A Few Last Minutes Details...

The last week has been crazy.  So crazy busy.  I hate that.  Busy - ick.  I crave nights that include nothing more than sitting on the floor with our boy - laughing at his expressions, watching him learn new things.  And instead - we've been busy.  In the morning I usually ask Jake 'whats up for tonight?!'.  When he says 'uhh...nothing!' it's like winning the lottery.

Maybe 2012 will be filled with a whole lot of 'nothing' nights.

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Every night after bath time, we all snuggle up on the couch until bedtime.  This is my favorite time of the day.  Everyone is together - we chatter about our day, we laugh at Carter laughing at himself, and we quiet down for the night.  We talk about how far Carter has come - how he's developing such a sweet personality - and we tell him how much we love him.

And he giggles.  He laughs.  We don't know why - we have no idea what he's laughing at - but he sits on our laps, and he laughs.

And we think it's pretty great.

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Every day - I have the privilege of scooping this little boy out of his crib and into my arms.

Some days, he melts right into me and it feels like he would snuggle for hours.  Other days, he wants to get down so he can take on the world.  Either way, I am so blessed to be this boy's mama.  I'm so blessed that the Lord chose me.  And I'm so, so blessed that Carter is okay with that.

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We have a busy, busy week.  There's that word again.  Busy.  I see a New Year's Resolution coming on.  Anyhow...where was I...?!

Oh yea - busy week.  Lots of Christmas get-togethers spread out over 4 days.  We're excited about every single one...but can I just say that as excited as we were to be 'home by Christmas'...this could possibly be the worst time to come home.  Working on attachment is hard when you have to be going non stop.  It's not that we don't want to go to all of these things - it's just that we'll have to work extra hard and be more intentional about giving him the care that he needs.  And it also means that we might have to 're-do' some things, or 'un-do' some things after Christmas is over.

I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get there. You know, when life is less busy :)

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The other day some ladies that I love very much came over for a visit!  These women love Christ, they love His people, and they love to love.  Ever been around people like that?!  It's pretty refreshing.  Exhilarating, even.

Carter enjoyed it, too :)

This kid enjoys life, for sure.

Nothing sweeter.

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I'm totally changing subjects here.

I stink at buying Christmas gifts.  Royally stink.  I'm not exaggerating - not in the slightest.  I LOVE buying them - and each time, I think I'm buying the perfect gift.  And then - flop.

Last year, I thought this was the perfect gift for Jake.

What is it?!  Why, it's the back buddy!  As I look at it now, I realize the stupidity of this.  My thought (and really, it's the thought that counts - isn't it?!) was that this would be perfect because Jake is always complaining that his back hurts.  I honestly expected a big hug and a 'wow - way to think of the perfect gift!' on Christmas morning.  Ha.  I'm pretty sure it ended in a spat that continually came up until the summer.  It was the family joke at each Christmas get-together.  Only I wasn't laughing :)

Let me just say that Jake found out about this gift several days before Christmas.  Despite the fact that I used my mom's Amazon account, so that Jake wouldn't find out.  That backfired.  Why would I have to be so secretive about it?!  Because Jake ALWAYS finds out.  He ALWAYS spoils his gifts.  Always.

But this year - well, this year I'm pretty sure that I stinkin' hit it out of the park.  Home run, for sure.  And since he hasn't figured it out yet, I think we're in the clear.  I'll update here after Christmas....  :)

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The next post you see here will be our Christmas post.  Hard to believe, really.  Until then - be blessed!  Abundantly - fully - completely blessed.

And share some love.  Carter does!

One Thing Carter Knows For Sure: There's no place like home for the holidays....!