Birthday Boy!

Six years ago, Carter made me a mommy and nothing has been the same since.  He has always been a handful, in both good and bad ways.  I can honestly say that there is never a dull moment with this boy.  Sometimes it’s due to his bipolar tendencies, but mostly it’s because he is a smart, sassy, loving, imaginative, thoughtful young man. 

One of my favorite things about Carter is the face he makes when you fill his love bucket.  He gets this quirky smile and comes in for a big hug.  He definitely wears his emotions – good and bad – on his sleeve.  You never have to wonder where you stand with him, he’ll tell you.  He’s super smart and very inquisitive, he likes to know everything about everything and everyone.  He loves video games and Star Wars more than anything else right now.  The last six years have taught me more than I thought possible and I have grown as a mother and a person.  I wouldn’t trade them for the world!

One of the many reasons Carter was excited to get a walking cast was because he really wanted to go bowling for his birthday.  It’s becoming a yearly tradition for him.  But we all have fun, so it’s not a bad thing.  Samantha could carry her own ball this year.  We took a little break after the 4th frame to open gifts.  Here’s how it went down:

“Ok, these Star Wars action figures are alright, but I hope the rest of these gifts are better than this…””This is more like it.  I like Mario, I like chess.  Let’s see what else there is…””Holy mother of Mario!  It can’t be!””It is!  It’s Super Mario Brothers!  I can’t believe it!””Best. Birthday.  EVER!!!”  He was shaking with excitement at this point.  I think he liked it.  At one point he wanted to live with Aunt Amber in Utah because she has this game.  Apparently he loves it more than he loves us.  Guess what he did for the next 3 days. Birthday Karma was looking out for him, because after I had a good talk with him about how nobody wins anything out of these machines and how he would be wasting his money he won a football on his first try.  And then he won the jackpot on this machine and won us all jawbreakers.  We ended the night at Famous Dave’s where we were sure that Carter would love the ribs and cornbread (two of his favorite things ever).  Well I got my payback for the Mario game when he told me that my cooking was much better.  The birthday ice cream eased any disappointment in the food though.  And you always know it’s been a good day when you see this when you get home. 

Happy Birthday Carter!  We love you!