The reaction to Ryan showing his excitement... Reese: My dad is hilarious and cool. Carson: You're weird.
Started off the day with a big stack of waffles and then he headed off to work. We surprised Ryan at work with some balloons and Paul Bunion burgers.
Then party time!
Ry chose Macaroni Grill Chicken Milano with fried green beans and Italian sodas.
Opening presents
He finally got to wear his beloved soccer shoes that he bought for himself. I wouldn't let him wear them because he justified his buying them by telling me they were for his birthday. So I made him wait till his bday to wear them. mwahahaha!
I missed Gwen's three month post. I feel bad about it but really, there just wasn't time. So instead I'll just put a bunch of pictures together of my beautiful girl from the last month. In a few days she'll be four months old and I hate it! But I absolutely love this stage! I hate that she's now fitting into 6 month clothing and growing out of her 3 month stuff but I love that she can grab toys and talk and smile. She wasn't an early smiler and she's pretty shy but once she opens up to you she gives you big grins but she saves the biggest ones for me. :) Gwen hasn't really mastered laughing yet and she's hardly ticklish but she's got a really sweet little giggle. She's a good eater, about 6-8 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours and I've started putting some rice cereal in some of her bottles because she was spitting up so much. It seems to be helping. She's a rolly poly bug and rolls in every direction. Since she's learned how to roll onto her stomach that's how she prefers to sleep and now sleeps 10-12 hours consistently. Anytime she sees a pattern or bright colors she becomes transfixed. She's very visual. She loves to stand and does not like it if you put her down on the ground and walk away. She's pretty easy to figure out. She really only cries when she's hungry, tried, or needs a diaper change. Carson and Reese still adore her and completely smother her with loves. I thought for sure she would end up losing all her hair and going toe head like the boys did but she hasn't and it looks like she's staying with her dark hair. I'm even more surprised that her eyes are staying blue too! We sure are glad she's part of our family and we can't remember life without her!
First time in the standing bouncer. She wasn't too sure what to think of it but now she loves it!
Love the connection these two have for each other!
The night before Carson's first day of school, Ryan gave Carson a father's blessing. He blessed him to be kind and helpful and to make friends and to have good experiences. I admit that I wasn't closing my eyes the whole time but I couldn't help but sneak a peak at my cute son shutting his eyes and folding his arms as tight as he could. He had the cutest grin the whole time and he was trying so hard to be reverent but he couldn't quite keep his feet still. It was so precious! Ryan just told me this morning that last night Carson asked him for another blessing because it made him feel good on the inside. I love that Carson can identify the spirit and how it talks to him. I want to document this for him. Chances are, he's not going to remember this experience but hopefully writing it down might help spark his memory sometime later on. I hope he can hang on to that good feeling and be able to keep the spirit close! He's such a good example and I'm so glad his mine!
So, this post has taken a lot of time and effort and I would it be super nice if I could get some comment lovin', even from the blog stalkers! :)
Anyway... we had an epic family reunion at Crescent Bar this year! Seriously, one of my favorite vacations of all time. Maybe that's why I ended up with so many pictures. It was awesome just being out in the sun and sand. I think part of the fun was seeing my boys having the time of their life! It was exhausting keeping an eye on them and trying to prevent them from drowning (which Carson almost did) but it was still a blast!
We had lots of fun at this little beach where Cameron made Helms Deep and the boys tried out water skiing for the first time.
Carson took right to skiing. He didn't hesitate at all! No fear! Probably because he idolizes Ryan, especially his wakeboarding skills.
Ryder was next to try it out...
Started out great, but didn't end as well.
Jory had tried it before and it didn't go well so he was really hesitant to do it again but he eventually went for it and did fine.
Reese was still on the young side but he still wanted to try it out. This is as much as Ryan and I were comfortable with.
We tried out another place that had a really shallow beach that went out forever. Perfect for the kids! It even had a bunch of clam shells to hunt for.
The sand was perfect for some awesome sand castles. Carson made his very own sand frog in honor of Mr. Hops.
Gwen was the perfect baby. She pretty much just slept through it all, which is pretty typical but she started sleeping 8 hours at night at Crescent Bar! She also loved the water and sand. So cute, my little bathing beauty!
We played hard and slept even harder!
It was a struggle trying to keep Reese awake till 6:30 when he went to bed and slept through the night.
Kyle and Emily put together some awesome "Minute to Win It" games that were the highlight of the trip!
And some crazy people went cliff jumping.
Here's Gwen and Tyce in the kiddy pool.
Seems like yesterday when I was soaking baby Reese's toes in the same pool.
But a family reunion at Crescent Bar wouldn't be complete without ice cream!
Great memories of Crescent Bar! Hopefully we'll be able to go again next year!
