Birthday Fun

On William's birthday, we were at the mall doing some Christmas shopping, and decided to let him ride the train for his birthday! David said he had a great time and just kept saying "woo woo" (choo choo) the whole time.

 We also wanted to do a little something fun for him, so we went to Chick-fil-A (he LOVES the Play Place), and invited Kristy, Adam, Clarkson, and Campbell to join us.  Aunt Kristy is way too sweet, and brought birthday hats to really make it a celebration!

Happy 2nd Birthday William!

 William turned 2 on December 6th!  I can't believe it has been two years since we welcomed this sweet spirit into our lives!  I couldn't imagine our lives without him.  

At his two year checkup, the doctor said everything seems great, and that his next checkup won't be until he's 3! Here are his stats as of 12/7/11:

Weight: 25 lbs 10 oz - 21%

Length: 34 inches - 40%

Head: 18 1/2 inches - 13%

At 2, William loves trains, slides, play-doh and Mickey Mouse! When we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (his favorite show), he likes to say "Cooodles!" (Oh Toodles!") as he cups his mouth with one hand mimicking Mickey.  One of the sweetest things he's been doing lately is making sure we say our prayers before we eat.  If we forget, he folds his arms and won't stop until we have said our blessing on the food.  The other day, he was pretend cooking (he was cooking toy bugs in one of our pots and was using a coozie as his pot holder), and as we were pretend eating his meal, he stopped and made me pray for it. I'm so proud of what a big boy he has become! Now that we have an infant, I really see how much William has grown.  It's like he became a little man over night :'(  He's such a big help with Elliott. He likes to bring me "baby diapers" and Elliott can't make the slightest noise without William looking and me and exclaiming "uh-oh!" So, William has started to give "real" kisses now.  Up until now, if you asked him for a kiss, he would just lean his forehead or cheek towards you so you could kiss him.  He still does this, but if you ask for a real kiss, he will give pucker up - and nothing could be better than hugs and kisses from your baby :) 

I am so grateful for William - what a huge blessing he has been in our lives over the past two years!  Happy 2nd Birthday William!  We love you!!!

Brotherly Love

 William just loves his little brother! He's always hugging and kissing him, but the thing that melts my heart is to see him holding his hand in the car - sooo sweet!

Here they were both asleep, but still barely hanging on with their pinky fingers :)

If I loved them anymore, I think I would burst!

2 week checkup

Elliott's 2 week checkup went very well.  No shots needed! We got William a babysitter while we went just so I could actually pay attention to what the doctor was saying :)  The doctor said everything looked great, and here are his stats:

Weight - 9 lbs 7 oz - 66%

Length - 21 1/4 in - 66%

Head - 14 3/4 in - 54%

The goal is to be back up to the birth weight at 2 weeks.  So, Elliott met and exceeded his goal by 5 oz!  Good job big boy!

First Bath

Elliott's umbilical cord stump fell off the day before his two week mark.  So, we were able to give him a real bath!  He didn't hate it as bad as William did, but he didn't seem to love it either!

Thanksgiving at the Tart's

Now for the one day out of the year I actually get full!  (haha...I actually told my mom this when I was a child)  My mom always cooks the best Thanksgiving lunch!  It truly is a feast!

After lunch, mom, David, Spencer and Spencer's girlfriend, Stevi, took the kids to the park.  As you can tell, they had a blast!

Later that day, my grandparents came over, and you know Grandma had to do some spoiling :)

Thanksgiving at Granny's

We were so happy Elliott came in time so that we could celebrate Thanksgiving with our families.  First we had Thanksgiving dinner at Granny's.  I love that it's tradition to eat fried shrimp at Granny's!  And it's a nice change from turkey :)  We were also very excited that Wayne and Kelly (David's cousins who live out of state) could be there this year! 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving happens to be my favorite holiday, and this year we have so much to be thankful for!  My blessings are so great, I could probably be here all day if I were to write them all down, but I would like to point out a few...

I am thankful for:

• the birth of our beautiful, healthy son, Elliott - what a blessing right before Thanksgiving
• the joy our almost 2 year old, William, brings into our lives each and every day
• my husband and best friend, David, whom I could not live without
• the rest of our family who continually love and support us- I love that we are so close to our families and that we get to see them often
• my friends - what a blessing to have true friends
• our home and our jobs during this time when so many go without
• my Savior, Jesus Christ, and the great sacrifice he made so that we may be an eternal family

Elliott's Newborn Pictures

My friend Sarah came over to our house to take Elliott's newborn pictures.  He was not as cooperative as William was for his newborn shots, but, as always, Sarah was able to get some really great pics!  Thanks Sarah!

New Swing Set!

For Christmas, we decided to get the boys a swing set!  We knew William would love it, and eventually Elliott would too :)  Because it wouldn't fit on Santa's sleigh, Santa had to bring it early! :)

Clarkson and Campbell also came over to play on the "park" as they like to call it.  What a fun time!