THREE years OLD!

Carson and Kellen are 3!!! We made it another year! These two little guys are sure growing up…you can see it in their looks, in their speech, in how they play, in their behavior (ok, maybe not, it wasn’t so much the terrible two’s for us but I think it’ll be the terrifying THREE’s). Carson is only 30% tube fed now as I said before, compared to 100% a year ago, neither one has their binky now, Kellen is potty trained through the day(Carson occasionally seems to be interested-last night he went three times in a row : ), etc. I love watching them grow up, especially in the times when they are getting along, when they are just playing and laughing with each other : ). There are so many blessings of having twins and especially in our case. Kellen is such a good brother and has a heart that’s only full of love for Carson (even though it comes out as orneriness sometimes). Carson loves to just love on Kellen (whether Kellen likes it or not). They learn from each other, they push each other (literally and figuratively speaking), but most importantly they know there is someone that has their back!

The boys had a wonderful birthday! Kellen told me he liked the cupcakes and opening his presents the most. Carson said his favorites were the orange truck balloons, a card he got from MaMa that plays a honky tonk song, and the cupcakes. Did you hear that, Carson said one of his favorite things was food (it doesn’t matter that it was chocolate on chocolate or that he only ate the icing)! This was the first birthday that Carson even ate any of his birthday cake. Only two years longer than I thought but all the more sweeter!

If you ever question the power of prayer or whether miracles really do happen, just look our way (& don’t be afraid to remind me either : ). In so many ways, Carson is developing just like a typical kiddo even when some doctors didn’t know if he would make it and his care required TWO NICU nurses around the clock. We have come from requiring almost around the clock home nursing when we came home to only having it 4 nights a week. Now I worry more about “Do the boys have friends and do they act age appropriate?” “Will Carson ever be potty trained” “Do the boys know how to count, put their clothes on, hop, skip, etc.? Are they similar to same aged peers?” as compared to “Is Kellen eating/growing?”, “Will Carson be safe through the night? Do I hear the alarm, should I go in to check on him?” We have come from Carson being connected to so many tubes/monitors you couldn’t count them all to times now when he can sleep with no tubes or monitors attached. It is hard to explain but there are so many times that I go in to check on Carson before I go to sleep or when he is napping and I just thank God, that he now sleeps so peacefully. I think this year has really shown us that we can live with a trach and have a lot of fun! I say ‘WE can live with a trach’, because Carson already had that mastered, it was really just us that needed to adapt.  He has had the trach his whole life (well 3 days in) so he knows NO different and is the happiest little man you’ll ever meet. 

Here are some of the pictures from their birthday and party.

The boys woke up to a BUNCH of balloons thanks to Poppy and Daddy!

They LOVE balloons!

Trucks & Mud Puddles!

The boys' first try at breaking a pinata!

Ellie had the touch!

Enjoying the cupcake!

Carson too!!

These were the cards from MaMa that sang to them!

Mimi & Papa's present to the boys

They thought they needed an all terrain vehicle

Carson looks terrified! I hope this is not his face in 13 years : )

Our giant balloon frisbee

Truck painting!

The birthday was fun but TODAY, I think was a gift, straight from God, for me…it was a pretty day (despite the wind) before the cold weather hits. The boys and I spent the morning outside (we had no need for timeouts or “Quit hitting”’s).  We went to the park and ran and laughed and tried to catch the falling leaves. If you’ve never tried it, you need to! You can’t help but smile and laugh. We came home to eat lunch and I asked the boys if they had fun this morning. Carson said he liked laughing! He said, “I laughed, you laughed, and Kellen laughed!” Laughter is such a beautiful gift! I wish I had more pictures from this morning but my stupid phone chose that moment to not have enough storage to take pictures, even though I deleted at least 10. So you’ll just have to imagine our morning at the park with the fall colors, sunshine, and two little boys' laughter and smiles!

Thank you so much, as always, for the love, prayers, and thoughts sent our way!