It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

As usual, the holiday season came and went in a flash.  I kept trying to remind myself to stop and remember that it was Carson's "first" everything, but that was hard with big brother running around.  Griffin really got into the holiday spirit this year.  Especially Santa Clause!  Though we did remember to include baby Jesus and he had fun playing with his little "natifidy" scene. 

The beginning of December looked a little something like this:

 

We had fun picking out our tree from Home Depot.  Griffin picked the tree and it was perfect! 

 

 

It was a beautiful day so we played outside while Dada got the tree all set up and inside.

We are pretending that there is snow to sled down.  This is how you sled in Georgia during a particularly warm winter!

Carson's first Christmas tree!

Griffin and I had fun one afternoon making/decorating a gingerbread choo-choo train!  It was a fun little project for us.  Of course his favorite part was eating all of the candy before it went on the train.  And, to be honest, I wanted him to keep his dirty little hands off my master piece.  Let's just say his candy placement wasn't what I had in mind.  We had fun working together, even if that just meant he ate the candy and I decorated the train. 

 

Notice the lack of candy decor. 

....and the candy kept disappearing!

 

A Christmas miracle - Griffin let Carson come in his Thomas tent with him and they actually "played" together!

 



 

 

We spent some time up at cousin Blake's house at the beginning of the month to help Blake celebrate his birthday!  Of course, we had to have a photo shoot of all the kids together.  Boo found these adorable GAP pajamas and ended up using a few of these photos for her Christmas cards.  Very cute cousins!

 



Leah and Carson - good luck keeping those bows in your hair pretty Leah!

Carson and Blake - staring contest?

That tongue is always out!

 

Gobble, Gobble

November was a month plauged by sickness (as was December).  There was at least one member of the Herring household sick at all times.  Ugg...these winter germs got the best of us!  That said, it didn't slow us down much.

 

I distinctly remember G wearing these "real shoes" for the first time.  It was at his first GT football game.  I thought I'd better document C's first time wearing "real shoes" as well.  Hey big boy!

 

Carson toyed with the idea of crawling in November.  By the end of the month he was a professional scooter and could get to where he wanted to go pretty quickly.  Okay, let's be honest, he got there pretty slowly.  This big boy isn't very fast...yet!

G gave a stunning performace of  "The Turkey is a Funny Bird" during his class party.  This was a major improvement over last years school gatherings!

 

I know I've said it before, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  No pressure, no prep work, lots of food and time with family.  I love these next few photos of Gaga and Gingi with their great grands and then the grands.  We have the best grandparents ever!

 

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year and always.  It was fun with the addition of two little ones around the table this year.  Carson and Jackson were the most popular guests at the gathering!

G found a cozy little spot to enjoy his banana.  Or as he calls it, his "bana."

A rare moment of playing together and sharing for these two!  Griffin is not too fond of Carson's new found mobility.

Griffin's best bud Tate came home from school with us one afternoon.  I sent them upstairs to my room for the usual "Griffin time."  They were so cute and had such a fun time up there (doing seat drops and face plants on the bed).  I'm pretty sure as soon as I snapped this photo and shut the door they hopped up and started being the little rascals that they are.  Griffin still talks about Tate being at our house and them playing on the bed.

October in a Nutshell

As seems to be the norm these days, October came and went in a flash.  "Busy yet fun," is our family theme!  Here are a few highlights...

 

The young Herrings and the young Knights decided to have a little family fun at Cagles Dairy Farm.  We took Griffin last year and had a great time so decided that Jackson and Carson needed to get in on the action too!  It was most age appropriate for Griffin - he had a blast in the "corn box," feeding the goats and other animals, and riding on the big tractor for the hay ride.  I think everyone else enjoyed themselves too.  It was a perfect fall day.  Mom and Cindy joined us as well and it sure was nice to have all hands on deck to help with the little ones.  Jenna and I think we'll make it an annual cousin tradition.

 

I love this look of concentration.

 

We I had fun carving our pumpkins this year. (Okay, Dada helped too - I have to give him some credit.)  I thought Griffin might really get into it, but he wasn't much of a fan of getting all the gook out of the pumpkin.  I think he really liked the finished product though.  When it got dark outside, he was excited about going to light the pumpkins.  I think the kid associates all things involving candles with birthday celebrations.  When we lit the candles inside the jack-o-lantern he started singing Happy Birthday then tried to blow out the candles.  Funny and cute!

 

Lucky for us, we got to make the most out of our "Percy the Train" Halloween costume this year.  We were invited to a friend's 8th birthday party and it was a costume contest!  Griffin didn't last too long in the costume because it was too hard to run around and play with it on...he kept tripping on it.  Chad and I, feeling the need to go along with the party theme, dressed up as train conductors.  We are not that into the whole dressing up thing, but I'll admit it was fun (though our costumes were about as minimal as they come).  I have a feeling we will have no choice but to dress up as the kids get older!

How cute is this kid?

 

Towards the end of the month we headed to Bluffton to visit with Boo and Papa Don.  It was time for the annual father/son golf tournament and Chad and Don were the reigning champions!  The big boys had fun playing golf (they led the first day and then fell behind the second day - no repeat win for the Herring men) and the little boys had fun playing with Boo at the house.  I enjoyed having extra hands to help and even got a little alone time at the outlet mall. 

Griffin has become quite the climber!

Sweet as ever.

Griffin and Boo made yummy pumpkin shaped Rice Crispy treats.

The boys had fun in the pool with Papa Don!

After a fun weekend with the grandparents we returned home just in time for Halloween!  Griffin was excited about Trick-or-Treating.  The Lohrs (Tate's family) were nice enough to invite us over to their house for pizza before we headed out with them to get some candy!  Unlike last year, Griffin did a great job realizing that Trick-or-Treating was not an invitation to go inside people's houses.  In fact, he did a great job running from house to house with the big kids.  He loved following Amelia (Tate's big sister) around the neighborhood and trying to keep up with her. 

The best picture I could get of the two boys together.

The first of MANY "candy breaks!"

The sweetest lion...ever!

Tate and Griffin - best buddies.



Carson slept most of the night but perked up towards the end and enjoyed being taunted with candy.  Poor kid.

 

Since I'm very behind in writing about October, I can assure you that November passed just as fast!  Stay tuned for a post about November and the start of the Holiday season.  I love this time of year!  Everything is fun and extra special this time around because it's Carson's "first" everything.  We are trying to soak it all up and make some happy memories.



Six Months of Smiles

As of a few days ago the Carson man is 6 months old.  Half a year.  Which means in this same amount of time he'll be celebrating his first birthday.  Excuse me while I clear the lump in my throat.

 

According to Dr. B, you're growing just beautifully.  She had to do the entire appointment while you were having a bottle.  She learned quickly that taking it away from you before you were through was not an option and she was happy to work around you.  She was impressed with your strength and called you a flirt!

 

Your 6 month stats:

Height - 26.57 inches {52%}

Weight - 17lbs. 2oz. {40%}  Shocker, I know!

Head Circumference - 43.5cm

 

I was surprised to see how similar your stats were to Griffin's at this age.  You seem to much chunkier than he was but when we look back at pictures we realize that G had a little meat on those bones before he really started movin' and a shakin'!  You've definitely got him beat in the hair department.  You've got little sprouts of brunette hair popping up all over your head.

 

So Carson, here's what you're up to at the ripe old age of 0.5....

 

 

We tried rice cereal for the first time.  You weren't a huge fan at first and, frankly, Mama is not a huge fan of the stuff either - so messy - so I only let you try it a few times.  We've moved on to other "real" food such as sweet potatoes, squash, green beans and puffs.  You don't quite have the hang of the whole spoon in mouth, get food off spoon then swallow routine yet.  I can take partial blame for this because I don't give you the opportunity to practice as much as I should.  We've still got this spit up problem going on so the addition of food makes the spit up, well...colorful.  Talk about a laundry nightmare!  I promise, we'll get the hang of it soon.  Until then, we'll keep enjoying puffs....you get so giddy every time you eat one!  (Can't grab it and get it in your mouth on your own yet but we will practice.)

 

You are still just the happiest in the world.  I'm hopeful that you will be a little cuddle bear forever!  You enjoy spending time in the swing, mostly in the kitchen while I'm getting dinner ready.  I love the company!  You've also started enjoying the swing at the playground.  Such a big boy!  Griffin likes to swing beside you and always wants me to push you higher.  Not yet mister.

 

On your actual 6 month birthday we were in Bluffton at Papa Don and Boo's house.  You got to play in the pool and show off your almost-crawling skills!  For the last week or so you've been pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth.  Sometimes you catapult yourself forwards and do a face plant, but mostly you're scooting backwards.  I just know that in a few weeks you'll be crawling around everywhere.  This means we need to re-baby-proof the house.  Yikes!



Blurry because you're rocking back and forth so fast!

You scooted yourself underneath the chair.  Haha

You also experienced your first Halloween as a sweet, cuddly lion.  You were perfectly content to sit in the stroller while we chased your brother around the neighborhood.  Actually, you slept through most of it.

 

 

Other things you're up to - you've discovered, or maybe rediscovered, your hands!  You stick your hand out in front of you and just stare at it while you twist it all around, wave and wiggle those fingers.  You're also having fun sticking out your tongue and making cute noises with your mouth.  It's so neat to see you taking everything in.  You are VERY observant and I can tell you're going to be like your dad and want to know how everything works and the logic behind it. 

 

Well Carson man, I can't think of enough good things to say about you.  I thank God every day for giving Chad and I such an awesome son and pray for wisdom in knowing how to raise you and best take care of you.  This love that a parent has for a child is just a CRAZY thing - scary and awesome at the same time.  Your dad and I love you sooo much, and even though we had to send Griffin to time out TWICE today for throwing a ball at your head, your big brother loves you too.  I just can't wait to see the relationship between the two of you develop.  I have a feeling G will have a rude awakening to this whole "little brother" thing once you start crawling around and attempting to play with his toys.  May the lessons in sharing begin....!