Christmas 2011

So as you can see we had a big time with family at Christmas.  Here are 2 videos and I will post pictures soon.

This Christmas was  a big one with Carter.  He started asking a lot of questions and getting excited about all the celebrations and presents, of course.  We had to keep reminding him that the whole reason we celebrate is because it is Jesus' birthday.  Carter wanted to make Jesus a birthday cake and he thought he had to give all his presents to Jesus since it was His birthday.  It was interested and sweet to see him trying to figure things out.
Norah Lynn was just overwhelmed by all of it.  She had a blast but she did a lot of staring and giving strange looks.
Adam and I enjoyed every moment of teaching and watching and loving on these kids.  Teaching Carter the meaning of Christmas gave us a fresh reminder that we can sometimes get completely overwhelmed with parties and presents.  We were reminded by our 3 year old to slow down and worship our Lord and Savior through the entire season.  We got to witness my Grandaddy, who a few years ago didn't even pray, share the gospel with our entire family.  Praise God!!  What a work He has done in Grandaddy!!  We were able to show love to some family members who really needed to be loved.  We got to experience our first ever neighborhood Christmas party.  Thank you Lord for the community you have placed us in!

Christmas 2011 was the best one yet for our little family!  God is good!

Brother and Sister

Here is Carter doing one of his favorite things, holding Norah Lynn. The first person he ask about when he wakes up is her. When we say Mommy's Carter or Daddy's Carter, he says, "No, Norah Lynn's Carter." The boy loves his little sister. He is a wonderful big brother and I can't wait to see them grow up together. I pray they will always be close.

Bath Time

Here are some pictures of Norah Lynn's first bath. She loved it! Look at the curls in her hair.

Monster Jam

When Norah Lynn was one week old, Carter and Adam had guys night out. We thought it would be a good way for Carter to get some one on one attention for a little bit. Adam took Carter to a monster truck show in Memphis. Carter is obsessed with trucks right now so we thought this would be right up his alley. They went with another dad and son from church.

We spent the whole week talking about the big guys night out. I would ask if I could go and Carter would say, "Sorry Mommy. You can't go. You a woman." He would tell Gigi, "Nope. Sorry. You a woman." He would say, "Only Daddy and Carter can go. We men."

First Adam took him to Chick-Fil-A. Then they met the other dad and son at Monster Jam. Adam bought Carter some ear plugs, as you can see in the picture above. He kept touching them so they fell out and Adam ended up having to cover Carter's ears for him.

When they got home, Carter walked in and said, "Sooo, we saw monster trucks. They loud. Don't worry. Daddy cover my ears fo me."

It ended up being a great, memorable night. He still talks about it all the time. It was a true bonding experience for Carter and his Daddy. I love seeing these two interact. I can't wait to see more!!

Introducing Norah Lynn

Meet the beautiful new addition to our little family...

Norah Lynn West

February 11, 2011

2:30pm

8lbs 4oz 20 3/4in

Southern Snow Day

Well, we have had so much snow this year. At least it is a lot of snow for us Southerners. We have made the most of all of this snow. We have made snowmen, had snowball fights, eaten snowcream, had sled rides and just rolled around in the snow. Then we curled up by the fire, drank hot chocolate and watched all of the Toy Story movies. It was a great day!!

Carter loves the snow. He does complain a little about his fingers getting cold and that the snow is bright.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little peak at what our snow day looked like.

The Holidays

We had a wonderful holiday time this year!! It was our first Christmas living close to family. We missed our AL family very much, but it was nice to be able to spend time with friends and family here.

I know it has been quite some time since my last post so I will try to give ya'll a good overview.

Thanksgiving was great but strange. One of our closest friends got married in the Dallas area, and Adam was in the wedding. Adam and I went to the wedding while Carter stayed with grandparents. We had a blast spending time with all of these friends, but missed the traditional Thanksgiving celebrations and meals.

Christmas time was wonderful as well! We had lots of time with family,

which has greatly been missed over the past several years. We took Carter to his first Christmas parade in Tupelo, MS. He loved the Partlow Drummers and mimics them to this day. Then we ate at Shockley's. For those of you who do not know, this was a monumental event. they have amazing breakfast food.

We also went to the Pink Palace in Memphis for the Enchanted Forrest and to see Santa.

We decorated a Christmas tree and went caroling in Memphis.

Finally Christmas Day arrived and we still had many more fun things to do. We were at Gigi and Papa's house until Christmas Eve night. We spent time putting together a puzzle and looking at old Christmas pictures. We ate a big breakfast and opened presents with the Hodges crew Christmas Eve morning. We played games, took naps and shared memories the rest of the day.
We spent Christmas Eve with our Christ City Family having a time of worship and serving a meal to whoever came. Then we went to Aunt Pat's house and celebrated with family. Around 9:30-10pm we headed to to Verona to spend the night with the West.
Christmas morning was started by reading in Luke and remembering that the only reason we have to celebrate is that our Saviour became flesh and walked among us, lived a perfect life and bore our sins and separation from God on the cross.
Then we headed to Mama Vi and Pap's house for a breakfast buffet and Dirty Santa. We rested and enjoyed each other's company, laughing and celebrating the wonderful family that we have.

As you can see, we had a big time during the holidays this year. I hope you enjoyed and I will try to do better about posting more frequently.

Halloween

This was Carter's first year to trick-or-treat. He was such a big boy. We trick-or-treated in Midtown with some friends. Carter was the youngest little one trick-or-treating, but he hung in there really good. He walked right up to the doors and said, "Trick-or-treat." He also found that if he said it more than once they would give him candy every time he said it. Carter didn't want to trick-or-treat the whole time. After about one street, Carter wanted to ride on Daddy's shoulders and just eat the candy. We came to one haunted house and Carter said, "No get candy. That scary!"

We also took Carter to Zoo Boo, which was so much fun! There was candy, rides, live scarecrows, singing pumpkins and even Dracula's disco for dancing. Carter loved ev

ery minute of it.

The Sat. before Halloween, we just had a festive night at home. We baked cookies, carved a pumpkin, listened to Halloween music and watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Carter Turns 2

My big, little man turned 2 this past weekend and I don't know how to feel about it. On the one hand, I feel proud to have such a big boy and I love that he is so easy now. On the other hand, time is passing too quickly and I feel like he is getting too big too fast. I love him so much and he has blessed our lives beyond words.

We had a tractor themed party at my parents' house for him. They have the perfect location for a party. It was great! Carter seemed to have a blast even though all he really wanted to do was to play in the dirt with his new tractors.

Also, to all you moms out there who already have a 2 year old, why didn't you warn me not to have a 2 year old party. I mean if I had realized that the party would make him realize he was 2 and therefore the strong willed attitude would appear, I never would have told him he was 2. haha

Here are a few pictures from his big day.

Crazy, Silly, Wonderful

Crazy, silly, wonderful and free
That’s my baby
That’s how he makes me

Bright blue eyes
Hair that’s white as snow
A heart full of love
That only a mother knows

Eyes the gateway to his soul
He make us complete
He makes our family whole

Spit kisses, tight squeezes, and chatter non-stop
My husband and I we are so blessed
How lucky are we
That’s our little mess

Carter and Daddy Play Guitar

Country Boy

My little boy loves music and he loves to dance. Here is just a little peek at what our day is like. The boy has skills!

Carter's First Carnival Rides

Carter's friend, Rowe, had his birthday party at the Kiddie Carnival in Athens, AL. It was great! This is the first time that Carter has ever ridden rides and he loved them. Carter even brought a date, none other than the lovely miss Lila. We carpooled to the birthday party with Lila and her mom and dad. I guess it was like a triple date :) Carter loved the cars the most. We had a hard time getting him off of the cars to go home. He loved the rides so much he wasn't even interested in cake. No doubt, he is our child!! (there wasn't any doubt anyway, but here is more proof). Here are the pictures.

Ain't Nothin Like the Summer Time

We are having so much fun already this summer. We have spent tons of time with friends and in the water. Carter loves it! You will see when you look at the pictures .

As you can see, we have made the most of these first few weeks of summer. These are pictures of Carter at his friend Stephen's house and at the Bridgestreet sprinklers. That is Oreo all around his mouth in that one picture. Well, I hope you have enjoyed this little sneak peek into the beginnings of our summer.

Carter Gets Glasses

These glasses are prescribed by the world renowned Dr. Potato Head. These are very special glasses that are designed to help the type of visual impairment that Carter has specifically. Carter's visual impairment is located just below the nose and in the mouth area. Dr. Potato Head said that the cause could be constant verbalization. He did say that this should not effect his future as the drummer of a rock band. That was good news! Keep in mind not to laugh when you see the pictures as it is not nice to laugh at children in Carter's condition. Enjoy!

Carter puts these on all by himself. For some reason, whenever we play Mr. Potato Head, he likes to wear the glasses. At least he is not trying to wear the high heels!