Halloween

We had a lot of fun for Halloween this year.  I will be completely honest, and admit that Halloween isn't my favorite holiday.  I LOVE to see all the kids dressed up so cute, hand out candy, watch as the kids enjoy themselves trick-or-treating, and we enjoyed trick-or-treating with Carson this year.  But, I just don't really get off on celebrating a scary holiday.  I don't like the scary costumes, scream masks, or anything bloody and gory.  Not to mention, everything that represents evil.  So, with that being said.....we do not decorate to the extent for Halloween.  No spider webs, skeletons, or scary decor at our house.  We stick with the basic pumpkins, and dressed our little one up as a cute Lion and Tiger, and did a little trick-or treating.

On Saturday night, it was trick-or-treating in Aplington, and we had a lot of fun going around to a few houses.  Mostly to the people we knew, and some family members.  We ended at my G&G Sents' house, and we helped dish out some candy.  Carson was not fond of his costume this year.  I think mostly because it was a one-piece, and it was too small.  On Saturday night, he was a lion.  And, I am sad to report....I didn't get a single one picture of the cute little lion!  Bummer.

On Halloween night, we went into Cedar Falls, and started at Frannie and Grandpa Gary's house.  Carson was a Tiger this night, and he actually wore his costume (after I fought him to put it on) and we went around to a few houses on their street.  After Carson's hands were cold, it was getting dark, and he was walking super slow, we called it quits.  We hung around their house for the remainder of the night, and I had a lot of fun handing out candy to all the kids.  I just love to see all the cute costumes that people are dressed in.

We didn't do any pumpkin carving this year, and I am not sure why.  I think mostly because our schedules are so opposite, and if we don't get something done on the weekends together, we have to wait until the following weekend.  And, this past weekend it was out of the picture with everything else going on.  But, we did decorate a pumpkin, we just did it in a way that Carson could actually do himself, which was really fun.  We gave him a bunch of stickers, and let him decorate the pumpkin himself.  Ok, we did help with the basic "face" details, but he added most of the other stickers himself.  The pumpkin actually turned out really cute!  And, a couple days later, he took all the stickers off the pumpkin, and scattered them everywhere throughout the house.  It was fun, but short lived, I guess. 

We had a lot of fun this Halloween season, and I can't believe that it is November already!  Holy smokes, where has this year gone?!

TWO Years Old

I truly can't believe that I am writing this post right now.  It's such a bittersweet post, really.  I have always thought those Moms that were all sentimental about every. little. thing. were absolutely crazy.  And, I have now added myself to the list of things that are categorized as....."Things I never thought I would do, until I became a MOM myself"....

For some reason lately, every little change has gotten to me.  It makes me want to cry when I packed away Carson's Summer clothes, knowing he would never wear them again.  Or, when I look at him, and I swear he grew over night.  And when he gets a trim by Daddy, and he looks like a totally different boy, when in reality, he just cut off a few strangling hairs.

This weekend marked TWO years old for our dearest Wee Lad.  He has been such a joy to us in our lives, words truly can't describe.  We have been through a lot in two years, and yet here we are, the day that marks the birth of our first born, and we couldn't be more happier. 

Carl and I do a lot of reflecting on the life with, and without children.  And, let's just say...the talk about "without children" lasts for about 10 seconds.  We can't even really remember what we did, or talked about before Carson came along.  It's been wonderful, to say the least.

Carson is still our sweetheart, with a twist of a two-year-old's attitude.  I am going to admit that this is the hardest age, to date, for me.  I am struggling with reasoning with him, disciplining him, and getting through to him that biting is NOT acceptable.  But, even with those few challenging things, comes the good.....comes the great.....comes the fabulous that children bring to one's life.  And, he has brought good, great, fabulous, and so much more to our lives. 

I can tell that Carl being gone during the evening hours is really starting to take a toll on Carson's little life.  He really misses his Daddy, and there is nothing I can do about it, which is a huge bummer.  Every morning, and every evening he cries for Daddy.  If we by chance get to see Carl for 5 minutes at night before he goes to work, it is almost worse than not seeing him at all.  Carson stands at the door, cries, and says "No, Daddy Bye-bye"....and that just breaks my heart.  So, I would classify Carson as a "Daddy's Boy" at the moment.

Carson's Stats:
    Weight: 24 Pounds
     Diaper: Size 4
     Clothing: 12-18 Months
     Favorite Toy: He loves to play with puzzles, put things together, play with his tractors and trucks, his barn animals, and his blocks.  He is also still in love with his 5 Dr. Seuss books that we have.  He can't just carry around 1 of these books, his arms have to be plump full with all 5 of them.  It's like he can't decide which one is his favorite, or which one he wants to "read" first. 

Carson also has a bear, and a tiger that he loves to carry around.  They usually go everywhere with us, and he has to sleep with them every night.  The tiger is actually the stuffed animal that I got from Carl on our wedding day, that was with the roses that he gave me right before we saw each other for the first time that day.  I think it is so neat that Carson chose that stuffed animal, out of all of his, to love the most.
He is also back to really enjoying Norman, the turtle.  And, surprisingly enough, a few of Norman's buttons still work.  I hear them occasionally during the middle of the night, and I hope and pray that it doesn't wake him up :) 

As our little guy's birthday has been approaching, I have been reflecting on the day that we brought him into this world.  The anticipation, excitement, feeling so anxious, and very nervous.  I remember that day so clearly.  And, I will never forget the moment I laid eyes on our son for the first time, and instantly fell in love.  Or when I heard my husband whisper in my ear "He is here, and Ang, he is absolutely perfect"...while he was fighting back tears.  There are so many details to that day that I remember so vividly, and I hope I never forget them.  Not a single one of them.

Our little Carson is entering into the "Terrific Twos" and I still can't believe it.  I am anxious to watch him grow and learn new things, but a little part of me wants him to be a baby again.  But, I doubt that feeling will ever go away....even at the age of 16!

We are looking forward to another wonderful year with our little growing toddler.  He has blessed our life in so many ways, and I am looking forward to the future.  We don't know what it will entail, but I am excited for it all.

The next year will bring challenges, no doubt.  We have a two year old on our hands, and you never know what is going to be next.  But, this little body has brought so much life, and so much love into our family already, that those bad memories, or bad moments can quickly be erased from our memory.  We thank the good Lord every night for blessing us with such an amazing soul to raise.

We love you, little Wee Lad.  Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Fall

This year's Fall weather has truly been gorgeous.  We have actually been pretty spoiled with the super nice temps that we had a few weeks back.  About 20 degrees above normal is crazy/unheard of.  But, with that being said, I am completely content with the 60 degrees temps, too.  I love jeans and a sweatshirt kind of weather.  Something about that apparel combo screams Fall.  And, this is my favorite time of year.

Carson and I enjoyed some time outdoors last week in the leaves.  We have three mature trees in our backyard, that obviously produce millions of leaves.  We are finding out that the different trees are all going to drop their leaves at different times.  We have one bare tree, a tree that is turning right now, and one that is completely green yet.  So, we enjoyed some fun in the leaves from the bare tree!

I raked a huge pile of leaves, and Carson helped me.  Well, kind of helped.  I think he was dragging most of the leaves off of the pile with his big rake, but he was having fun. 

After I got the pile raked, I showed him what on earth we were supposed to do with this big pile.  I ran through the pile, and he followed right behind me.  He was throwing the leaves, falling down in them, and truly enjoying himself.  The smile on his face from him having so much fun, was enough to make me want to stay out there all night. 

Carson then came up with this brilliant idea (all by himself!) to take his 4-wheeler for a spin through the leaves!  I find it so funny to watch the wheels in his head spin, and then to watch him act out whatever idea he has come up with.  He was on a mission to find his 4-wheeler, and once he did, he was off.  He headed right towards the big pile of leaves, with the biggest grin across his face.  He had a look of contentment, that he was doing exactly what he had planned.  His plan kind of played out like he wanted.  This little motorized 4-wheeler wasn't powerful enough to make it through the leaves, but he was ok with that.  He rolled through a few stragglers that were next to the pile, and he was perfectly fine with that.  The smile he displayed across his face said it all.  This was fun.

I am not a big fan of how early the sky turns dark these days.  And, I know it will only get worse here in a few weeks...and, I am really not looking forward to that!  Our night time fun in the leaves was cut a little short due to the sun setting, and the temperature dropping a bit cooler than when we had started the evening outdoors.  So, we headed inside to start our nightly bedtime routine.  I said the word "bath", and Carson had no objections of going inside.  Phew!

Playing in the leaves is one childhood memory I vividly remember as a child.  We used to rake tons of leaves, put them in the big orange garbage sacks that look like pumpkins, and put on a huge Fall display at my Dad's house.

I hope this is a childhood memory that Carson remembers when he gets older.  And if he doesn't, I guess I have some super cute pictures of him in the leaves, to prove how much fun we had  :)

These are the kind of memories that I am loving about parenthood.  I have always dreamed of going and doing the different activities that I remember from when I was a child, and now I am doing that.  We have a soon to be 2 year old (which I am kind of sad about) that we are in love with.  It is so much fun to do different activities, and interact with him, as he enjoys himself along side us.

Stud Muffin

Goodness, it's been 2 weeks since my last update.  I am slacking, a lot.  But, on another note, where has the time gone? 

I have been slacking a bit in the photo department lately, too.  I don't really know why, but I do need to get my butt back in gear.  I look back at all of the photos I have taken, and love to reminisce about them all.  So, I need to start back up with capturing our memories that we have together.  You know, to highlight the fact that we admire the small things. 

Like.....enjoying these pictures of our little stud.  Aren't they completely to die for?  If you are anything like me, you can't help but smile.....every. single. time. you look at them. 

I hope to be back more often with updates.  For right now, I will leave you with these pictures of our Monster.  

Happy Wednesday!  We are nearing the weekend, and I am excited about that!

Another Petting Zoo

Last Friday, Carl and I took Carson to another petting zoo.  We thought a fun exploring afternoon would be a great way to end our week.  And, it was fabulous!  We all had so much fun.

We took off for the petting zoo, with Carson only having an hour nap under his belt.  This, is usually no good.  But, we thought it's now or never.  Usually he takes about a three hour nap, so we were feeling awfully gutsy that day.  And, the ending was still fabulous.  I would not have been able to tell that he had a short nap that day.  And for that, I thanked our little Wee Lad for an enjoyable afternoon for all. 

We let Carson roam around the farm, and do whatever he wanted.  We were the only people there, so our options were unlimited.  So, he took off for the Duck Races, which was a huge tank full of water.  He was soaked by the time we were done with the racing, as I am sure you can imagine.  Carl and I were doing most of the racing.  My duck usually won.  Or, maybe we tied.  Yeah, let's go with tied.  We aren't competitive people by any means...HA!  Carson LOVED the Duck Races, as I am sure you will be able to tell from the pictures. 

After we pried our dripping wet little guy from the water, we ventured over to see the ducks, cows, donkeys, horses, and the big pig.  We fed most of the animals along the way, and Carson started giggling when the horse took the food out of his hand.  The cute little "I'm not so sure what is going on right now, so I will just giggle anyway" kind of giggle.  It's such a cute sound!

We then found our way to the corn pile.  I didn't know what Carson would think of it, because he hasn't ever been in one before, but he took right to it.  He dove right it, and started playing.  So did Daddy!  My two boys are like two peas in a pod.  Not kidding.

We kept moving along through the farm, and went into the next barn.  It had a hay maze in it.  It was a really neat set up for the kids.  Carson took off running through it.  He knew just what to do.  After he finished, we all applauded for him, and he decided to go through it again.  But this time, with the trike.  He can't reach the petals, so Dad got the privilege tiring job of pushing him.  I think he made it two rounds through the maze, and then distracted Carson with something new to do.  Like, go upstairs in the hay mount to find a basketball court, and a hay fort!

Next up, the camel, and buffalo!  Carson was rather intrigued by how big the camel was, but wasn't a huge fan of getting really close to him.  So, we made that stop rather quick, and continued to move along.

And, of course Carson found some cats while on the farm.  His face lights up whenever he stumbles across a kitty.  He always gets so excited, and takes off on a dead sprint towards the cats, in hopes of picking them up.

We played on the playground for a while, Carson made his way back to the duck races, and we ended with the bouncy house.  Carson loves to jump, so we thought he would be thrilled about this.  But, he didn't jump right in like we thought he would.  So, I went in with him to begin with, and then made my quick escape.  Then the fun began.  Carson was having a blast jumping!  Of course, it never fails.  First we couldn't get him in it, and then he cries when we take him out.  He was so pooped by the time we were done at the petting zoo, and we had to get going home so Daddy could get to work.  He didn't cry long, so we were happy about that.

The petting zoo was a perfect size for a day visit.  We were there for a few hours, and we all had so much fun!  I am sure we will be back again.  It was a wonderful way to spend our Friday afternoon together as a family.