and drink."  We just ran out of formula so I am trying to get him to drink milk and take his bottle away at the same time.  It is not going so well.  He is still not walking unless you hold his hands.  He loves going up and down the stairs though.  We are having a birthday party for him and Jackson could not be more excited!

2 Years Old and 10 Months Weeks 1 and 2

Well, I do not even know where to begin!  We are moving back to North Carolina after only being in Washington for 4 months.  We are very excited to be back on the east coast with family and friends but we will miss the west and the new friends we made here.

Carson is saying, "Dog, Daddy, Mommy and Hi."  He is adorable.  He let go of the file cabinet and took one steop towards me yesterday before falling over.  If you hold his hands, he will run!

Jackson is riding his bike everywhere.  He is almost ready to get rid of the training wheels per Drew.  I am not convinced.  He has my gracefulness or lack there of.

Aimee has been with us for two weeks now.  Thank goodness she is small because she has been drug all over Idaho, Washington and Oregon.  We went to Portland, the Oregon coast and Hood River for a few days.  We had a blast eating donuts at VooDoo Donuts, playing on the beach even though it was freezing and trying all the beer in Hood River.

2 Years Old and 9 Months Week 4

We found two lakes that are really close by this weekend.  We took the boys swimming on Friday and Sunday.  They both love the water.  Jackson loves jumping in to us.  Carson splashes at the edge.

Jackson has learned to ride his yard sale bike very well.  He rides it all over the neighborhood.

Carson is pointing at things now.  He says, "Da," every time he sees the dogs.  He is getting the hang of waving bye-bye.  He also learned how to throw a ball.  He thinks it is a lot of fun!  Carson has been using Jackson's little shopping cart to get around the house.  Jackson isn't a huge fan of sharing that toy since he uses it for hauling his toys around the house.

2 Years Old and 9 Months Week 3

We took the boys to Snowqualmie, WA to see Thomas the Train this weekend.  Jackson loved all the trains.  We stayed the night in Ellensburg, WA and went to see a wind farm and energy museum on Sunday morning.  The wind turbines are huge!  They are 351 ft from base to tip of the blade.

We also stayed one night in Leavenworth, WA.  It is a Bavarian village.  During one of the world wars, they stopped allowing the shipment of lumber by rail and the little logging town was going to die so they decided to become a Bavarian village.  It was cute but touristy.  We stopped for a glass of wine on the way into town and saw Washington's famous apple orchards on the way home.

Carson has been talking to the baby in the glass on the oven.  He is so cute!  He stands there and says, "Hi!"

Jackson put his clothes on all by himself.  He did everything right except he had the shorts on backwards.  He also said his own name for the first time.  It is strange because he says Carson all the time.

They kids went to the dentist for the first time today.  Their teeth look great.  Spokane is the only county left in the nation that does not put fluoride in their water and the cavity rate is the worst in the nation.  I wonder if there is a correlation!

2 Years Old and 9 Months Week 2

Carson is drinking out of a sippy cup now.  He still takes a bottle at night but we should have no problem weening him by the time he is one.  Our neighbors gave us a little coop car.  Carson loves sitting in it when Jackson will let him.

We took the boys to fish in Idaho on the Coeur D'Alene River this weekend.  The water was crystal clear.  Paul, Jake and Alec's dad, caught two cutthroat trout but we did not catch anything.  the kids had fun sticking their toes in the cold water.

On Saturday, we took the boys to the old Spokane airport called Felt Field.  They have a Skyway Cafe where we had breakfast and watched all the little planes take off.  Jackson loved seeing all the planes.  Carson loved eating the pancakes.

2 Years Old and 9 Months Week 1

We finally got the heat everyone else has been talking about for months now.  It is in the 90s for the first time all summer.  We had friends from the neighborhood over to barbecue on the 4th of July.  The kids loved playing on the slip and slide.  Then, we went to a local park to listen to the music and see the fireworks.  Our family never saw the fireworks.  The kids were in bed at 8PM and the fireworks did not start until 10PM because it stays light here so late.

We took the kids to Corbin Park on Sunday to swim at the river.  It was refreshing water.  Jackson loved looking at the little fish and picking up rocks.  Carson loved eating the rocks.  Everything goes straight to his mouth.  We took them back on Monday evening to picnic and fish after work.  Jackson was telling Drew how to fish.  Drew said, "I knew that you were going to know everything.  I just didn't think it would be so soon!"

On Sunday afternoon, we went up to Green Bluff.  It is the farming area on a bluff above Spokane.  We picked strawberries.  Can you believe it!  It is finally the end of the strawberry season.  I am making strawberry rhubarb preserves.  The kids loved playing on the farm.  They had a sandbox full of dried peas instead of sand.
 
Carson went for his 9 month appointment today.  He is in the 97th percentile for head, height and weight.  He is 31" tall and 24 lbs 14 oz.

2 Years Old and 9 Months Old

We took Jackson, Carson and the dogs on a hike this weekend.  We went around the backside of the lake so that we could avoid people on the trail and just let the dogs run.  It was beautiful!  Riley came running out of the trees ahead of us and Drew thought he was a bear.  It was pretty amusing.

Carson is letting go of the furniture with one hand.  He is too wobbly to walk yet.  He can also squat down which is a big milestone.  He knows who Mom is and is a little clingy especially when he gets tired.  Otherwise, he is into everything!

Jackson still loves going to the gym a.k.a "school".  He plays with the trains and draws me a picture everyday.  He is playing well with his little brother but sometimes is a little rough.  I guess roughhousing is just natural for boys.

2 Years Old and 8 Months Week 4

Where does the time go?  Our baby is about to be 9 months old!

We took the boys on their first trip out of the USA this weekend.  We went across the border to Nelson, British Columbia.  It is known as the best small art town in Canada.  We tried to peak in one artist co-op but Jackson saw a choo-choo train and had a melt down.  The farmer's market was a much safer spot for our clan.  Jackson got a fresh juice and we walked up to see the waterfall in the park.

At nap time, we loaded the kids back into the car and drove them 45 minutes north to Ainworth Hot Springs.  There was a 98F pool, a cave that was 103F and a plung pool at 50F.  The cave was really cool.  It used to be an old mining shaft that had turned into a cave full of stalagtites and stalagmites from the minerals in the water.  Jackson spent 2 hours jumping off the side of the pool and swimming.

We headed up to a glacier after the hot sping but Jackson got car sick on the winding, dirt road so we never made it.  Maybe a little too much mineral water from the hot springs?

The streams were all whitewater.  There was still snow on the top of some of the mountains and they had gotten a lot of rain.  It was beautiful - the lake, the mountains, the trees and the rivers.  We stopped in Kokanee Creek Provincial Park but it started to rain so we didn't get to explore all of the park.  We loaded the car onto a ferry and went across the lake.  It was is the longest free ferry ride in the world.  The scenery was beautiful even with the fog and rain.  Jackson loved the boat ride!

2 Years Old and 8 Months Week 3

We had a fun Father's Day weekend with Drew.  We took the boys to the beach at Lake Coeur D'Alene.  It was so windy we ended up coming home and playing yard games with the Crowley family.

Carson is cruising and pulling up on everything.  When I stand still too long in one spot, Carson climbs up my leg.  He is babbling like crazy.

Jackson is doing great going to the potty.  He rarely has an accident anymore.  He is obsessed with Jake Crowley who is 9 years old.  He wants to do everything Jake does.

I wish I could say everyone was sleeping through the night but it is so dry out here we all get thirsty in the night.  Both boys get up between midnight and 3AM waiting a drink.

2 Years Old and 8 Months Week 2

Carson is cruising!  Last night, he was pushing a dining room chair around the kitchen and walking behind it.  This morning, he walked the full length of our dresser.

Both boys had a very drippy nose and the associated cough this weekend.  Sunday morning they got up really early - let's be honest, they never really slept.  We put them in the car and started driving.  They slept and we ended up in Missoula, MT.  It was a pretty city where three rivers converge.  On the way, we saw a moose and a bald eagle.

Jackson is starting to pretend play.  He likes to pretend he is fishing.  He also got to go to the splash pad at a local park this week.

The boys help me water our garden.  So far, we have gotten lettuce, onions and Swiss chard out of the garden.  The peas, beans, tomatoes, broccoli and potatoes are doing really well.

The boys have not been feeling great so we have spent a lot of time at home.  I let them paint.  It was Carson's first time.  He tried to eat the paper and notice the paint just above his ear in the picture.

2 Years Old and 8 Months Week 1

Carson has started pulling up on everything!  He was climbing Jackson's cooking stool.  He got over a step for a sunken living room at a friends.  Then, I caught him pulling up on a stair, standing up and then putting his knees up on the next stair.  He was climbing the stairs!  Needless to say, the baby gates are up.  Carson is also babbling like crazy - mama, dada, nana, baba.  He talks a lot more than Jackson did at this age.

Jackson got to go to Chucky Cheese for Alec's 4th birthday party.  He kept saying to Drew, "I need more money." Man it starts young!

2 Years Old and 7 Months Old Week 3 and 4

Gammy and Papa came to visit us.  We went up to Priest Lake for Memorial Day weekend.  It was beautiful.  We fished and roasted smores over the fire.  Jackson talked about fishing all week after Papa picked up poles and bait.  He kept saying, "Gotcha fish!"

Carson is crawling on his hands and knees now.  He is really fast!  We have to get the baby gates up on the stairs. 

 

Jackson is talking up a storm.  He repeats everything we say and even comes up with words we didn't know he knew.  This morning he told Drew he needed a belt.  It is really cute to hear him communicate.  Jackson had his two and a half year old checkup.  He was 38" tall and 38 pounds - that is the 97th percentile.  Also, he is going to the potty all by himself.  He pulls his pants up and down and stands in front of the toilet.