8 Years Ago Things Changed

8 years ago on December 16th my life really changed.  Actually it started changing on December 15th when I went into labor with Carter.  Here's Carter then.

I think Carter was about 7 months old here.  Maybe he's so loud now because I let him play with the drum kit as a baby. 

This is when I thought a buzz cut at home was a good idea.

This is when I was too scared to cut his hair on my own and started letting it grow longer.

This is Carter on his 5th birthday.  His first birthday in our new house.

Here's Carter on his first day of Kindergarten.

Here's when he lost his first tooth.

He had lost a few more teeth by the time he turned 7. 

Here is Carter this summer at a baseball game.

Big difference. 

Here's Carter and his friends celebrating his birthday with the first slumber party at the Cheek household.  Actually, Carter kept correcting me....girls slumber, boys sleep.  Therefore, his party wasn't a slumber party.  It was a sleep over. 

The picture depicts the boys reaction to Shawn laying down the law, reading the rules, and explaining that the radiator is hot.  Don't touch the radiator.  You WILL get burned.  I'm pretty sure the boys are looking at the radiator wondering how close they can get before getting burned. Everyone except Carter.  Carter likes to look directly at the camera and make faces.  

Here's the baseball cupcakes I slaved over all day.  

No, I didn't slave.  It was a Betty Crocker box of Funfettie cake mix, pre-made icing, and a tube of red gel.  

Happy Birthday to You...Happy Birthday to Carter....Happy Birthday to You!  Can you see Shawn's hand in the right side of the picture?  He was directing.

Trick candles are always fun until you have 4 boys blowing their hardest trying to "help".

All in all, it was a fun filled evening/night/morning.  They boys played xbox kinect and watched movies.  They slept on the futon and rarely left the garage. 

**Elf on the shelf update**

Here's where he sits today.