Claire rolls!

This afternoon Claire was laying on her tummy & she rolled over onto her back! It was a first for her. In fact she just started holding her head up pretty well. She would much rather be on back. She has been trying to roll over from her back to her tummy for a few weeks but hasn't mastered it yet.

I was able to grab the video camera after she rolled a few times & record it. Once I figure out how to post it (actually, once Cory shows me how!) I will do it.

Right before the roll...

Claire is thinking "What just happened!"

Bike Fun!

I got a new bike & a jogging/bike trailer. Carter & I test drove it yesterday & it was a lot of fun (despite the look on Carter's face...I think he was upset that it was time to get out!)
I love that it can go from a bike trailer to a jogging stroller. That way I can decide what I want to do each day to get rid of these extra baby pounds that are clinging to me!

I also love that it holds 2 kids. We tried putting Claire in it but she's still too little. Once she can sit up better then she will join us. Carter brought a book & some trains along for the ride.

Happy Birthday Carter Boy!

**This is a LONG slide show of Carter's first 3 years. If you have time, sit back & enjoy. I just wanted to document his life so far, mainly for me!

Happy 3rd Birthday Carter Ethan! We love you so much and hope you have such a special day. You have brought so much joy & happiness into our lives.

Some of your favorite things are:

• Thomas the Tank Engine
• Geo Trax
• Strawberries
• Blueberries (ok....any fruit!)
• Gymnastics
• Reading Books
• Playing with your friends

You are a very sweet & polite boy. You are always thanking us for everything that you have. You are also a very smart boy. You are so nice to your baby sister.You are just a fun person to be around!

We love you so much!

Daddy, Mommy & Claire

Happy Easter!

Carter & his new Breakdown train
Claire looking at her glow worm

Carter eating the head off his See's chocolate bunny

Cute boy!

Adorable girl!

Claire & Mommy

Carter's 3rd Birthday Party

Friends Needed!

I think Carter needs some neighborhood friends. Yesterday we were outside & he said "Mommy, I want to go over to Murrell's house."

Murrell is our next door neighbor who is almost 80 years old! The other day we were at his house & they played hide & go seek. We have great neighbors, but they are all retired folks. It would be nice to have a little boy or girl that lived close by so they could play together.

I think it would be fun to have a friend that lived behind us & we could remove one of the fence boards & they could go back & forth to each others yards. Wouldn't that be fun?

Stop and Smell the.......Tulips?

Our tulips finally opened & they are beautiful! There's a bunch more that haven't opened yet & I am trying to remember what color they are. I guess we'll know soon.

Carter is such a good big brother. He loves to talk to Claire.

Nap Time

Cory read Carter his story before his nap today. He was in there for over 1/2 hour so I finally went down to his room to see what was going on.

This is what I found:

I guess that's what happens when Daddy gets called into work on Sunday, right as we are walking out the door to go to church.....and doesn't get home until 9:30pm!

Color Blind?

For a while now we've thought that maybe Carter is color blind. This little boy is pretty smart. He has the best memory of any (almost) 3 year old that I know. But when we would ask him what color something was he always got it wrong. He would usually say it was blue or red. It was getting a bit frustrating & we didn't know if he was just playing around with us & not saying the correct color on purpose. I am happy to say that he now knows all of his colors & will tell us the correct color. I really think he was just fooling us.....

Today he lined his trains up by their color:

Air Show

This weekend was the 3rd Annual Capitol Air Show. The featured performers this year were the Blue Angels. For the past few days we have been able to watch an amazing show in our own front yard. It's hard to put into words how neat it is to watch these airplanes fly overhead. And I can't even describe the sounds that they make. Let's just say that it feels like our house is shaking when they fly over our home.

We look forward to watching this show every year, the weekend before Carter's birthday.

I did a very bad job of documenting them with my camera. Let's just say they flew by so fast I hardly had time to snap my pic.

FOUND!!

This morning while I was in the shower Carter went into our closet & found these:

They are supposed to be for his birthday or Easter. He came into the bathroom & said "Mommy, look what I found! Bill & Ben, Toad & The Breakdown Train!"

I yelled for Cory to come & get them. Cory told him that they were for another little boy. Carter wanted to know who so Cory told him that they are for Drew!

I thought it was so funny. He was so excited about the trains...hopefully he will be even more excited when he finds out that they are for him.

Now I need to find a new hiding place!

Out of Commission

Our computer has been out of commission this past week. One of the blades on the fan that goes in the computer broke off so Cory had to order another one. It's amazing how much we rely on the computer for things. I'm just happy that's it's back up now, especially so that I can post pictures like these:
(Kristen, does this shirt look familiar?)

3 months old!

How can Claire be 3 months old today?

She has brought so much happiness into our home. She is "talking" a lot more these days and sleeping less! She still takes some great naps during the day, usually for 4 hours in the swing. Night time is a different story! She was doing really well, only waking up twice, but lately she has been waking up more. Hopefully this will pass soon. Some nights I am so tired I just lay her next to me in bed & of course she sleeps so well!!!

Daylight Savings

I love daylight savings. I love when it stays light until 9pm. Last night we were light until about 7:30pm and it made me so happy!! It just means that warmer weather is ahead! We have been so spoiled the last few weeks with 70 degrees. I just hope it stays this way for Carter's b-day party since it will be at a park!

After church yesterday Carter wanted to swing his club for a few minutes!

Claire enjoying the outdoors

My 3 favorite people!

Computer Savvy At (almost) 3!

Carter loves to play on the computer, but we didn't really like him playing on ours. So Cory built a computer for him to play on & he is really good at it! He knows how to navigate the mouse & go from one thing to the next. His favorite sites are: pbs kids; Thomas & Friends; Disney & Geo Trax.

It's hard to believe that he will be 3 three years old at the end of the month. He has been giving us some grief the past 2 months.... not wanting to listen, hitting, etc.; but the past week he has been so good. I'm hoping it will continue. When he woke up from his nap today I was laying on the couch. I had the worst headache & just wanted my eyes closed. Claire was asleep in the swing. He said he wanted some juice & I asked him to wait a minute while I was trying to get rid of my headache. A few minutes later I heard him in the kitchen. He got his cup, opened the fridge, got the apple juice out & put in all on the counter. Then he went & turned the light on. He then got a stool from the pantry & brought it over to the sink. Before a mess was created I thought I better go help. When I got to the kitchen he said "Mom, I did it!" He is getting to be such a big boy & a huge help to me!

Happy Baby!

It's Sunday....that means time to post a picture of sweet little Claire dressed up for church. She really is such a great baby & has brought so much love into our home. I love her chunky arms!

Tempting Shredded Chicken Taquitos

My sister-in-law Debbie has a friend with a great recipe blog. Check out Picky Palate

for some delicious recipes. She takes some wonderful pictures of each item that she makes, which makes it nice to see what the dish is supposed to look like!! She has been on the Food Network Challenge & will actually be on again tomorrow night. It's the one on comfort foods.

Tonight I made these Taquitos & they were very tasty.

Tempting Shredded Chicken Taquitos
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 cups cooked, then shredded chicken breast
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chilies3 Tablespoons vegetable oilburrito size flour tortillas

1. In 10-inch non stick skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken, 3 tablespoons cilantro, salt, cumin, pepper and tomatoes with green chilies; cook 5 minutes.

2. Place oil into large skillet over medium heat. Place about 2 large Tablespoons of chicken mixture into each tortilla. Tightly roll, securing ends with toothpicks. In batches, place taquitos into hot pan. Pan fry until nice and golden brown on each side. Remove, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to dry. Serve and enjoy!

Here's a picture of them, taken from the Picky Palate blog. Thanks for sharing your recipes. Enjoy! (Debbie, Jenny says hello!)

Prayers

Carter has been saying some great prayers at bedtime lately. Tonight was so cute. He said "thank you for aunts & uncles & courtneys. And thank you for ryan, brittney & kimberly."

He really enjoys his cousin Kimberly. The other day he called her just to chat for a few minutes. And I'll hear him while he playing by himself say "ok Kimberly, your turn to......". It's so funny!

And little Claire has just been talking up a storm lately. She loves to say ah-goo & last night she was laughing out loud, it was so cute!! I love these kids!!