four months

September 23, 2013

Weight: 18 pounds 5.5 ounces (91^st percentile)

Length: 27 ¾ inches (100^th percentile)

Head circumference: 17 ½ inches (100^th percentile)

Dear Charlie,

It’s hard to believe you’re already four months old. Your newborn days passed too quickly! We try to savor every moment with you realizing how fast you’re growing and changing. You wear size 3 diapers and are already wearing 6-9 month clothes.

You are such a sweet boy! Your sweet smile lights up the room. You love hugs and kisses and enjoy being with people. You like to be held, but have become quite the wiggle worm. You’ve started laughing some this month and we love it! What a joy it is to hear you enjoy life! You like to sit or stand up while being held or sit in the bumbo so that you can be in on the action! You like lying on the play mat and sitting in the bouncy seat for short periods of time and have started hitting, grabbing toys, and even holding onto toys, but if you hear talking in another room, you much prefer to leave the toys behind and see what everyone else is doing. We all love spending time with you! Carson talks to you, sings to you, and gives you lots of hugs and kisses. You love to play with your hands! You look at them, hold them together, and chew on them a lot. You have lots of slobber!

You eat every 2-4 hours during the day. You’ve started spitting up quite a bit this month, but thankfully it doesn’t seem to bother you too much. You still take several naps each day, one between each feeding. At the beginning of this month, you outgrew your beloved rock ‘n play. You weren’t sleeping as well, looked cramped, your feet were hanging off, and you were getting so strong, I was afraid you might push yourself out into the floor! So, now you sleep in your crib. You have not slept as well at night this month. I joke that you were easing me into mothering two by sleeping so well at night the first three months. You’ve been waking up every 2-3 hours at night, which is quite a change from all of those eight hour stretches last month. I don’t think the crib is as cozy as the rock ‘n play. You’re lying flat on your back surrounded by open space instead of lying at incline with a bed hugging you on both sides. You’ll adjust before long, I’m sure. In the mean time, I’ll do my best to savor this middle-of-the-night time with you and bring you to my bed from time to time so I can rest while I feed you.

You are still a good sport about going out and about, but don’t sleep in your carseat as much as you used to. We’ve been going to the park a lot this month. You like to be outside and enjoy the fresh air both while riding in the stroller beside Carson and sitting with me while we watch him play.

We had more company this month. Bobel and Reenie came over Labor Day weekend and our friends, Kaye and Lindsey from Hohenwald came the next week. They all enjoyed playing and snuggling with you.

You had your first plane ride this month! We flew to Texas. You did great on the air plane. Daddy went to Summit at ACU and we got to see Pops and Granny. You got to meet Aunt Misty and Uncle Matt as well as other friends, including Judy Siburt, whose husband Charlie you were named after and James and Carolyn Thompson, one of the men who inspired your middle name. What a special time it was!

We love you so much and are thankful you are ours!

Mama, Daddy, and Carson

three months

August 23, 2013

Weight: 17.4 pounds

Length: 26 inches

Head circumference: 17 inches

Sweet Charlie Boy!

We love you so very much! You are the perfect addition to our family. Living life with you is an honor and a joy. You’re a growing boy and wear size 3 diapers and 3-6 month clothes.

You’re still a happy boy and are quite generous with your sweet smiles! Your whole little face lights up when we make eye contact and talk to you. You coo and make the sweetest sounds as you look back into our eyes.

You like to be held and are still pretty snuggly. You enjoy lying down for short periods of time, but really prefer sitting up or standing up and seeing what is going on around you. The bumbo is your favorite place to be. We usually keep it in the kitchen, and you like to watch us prepare meals and wash dishes. It’s also your favorite place to poop! You’ve blown out several diapers in the bumbo. You like to sit in your high chair during meals and smile at us while we eat. When we’re holding you, you use your strong legs to push to a standing position. You love to watch Carson. He’s almost always moving and talking or singing, so he’s quite entertaining. He loves to talk to you and you smile sweetly at him. We love watching you two love each other.

You eat every 2-3 hours during the day, and have even had a few four hour stretches when we’re out and about. You sleep in the rock ‘n play for naps when we’re home and at night. You switched from the swaddle me blanket to the woombie this month. You like that it allows you to move your arms, and you always put your hands beside your face to sleep. You’ve still been sleeping really well and have become quite consistent in sleeping eight hour stretches at night time.

You continue to do well while we’re out and about at the grocery store, restaurants, and at church. You are happy to be passed from one person to another at church. The teenage girls especially love to hold you.

Just a few days after Daddy got home and Pops and Granny left, our sweet friends, the Riches came to visit. We stayed busy and had lots of fun with Mark, Tara, Jaxon, and Madelyn. Daddy took off work and we had a staycation. We went to the Children’s Museum, the Aquarium, Monkey Joes, Chick-fil-A, and an outlet mall. We even took a day trip to Savannah and Tybee Island. We were thankful that you were flexible and went with the flow.

Thank you for being our sweet baby boy!

We love you so much!

Mama, Daddy, and Carson

happy three years from daddy

Dear Carson,

You’re 3 years old! Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday we were waiting on your arrival. Now you’re such a big boy! Watching you grow over the last year has been so much fun!

It’s been neat to see you become so comfortable in our new home, in our new city, and with our new church family. What a fun treat it is to live in such a fun place and have such a loving church family. We’ve had fun going and enjoying many of the perks of living in the Atlanta area: the zoo, the aquarium, the children’s museum, and Braves games. Your excitement at experiencing these fun places and events makes the experience even more fun for me and for your mama!

As I think back over the last year we’ve begun doing lots of fun things together. We check the mail together each evening after I come home from the office. You help me when I cook food on the grill. We watch basketball together. We listen to music together. You sit in my lap and watch concerts with me (your favorite is Trombone Shorty). We read books together.  We make music together with your harmonica, your pitchpipe, your xylophone, and your drums. I love for you to be my helper to go shopping; we go to Kroger and Sam’s most of all. You especially like the car shopping carts at Kroger!

It’s amazing how much you’ve changed. You’ve slimmed up and grown taller. Your vocabulary has expanded exponentially. You know so many songs (your mama and I estimate you probably know significant portions of a couple hundred songs). Your imagination has continued to become more and more vivid. Your creativity has developed a lot, too.

My favorite thing about you is how much you love people. You care for everybody you know. If friends are sick, you want to check on them and help them. If people are sad, you want to cheer them up. When I come home each day, you always ask me about my day and tell me about yours. But perhaps the greatest example of your love for people is the way you’ve welcomed Charlie to our family. You have been so sweet and loving to him, and he loves you so much.

Carson, I am so thankful for you! I love you so, so much!

Love,

Daddy

three years old!

August 2, 2013

42 pounds (99^th percentile)

40 inches tall (91^st percentile)

Dearest Carson,

It’s difficult to find the words to express just how much I love you, my sweet boy. I am so very thankful that I get to live life with you. You are an absolute joy. Watching you grow and learn is such an honor. In some ways, it’s hard to believe you’re already three, but in other ways you seem much older and it’s hard to remember my life without you.

This year has been extra special because I’ve gotten to see you become a big brother! Not long after your second birthday, we found out I was pregnant and Daddy and I decided to tell you right away. We knew it was a lot for you to process and would be a long time to wait, but you did great! You watched my belly grow as Charlie grew inside me and loved to talk to him, sing to him, and give him kisses before he was even born. You were patient with me while I was pregnant, sleepy, and unable to carry you. You went with us to my doctor’s appointments and loved getting to hear your baby brother’s heart beat.

My very favorite moment of being a mama so far is seeing you and Charlie meet for the first time. I will never forget the excitement and love in your eyes as you came into the room and crawled into the bed with me to see your brand new baby brother. You talked, sang, and kissed just as sweetly as you had when he was still inside of me and over the next few weeks you kept saying, “Mama, can you believe Charlie is really here?!” Since then, you’ve continued to show him love, care, and patience. I am so thankful Charlie gets to learn from you!

I love to hear your sweet voice call for me in the mornings. “Mama, I’m awake!” What a joy it is to be greeted with such love each day! Some days, we snuggle for a little while when you wake up, and other days you’re ready to play. You like to know what day it is, and have been working to better understand time, so several months ago we put a calendar in your room, and you’ve enjoyed learning with it in the mornings. You can sing both the days of the week and months of the year. A couple months after that, we added a United States map. You’ve really enjoyed learning where various states are on the map. You can already locate and name 12 different states.

Your favorite toys are Fisher Price Little People and plastic animals. You use your imagination and play for hours with them. You also like to build with blocks and legos. You’ve started watching TV some and your favorite shows are Little Bear and Clifford. We still love reading books together, especially snuggling and reading one after another. You also like to play and explore outside. Rocks and sticks are some of your favorite toys. You like to call your grandparents on Facetime. You love your stuffed animals. Sometimes you try to put all thirty in bed with you at once, but you normally sleep with about 10 each night. You especially love Tiny, Teddy, and Pooh.

You don’t always nap anymore. Some days you will nap for three hours and other days, not at all, but you always stay in bed and rest for at least an hour and play with your stuffed animals and sing.

One of the highlights of our year was potty training! Just two months after your second birthday you started using the potty and wearing big boy underwear during the day. It’s been challenging at times, but you’re doing really well! You are 42 pounds and 40 inches tall. You wear size 4T-5T shirts and 3T-4T pants.

Daily tasks are fun with you. You help me with cleaning, laundry, trash, and mail, but our favorite task is cooking. I love spending time with you in the kitchen and teaching you as we prepare dinner and make yummy breads and cookies. One of your favorite parts of cooking is sharing with friends and neighbors. Your loving and generous spirit challenges me almost every day.

You really like to go out and about and I enjoy running errands with you. We go to the post office, Kroger, Sam’s, Target, and Hobby Lobby. You help me find the things on our list and we enjoy chatting while we shop. We also go fun places like library story time and the park together. We’ve made sweet friends this year so sometimes we invite them over or meet them at the park, library, and Chick-Fil-A. At least once a week during the day we spend time with Shannon, Laura Beth, and Caroline; Kristen, Colin, and Owen; or Keely and Addison. In the evenings or on the weekends, we have lots of fun with Brian, Kathy, Graeme, and Miles.

You love people and are thoughtful and compassionate beyond your years. You’re outgoing and friendly and remember everyone you meet. You have friends of all ages including our neighbors and church family. You love going to church to see people you love and sing. Singing, oh how you can sing, my sweet boy. You’re almost always singing! It is such a joy to both listen to you sing softly as you play and to see you grab anything you can find to use as a microphone and sing loudly and with great passion. You still love Thank You Lord and The Doxology, but a new favorite this year is 10,000 Reasons. You love to sing at church and at Southland, the nursing home we visit once a month, and you’ve even gotten to help lead songs a couple of times. Your worship is not only a blessing to God, but also to everyone around you.

As is our tradition, you woke up to balloons in your room on your birthday and we had pancakes for breakfast. You also got to open gifts and go to Loco FroYo. We made chocolate cake and shared it with friends at church. I had a lot of fun planning your birthday party with you! It was fun to share ideas and see you get excited. We ended up finding inspiration from one of your favorite books and had a bear hunt party. Everyone brought their teddy bear to hunt and we ate milk and cookies. A lot of friends came to celebrate with you.

Carson, I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God!

Thank you for being my boy! I love you so much.

Mama 

two months

July 23, 2013

Weight: 15 pounds 10 ounces (97%)

Length: 25 ¼ inches (100%)

Head circumference: 16 ½ inches (100%)

Dear Charlie,

We are all so very thrilled that you’re in our family and we love getting to know you more and more each day. You are an absolute joy! You are growing everyday! You wear size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothes.

You’ve had some exciting milestones this month. Just before you turned 5 weeks old, on June 26, you smiled for the first time and haven’t stopped smiling since! You give out smiles freely. What a joy it is to see your whole face light up when we talk to you! You are such a happy boy and are becoming very social. You hold eye contact, smile, and coo at us when we talk to you. You also rolled over from your tummy to your back for the first time on your five week birthday. Since then you’ve rolled from your back to your side as well. Your baby acne cleared up at six weeks old. The doctor gave us some eye drops to help with your blocked tear duct. Some days it seems to be getting better.

You still enjoy snuggling and being held. You also enjoy lying on your back, especially on your changing pad. It’s one of the best places to see you smile! You like to relax in your vibrating chair and sit in your highchair during our meals. You’ve also started sitting in the bumbo in the kitchen and do really well holding your head up in there. One of your favorite things is bath time. It seems to be really relaxing for you. You like to scoot down into the water.

You’re still an excellent eater and usually eat every two hours during the day and have started an eat/wake/sleep rhythm throughout the day. During your naps, you are able to fall asleep in various places and sleep through lots of noise. You do really well at church. You normally sleep in your car seat during the singing, wake up and eat during the sermon, and let lots of people take turns holding you afterwards. Then, you’re ready for another nap just in time for us to go out to eat. You do so well going out and about and sleep really well both in the car and in your stroller.  Your naps while we’re out are usually quite a bit longer than your naps at home. You’re still sleeping really well swaddled in your rock ‘n play at night, and have already slept eight hours several times. What a treat that is to your mama!

This month, Daddy started working on his Doctor of Ministry degree and was gone to Nashville for classes for two weeks! He missed you a lot while he was gone and couldn’t believe how much you’d grown and changed when he got back. While he was gone, Pops and Granny came and stayed with us. We enjoyed spending so much time together and I really appreciated all of their help with you and Carson.

You are such a sweet boy and a joy to everyone you meet. We’re so very thankful for you!

We love you!

Mama, Daddy, and Carson

one month

June 23, 2013

Weight: 13 pounds 2.5 ounces (100%)

Length: 23 ¾ inches (100%)

Head circumference: 15 ¾ inches (100%)

Sweet Charlie Boy!

What a joy it’s been to have you here for a whole month! You are the perfect addition to our family and we love you so very much. After a couple of days in the hospital, we came home and Carson greeted us with a celebratory cinnamon cake and lots of excitement!

You are a good snuggler and like to be held, which we LOVE, but you also enjoy time in both your swing and vibrating chair and end up napping in them quite a bit during the day so that you’re downstairs with us. You are able to sleep through a lot of talking and playing. You like to lay on both your back and your tummy when you’re awake. You are really good at holding your head up already. You are pretty laid back and easy going. Your big brother loves you so much, and it’s easy to see that you love him right back. He gets really close to your face, talks to you, sings to you, and gives you lots of hugs and kisses, and you are patient, really seeming to enjoy it most of the time.

You eat every couple of hours during the day and usually sleep between each feeding. Feeding you has been a joy! You’ve got a good latch and strong suck. I’m thankful it’s gone so well. You’re beginning to stay awake for a bit longer each time during the day and we love to see you open those sweet eyes. You like to look at the light and move your head towards our voices. You are already a rock star sleeper! We swaddle you using the swaddle me blanket and you sleep in the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper in your room. The Rock ‘n Play’s bassinet shape is cozier than your crib and is more comfortable for you. You usually eat at about 9:00 at night and don’t wake up until about 3:00-5:00. Then, you sleep until 7:00-8:00 in the morning. We are thankful that eating and sleeping are both going so well!

You are a big boy and are in the 100th percentile in weight, length, and head circumference. You were not able to wear newborn sized diapers and clothes and are already growing out of many 0-3 month clothes that Carson wore until he was 2 ½ months old! We’re finishing up this pack of size one diapers, and you’ll start wearing size two tomorrow. We’re thankful you’re such a big healthy boy! Your circumcision and cord both healed at 2 weeks. You’ve developed baby acne on your face and neck, but thankfully, the doctor said it’s normal, won’t bother you, and should clear up in another month or two. You’ve also got a blocked tear duct on your left eye which causes yellow goop to come out of your eye. The doctor told us to massage it and that it should heal on its own.

You’ve already gotten to know all four of your grandparents. They were here for your birth and took turns staying with us and helping during our first couple of weeks at home. You’ve also met lots of friends from church. You had lots of sweet company both at the hospital and at home the first couple of weeks. Everyone was excited to meet you and loves you already!

Your first outing when you were 10 days old was to Loco FroYo with Mama, Daddy, Carson, Pops, and Granny. Then, you went to a hotdog supper at church the next night. You went to church on a Sunday morning for the first time at 2 ½ weeks old. You went on your first road trip when you were only 20 days old, and it was a 7 ½ hour drive! Our dear friend Lloyd from Hohenwald, TN passed away and we went so that Daddy could help with the funeral and so that we could see his sweet family and let them know how much we love them. It was special to be there to celebrate such a good friend’s life. You did a wonderful job traveling and meeting so many new people! I’m so thankful for that.

Charlie James, you are an absolute joy. I was nervous about having two kids and learning how to balance my time and energy giving you and Carson plenty of love and attention, but it has been an absolute joy and not as difficult as I imagined thanks to two sweet and patient boys who love each other! It’s also been made easier by our sweet family and friends who have spent extra time with Carson so that we could rest and have plenty of time getting to know you this month. They’ve also been really helpful in cooking for us, so that I could spend time with my boys and not have to worry about cooking. I am very thankful for your grandparents and for our sweet church family and for the love they’ve shown us.

You’ve transitioned to life in this great big world so well this first month, Sweet Boy and we are so very very thankful you are ours. Our hearts are overflowing with love and thanksgiving for you, Baby Boy!

We love you!

Mama, Daddy, and Carson

TWO years old!

August 2, 2012

37 pounds (99%)

3 feet tall (88%)

Sweet Carson,

I can’t believe you’re TWO!! They say time flies when you’re having fun, so I guess that explains it, because being your mama is certainly the most fun job I’ve ever had! I am trying to soak up each moment with you because you’re growing and changing so quickly. You are friendly, thoughtful, loving, and curious. We just moved from Tennessee to Georgia, so it’s been a chaotic six months for our family without many of your normal rhythms, but you have gone with the flow and handled the transition so well.

At the end of March, Daddy accepted a new job as the Senior Minister of the Southern Crescent Church in Tyrone, Georgia. We spent a long time thinking, praying, and talking about whether or not to pursue this new opportunity, and eventually decided it was best for our family. We were sad to leave our home and church family in Hohenwald. It was the only home you’d ever known, and everyone loved you and you loved them. At 18 months old, you knew most everyone’s name at our 150 member church! We spent the month of April packing up our house and spending extra time with sweet friends. We went to our favorite restaurants: Casa Grande, Snappy’s, and Junk Yard Dog. We had dance parties with Sonic milk shakes with KK and LaLa and spent time with our sweet neighbors, Jon and Michelle.

In May, we headed to Tyrone to look for a new house. We looked at about 25 houses in two days, and you did great getting in and out of the car multiple times and exploring so many different houses. We decided on a perfect house just two miles from the church building. After that, we headed to the beach for a family vacation. We had so much fun playing and relaxing together! After the beach, we drove to Texas to visit friends and family. We had lots of fun with the Riches, the Graves, Pops and Granny, and Aunt Misty! After that we went to St. Louis to spend time with Bobel and Reenie and to Memphis to see Mamaw and Fred and Jo Beth. We went 5,000 miles in 5 weeks before going back to Hohenwald for about a week to finish packing.

We didn’t get to move into our new house for about a month, so a sweet family at church invited us to live with them while we waited. They were so sweet and hospitable to us and made us feel right at home and are dear friends! We’re finally in our house and are getting settled in. Pops and Granny came to help us unpack and celebrate your birthday. You woke up to balloons in your room. We had pancakes for breakfast and interviewed you about your favorite things. Then we went to the playground where we played and fed the ducks and geese. Then we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, ice cream, and more playing! After that we went home and you took a big nap, and that evening, we went to the Desgains for pizza, swimming, and gifts. It was a special day celebrating you. The next day, KK and LaLa came to visit and we all went to a Braves game.

You look like a toddler instead of a baby these days. You wear mostly size 3T clothes, but some are 4T and even a couple of 2T shorts still fit. You still wear size 6 diapers. You have TTed in the potty several times, so hopefully we’ll attempt potty training soon.

You are quite the talker! Everyone is always surprised how much you talk for your age. You speak in complete sentences and include words like definitely, actually, and also. You love to carry on conversations and learn about the world around you. You’ve learned so many names at our new church already, and we’ve just been here about six weeks. I love to see how much you love people!

You love to find different kinds of trucks when we’re out and about and you always look forward to seeing the trash truck and mail truck come to our house. You like to play with cars and trucks, too. You also know all of your colors and enjoy making art with paint, crayons, markers, pencils, pens, and stickers.

You love music. You like to listen and have dance parties. You can sing several songs all by yourself, including Thank you Lord, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Make Me a Servant, and The Doxology. I absolutely love to hear you sing.

You still like to help do chores around the house and were a big helper with packing and unpacking. You had fun decorating the boxes with crayons! You love to help cook, and I have fun teaching you in the kitchen.

You like to say the prayer before meals and thank God for the various foods we’re having and for people you love. You still like to eat a good variety of foods.

You pay close attention to what’s going on around you and pick up on things quickly. You can spell your name and know your birthday!

Just a few days before your 2^nd birthday, you started sleeping in your big boy bed. You’ve done a wonderful job remembering to stay in bed until Mama or Daddy comes to get you. You sleep with several of your favorite guys, including Teddy, Pooh Bear, Big Monkey, Little Monkey, Tiny, and Other One. You have fun playing with them, talking, and singing until you fall asleep. You usually go to bed at about 9:30 pm and usually sleep until about 8:30 am. You take a big nap each day that’s usually about 3 hours long. Instead of cuddling in the rocking chair at bedtime and naptime like we used to, I usually lay with you, snuggle and say prayers in your bed for a few minutes. I love sharing that special time with you.

Being your Mama is absolutely wonderful. I knew I would love being a mama, but I had no idea just how wonderful it would be. I love you so very much, Precious Boy of Mine! Thank you for loving me and for making my days extra special.

I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God!

Lots and lots of love,

Mama

18 months

February 2, 2012

32 pounds 13 ounces (98%)
34 inches (92%)
Head (90%)

Sweet Boy!!

We love you oh so very much! We love to watch you grow and learn new things every day. You are such a blessing to our family, and we can’t imagine life without you. You’re sweet and fun. You’re friendly and full of energy. You love to talk and explore. You love to read books and play outside. You love to sing songs and do chores. You give big hugs and kisses. You are an absolute joy!

You are a big boy. You’re taller and stockier than most other kids your age. In fact, you’ve even passed up the two boys that used to give you hand-me-downs, and they’re a year older than you are! The doctor says you’re perfectly proportioned and just right! Reenie says you look a lot like Daddy did when he was your age. We are so very thankful that you are such a healthy boy.

You started walking just a few days after your birthday and gradually got faster and more comfortable on your feet. It wasn’t long until you were even running! As long as you’re awake, you like to be on the move. You’re curious and you’ve got plenty of energy. We love to watch you explore your surroundings.

You say so many words! I’ve done my best to remember them and list them here, though I’m sure I left out a few, because lately you say a new one every day.

Mama	hi	eye	Bible	nana (banana)
Daddy	bye bye	ear	ball	bagel
Baby	thank you	mouth	backball (basketball)	potapota (potato)
Bobel	please	nose	car	green beans
ReRe (Reenie)	more	teeth	tractor	bread
Papa (Pops)	clap	knee	boat	cheese
GiGi (Granny)	aw oh	back	bear	cream cheese
Meme (Aunt Misty)	ouch	bebe (belly button)	dog	cado (avocado)
Laura (Aunt Laura)	wow	chin	turtle	yoyo (yogurt)
KK	whoa	arm	mumu (music)	apple
LaLa (Lindsey)	rock	hair	beans	pear
Rick	stop		beads	wawa (water)
MarMar (Margaret)	no		sock	milk
Don (Jon)	go go go		shoe	bite
Bo			hat	ice
me			diaper	spoon
			moon	bowl
			Hohoho (Santa)	light

You like to make animal sounds and can say so many! You know the sounds for sheep, cow, dog, cat, horse, duck, monkey, and owl.

You can point to lots of body parts too. You know head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, chin, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, tummy, belly button, back, legs, knees, feet, and toes.

You have a lot of nicknames, so not only do we call you Carson, we also call you Carsy, Cars-a-Doodle, Doodle, Doodle Noodle, CarCar, Mr. Handsome Pants, Buster, and Butternut.

You love when we sing songs with you. Your very favorite is “Frosty the Snowman,” and you request that we sing it over and over again by saying and signing “more.” You join in by singing “La La LaLaLa,” and when we get to the end you pat your legs when we say “thumpity thump thump.” Then, you say “bye bye” to Frosty. Some of your other favorite songs are “I Just Wanna be a Sheep,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “All God’s Aminals,” and “Thank you, Lord.”

You always remind us to pray before meals. You fold your little hands, bow your head, and say “thank you, thank you.” It is so sweet. You like to eat lots of different foods. Every morning, you wake up ready for a banana. You also like yogurt, blueberries, bagels with cream cheese, muffins, pancakes, and eggs. For lunch, you like sweet potatoes, sandwiches, cheese, bread, avocados, goldfish, and peanut butter. For supper, you like green beans, chicken, hamburger meat, rolls, and pasta. For snacks, you like pears, apples, animal crackers, and graham crackers. You love to get drinks of water from Daddy’s big cup with a straw; it’s such a treat! You always ask sweetly by signing and saying “please.” You also really like to get bites of ice for a little treat.

You and I take a walk every day that the weather allows it. You do such a good job riding in your stroller looking around and waving at cars. You do a good job in the grocery store, too. You are always friendly to the other shoppers, and it makes the older ladies so happy when you smile and wave at them. You’ve taken a lot of big trips and are a great car rider, and we are thankful for that. You love to listen to your CDs, Playground and Slugs and Bugs, as you ride in the car. You love to go to Bible class and spend time with your sweet teachers. You blow kisses and wave good-bye to people. You love to read books. Sometimes we read as many as ten in a row! You love your babies. You carry them around the house and take good care of them. You also really love your blue teddy bear. You are great at putting your rings on the stick, and you are beginning to stack blocks and work puzzles, too. You are having fun with your new car and basketball goal that your grandparents got you for Christmas. You recognize the letter o and love to find it everywhere! Anytime you see words, you begin looking to see if there is an o.

You even like to help do chores. You help clean up your books and toys. You take things to Mama or Daddy for us. One of your very favorites is empting the dishwasher. You hand me the clean dishes so I can put them away. You also help put the clean clothes in the dryer, and identify each piece of clothing as Daddy, Mama, or Baby. You lead us around the house and gather up trashcans and dump them in the big can in the kitchen each week before we take it outside. You put paper in the recycling basket. You make doing chores lots more fun!

Aunt Misty made you a fun game with all of your family members’ pictures on magnets, and you love it! You look at the pictures and talk about your sweet grandparents and aunts all the time. It is precious! When you think about your family members and friends from church, you say their names, look for pictures of them, and sometimes you even pray for them. You’re such a sweet and thoughtful boy!

You go to bed about 9:00 pm. At bedtime, you put your babies and bear in your crib and give Daddy hugs and kisses. Then, we go to your room, and you push the button to turn on the sound machine and turn the light off. We read books, say a prayer, and sing songs while we rock for a few minutes. Then, I put you in bed and you have fun playing and talking to your babies before you fall asleep. You sleep for 11-12 hours. We love waking up to your sweet and happy voice saying “Mama, Mama, Daddy, Daddy” ready to begin a new day!

Thank you for being your precious self, Carson Clark. We love you so very much and are thankful that you’re our boy! Raising you is an honor and a joy! We’re trying to soak up every minute because you’re changing so quickly. We pray that you continue to grow and learn. We pray that you know how much we love you and how much God loves you.

Mama and Daddy

a whole year old!!!

august 2, 2011

26 pounds 7 ounces

30.5 inches

Precious Son of Mine,

I can hardly believe you are a whole year old!! I remember clearly the absolute joy and immediate love I felt for you when I held you for the very first time one year ago. What an amazing miracle and precious gift from God you were! Over the past year, as you have grown more and more each day, my love for you has also grown more and more. I am so very thankful that God has blessed me with you. Along with being Daddy’s wife, being your mama is my very favorite job! I love love love spending my days with you, watching you learn and grow and play. I am so very thankful that you are such a happy, healthy boy. You have no idea how much joy you bring to everyone who meets you!

This month you’ve continued to grow bigger and learn new things. You wear size four diapers during the day and size 5 at night. You wear 12-18 month clothes. People always comment on what a big boy you are and how healthy you look, and many people point out your adorable chunky legs! I love to squeeze them and kiss them!

Sometimes when we’re sitting in the floor playing, you crawl over and plant a big open-mouth slobbery kiss right on my mouth! It absolutely melts my heart, and I love that you are learning how to show love in new ways. You have lots of fun and like to clap, wave, point, and dance! Your knees start bending and your arms begin to wave as soon as a new song comes on. We love to watch you dance. You love photos, especially ones of you! When you see one, you excitedly point and grunt. You like to look at them up close and touch them.

You are an excellent sleeper! You take two naps each day usually for about 1.5-2 hours each time, and you sleep for 11-12 hours at night. We are proud of the good sleeper you’ve become. After a couple of books, a song, a prayer, and a few snuggles, we lay you down in your crib. The calm time together just before laying you down is so special to me. You quietly play with the stuffed animals in your bed before drifting off to sleep. You usually wake up cooing happily, ready to have some milk, and if we’re lucky, a few more snuggles, too!

Toward the end of July, Mama and Daddy were invited to attend a retreat for ministry couples. We were excited about the chance to be with mentors that we love and respect and to get to know other couples in full time ministry, but we were a little leery of being away from you, our precious baby boy, for four days and three nights. After thinking it through, we decided to go for it. The retreat was in Texas, so Pops and Granny were eager for the chance to have you stay with them while we were at the retreat!

Before we left for our trip, we switched you to your big boy car seat, and you seem to enjoy it. We left on a Sunday, and before heading to Texas, we went to St. Louis to visit Bobel and Reenie. The grownups went to a U2 concert to celebrate Bobel’s birthday and you stayed with a babysitter. I was a little bit nervous about how you would do staying with someone you didn’t know for the first time, but you did great and had fun playing with Bonnie while we were at the concert. The next day, we had fun playing with Bobel and Reenie. On Tuesday, we headed from St. Louis, MO to Royston, TX. We drove through Oklahoma so that you could mark a couple more states off your list. You’ve now been to nine states: TN, TX, AR, MO, CA, NM, KY, IL, and OK! You did great on the long road trip. We thought it was neat that you got to see both sets of grandparents in one day, your city grandparents and your country grandparents! Aunt Misty took off work so she could stay there and spend time with you, too. Before we left for the retreat, our friends, Bob and Kay, came over and we decided to give you a haircut, but this time we didn’t just trim around the edges with scissors, instead, we used clippers and gave you a short/big boy haircut. I wasn’t sure we should do it, because your head full of hair had always been such a big part of your look, but I decided to go for it, and it looks adorable. It made you look quite different. You look older, but just as cute. I think it makes you look even more like Daddy! The next day, we headed east to the Texas Hill Country, and you stayed in West Texas. We had a wonderful time at the retreat, and you had lots of fun with Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty. You even got to go to the Mahaffey family reunion and meet lots of cousins while you were with them. They sent us lots of pictures while we were apart, and that made it easier to be apart.

After the retreat, we met you in Weatherford and spent time with some good friends before heading home. We stayed the night with the Graves and with the Riches. You had fun playing with Lynlee and Kyndall and with Jaxon. We are thankful for those two families. They have been good friends of Mama and Daddy’s for several years, and we’re thankful you can be friends with their children, too!

Being away from you for the retreat meant it was time to wean you. So, in mid-July, we started gradually replacing your nursing times with milk in a cup, and after a couple of weeks, just in time for the retreat, you were drinking all of your milk from a cup like a big boy. We worked hard to make nursing work when you were a newborn and it was a special part of our first year together that I will always treasure in my memory, but I am so thankful that you transitioned to whole milk so well and are growing up just like God made you to do! You drink a cup of milk when you wake up in the morning and after both naps. You still enjoy meal time. You’re a great eater. You love bread, crackers, and fruit. Your favorite vegetables are carrots and sweet potatoes. Your favorite meat dish is cheeseburger pie. We’re working on teaching you not to throw your food and cup in the floor, and you’re getting better.

You are still a fast crawler, but you’re walking along side a wall or table every chance you get. You hold on using only one hand now and are getting to be quite quick and steady! You still love to push your diaper box or anything else you can find: a chair, a stool, a basket, anything you can scoot and push as fast as you can. You aren’t walking all of the time, but you did take your first steps this month. While you were staying with Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty on Friday, July 22, you took four steps, and a little while later, you took seven! We called you a little stinker for taking your first steps without us, but we were so proud of you, and it wasn’t long until we were able to see you take a few wobbly steps here and there. We are so proud of you; walking all by yourself makes you look like such a big one-year-old boy!

We celebrated your first birthday with a party on Monday evening, the day before your actual birthday. We had a cake shaped like a one and a little cake for you to smash. We also had some of your favorite snacks: watermelon, blueberries, and goldfish. Bobel and Reenie got to come to the party, and several friends from church came too: Ronnie, Angela, CW, Laquita, Lloyd, Nita, Kaye, Lindsey, Margaret, Vickie, Rick, Ann, Jon, Michelle, Tabitha, Hannah, Emma and Bo. When we first gave you your cake, you carefully picked the m&ms and icing off the edge and ate it, but with a little prompting from Kaye, you started patting the cake and quickly tore right in, making a big mess! Everyone enjoyed watching you smash your cake! Then, you opened presents and got lots of fun new toys and books! It was a special time.

The next morning, on your birthday, we greeted you with balloons and sang “Happy Birthday”. We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Bobel and Reenie stayed for a few hours and gave you a couple more presents to open. You opened cards you’d gotten in the mail from family and friends. Daddy got to stay home, so the three of us enjoyed the rest of the day playing together.

What a year! My heart is overflowing with lots and lots of love for you, Precious Boy!! We are so very thankful that you are part of our family. We pray for wisdom and discernment as we guide, love, and nurture you from a baby to a boy and eventually to a man. It is a big job and we are honored to take on the challenge!

My prayer for you is the same as it was a year ago: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God!

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Mama

eleven months

july 2, 2011

24 pounds 8 ounces

29.5 inches

Sweet Carson Clark,

June was a busy month for our family, and you continued to grow and learn during our adventures! You’re getting to be a big boy! You wear size four diapers and 12-18 month clothes.

One weekend, Reenie came and visited. She kept you while Mama and Daddy went to Nashville to go out to eat and to a concert. We had a good time, and you had lots of fun playing with Reenie.

One day you were standing up holding on the bathtub and you fell and busted your lip. There was so much blood; it scared us, but it didn’t keep you down for long. You still have a scar on your lip where that happened.

A few days later, we took a big trip! We rode on an airplane from Tennessee all the way to California. It was a 4.5 hour flight and I was nervous about how you would do sitting still in a small space for so long, but you did great! You ate snacks, read books, looked around, and even snuggled up on Daddy and took a nap. While we were in California, Daddy went to the Christian Scholars Conference and we spent time with family. Granny and Aunt Misty joined us from Texas, and we went to the mountains with Aunt Paula, and cousins: Staci, Wyatt, Racquel, Nicole, and Reid. It was beautiful there and we enjoyed relaxing and playing with cousins. You learned to climb stairs while we were there.

When the conference was over, Daddy flew back home to Tennessee, but you and I went to Texas with Granny and Aunt Misty. You did great on the plane again. You slept in my lap most of the flight. Pops didn’t know we were coming; we surprised him on Father’s Day! We had lots of fun at Pops and Granny’s house. Aunt Misty took off work for a couple more days to spend time with us. It was a special time. While we were there, you befriended their dog, Dakota. You got really excited every time you saw her, and you loved for her to lick your hands and feet. One morning while we were at their house, you woke up and just weren’t yourself. You didn’t want to play or eat, two things you normally love. Instead, you just wanted me to hold you. While I was holding you, I noticed that you felt really hot, so I took your temperature and you had a fever of 105! Poor buddy, no wonder you weren’t acting like yourself. We called the doctor and she said to take you to the emergency room. They ran lots of tests and decided you had an ear infection and strep throat. They prescribed some medicine, and you began feeling better pretty quickly, but it took several days for your temperature to go back to normal. After a few days, Pops got sick too, so Granny took us home by herself. After being gone for 15 days, we were happy to be home and see Daddy. We got back at 11:00 pm, but you woke up and crawled as fast as you could around the house rediscovering all of your things.

One of our very favorite things you learned to do this month is clapping! You love to clap, and once you begin clapping, you look around the room waiting for everyone else to join you. You’ve also started waving and pointing. You wave at people in the grocery store and they talk to you. Everyone thinks you’re so cute! You point and grunt or squeal at food and at young children. Our sweet friend Kaye is still one of your best buddies. She is your honorary Hohenwald aunt and you always have lots of fun playing with her. Your joy is contagious, and your big smile lights up the room.

You are still a curious little guy, and you love to learn about the world around you. You love to open drawers and pull everything out. You are such a fast crawler and still always crawl with your right knee down and your left foot up. You like to get a book, block, or lid to put under each hand so you can slide instead of lifting your hands and crawl even faster. You love to pull up on anything you can get a hold of and walk beside it while holding on. This month you started letting go and standing up without holding on, and later on in the month, you started standing up all by yourself without holding on. You discovered a new favorite toy this month: a diaper box! It’s the perfect height for you to stand behind and push. You love to push the diaper box and walk. Sometimes you get going so fast you’re running. It is super cute!

You got two more teeth on top this month. That makes six teeth: four on top and two on the bottom! While your new teeth were coming in, you went through a biting stage. You left bruises on Mama and Granny and you made Pops bleed when you bit him during church one day. We’ve been talking to you about not biting and you’re doing much better now.

You nurse four times a day, once before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and again at bedtime. You’re enjoying lots of different foods, too. You’re such a big boy and don’t eat any pureed food anymore. You like to eat table food like Mama and Daddy. You tried pancakes, pizza, and ice cream for the first time this month. Your favorite foods are saltine crackers, goldfish, watermelon, blueberries. When we take them out, you squeal, shake, and point with excitement and anticipation! It is fun to see you so excited! When you’re ready for more food, you point and squeal or grunt to show us what you want. You still drink water from a sippy cup with a straw and throw it on the floor when you’re finished.

We planted a garden and you like to go outside to check it and water it. You still like to play outside, but it’s gotten so hot that we don’t go out as often as we used to. When we got home from our trip there were ripe squash, zucchini, and tomatoes ready to pick! We enjoyed having a garden. You really like eating the homegrown tomatoes.

You still like to play in the kitchen and listen to music while I’m cooking. I found some fun CDs from when I taught first grade that we’ve been enjoying. You like to smile and dance to songs like “Who Let the Dogs Out” and “Chicken Dance”. As soon as the music comes on, you start moving your arms and bending your knees. It is so cute to watch you dance! You play happily if I’m up and moving, but if I sit down to do something, you’re ready for me to pick you up and play with you! We love listening to all of the sweet sounds you make. You squeal, grunt, do the motor boat, and say “mama” and “ababab.”

You had been sleeping through the night for about 11 hours each night for a couple of weeks before our trip, but you had trouble sleeping while we were gone. We think it must have been because you got sick, were teething and because you were in different places and out of your routine. When we got home, it didn’t take you long to get back into a normal sleeping pattern. We are so proud of you for learning to sleep all night! You usually go to bed about 9:00 pm and wake up around 8:00 am. You still take two naps each day, usually about an hour and half each. We read to you before naptime. You sit still and listen as we read. You love to sit in one of our laps, point to the pictures, and turn the pages.

We are so very thankful for you, Baby Boy! We take seriously our role as parents and pray for wisdom as we guide, teach, and protect you.

Lots of love,
Mama and Daddy

ten months

june 2, 2011

about 23.5 pounds

28.75 inches

Carson Robert,

You are growing up so fast! This month it seems like you’re already beginning to transition from baby to toddler. Maybe it’s because you’ve traded in footie pajamas for two piece jammies and are sleeping all night more often than not, or it could be the speed and ease with which you crawl and pull up. Maybe it’s all of the table food or the babbling that’s sounding more and more like talking. Whatever it is, you are more and more fun every day! We are trying hard to savor every moment and new stage, because you’re growing and changing so quickly! It’s been fun to see you become more independent this month. You’re still curious and work hard to learn about the world around you.

You are a fast crawler and always crawl with your right knee down and your left foot up! When Daddy gets home in the afternoons, you crawl as fast as you can to greet him! It is the highlight of his day! You still love pulling up every chance you get and are cruising more and more. You stay busy pretty much the whole time you’re awake!

You are such a happy boy! We are so thankful for your good health and sweet spirit. You bring so much joy to our lives and to the lives of others. When you smile, your whole face seems to smile. Many times, you smile so big that it makes your eyes close. You like to smile back at people when they smile at you or talk to you. You’ve started smiling when we’re walking in the door to church, because you’re so happy to be there! You smile and reach for Madelyn, your sweet cradle roll teacher. You’ve started laughing more and more this month, too! Sometimes you laugh when someone’s being silly, when we sing to you, when I dance for you or with you, when we tickle you, when we give you kisses and zurburts, and when we squeal back at you! You’re a great squealer! You like to look at yourself in the mirror. You touch the mirror, smile, and make sweet sounds.

Some of your favorite toys are books, keys, your purple rectangle, your plastic eggs, Sophie the Giraffe, your blue teething ring, and your airplane puzzle piece. You like to play outside. You crawl around in the grass, pull weeds, play with dirt, and try to chew on sticks! We’ve been enjoying the beautiful spring weather and taking morning walks around the neighborhood. You love to ride in your stroller, feel the breeze and sunshine, and listen to the animals and cars. You help check the mail every day. You always carry in a piece of mail and sometimes there’s a piece of junk mail or catalog that you get to crumple and tear up. You really like to play with paper. You like to play in the kitchen while I’m cooking. You love to play with open drawers and take out lids and towels. You still enjoy your magnets, and playing with the dishwasher is a treat for sure! You don’t like the sound that the blender makes, and sometimes it makes you cry. We know you’ll get used to it before too long! We like to listen to music while we’re in the kitchen. You really like TJ McClouds’ Playground and Andrew Peterson and Randall Goodgame’s Slugs and Bugs.

You like to go with me to Walmart. You look cute sitting up in the shopping cart and looking around. There’s so much to see! A couple of times, you’ve tried to stand up in there, which was scary! You smile at everyone and lots of people talk to you while we shop. You make grocery shopping lots of fun!

You got two teeth on top this month. Just like on the bottom, the right tooth appeared about a week before the left. Now you have four teeth and it’s made biting and chewing lots of fun! You started eating table food this month. We’ve done a combination of feeding you purees and letting you feed yourself finger foods. You really like feeding yourself and seem to favor your left hand when you eat. Mealtime has become messy with scraps of food on the floor afterwards. You’ve tried so many new foods this month! You love fruit. Blueberries are your absolute favorite! You squeal and shake with excitement when I get them out, and it’s adorable! You also really like watermelon raspberries, blackberries, and banana. You eat watermelon from a fork, but you take off and use your fingers for anything else we’ve given you on a fork. Sweet potatoes are your favorite vegetable. You will also eat green beans. You also really like bread and crackers. Goldfish crackers are right up there with blueberries. They’re one of my favorites, so I figure you’re excited that I finally share with you after all these months of watching me eat them. As soon as I walk to the pantry and shake the box, you squeal and shake with excitement! You also like ritz crackers and saltines. Sometimes, I dip saltines in pureed veggies for you. It’s messy, but lots more fun than being spoon fed! You like to eat bits of bread, bagel, bun, roll, and pasta. Your dairy favorites are yogurt and cheese, and your favorite meats are chicken and ground beef. Poppyseed chicken and baked ziti are two of your favorite dishes. You seem to think it’s fun to eat what Mama and Daddy eat. You’ve gotten really good at drinking water from your sippy cup. The one with the straw seems to work best. You take a big drink then throw your cup on the floor!

You wear size four diapers and 12 month clothes. You’ve been sleeping so well this month! About the middle of the month you started sleeping through the night more often than not! This has been a fun milestone for Mama! You usually go to bed between 9:00-10:00 at night, and in the mornings you usually wake up between 7:30-8:30. You take two naps a day, usually 1.25-1.5 hours each. We read to you before your naps. You sit in one of our laps, point to the pictures, and turn the pages. Sometimes you even kiss the people in the pictures. We love reading with you! You nurse four times a day, once before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and again at bedtime. We love to hear you. You babble (/b/, /g/, /m/), squeal, grunt, laugh, and make your motor boat sound.

One of our very favorite times of the day is bath time. Since the weather’s been warm and we’ve been spending more time outside, you take a bath almost every night. You use your ducky tub now, and you love to sit up and splash. Playing in the water is lots of fun! You like to stand up and hold on the rail on the side of the tub. Sometimes you crawl out of the duck so you can touch the shiny silver drain. After I bathe you, I pass you off to Daddy and he dries you off. You and Daddy love this special time together and I love to hear the sweet giggles coming from your room as he dries you off and plays with you.

It is a joy and honor to be your parents. You make life extra special, and we are so very thankful for you, Baby Boy!

We love you!!

Mama and Daddy