Happy 3rd Birthday, Nugget!

It is nearly impossible to believe that Carson is turning 3. She has been such a constant blessing to us and has taught Brandon and I so much about ourselves, each other, and how to be a family.

Here are some things we know for sure about our compassionate little bug:

1. She loves to ride with the windows down.

2. She is an excellent care-taker: whether her baby dolls, Moe, a sad character in a book, or one of us feeling sick, she worries, helps, and checks back until she is sure everything is okay.

3. She could be a great teacher one day. Carson goes beyond the general preschooler's desire to boss people around and picks up on her teachers' techniques and teaching styles. Brandon and I receive stickers regularly (or sometimes not) for being good listeners. When we are having a conversation without her, we get warned before receiving a consequence (usually in the form of time out or withheld rewards).

4. Singing is her fave. She makes everyday things into new songs, often accompanied by her "beautiful moves."

5. She has a scary-good memory. We can read a new book at bedtime for a week, and then she is ready to "read" it on her own. She will recite the book word for word from start to finish.

6. She loves to cook. One of my favorite things this year has been our Saturday morning tradition of making pancakes. It makes it so much easier to get up early on the weekend when I have some special Carson time to look forward to.

7. She is a daddy's girl. She and Brandon have such a special bond. Her days revolve around when he will be home from work or wake up in the morning or be able to play with her. She lights up when she sees him, and they can play nonsense games for hours without getting tired.

8. She is good at making connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. This one is hard to explain, but we are amazed at how quickly and easily she is able to transfer ideas from one situation and apply them to another. This can be as simple as realizing that when she's crawling under the kitchen stool, she looks like a turtle--or as complex as understanding what friendship looks like--and asking Brandon and I if we are friends when she sees us laughing together.

9. She is an excellent big sister. She is tender and careful with Declan and thinks about him all day long. She always needs to know where he is, and she takes pretend pictures of him relentlessly, always calling them, "PWESHUSS," after she takes them.

10. The girl loves Christmas. She talked about it all year this year, and because of her excellent memory she could recall all the things she loved about Christmas last year. The tree & ornaments, our advent calendar, and the music were her top picks. We began listening to Christmas music on the way to & from school each day back while it was still technically summer. And if you don't think singing "Jingle Bells" with a 2-year-old at the top of your lungs is a great way to begin your day, you clearly haven't tried it :)

Because of her love of the Christmas season, we decided to make her birthday Christmas-themed this year. It made her very happy, and as a bonus, it made sure we got our decorations up before the baby came.
Lots of friends and family came to celebrate (although, due to a last-minute pink eye diagnosis, not everyone braved the germ-fest, understandably so).

We made ornaments, decorated ice cream cone trees, ate a "Christmas dinner" of turkey (which Brandon smoked on the grill--yum!), stuffing, green beans, etc, and as a special surprise to Carson, we had a bounce house in the back yard that she didn't know about until part-way through the party.

Her gift from Brandon and I was a reading nook for the corner of her room where the rocker used to be (I was just the idea person here--Brandon built it). We figured having something cool to replace the rocking chair we used every night (so it could go in Declan's room) would make the transition easier. She hasn't had an issue with it at all!  Thank you Grandma, for creating the curtains and matching pillows for her nook--and thank you Jana, for making the super-cute book slings!

Also, in our effort to take her somewhere new each year, we packed some hot chocolate and blankets, put the kids in their PJ's, and drove up to look at the lights at Lake Lanier. I have never heard one child say, "Wow!" so many times.

I thought it would be fun to ask Carson some questions this year and be able to look back on her answers in the future--and maybe even revisit these questions each birthday.
1. How old are you? Three
2. What is your favorite thing to play? Babies (this means putting her baby dolls to bed, feeding them, rocking them, etc.)
3. What is your favorite book? Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson (yes, she memorizes the authors of her books along with the words)
4. Who are some of your friends? Mommy, Daddy, Addison, Lila, Patch, Maddy
5. What do you like about Daddy? playing Legos with him, reading Pete the Cat with him, when he tickles me
6. What do you like about Mommy? her soft hair, reading books with her, making reindeers and stuff with her
7. What do you like about your brother? his face, his cheeks, his smile
8. What makes you angry? when I don't want to brush my hair and my teeth
9. What is your favorite thing about school? playing Legos, Playball
10. If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go? to Patch and Maddy's house

Happy birthday, little lady!  Thank you for teaching us and loving so fully each day. Being your mommy and daddy is the most fun we've ever had!

Here are some of our favorite Carson pics from this year:

https://plus.google.com/photos/116719683582872528226/albums/5820732497305551233?authkey=CJ-OtfXmjpGKYQ