Thanksgiving, Part Two



Note to self...  Never attempt pictures this late in the afternoon when your little 4 1/2 year old stinker is overtired.  Sigh.  "But I don't wanna!"

 

 

"Daddy, I don't want to smile."

"Nooo!"

Then he tried to bargain with us.  Something pretty funny, but I can't remember...

And (finally!), we got a few keepers.  Whew!

My guys

Laura was a great photographer!  She even snapped a few we didn't know about that came out super cute, too.

I couldn't resist snapping a few of Carter in the leaves.  Unfortunately, they weren't colorful like the ones on the trees, but still cute.

"Mommy, get me outta this stuff!"

 

 I was attempting to get a pic of the Kirkhams, but someone became a photo bomber.

 

Take two...

Impromptu pic of the whole Shepherd side:

Grumpy, with all four of his grandsons.  I love how each of them is looking in a different direction, lol!  They are four unique guys and have so much fun together. 

 

 

Apparently I took no other pictures at Grammy and Grumpy's house.  We had so much fun with our traditional turkey dinner, our boys' first camp fire in Grumpy's fire pit (Reid loved the s'mores!), and a great game night for the adults.  It was a great visit.  Thankfully, Carter waited until the following Monday afternoon to come down with the flu :(  

Thanksgiving, Part One

My planning time this year has actually worked out to be perfect for several of Reid's preschool activities.  I surprised him and popped over for a few minutes of his Thanksgiving feast.  It was so cute!  And how wonderful that they could actually say a prayer (unlike public school!) before their meal.  It was precious to hear all those little voices praying.

After a marathon session of packing (I'd forgotten how much stuff you need to take for a baby!!), we left early Tuesday morning to head down to Houston.  We had to stop for lunch, of course, so what better than Lupe Tortilla??  Out of all the places down there, that's probably the one we miss the most...or good Mexican food, in general.  It was Carter's first trip to Lupe.  He couldn't eat anything there yet, but he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

 

Then it was on to Papa and Mamare's house.  Reid loved his time with grandparents and Aunt Kristen.  He and Carter played with the little kitchen center and he became annoyingly attached to this little mixer that he insisted was a "cutter" the entire time.

Aunt Kristen was so sweet to sit with Reid at the "kids" table--Reid loved it!  He also got to sleep in Aunt Kristen's bed and was so excited about it.  We just hoped she was able to get some sleep with the little wild sleeper...

Carter looooved rocking in the recliner.  If anyone went too slowly for his taste, he'd complain and try to hurry them up.

Of course, Reid wanted a turn, too.  Notice the hat he gave Papa...

And Mamare taught Reid a new game on her iPad.  He was quite enthralled.

This little butterball had his first Thanksgiving.  He didn't nap well the first day and was extremely cranky, but once he got a good night of sleep, he was all smiles.

 

It was so fun to catch up with the French side of the family.  We hated to leave, but loved that both families are close by so we could see each on Thanksgiving.  Much to be thankful for!

Brothers

I have to say... I have been very pleasantly surprised at the interest Reid has taken in Carter.  I honestly thought that he would care less once Carter came along, and that he'd be jealous of the attention a baby requires.  On the contrary, Reid has been a great big bro.  He makes Carter laugh more than anyone else, he can get Carter to stop crying (which has come in handy when Carter is strapped in the carseat and I need him entertained while I pack the car, etc.), and he brings Carter toys he thinks he'll like.  One day I even got him to feed Carter while I made Reid's breakfast. 

Carter wants to do everything big bro does, too.  He attempts to crawl out of the baby tub and I'm afraid he'll end up tipping it over, so I tried the big boy tub.  It was a no go and he flipped out.  But two nights later, I tried him in the big boy tub with big brother, and voila!  He loved it.  Couldn't really get a decent pic with no boy parts, but you get the idea.

Reid will randomly hop down onto the floor to play with Carter.  It's really sweet.

Carter is usually pretty laid back, thank goodness since he's dragged to all of our events.  Reid had a dentist appointment, so I left school and picked up Carter, then raced over to Reid's school to pick him up, then raced to the dentist.  Felt like I'd run a marathon by the time we got there, but thankfully they put us in the "family" area and Carter could crawl around.  He immediately went for the huge toothbrush.  Future dentist?   

...or future Marine?

He has been loving his finger food lately.  With all the drool, he gets puff stuck on his face and has no idea.  Pretty darn cute!

I got a travel bouncer free through BzzAgent, which was going to be perfect for traveling to Houston for Thanksgiving... so I thought, until I packed up every single thing we'd need, except for the bouncer and the food I was supposed to bring to make.  Sadly, I'd packed for something like three hours, too!!  Anyways, the bouncer's box entertained Reid, and Carter immediately explored the travel bouncer from the outside.

Captain Drool

 

This little guy is always on the move!  He looked especially dashing in his sweater vest and baby corduroys after church one day.

All my boys!  They even kind of accidentally coordinated that day.  With these growing boys, we have completely run out of space in our house.  We are looking forward to moving next summer, hopefully, and have picked out a new neighborhood and house plan we like.  It's fun to think about the boys having more space, hopefully some good neighbors to play with, and a much larger area to explore as Windsong Ranch will have hike/bike trails, catch and release ponds, and fun outdoor activities.  Plenty of things our little double trouble duo can do.

8 Months & Halloween

 

Yes, it's a miracle...  I am updating the blog!!  *Gasp*  Life has just gotten crazier in the past weeks and just never seems to slow down.  That being said, it's also no longer a one person job to take the monthly pictures of this guy.  He's been all over the place for about a month, and I now understand why people kept saying, "You're lucky!" or "Enjoy it!" when Reid took forever to crawl and be mobile.  He's no longer appeased to sit up or play solo.  He wants to explore anything !and everything!) and be in the middle of it all.  Even with our pretty quick camera, he was ready to move. 

Tried a toy...no success...

 

Daddy couldn't even back away at all or someone would topple out of the chair.

 

 In the end, this was as good as it got.  Oh, well.  Guess I should be glad you can even

see the number eight!

By the time Halloween came along, Carter was army crawling everywhere.  Before getting ready for his first trick or treat outing, we played a little peek-a-boo.

Reid never wants to be in pictures...unless I'm trying to take one of Carter.  They both had "I love my Mummy" shirts/onesies on, but I forgot to take the bib off of our little drool machine.

Reid was dying to trick or treat, so he actually ate dinner in a record amount of time (still slow by anyone else's standards, ha!).  We got the boys dressed, then convinced Reid to hang out for a few photo ops since it was Carter's first Halloween.  I promise I didn't plan on the safari theme.  Apparently, I have a thing for animal print.

Our little giraffe wasn't quite sure what to think since this was normally bath time, but he was a good sport.

Double trouble!

All set and ready to go.  In retrospect, I should've grabbed the giraffe Wubbanub (paci with attached animal) to do a better job of accessorizing...

Happy camper!  Reid's sole goal for Halloween was to fill up his bucket.  Later in the night, it was so heavy that Jason had to convince Reid to let him carry it. 

Carter was a pro and stayed awake until right around his normal bedtime.  As long as I was moving the stroller, he was a great napper.  Good thing the time change hadn't hit yet-the early darkness was perfect!

Reid had so much fun trick or treating and we enjoyed seeing how excited he got.  Carter was a great little bro and cooperated fully, even eating his bedtime bottle on the go.  Reid got so caught up in all the candy, decorations, and other fun things, but we were quite impressed that at the end of the night, he was pointing out more important things like the stars.  Hope this kid will always love nature.