Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to ALL of our family and friends.  What a special time of year.  As I sit here and think about all that 2013 held for us, I am amazed and thankful.  We are blessed.
It's really hard to believe that another Christmas is upon us... here are a few Christmas numbers.

18 - # of Christmases Mark and I have spent together.

13 - # of Christmases we have been parents for.

4 - # of Baby's first Christmases (obviously, but notable)


Here are a few fall pics that I haven't posted yet, and our Christmas card.

 

Da Party

I had decided to do a Tonka themed party for Carter's Birthday, but it ended up being simply a black and yellow party... Mark said it was a little pretty for a boy's first birthday.  Oh well, Carter didn't complain!  I made some cute (pretty?) paper pennants and pinwheels.  I put up a bunch of pictures of the Birthday Boy throughout his first year.

 Carter was pretty excited for his cupcake.  He didn't waste any time digging into it!

Of course as per tradition, Mark and I played rock, paper, scissors to see who would clean him up...

After his bath... ready to open presents!

Our Sweet Little Guy

So silly :)

He's ONE!

Goodness sakes, this year has flown by!  My sweet, little guy is ONE. (And one week, ONE year olds are busy. I've not had time to blog!)

Here he is one year ago...
 He was such a little peanut, so small and scrunchy! 

Look at those lips!

 
And here he is 12 months old! 

At One, our Carter boy has quite the personality...
He LOVES...

• his siblings
• mama and dada
• his grandparents
• playing in the toilet (he beelines there any chance he gets)
• eating, especially bananas, cookies and oatmeal
• reading books, believe it or not, he will sit still and listen
• toys that make noise
• bathtime

He LIKES...

• van rides
• napping

He DISLIKES...

• getting his diaper changed
• getting his finger nails cut
• saying goodbye to the kids
•  being told "no"

He is a sweet, happy, smiley, silly, funny, goofy little guy and I'm not sure there could be a baby who is loved more than our Carter.

Summer : Part Five - Home Time

There were those idyllic summer days at home too.  We didn't fill our days with too much, but tried to keep busy around the city.  We tried to enjoy every moment as summer really is so short.

Pool play dates

Sweetness on a blanket

New straightener meant uber straight hair

Berry picking

Mmmm, there was some sampling going on

A little small, but red, ripe and juicy!

Summer Part Four - Cabin TIme

We spent a ton of time at our trailer this summer, but we also did our Second Annual trip  to our friend's cabin in the Whiteshell for a couple of nights.  3 Mommies, 11 kiddos.  We had gorgeous weather.  The kids did some fishing and swimming.  We had late night movies and all in all a fabulous time.

Summer - Part Three - At the Lake

 We spent a good part of our summer at our favourite place, our humble trailer :)  In total we were probably there for the better part of  5 - 6 weeks.  The kids did swimming lessons again and have hopes of becoming lifeguards so we can continue spending our summers there! The chapel services were an awesome time of growing in our faith.  We spent time with our friends, and family. Hard to believe another awesome summer has come and gone.  We are so thankful for our time at Manhattan.

Loving the water

An attempt at containing this little mover!

The best time at the lake is when Daddy is there with us!

Lots of walks to keep this boy happy

We celebrated our 16th Anniversary with a dinner out.  Left the kids at camp and went into Killarney!

Experienced bike rider...

... and brand new bike rider.  No training wheels for this girl!  Holy Moley look at Colie!

Summer Part Two: Family Visit

  

In early July some of Mark's family from Ontario came for a visit.  It's always a good time being together with our family.   Our niece's sweet baby girl Peyton is only 2 weeks younger than Carter.  We knew we had to take a bunch of pics while the babies were together.  I love this sequence of pictures for their first photo shoot...

Carter is super excited to be beside a little person just his size, Peyton, not so sure about being plopped down beside this guy

Carter decides to be friendly, maybe overly so, and reaches out to Peyton, and then goes in for a kiss

Peyton decides she doesn't like kisses from strange boys

His look is saying "What?  What did I do?"  

 Our nephew's son is just  3 months younger than these other two.  We had to do ANOTHER photo shoot with all 3 babies!  Babies bring so much joy. 

By the end of the evening us Mommies thought one last picture, this time in jammies would be a great idea.  Carter didn't mind another photo session, poor Peyton had had enough of these two guys.  She really was such a good little traveler... and we were so very glad to have a chance to "get the babies together" 

Summer Part One - Carter's Dedication

On a beautiful day at the beginning of summer we had the pleasure of dedicating our son to the Lord.  We had our good friend Pastor Greg lead us and we had lots of family and friends join us.  It was such a special day.  We lined lawn chairs up on the grass by my parents place by the lake.  Our favourite place was the ideal location for such an event.   It was casual and purposeful at the same time.  We celebrated with a BBQ and cake.  Carter was a star... visiting and smiling.  A big thanks to Greg and Monique! Making the trip from BC to MB just for this!!

Back to School

 Well it was that day again, when we say goodbye to summer and hello to fall and routine again.  Bittersweet.  Oh did we have a great summer, so so very great.  Many pics to come!
So here we are...
Jayme, First Day of JUNIOR HIGH!  How on earth did that happen?  And to answer the question that I get asked almost daily, YES, she is as tall as me now.  

 And Brady the Man... first day of Grade FIVE.  Another YIKES!

 And SweetPea,  Coco's First Day of GRADE ONE!!

  

I thought I'd be a lot more emotional this year, because, c'mon these are big ones, junior high... grade one... but I'm not sure if it was the fact that Mark has been doing a lot of farming and consequently I've been doing a lot of single parenting, or the fact that they were so excited and so ready and all have wonderful teachers this year,  or maybe it's the fact that my house is CLEAN and QUIET, or maybe, and most probably it is because of this guy...   he's the best.  I'm at peace.

 

Sports!

We had a pretty busy spring this year.  (Yah I know, it's halfway through summer already, I just said, it's been BUSY)
All 3 older kids had Spring Sports and they ALL had games on Mondays and Wednesdays.  So as 2 parents, we were pulled in 3 different directions.  I usually went to Coco's soccer games with Carter in tow and when she finished I usually went late to whichever big kid had a home game.  Daddy was the token away games driver.  Whoever had a game in Beausejour or Landmark or Transcona got to go with Dad.  Needless to say, we rarely were all sitting and watching someone play.  The odd time, Jayme had a Sunday game or Brady had a Friday game and then we would be able to go as a whole family.
 Jayme's team entered the provincials again this year and they proudly won SILVER!!  That was such a fun weekend and the Girls from the East were in town and so her cousins and Auntie got to come watch her play.
As a windup for Brady's team, they got to go to a Goldeye's game and go on the field with the team in the position that they played.  Brady was 3rd base, just like Dad :)
We enjoy getting out and being active when the weather turns nicer, so busy as it was, we loved it!