Happy Birthday Carter!

My 1st baby is 8 years old!!! (His bday was September 6th - yes, I am a little behind!) I can't believe I've been lucky enough to have him in my life for 8 years! He is my oldest child and has a special place in my heart. On September 6, 2000, after 17 hours of labor, Carter came into our lives. He started out a little gray, with the cord around his neck 3 times. We were hanging on every second, waiting for that 1st breath. It took a little longer than it should have, but he is a fighter, and finally that high pitched cry came out. (It was more of a high pitched scream, than a cry....). He has been busy and strong ever since. He has always been very tall for his age, he started walking at 10 months, and talking at 18 months. He could say the "Pledge of Allegiance" when he was 18 months old. When he was a toddler he used to love to get into my pantry and stack all the canned goods as tall as he could. He could get some pretty good towers going. He still loves to build things and figure out how things work. He has always been very smart, with an almost photographic memory. He learned to read when he was 4 and has been excelling in that area ever since. I wanted to write some of my favorite memories of Carter, so when he comes back and read this, he will know some of the thousands of reasons why I love him!!! He has a very tender heart, and gets embarrassed when people laugh at him. When he was 2 or 3, he would say "Stop being funny at me" when we would laugh at him, which would make us laugh even harder and him get even madder. He was the 1st grandchild on both sides, and loved to be spoiled by his grandma's. He had everyone all to himself for 3 years, and had a hard time when Ellie came along and took away some of the spotlight. He is the best big brother to her and to Gagey, even though I know we put a lot of expectations on him. He does his best to be a good example for them. We are so proud of his choice to be baptized. My parents used to always tell us that these kinds of things were "paydays" for being parents. I totally agree. I could'nt be more happy to have Carter for my oldest son. He is such a vital, and important part of our family. He is so smart and brings laughter and smiles with him daily. He has always had SO much energy and can talk your ear off. I thought that would kind of go away as he got older, but it's still there and going strong. It's one of the things I love about Carter: he always has something to say! Happy Birthday Cheeks Mcgee!!!
This is the "coolest bday cake in the world". It is a Wii remote steering wheel - Carter's request - and this is my attempt at a homemade cake. It turned out pretty good for a first attempt, if I do say so myself!