Elves on the Brain!

Can you tell I have elves on the brain? With three kids, we need several elves so everyone has their own. The Elf Magic elves (www.elf-magic.com) are absolutely precious! I just entered a great giveaway for one of the new elves over at Susan Heim's blog (link here: http://susanheim.blogspot.com/2009/11/celebrate-christmas-with-elf-magic.html) Click on over and enter to win!

Jingles the Elf - Great Giveaway!!!

Ho!Ho!Ho! Jingles the Elf is looking for a home, and he'd like that home to be yours! Christmas is almost here, and he needs a place to stay before it gets too cold. Angie at 5 Vinez Monkeys is hosting a special giveaway to help find Jingles a home. One lucky winner will receive a Jingles the Elf Hide and Seek Adventure Keepsake Kit. You won't want to miss this giveaway! Stop by before 11:59pm ET on November 20th and enter to win!

Portfolio Breakfasts

Lindsey and Emily both had portfolio breakfasts this week. I use the term "breakfast" loosely, because there was no actual breakfast there. Emily said it was "because of the economy" and sort of shook her head. I think she's been listening to Daddy and Bapop lately! I brought my camera to both girls' breakfasts, but was only able to take pictures at Emily's breakfast. I won't go into all the details about why I didn't take any at Lindsey's, but just know that it involved tears (hers), begging (mine) and me walking out of there without a single picture! Anyway, Lindsey showed me her work, which was mostly writing samples. I loved hearing her voice in her writing - she is very creative and very conscientious in all she does. What a joy that little girl is to me. She warms my heart.

Emily allowed a few pictures, only because Daddy wasn't there to see her work. She was so excited for me to be there, and to show me her journal. I can't believe how much her reading and writing has improved this year. It's astounding, truly. Here is her journal the first day of kindergarten (sorry for the dark picture - notice there is no writing, just a bunch of scribbling and a sticky note her teacher put on there telling what the picture was about):



And here is a recent entry - it continued on the next page, too. It was about Ballerina Bunnies - too cute! And take a look at the difference a year makes!!!



Here's my sweet girl showing off some of her work (notice a pattern here? She writes about bunnies alot!). I am so proud of her! She has come so far, and I love her enthusiasm for learning!

Two Months Old!!!

Carter is two months old today. Impossible. Here is what he is up to lately:

*Smiling alot more, and most importantly, smiling at MOMMY alot more! Yay!

*Still sleeping alot during the day, but having many more awake times in between naps.

*On the verge of moving to size THREE diapers! The boy is big - he's 14 lbs, 12 oz (95th%) and 23 inches long (50th%). What can I say, he still loves to nurse, and does so just about every two hours during the day.

*Sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night - hallelujah! - but not going to bed until late - around 11:00 or later most nights. Gotta work on that.

*Cooing, and "talking" to us alot more - he has been saying "ah-goo" alot lately. Pure genius, I tell you!

*When he gets in his bouncy seat, he kicks like a crazy man to make his "babies" move - he loves when those babies move. He acts like the kicking is his job, he's so serious about it.

Here are his 2 month old pictures, taken by Mommy today:

Bathing Beauties

Nothing too exciting happening today - but seeing my girls come walking downstairs today looking like this - just made me smile. They are both so beautiful and becoming so grown up!

All Dolled Up!

Dear Daddy, Will, and Zach,

This is Carter writing you a little note to ask you to please never leave me alone with all the girls again. Don't get me wrong, I love those girls - they spoil me rotten, give me more attention than any baby really needs, and shower me with affection every waking moment, but this weekend they went a little too far. You see, I was minding my own business this weekend, when suddenly I found myself here:




I'm pretty sure this is not a "manly" thing to be doing.

I have to admit that I did sort of like it, though - who knew that American Girl doll beds were so comfy??? And those beads hanging down made a really cool noise when I kicked them.

I also had to watch Hannah Montana with Emily, and then be kissed more times than I wanted to be kissed. Apparently, even when I closed my eyes, she could still see me.

So, if you could please take me somewhere manly - like Home Depot, a baseball game, or maybe even the driving range, I would appreciate it. I need to do some "man stuff" soon!
Love,
Carter

Friends - and Smiles =)

I am so blessed to have some wonderful friends. I feel so lucky and have to share a couple of things that happened today.

First, my good friend Maureen brought dinner over for us tonight. I am pretty sure that this is the only homecooked meal my family has had in several days. I am guessing that Rodney has sent out a message to my friends letting them know that he is wasting away to nothing, and to please send food. Maureen was so sweet to make some yummy Poppyseed Chicken, salad and delicious chocolate chip cookies. Lindsey says she LOVES Maureen's cookies! This was the first time Maureen had met Carter, and she seemed to really enjoy snuggling him. Thank you so much, Maureen! You're the best!

Right after Maureen left, my friend Cindy came by with her sweet daughter Grace. We haven't seen them much lately, so it was so good to have them stop by. They couldn't stay long, but Cindy dropped off the most AMAZING gift that she made for Carter - an afgan with his name on it! It matches his room PERFECTLY! I love it and can't believe all the time she must have spent making this for us. I am so thankful for such a wonderful heirloom that we will cherish forever. Here are a couple of pictures:

In other news, we are seeing more and more smiles from the little Mister - and I will officially try anything to make him smile. He has the sweetest little face, and I just love to see that gummy little smile - I was able to capture a few in pictures - enjoy!