Thanksgiving weekend 2016

Our Thanksgiving celebrations kick on Wednesday night, with the Carter family Thanksgiving dinner.  With all the normal traditions, Ben started a new tradition (our nephew) of a Carter family football game.  He even sent out personalized pieces of mail to every family informing them of all the detail (the letter was amazing!) and made every tickets!!!

It was a little cold, but Pops got out his mower and made a field and the game went on.  Complete with cheerleaders!!  I spent most of the time inside with Mikey (he was hungry) and chasing our other kids (they apparently aren't into football?), but I popped out for a bit.  Ben even made a trophy - it was pretty neat and I'm excited to see this tradition continue!

As you can see, Charlie was having issues - apparently Jimmy tackled him and he did not like that one bit.  Oops.

After the game ended and the trophy was handed out, everyone went inside for appetizers and drinks.  My MIL does not disappoint with the gorgeous table decor!!  Seriously - it's beautiful every year, and this year there were personalized place settings for everyone - even the kid's table!

Mikey was not quite having the night.  I'm not sure what was wrong with the poor baby, but he was fussy pretty much all night.  Which was a bummer because he didn't get to hang out with Jay (his cousin that is just 2 months older) or really get to spend time with anyone else holding him.  He just wanted mom and dad and did take a little snooze in his Dock a tot while we were eating dinner (which was good timing) and was up in time to eat for the annual Grana jammies!

Here is the picture from this year.  Sue now has 12 grandkids to make these PJs for!  She told me that she already went and bought everything for NEXT year because JoAnn's fabric had 70% off flannel - she is amazing!  I love these pictures and this tradition!  Libbie is the oldest at 14 years old and then Mikey is the youngest at 4 months old - quite the spread of some pretty amazing kiddos!

We called it a night around 8:30 and got home at 9.  Mikey went right to sleep, but the other kids fought it a bit because they didn't want to leave their cousins!

The next morning, Maddie slept in until almost 9 (that NEVER HAPPENS!), while the boys were up a little before 7AM.  Around 11AM, we headed over to my parents house to have Thanksgiving with mom's side of the family (the ones that are in KC).  It was delicious and my mom had TONS of food too!!  We were quite spoiled with turkey, ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole and then my grandma's delicious PIES!!

Oh and the deviled eggs that I requested she make.  However, Maddie loved the olives and signing "daddy finger"  (anyone else HATE that song/you tube video?)

I knew I wanted to attempt one picture of our little family.  However, the big kids didn't want to participate without bribes, so we took one of just the three of us!  Just like old times, eh?  But then they finally jumped in and this was the best we got...love it with Jimmy's beer in his crotch!  

My sister and her husband were in Augusta, with her husband's family - but their dogs were at my parents house.  So we took a selfie with one of them, Lucy, and sent to her!

We left the big kids over at my parents (sans nap) around 4PM.  Originally, we were planning on going to a party at my boss' house around the Plaza area, but we got home and were spending time with Mikey and were EXHAUSTED - so we just decided to hang out with the three of us and go to bed.  While I was sad to miss the party, it was a great decision because the next morning I had to work and was still able to get up and work out before I headed in the next day.

Yes, had to work the day after Thanksgiving - boo.  But it was only a 1/2 day because the markets are only open a 1/2 day.  And we got Egg etc for brunch.  Yum!

That afternoon, we went over to my best friend from high school's parents house to visit with her and her family and my other friend, Katie and her family.  Maddie took a super long nap, so we didn't get to see Katie and James for too long before they headed back to Oklahoma, but we hung out with Landon and the rest of the Young clan and had a blast!!!  Miss having the Hart family in KC so much, but we sure do love visiting them in Wichita!!

Saturday and Sunday were relaxing and made for running errands, naps and playing at home.  And CRAZY.  Legit nuts at our house because Saturday was so low key.  Charlie and Maddie were running around like nut cases and then as I was trying to get a picture of Mikey looking adorable and eating - you can see Toby on our bench (luckily he was not on the table!)

But it was nice to do NOTHING...just what we needed rolling into December.  We did get to go tour the NEW building in our church - and we are SOOOO excited for it!  Maddie couldn't stop playing with the one toy that was in the room - haha.

Then I made zoodles for lunch and I'm officially obsessed.  I posted my recipe on my fitness blog if you're interested, but it's NOTHING fancy!

Seriously cannot believe December 1 is this Thursday!!  Time is flying - but so happy to have lots of shopping done, Tony (our elf) is coming on Thursday (have BIG plans for that!) and then the Christmas parties start!!  Cheers to the holiday season!

THANKFUL

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We have had a fun few days so far, with celebrations on both sides of our family where we left with tired kids and FULL stomachs!!  But even more so, thankful hearts.  We are counting our blessings for our amazing family and thankful for the time that we get to spend together and that we are all in KC!  Just thought I would do some reflecting on some things I am thankful for today...using the letters of the word thankful.  Cheesy, but a nice reflection time for me!

T - The roof over our heads and the means to provide for our family and help others.  While Jimmy can sometimes call me a Grinch (I'm really not!), we are so thankful to be able to give back through adopting family's and kid's in our areas to provide them with toys, clothes and presents that everyone deserves this holiday season.  We had fun with the kids last weekend shopping at the Target 30% off toys sale and picking up toys for the kiddos that we adopted from their school.  While it was not easy saying "nope, this is not for you" 40 times to each Maddie and Charlie, it's important to us to teach them giving to others is so important.  I am thankful that our financial situation gives us the ability to do these things for others and give back.

H - Having family and friends close by!  While we do have some family that lives out of state, we are so thankful for having our immediate family's in Kansas City and that we are blessed to spend time with them on this holiday and regularly during the year!  I do love a good road trip, but they are far less fun with three kids 4 and under! (and missing my sister on the actual Thanksgiving day celebrations - but thankful she and her husband will be in town for Christmas!)

A - All the BABIES.  Yes, I'm so thankful for Mikey, but also all the babies that we have welcomed into the world this year through family and friends.  We have a new nephew, Jay, my cousin had her little girl, Brooklyn, and we have had many dear friends welcome babies this year as well (a few had twins!).  We are thankful for these adorable babies that are coming into this world and pray for their continued health!!!

N - Nice weather.  Oh my goodness.  We have been completely spoiled this fall.  To say that we are at the end of November and have yet to break out the legit heavy coats is amazing!  I'm sure we will be paying for it in January/February - but for now, I'm soaking in that nicer days this fall meant for more time outside as a family and {maybe} less sickness!!

K - Kids.  I'm thankful for me kids so much.  DUH, right?  But the most thing I'm thankful for about them, besides their good health, is just the love that they have for each other.  After having Maddie and seeing how she and Charlie interacted and grew to love each other, I was more than excited to welcome Mikey into our crew and see how he fit in.  Needless to say, he fits in just perfectly and they LOVE him.  I really don't think there is anything in the world that makes me more happy than seeing the moments when they are thoughtful and sweet to each other.  I mean do they fight - YES.  It's ridiculous.  But those sweet moments make up for all of it - watching these sibling relationships develop is something I will always treasure as a mom.

F - Fun.  Is this weird?  Well - can I tell you that I feel like a different mom/person since I had Mikey.  I can't quite pinpoint the reason, but I'm more relaxed and easy going (I mean I'm still pretty uptight, let's be real - but not as much!).  I've let things go - like my house being clean all the time, the laundry being folded, kids being dressed cute - and I'm having so much more fun.  Having fun when you're supposed to have fun, but also at times I least expect.  Times when I need it the most and when my family needs it the most.  Random dance parties, sitting to play with my kids, snuggling with them in bed...I'm trying to be more present and more aware.  Time flies so fast.  But I'm having more fun and I love it.  And maybe, just maybe, Jimmy will revoke my nickname he has for me as "fun hater" :)

U - Us - meaning Jimmy and I.  I'm thankful for this guy.  For how our relationship has grown and continues to change and evolve.  Three kids, four and under is NOT easy.  But there is absolutely no one in the world I would rather do this with.  Are there times when we hate each other?  Absolutely (like how he somehow sleeps through ALL three kids waking up at night sometimes!)!!  But at the end of the day, he's my partner in crime and I'm so thankful that eleven years ago we fell in love and talked about one day getting married and having some kids.  I'm darn thankful that God helped make that dream come true.

L - Life and the freedom we have in the United States.  This November (and leading up to it) has just been crazy with the election and the results.  I know there are so many that are so unhappy and I'm just not quite sure what to think.  But no matter the results, what I am thankful for is the life I live here in the US and the freedom I have.  That I don't live in a city that is full of war on a daily basis.  That I don't have to be worried about my kids getting shot when they are outside playing.  That I'm not worried of going somewhere and could get bombed.  I know that sounds extreme, but the reality is that there are mom's somewhere across the globe that are worrying about that everyday and the lives of their kids and family's.  We will see what happens from a political standpoint here in good old America, but I'm thankful that I'm a citizen of the United States.

There you have it friends - getting all deep for you on Thanksgiving.  It's nice to sit down and really think about what I truly am thankful for - things big and small.  Hoping you are able to take time to spend with your family today and this weekend.  Get some good Black Friday deals, but remember all the truly important things in your lives!

Here are my turkey's and I on Thanksgiving at my parent's house :)

Father's Day - Love these dads!

Watching my husband become a dad and now almost 4 years into it, enhance his role and job of that with each day that passes and each kid that comes into our lives and calls him "dad" has honestly been one of the greatest joys.  When you meet someone at 19 years old, you obviously have no idea what kind of father they will be....but after getting to know Jimmy a bit, from the very beginning I had no doubt he would take on the role of fatherhood someday quite well.  And boy has he. 

I have loved watching him learn all of the more technical duties fatherhood brings - you know, how to change a diaper, calm a crying baby, calm a crying mama (SO true!), make a bottle, wash the bottle, wash pump parts, pack pump parts, pack diaper bags, and the list could go on and on.  But I have loved even more watching him grow emotionally as a person and dad with our two little ones.   Watching him hold each of them for the first time and slowly but surely fall in love all over again with our adorable little humans that were entrusted to us.  He has taken on the role of disciplinarian more than I have (let's be honest, it might be surprising, but I'm a complete softie) but knows just when he needs to bring on one of his famous playlists and just dance in the family room.  His hugs can fix boo-boos and his jokes can turn crying into laughter.  As Charlie is about ready to turn 4, it's even more fun to watch Jimmy interact with him - teaching him how to throw a ball, swing a bat, swing a golf club, swim, throw a football, kick a soccer ball, etc.  These were the things that Jimmy dreamed about since when we found out Charlie was a boy - so it's even more fun for me to watch him, as I know he's look forward to this for so long!  And miss Maddie.  Well, to say Jimmy was terrified when we found out Maddie was a girl is an understatement.  With four brothers, he told me he knew nothing about girls and was convinced she was going to look exactly like him, be 6 ft 5 in tall and never find a boyfriend (this was all in the sonogram room!!!).  Luckily for all of us, she might have a tall stature, but she's gorgeous and even more fun - she's got him completely wrapped around her finger.  He says he's terrified to have another girl (as we are not finding out what #3 is - only a few more weeks until we know!) mainly because of the attitude that Maddie already gives us all and her strong personality...but I think the truth is, he's not quite sure just how another sweet girl can win over his heart.  Because boy has she.  

No matter what though, Jimmy, in my eyes, is just the greatest dad.  He's just what our family needs and knows what to do to keep us all running.  And we love this guy so much!  

Jimmy with Charlie and Maddie in the hospital.  Seems hard to believe there is going to be a third one of these pictures in just a few weeks!!! (and no, his style doesn't change my friends - guessing he'll have a backwards hat on in #3 as well!)

While Jimmy is our immediate little family's shining star of a dad, Jimmy wouldn't be Jimmy without his own dad!  Red Carter is one of a kind and helped his wife to raise five wonderful boys that have grown into five amazing men.  I love hearing stories about Red when they were little and would go to the softball park to watch him play and then how he was their coach when they were older.  While I didn't know him when he was just a "dad", his role as "Pops" in the Carter family is one that he doesn't take lightly.  With 11 grandkids now, he stays busy watching them play and throwing his own dance parties at his house for the kids.  He encourages them and all of us through his faith and love for God and his family.  We are so very thankful for this guy!

And then there is my dad.  Oh man.  Too many things to say about this guy.  The first thing to say is that I'm so glad he's a fighter.  Looking back at this past year or so and his several battles with skin cancer and the grueling, unsightly treatments he went through with that, as well as find out he had aggressive prostate cancer and immediately knowing he just wanted to eliminate it because that was the best chance of survival, even with some of the not-so-fun things that could happen afterwords.  I'm so glad that he's strong and has a great attitude towards everything.  Never feeling sorry for himself and never letting anything stop him.  He's amazing and the most fun dad and Papa ever.  Tell him about a project you're thinking about?  Now that he's retired, he'll likely show up at your house the next Monday with a game plan and supplies in hand (so watch out what you wish for!).  He's amazing and we love him so so much!!  (not to mention he has welcomed all 4.5 of us with open arms into his house the last week and gotten up with Charlie pretty much every morning at 5:15AM to eat Rice Krispies with him....this guy!)

Happy Father's day to these three amazing men!!!!!   Life is so much better with you all in it!

Mother's Day 2016 - physical & mental pictures

Somehow it's been a full two weeks since I've blogged.  Completely unintentional, but much needed break I guess.  Not going to lie but the third trimester is totally kicking me in the butt and I tend to go to sleep immediately after both the kids are asleep.  My body is busy growing this baby so I'm happy to sleep when I can!

We had a great Mother's Day weekend celebrating all the fabulous women in our lives and also getting some spoiling and loving of my own.  One thing I tried very intentionally to do is to not spend my weekend in front of my phone taking pictures of every little moment like I feel like sometimes I do.  I did capture a few of them from the weekend fun though.

Maddie when I picked her up from school.  Seriously love her.

Apparently Charlie needed a break during our walk through CostCo Friday night :)

Charlie rocked his last soccer morning!

Oh and doughnuts in the back of Papa's car - they are sure going to miss that!

It was SOOO hot - that the kids put on their swimsuits and we turned on the sprinklers!

However, I'm a moron and couldn't find Maddie's 3T swimsuits I bought her - so yeah, she just ran around naked and apparently liked riding bikes naked.  Don't worry - the non-pregnant parent did locate them on Sunday so no more nude excuses.

Of course Toby was playing along!

The whole day Sunday was so awesome - but I literally didn't take one picture until we got home around 7PM on Sunday night.  And Jimmy made the three of us sit down and snap some photos, which was super sweet of him because I did want a picture of my babes on Mother's Day!

Selfies!!!

And finally - I snapped a shot of this hilarious kiddo, legs crossed, snacking on a bed time snack.

Lucky to call him mine.

There are lots more images from this past week/weekend that I didn’t capture, but sat there thinking – man I never want to forget this – so here’s my attempt at capturing the mental image for myself so I can look back:

Charlie playing soccer and playing his little heart out.  I did get some pictures of him shooting (above) with his friends and then a group picture after they all got their medals, but this kid loves to run and shoot and score and it has been so fun witnessing his amazing improvement in just a year – let’s just say last year might have been a slight disaster J  But I never want to forget his smile when he looks up at me and waves and comes over and wants to know where Papa is to show him how he scores. 

The look on Maddie's face of pure joy/pride/happiness when she tried on the flower girl dress my sister got her after her bath at my parent's house Saturday night.  It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen from my often times not-so-girly little girl.  She loved everyone telling her how pretty she looked and twirled in the mirror smiling to her little heart's content.  Precious memories.

Changing laundry with my two hooligans during the early hours of Mother’s day doesn’t sound appealing to most, but I tell you what.  That morning sitting on the floor with them (yet, I was sitting – mama needs to sit constantly these days) while I watched them move the clothes from the dryer to the hamper and then from the washer to the drier, monitoring along the way and making sure they pushed the right buttons.  We were all laughing and giggling and having fun.  (Dad was out getting us breakfast – yum!).  But yes friends, that was a sweet moment that I never want to forget – thankful for a laundry room, clothes to wear and babies to laugh with.

Maddie strutting her stuff into church with her light pink sunnies on.  This girl – I tell you what.  She’s already giving us trouble and I know there will be more to come, but she sure has a full on personality.  She literally was STRUTTING and wore her sunglasses all the way to the nursery before she walked right in and waved to us.  Almost 2 going on 7 it feels like.

The sounds of Charlie and Maddie running around my sister and Casey's house giggling and growling at each other.  Running to Nana then Papa and then Casey and Lulu.  Even though the lunch ended a little abruptly due to some discipline issues with our sweet little boy - oh yes, he learned a bad word from a "friend" at school that he has got in big trouble for and decided to repeat again - it was a very fun lunch and confirmed just how fun time with family is.

And then the images of Maddie playing with her uncles at Jimmy's parents house that afternoon.  Uncle Tim being a "bully" to Maddie as she and him "fought" over the infamous socks that Maddie likes to carry around of Grana's.  Then Maddie playing with Uncle Pat standing on the island laughing at him.  Nope, nothing better than family.  When the rain finally subsided, the big kids made their way outside and Charlie - in his bro tank and shorts (of course because guess what dad was wearing?) - was laughing outside with all his big cousins and coming inside telling me how he was all wet from the rain.  The joy in both their eyes is a priceless memory I never want to forget and I hope they don't forget what time with family means to them.

Maddie and Charlie checking out their new cousin!!!  Baby James "Jay" Robert is just the sweetest little man and while Maddie wanted to kiss him all over his face (hello - no germs), she did get to touch his little feet.  It was adorable.  Charlie kept asking me if that's what our baby was going to look like!!  It was so sweet.  And I loved seeing Hillary being such a sweet mama.  Nothing better than that feeling of becoming a mom for the first time....or again.

We had a great weekend with our family and celebrating our amazing mothers and all that they have done and sacrificed for us along the years.  I can only hope that I'm half the mom that my own mom and mother in law were to me and Jimmy.  They raised us right and held together our families and always loved us.  No matter what.  That's what the beauty of motherhood is about and we were lucky to be able to celebrate with them this weekend!! 

Thanksgiving fun

Oh Thanksgiving.  Such a fabulous holiday!!!

Food, family and time off work spent together.  Really what more can you ask for?

We kicked of our Thanksgiving 2015 celebrations on Wednesday night at Jimmy's parents house.  Sue always hosts a beautiful dinner and we always just have so much fun kicking off our holiday celebrations.

The kids table - Libbie moved up to the "big kids" table!!

Jimmy got stuck sitting next to Maddie - but he was pretty stoked about it!

She always has such a beautiful table setting. I need to do more of this when we host dinners!!!  I love the results so much...it's just so much work!

Selfies with cousins AND eating the centerpieces is always the best way to spend the night.

Oh...and eating pumpkin pie on Pop's lap.  Look at him shovel that in!

Oh Jim.

And then it was time for Grana jammies.  Seriously, how fun is Sue?  All ten grandkids she makes matching pants (and this year shirts) for the girls and then matching pants for the boys.  All the kids ALWAYS look forward to them and so do we!! This year was funny because one of the (big) boys asked Sue why she made the girls pants that had cardinals on them - especially when the Royals had just won the World Series!!  She said she starts working on them in JULY!!!  I love it!

I just love this picture of Grana and all her grandbabies.  How sweet!

Then it was time for a good old fashioned Thanksgiving dance party!!!  I love watching Maddie and Charlie in this pic trying to dance and having so much fun doing it.  

This is what these holidays are for and exactly why we are so lucky to live in the same town as ALL the Carter cousins.  It's amazing and just so fun (for all of us!)

Seriously - Kenlie - love those moves!

The next morning, Jimmy was up super early to get the turkey cooking - as we were hosting Thanksgiving for my mom's side of the family.  I'm not a fan of cooking turkey, so luckily Jimmy is into it and does a great job.  We cooked and cooked and had lots of food (as always!). 

I didn't have any fun table set up like my MIL, but maybe next year, right??!!

My aunt came in town from Colorado, which was so fun to see her (as usual) as well as her oldest son and his fiance - so we had a full house!!!

And we already had put our Christmas tree up so we got some pictures in front of it!

Oh Jimmy....

And before sweet Maddie went down for a nap, I caught her and my granddad having a sweet moment!

So there you have it - the kick off of our holiday 2015 season!!!  Thanksgiving is always so fun and we have so much to be thankful for - that it's always a good time of the year to look back at all the ups and downs that happened throughout the year and be thankful for all of them.

Very thankful for our families and that we get to spend these holidays with them!

Celebrating Independence Day (and Maddie!)

Ok so if you haven't noticed, I'm WAY behind.  It's mid-August.  But again, let's just count this as catch up month on my blog.  So much fun and traveling and celebrating has been had in the past couple months...I haven't had time to keep up with my blog!!  But I will want to look back on this (crazy) busy summertime at some point in the dead of winter - so I'm starting over!!

Let's talk about July 4th.

We had a fabulous day celebrating America AND our sweet girl's first birthday.

It's pretty crazy to think that just a year ago on July 4th, we had surprised everyone because I went into EARLY in the morning and got to send out a fun message to our family and friends that sweet Madeline had arrived!

And then this year my kids are both looking all patriotic and BIG!

I posted this picture on Instagram and just love it.  That morning of July 4th I caught Maddie taking a nap on her dad...just like she did the morning of her birthday.

We kicked off the morning with our neighborhood bike parade!  Maddie put on her birthday party outfit (so awesome to get to use it multiple times - best part about using the July 4th theme for a birthday party too!) and we decorated Charlie's bike and Maddie's car that was her birthday present and headed to the pool parking lot.

There were LOTS of neighbor kids biking around our park area and pool parking lot.  It was fun to see them all big and small and get to catch up with some of the neighbors that we have met/seen at the pool or met through mom's club.

Good dad right there!

Then?  It was time to ditch the bikes and then eat POPSICLES.  nothing more American than that, right?

And of course, we had some visitors to celebrate this sweet baby girl on her birthday.  Crazy to think that last year this time on July 4th they were meeting her for the first time!

After naps, we headed out to Paola, KS to our sister in law, Hillary's mom and step-dad's house.  They actually invited us last year and we were planning on going, but sweet girl made her debut instead!  They have a great house with lots of land and a great pool, gator and their own fireworks display.  A patriotic paradise!

Charlie LOVED the gator and begged Doug to keep taking him.  He was so brave!

We seriously had the best night with the best company.  Lesle put on quite the party!  The food was delicious and the conversation was even better.  Hillary's sister's husband also had a birthday the following week and Stephanie got a delicious cake  and everyone sang happy birthday to George and Maddie and it was just so sweet.  Couldn't ask for more fun celebrating our sweet girl.

And then?  The main event!!  Fireworks.  They even had their own fireworks show and it was pretty awesome.  I tried to put Maddie down in a pack n play that they let us borrow, but sweet girl didn't stay asleep for so long.  So she joined me right on my chest and slept through the whole show.

As for Charlie, he LOVED the small fireworks (sparklers and poppers), but the big stuff?  Oh my.  Completely terrified.  Like Charlie was crying and screaming by the time he got over to me.  

Charlie saw fireworks at our church fall festival last fall, so I figured that he would LOVE them.  So we stayed out way past their bed times.  Welp, parent fail!  We should have just gone home!!

But at least we got one decent pic of our family all patriotic!

My favorite thing though? This cute video of Charlie that my sister in law, Hillary, got while they were over doing sparklers while waiting for the fireworks to start.  Charlie LOVES singing Happy Birthday (to Maddie, of course!) and every time he lit a sparkler he sang to her.  So awesome!!!

There you have it - working my way through the summertime.

Maddie has a fun birthday - always going to have it off from work/school and spend her day with family and friends celebrating her and America's birthday.  One year with this little lady has been amazing and I can't wait for each year after to celebrate her!!!