Thanksgiving 2008

Jason's parents, Dan and Donna, and his sister, Cassie, came to visit us for Thanksgiving this year. It was the first time Cassie and Dan got to meet Carter, and it's been about a year and a half since they saw Alex last! They only got to stay a couple of days, but every minute was worth it. They even got to celebrate Jason's 31st birthday with us!
Here are some fun pictures from their visit:

Thank you for coming out to visit...see you again in a month! :)

Aaaaahhh

It's finally my favorite time of year! We put up our lights and tree today while we listened to my favorite Christmas tunes. Jason doesn't quite enjoy it as much as I do, he even makes me wait until after Thanksgiving until we pull out the Christmas stuff! So as I sit down and enjoy my second cup of hot cocoa, I thought I'd post some pictures of the festivities today:

Alex helping me open the box

Fluffing the branches

Alex hung the first ornament...he did a great job, even if it is backwards!

Jason showing Carter the tree

tree topping time!

I don't have a picture of the finished product yet, we have to buy a new tree topper first. The one we have just doesn't sit nicely on this tree. I think it's time for an angel topper :) Alex really got into it this year and loved helping me pick out spots on the tree to hang all the ornaments. This year was the first year we didn't have to hang any 'generic' ornaments. Every single one is one that we either bought each other or that was given to us by family and friends. One of our Christmas traditions is buying a new ornament and writing the year on the bottom. I love having an ecclectic assortment!

Family pictures!!

We got some family portraits done this weekend by Jenni up at Quartz Mountain. They turned out awesome, but Alex wasn't being too cooperative, so we went to her house today to get some of just the boys :) Thank you Jenni! Keep up the awesome work!

My silly 2 year old...

We went to Walmart yesterday (shocker I know..those of you living in Altus will understand) to get some cookies for our church Lifegroup potluck. As we are leaving the bakery section, I notice Alex chewing on something. I am thinking, 'Oh Lord...please don't let this be something off the ground!' I ask Alex what he's eating and he says 'Mmmm, apple Mama!' So we trek back to where the cookies were, and across the aisle, there are big shiny apples within my toddlers grasp...and one of them is missing a chunk. Yup, he took a bite of an apple, and then put it back before I even noticed he did it. A sweet woman watched the entire thing giggling, but the cashier didn't think it was as funny.

All in all, Alex was happy camper as he ate his apple on the way home, and I am thankful that God is still answering my prayers, even those muttered under my breath.

Just because...

....it's been a while, I am posting a cute video. Carter has mastered the copy-cat technique. :)Here he is in his finest:

I can't help it!

I can't stop myself from comparing Alex and Carter...they are complete opposites! Not in a bad way, but I guess I never expected them to be completely different. I had all these visions and thoughts in my head about how much Carter was going to be like Alex, and how I wouldn't be able to tell them apart....and it just hasn't come out that way at all! I am just amazed ;)

The biggest thing is their size...




(yes, same outfit...Old Navy 6-12 month sleeper)




Next is temperment, Carter is quick to smile and giggle, but we really had to work hard to get giggles out of Alex. He was a happy baby, just didn't like to show it all the time. Alex would let me 'schedule' him...not strict or anything, but I could feed him any time of the day and he'd take it no matter if it had been 20 minutes since he last nursed (which makes it much easier to go places), and Carter will have none of it. He'll eat when he's ready, his schedule during the day is all over the place, and there is nothing I can do about it!

Then we have motor skills. Carter will only roll from back to belly (which he is really getting good at BTW), but that's it! No belly to back, getting up off the belly, sitting. By the time Alex was 5 1/2 months old he was rolling around to get places, on all fours attempting to crawl, and sitting unsupported.

I am not saying one is better than the other at all, because I love them both for what they bring into my life, I love them just the way they are, and I wouldn't ever change a thing about them...but am I horrible for comparing, or is this just a normal thing that mothers do? Please don't tell me I am the only one!