You were loved even before you were born!!

I had three showers for Baby Carter. The first one was at my friend Laura's house. So many friends and family came. We opened gifts and played the price is right. It was a lot of fun. The next shower was at Brigs with my high school and college friends. We ate yummy waffles and opened presents. The third and last shower was in Burlington with family. We had lunch and cupcakes with "C's" all over them. Carter, you are truly blessed with many people who love you!

Fun at the pool

Early this summer we spent a lot of time at the YMCA pool. MawMaw and PawPaw would meet us there sometimes. We would swim in the big pool and in the small pool. Caden just loved going down the slide over and over. Caroline loved playing with her toys on the side of the pool. I loved just beating the heat and spending time with my kiddos.

Black band celebration

Caden wanted to go down the YMCA slide so badly. He had been taking swimming lessons in the winter to prepare himself for the "slide test". One day he decided he wanted to test for the band. He had to swim the length of the pool, tread water for 30 seconds and then get out and in the pool. I was really surprised that he wanted to do this and I really didn't think he would pass. The first try he did not pass just because there was a bug in the water and he didn't want to swim near it. He did not give up, he tried again. The second time we all stood beside him and cheered. He did it! He got his black band. I have never been so proud of his perseverance. Well, Braden passed that day too. We had a celebration ice cream party at the Barbour's in honor of the boy's great accomplishments.

Our Princess is 2!!!

Wow! We can't believe that Caroline is already 2. Her birthday party was at Kid's Together Park in Cary. All of her friends and family came to join us for the celebration. There was a lot of pink and many princess gifts. Caroline loved wearing her crown and being the birthday princess!
At 2 Caroline was already potty trained. She can hold conversations with long sentences. Her favorites are Scooby, princesses and dancing. Whenever music is on she wants to dance. Her favorite song is Sweet Caroline and she sings it all of the time. We love our "Sweet Caroline". :)

Elmcroft

On the first Friday of every month we visit Elmcroft which is an assistant living home that Maw Maw works for. The kids are able to play and do crafts with the residents. Everyone has a great time. The kids probably enjoy playing with the balloons the most and the residents just enjoy watching them.

Easter was an exciting time. We had our yearly Egg Hunt at Colby and Abby's house with our playgroup. Caden loved finding his 12 eggs and Caroline was just excited to find anything chocolate.
We also had our Egg Hunt outreach at church and Caden was able to help. We focused a lot on the resurrection eggs this year and bought "The Passion" for kids. Bobbie and Killian came over for dinner. Caden and Killian acted out the crucifixion for everyone.

What a great night!!!

We met several of our friends at the park by the airport. It was a great night. We packed our dinner and had a picnic while watching planes take off and land. Caden loved going up on the observation tower and counting all of the planes. Caroline enjoyed playing with her friends in the sand the pretending to be planes on the small runway! We can't wait to go back to this park!!!

Let it snow!!!!

Wow! The kids were so excited when they woke up to find 6 inches of snow on the ground. We bundled up in many layers of clothes and went out. Caden absolutely loved every part of the snow. Caroline was a little unsure. She liked it but she kept getting snow in her boots and that irritated her.
Later daddy took the kids to a hill nearby and the kids got to go sledding with grandma and grandpa. Mommy couldn't sled because of baby in the belly. After a day in the snow the kids enjoyed drinking hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows.

Valentine's Day with friends

The week of Valentine's day we had friends come over and celebrate with us. We made crafts, read a story of God's love for us and gave out Valentine cards. The kids probably enjoyed eating the candy the most!!!!

Baby #3 is a boy!!!!

We took Caden to the OBGYN to see if baby was a boy or a girl. He was a little overwhelmed but enjoyed seeing baby on the screen. The baby looked great! Praise the Lord! It is definitely a boy! Boy, Girl, Boy!!! God has blessed us so much. We can't wait to meet our 3rd "C".

New Year's Eve

Brandon and I have always gone to Kanki on New Year's eve. This year we thought it would be fun to take the kids. They loved it. They didn't really love the food but they thought the fire was cool.
After lunch and a nap we decided to go down town and watch the acorn drop (@ 7:00 for the kids) Many of us were going, but several families decided not to go because of the cold, cold weather. The Richardsons were the only ones brave (or crazy) enough to come with us.
We started out at the Science museum where we fed the kids a picnic dinner on the floor of the museum. They we bundled up again and walked in the parade to where the acorn would be dropped. We had to wait a while for the big event to happen so we had to walk the kids around to keep them warm. Finally at 7:00 we were able to say Happy New year!!! It was exciting and a very special time with the kids but way to cold. Hopefully next year it will be a little warmer!!!

Christmas

Christmas was very exciting this year. Caden and Caroline woke up early to find many presents under the tree. Before opening them we walk through the Christmas story using our Little People nativity scene. After opening presents at home we then went to Maw Maw Scruggs' house. We ate breakfast and opened presents with everyone there. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and seeing all of the MawMaws and PawPaws and aunts and uncles.
After naps we headed back to Raleigh to have dinner at Aunt Kris' house. The kids were able to play with their older cousins and see Grandma and Grandpa. Caden enjoyed watching the Planet Earth videos (but not the lions attacking the elephants).
Christmas was such a special day. We are so blessed to have so many family members to share it with.

The End of Ear Infections (we hope)

Before Christmas Caroline got her 7th ear infection. The doctor referred us to an ent. They wanted to put tubes in. So we scheduled the appointment the day before Christmas Eve.
We had to wake her up at 5:30 and be there at 6:00. Caden stayed with Grandma and Grandpa (and probably got less sleep than his sister). She couldn't have anything to eat or drink before the surgery. I thought it would be a nightmare but she did great. She handled the whole thing like a champ. When we got home she ate two bags of muffins and a banana then took at 4 hour nap. After that she was back to her normal fun-loving self. Hopefully we will not see any more problems with the ears. :)