Chris Family

I loaded these pics forever ago and then never filled in the commentary. So, I am going to keep the comments brief so I can finally get this posted! Enjoy the pictures!

The day before Halloween we visited a local farm/pumpkin patch. There were a ton of fun things for the kids to play on/in/with. It was a lot of fun. We will definitely visit again this year.

For Halloween Hailey was a Pretty Pink Princess and Carter was a monkey. Although he really is a monkey year round. We went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Carter was so tired from the pumpkin patch earlier that day that we could barely get him to walk from house to house.

As you can tell here and from previous pictures, it was time for Carter to get a haircut! His hair was getting too crazy. He was not excited about this although he looks OK with it below. Thanks to Keely for making him feel like such a big boy he actually did much better than I expected. I was also feeding him Smarties to keep him happy. His new haircut looked so cute! Now he really ready for another one. So many people said that his curls would go away after the first haircut - but they came back in full force. I was so happy - I love his little curly head!

One of my co-workers/friend from Japan was in the US on business. He brought the cutest outfit from Japan for Carter. It fit perfectly! Carter just loves his outfit with Stitch. Here are some pics of him showing it off below - he is showing his muscles in the first one. Thanks Akira!

In November we celebrated Hailey's first birthday! Wow - time flies. You really end up saying that A LOT as a parent. But it is so true. I sure love this sweet little girl.

We also celebrated Hailey's birthday with our playgroup friends. I didn't manage to capture too many pictures but as you can tell she was spoiled and just loved all of her presents.

So, my friend Keely took these pictures quite awhile ago. They turned out so good that I couldn't just not post them. Thanks Keely.

Hailey

Carter

OK, so I really wish that I didn't have to start every one of my posts with an apology for being such a lazy blogger and a promise to be better at posting more regularly. So, let's be honest, if I haven't gotten better at this over the past few years its probably just not going to happen. ; ) So, enjoy the update of the last nine months of our lives and be looking for another update in about nine more months!

But, seriously, I really hope that it doesn't take me that long!

Way back Carter turned 2! And, yes, he will be 3 in four months. Time flies. Carter had his playgroup friends over to celebrate. We had a sports themed party with an emphasis on soccer (Ryan is a soccer coach/trainer = Carter loves soccer). Thanks to the dollar store I scored some pretty cute decorations! I also attempted some creativity with the "cake" and made one out of cupcakes. Now, it is not that spectacular but I was pleasantly surprised at the result. It's really not that easy to draw a soccer ball with icing. Luckily we have no shortage of soccer balls in the house to use as my inspiration! This birthday was a lot of fun because Carter actually understood that he was getting presents. Things are a million times more fun when your kids are having fun. I sure love this little boy and am so glad that he is ALL MINE! (OK, so I have to share with Ryan but that's alright.) He keeps my on my toes but he is my little buddy. Birthdays are so bittersweet. I just love to see the boy that he is growing up to be, but sometimes I just wish that I could keep him little forever.

Again, just wishing that I could keep Hailey little too. She just turned 1! That is crazy. She is growing up WAY too fast. She has been walking for the past couple months and is now working on running. When Carter started running he never stopped - still hasn't. I thought I had to be on my toes before. Here are some pictures of her over the months: Ready for church, loving the binky (which I have successfully weaned her from - YAY), strawberry shortcake, sitting pretty, first driver, a favorite pastime - watching the dogs through the door and snuggling her monkey. I just love this little girl too. She is my little doll. I love getting to dress her up in all the fun little girl clothes. And, she is such a good baby. I know that I am probably jinxing myself by saying that, but she really is.

Here are some pics of Carter: being a good big brother, playing the guitar in his diaper - may as well do it while you still can, playing with a toy - notice the use of his tongue - he does this every time that he is trying to concentrate really hard on doing something, learning how to cast a fly rod in the backyard - this was a very proud moment for Ryan, taking a picture of me taking a picture of him, and the ultimate white trash picture. I love the last picture. Carter is wearing pajamas that are too small and don't match (but he loves them because they have Elmo), he is standing in a tent that we set up in our living room, his hair is a crazy mess, he has his trusty sippy cup, and I am pretty sure that this picture was taken in the middle of the day. That's how we roll at the Chris household. But, hey, he is smiling - and that's what really matters, right?

We (Carter, Hailey and I) took at trip to the MK nature center with my friend Keely and her daughters Elley and Molly (Carter's buddies). Carter had SO much fun. He loved seeing all the fish and running up and down all of the paths with Elley. Hailey had fun too (from the stroller). We also brought a picnic lunch and the kids had a blast chasing squirrels and deer. Yes, there was a mommy deer and two of her fawns at the park! They also got to take their shoes off and play in the water for a little bit too. Carter begged me to go see the fishes almost daily since that trip. That leads to the next set of photos (after these). Oh, and did I mention that this place is FREE? How can you beat that?