The Crandalls

When the cat's away, the mice will play

2012-02-06T20:56:00.000-08:00

Aaron's the cat. Me and Carter are the mice =)

I made Valentine cookies despite the fact that I'm on a strict diet, and despite the fact that my son is the pickiest eater and I am trying desperately to get him eating healthy. FAIL.

No pants + mommy's running shoes= awesome

Another wonderful well-rounded meal. For breakfast I tried to offer him EVERYTHING. Oatmeal- no, cereal- no, applesauce- no. I keep making normal food for him, thinking one of these days he'll eat it, and then he won't touch it, and I get SO frustrated, like it really makes me mad seeing good food go to waste that he usually likes! I finally caved this particular morning, picked him up and showed him in the cupboard, and told him to pick out his breakfast. SPRINKLES. Awesome nutritious choice there Carter. I gladly accept any advice for feeding toddlers at this point!!

On a less stressful note, me sister Val and I had a baby shower for our cousin, Heather! It was just in time- she had her baby the very next day =)

Val and Heather. Tender

Aaron's trips

2012-02-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

Aaron's been gone a lot lately on knocking trips and recruiting, and such. I'm used to it. A couple weeks ago, he got to go to the Denver Broncos vs Patriots game (he's a big Tebow fan)!

I just found the pics and wanted to post em!

And this is Aaron with his good buddy Ryan at Vivint. Apparently Ryan lost some bet and had to wear a UNC jersey (he's a Duke fan). Silly boys =)

Aaron's taking off this weekend for yet another trip.. but to HOUSTON where we're headed this summer. Can't believe it's coming up already!!

As for me and Carter, we just hang out and try to find fun things to do. Good thing he likes Kids Club because I've had to spend an awful lot of time in the gym lately!

Catching up.. umm Happy New Year!

2012-01-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

I'm a slacker and haven't posted since Christmas, whoops. I guess a lot of things have happened in the past month, most good!

First off, it's not exactly news anymore since everyone knows, but we're going to HOUSTON this summer, woooo! It's gonna be hot but Texas is fun, plus my brother is serving in Houston, PLUS one of my besties Jenna lives in Dallas, so I'm planning on a pretty sweet summer =)

A few weeks ago, Carter's buddy Kaden came to play.. They were pretty cute, hiding in the toy box

In case you forgot what me and Aaron look like, here we are. I wish you could see my tights. They are black polka dot and Aaron got them for me. So proud ;)

Went through the car wash for the first time in a LONG TIME. Carter was intrigued.. plus he got a sucker out of it

Carter on the playground.. throwing rocks on his head

STORY: So back during Christmas-time, Grandma Belinda and Steve got Carter a ginormous train set and table. Carter got so many presents over Christmas, he couldn't even appreciate them, so we waited to open the train set. It sat in our entryway still wrapped for weeks, and Carter never noticed til the day Grandma Belinda came to visit! He must have been holding out so she could be there =) He kept trying to sneak and open it, and grab her hand so SHE could open it, and finally we all broke down and ripped it open. Carter was so excited...

We set up a few tracks and let him just play with that for a few days...

And then one day, during his nap time, I earned the Mom award of the year. I set the whole dang thing up! Three hours later, we had this beauty (which I might add, is STILL sitting in our entryway since our condo is too small for it to be anywhere else).

Happy boy=happy mommy

BUT poor Mr Carter got sick.. well, we both did with annoying colds. Poor guy had diarrhea, thus diaper rash for a solid week. Not fun. Between his train, and kickin back watching Rio for the 1000th time since Christmas, he did just fine =)

Not thrilled about having our dirty laundry dumped out everyday, but then I can't help but chuckle that Carter climbs in the basket and hides under it...

Carter has been working on his drawing skills.. at Menchies frozen yogurt (new favorite sneak food!)

My little boy bringing home his drawings from nursery.

Found this super cute fedora the other day for 10 bucks. Wasn't super hopeful he'd keep it on because he hates hats.

But behold!

He's even making a silly face, that he actually likes his outfit for Church. Kept it on the whole time. I was so glad

Carter has an interesting relationship with Winnie the Pooh here. He thinks it's funny to walk around with Pooh's shirt strapped to his foot. I checked on him during nap time, again with Pooh's shirt wrapped around not one, but BOTH feet. Amazed at how this even occurred...

Costco trip yesterday morning, and this is the snack he wanted. I could not object.

Had a fabulous baby shower for one of my best friends, Paityn this weekend!

Yummmmy food.

Some of the amigas, Lauren, me and Carley

Paityn with the shower planners... Malia, Stacey and yours truly. We had a fantastic time. I love hangin with the girls

And my last batch!

SNOW!!! Utah has been so weird this year, but we finally got some! Carter thinks the word for "snow" is actually "snowman" and asks me to sing Frosty the Snowman everytime we step outside. It's cute, he's actually catching on to a lot of the words

Licking the slide... more than anything, he just likes to eat the snow..

So happy outside.... which would explain the tantrum he threw when we had to come in for lunch... snow was all he wanted to eat.

Since the mountains got snow FINALLY, Aaron was able to go skiing! His stepdad Steve was in town, so they went up to Canyons and had a blast. Aaron hasn't even been since we've gotten married, so I'm glad he finally got the chance =)

That's all folks!

Christmas fotos

2011-12-31T18:06:00.000-08:00

I'm an idiot and didn't take any pictures during Christmas. I feel like Christmas really crept up on us and it was weird because A, there was no snow, and B, it was our first Christmas in Utah, without going home to one of our parents' houses.
My mom and 2 brothers, Craig and James came down, and we all spent Christmas at Valerie's house in Lehi, and it was great!
We have a family tradition of watching Santa come and deliver our presents, while we're hiding behind the furniture. Everyone is supposed to be QUIET, so Santa has no idea you're there, he thinks you're asleep in bed, and if he hears a peep, he'll get scared and run away and you won't get your presents!
Well, this year Carter didn't get it. We practiced the night before, and Carter seemed to understand that you gotta be quiet and stay in your hiding spot. But for some reason, early Christmas morning when Santa came, Carter wiggled loose, and ran right out in the open, pointed and said, "SANTA!!!"
Needless to say, "Santa" (aka my little bro James) made a quick, awkward exit, not having been prepared for that. But he did leave Carter's new wiggle bike =)

Well, all we got are shots of Carter...

Playing with sprinkles in the suitcase.

Carter is obsessed with milk- that's all he eats, and I swear he must overdose because every once in a while, he'll throw up his milk in the morning. It's getting bad.
Anyways, he was a happy boy Christmas eve. Check out my sister's awesome beautiful new kitchen in the background =)

My mom with Carter.. they had fun together =)

Auntie Val with Carter, again. He calls her "buddy"

Carter's uncle Ryan sent him the coolest present- a light up runway bib and an airplane spoon that also lights up! Hopefully this means the kid will actually start eating...

We had an awesome Christmas and were very spoiled by our families. We love them lots

Go to Church =)

2011-12-18T21:49:00.000-08:00

Don't get the wrong impression- I'm not trying to be preachy or braggy, but I had one of those "Sunday" experiences that I've got to share. Aaron is out of town and we had a late night last night, so Carter ended up sleeping in, as did I. Needless to say, I knew there was no way we'd make it to Church on time, and then I felt very unmotivated to go at all. I figured Carter would be grouchy anyway and I'd have to deal with that the whole time. But, good for me, I put my game face on, (and my skirt and heels of course), and made it to Church.

After Sacrament, I spotted a friend whom I really don't know all that well, but I knew she had dislocated her ribs a few weeks ago, so I went to go check on her and see how's she's doing. Turns out there is probably worse damage under her ribs and they haven't healed right. She works 3 jobs- one being a teacher! And is married, but has no kids. I know she's so extremely busy and is probably physically and mentally exhausted most of the time.

We were chatting about that, and I asked about her wanting to have kids in the near future. Turns out, they've been trying for a year, have been on fertility drugs, and nothing has helped. She doesn't even produce enough progesterone to hold a baby even if she did get pregnant. This friend of mine LOVES kids, and it's what she most wants out of anything in life.

Now, I'm not a huge hugg-y person, and I don't like to cry in public, but in that moment, listening to her talk about her trials, I just felt so sympathetic. I hugged her and cried with her. I can't relate to her situation but it sure made me appreciate what I've got, and I can imagine the devastation of not being able to have kids. It would kill me.

I believe in miracles, as does she. I don't think it's fair that some people get pregnant "on accident" with a child they can't even provide for, while someone like my friend is denied that blessing. I'm confident that one day, this life or the next, she'll experience that joy, but for now I'm glad to have been at Church today. I'm grateful to have felt like I was there for someone, that she trusted me enough with her feelings and frustrations, and that I'll better know how to be a friend to her from here on out.

Church isn't always about the lessons that an instructor teaches. I think we're supposed to go because you never know where the Lord will direct you.

And I'm grateful for this:

My silly, crazy little toddler who has the funniest personality =) I too often take motherhood for granted.

Update on the boys

2011-12-11T14:23:00.001-08:00

Most of our family and friends have heard, but Aaron has had A ROUGH year health-wise! A few months ago, he had surgery to fix 2 hernias. But he has had crazy stomach and back pain that attacks on random nights, really since the summer.

We had the cruise dilemma where he ended up in the ER in the Bahamas (luckily we found out insurance is covering that $1700 visit!), so we knew something was still going on.

Anyways, since the cruise, we discovered Aaron has gallstones which explains the intermittent pain, and might explain why he gets jaundice a lot.

This weekend was a long one of surgery once again.

Friday morning he had his gallbladder removed, and everything went well, including the liver biopsy.

But they discovered he had a gallstone blocking his bile duct so he had to get transferred to a hospital to have that taken care of on Saturday morning.

Basically we've been in and out of the hospital since Thursday night, but I'm glad to say he's finally coming home tonight!!

His eyes are still way yellow (scary!!) but they finally let him start eating today and shower. He's been bored but since we don't have cable at home, he's been catching up on his football games at the hospital. =)

Let's hope we are DONE with surgeries and pain and hospitals for a LONG TIME!! We need Aaron back!

On that note, Carter just randomly threw up Monday morning. And I thought, nooooo please do not be sick. Last time he had the flu, he got it 3 times in 2 months, and they lasted 7 days each time, throwing up every day, and Aaron happened to be out of town every single time!! I can't imagine if that had happened, and then had to deal with Aaron's surgeries at the same time, because that would have been a NIGHTMARE!

Luckily, he got over it within a few hours, just took some cuddling and watching lots of Thomas the Train

The next day he was up and about and practicing his colors on Twister! This kid looks quite skinny here.... I promise he's at least somewhat meatier than this!

Carter got a new coat! A puffy one, and he loves it

While Aaron was in surgery #1, I had to just get Carter out of there.. Seven hours in a surgical center, Carter did pretty well, but we took a break over to Krispy Kreme. He loved it

He was really intrigued by the conveyor belt making the donuts, it was really cute

It was just me and Carter for Church today.

He cracks me up, just smiling in the back in his seat, wearing his blazer and eating his french toast =)

He actually cried after Church when I tried to take his outfit off.. he's so silly!

Christmas festivities!!

2011-12-11T14:06:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been a BUSY start to December... we're gonna take this one post at a time.

We got the tree up right after we got back from AZ from Thanksgiving. Carter really enjoyed "helping."

It's a very sparkly tree. Just how I like it =)

One of me and Val's bestest friends from Yakima, Jamie, came down from Salt Lake with her husband and son so we could decorate gingerbread houses!

(My Aaron was out working.. bless his heart)

My "jailhouse." It had pokey things on every side to deter potential predators. But Aaron still got to it, and ate half my house away.

Last weekend, Valerie had the fun idea to go to the Riverwoods to see the lights and go on a carriage ride! It was SO. COLD.

We met up with Val and Taylor for dinner at La Jolla (one of my FAVORITES!) and then met up with my cousin Heather and her husband Jake. The lights there are amazing. They almost beat going all the way to Temple Square..

The horsey!

For some strange reason, there were people with llamas there. Carter thought they were pretty funny, but the llama didn't take to him too well.

Carter playing at Blikenstaffs: vintage toy/candy store. He LOVES that place

This is the 2nd time we've gotten Carter to sit on Santa's lap this year. Carter is not a fan, if you couldn't tell by his super nervous smile haha

At least he got a candy cane out of it?

Our whole group with Santa =)

Turkey week in Arizona

2011-11-29T12:27:00.001-08:00

We just don't sit still here in Utah. From one vacation/road trip to the next, we are just go-go-go. Not the way I prefer it, but my husband does! But we love being around both our families so it does make it worth it =)

We made the 10+ hour drive to Fountain Hills, AZ (near Scottsdale) to spend the week with Aaron's family.

Can't complain about 70+ degree weather the whole week!! Carter absolutely loved being outside, as did we.

Hiking with the fam, and posing with Steve

A toddler + water= major fun.. and a tantrum when you have to leave ;)

So up until this past week, I had never ran any race (except sprints when I did track in high school). Aaron's brother's girlfriend (on the right) is a big runner and looked into the turkey trot down in Arizona so us 3 signed up! It was just a 5k but it was really fun! It was sooo nice to get lots of exercise while we were down there, because I ate A TON. Not a good thing when you're training for a figure competition...

Before the race, there were some random samples of this "energy towel" that you breathe in... Here's Aaron just soaking it in...

Mr. Aaron happened to finish before me (yes, indeed he is faster) and managed to get a pic of me crossing the line, and feeling like I was going to THROW UP.

(For future personal reference, I ran it in 24:06, and placed 2nd in my age group.. gotta beat that next year!)

Aaron got 4th in his age group so we felt pretty "fit" that we actually placed. Neither of us are what you'd call "runners."

Thanksgiving day- Carter had very little turkey, and lots of pie and chocolate cake.

On the way home to Utah, we stopped in Flagstaff to visit Aaron's aunt and uncle- Carole and John, and got to meet a bunch of extended family I didn't know yet. Carter loved getting out to run around and play with the "big kids." =)

Carter's birthday and Halloween

2011-11-15T12:57:00.001-08:00

Well I've put off this post because I'm waiting for a certain family member to email me their pics of Carter's birthday that they took!! So for now, here's what we've got:

While we were on our cruise, my dad and Aimee took Carter to their ward trunk-or-treat party. We had forgotten to leave his cow costume, so they got creative and made him a little mummy =)

Aimee made a cute little Halloween dinner with some deviled eggs with spiders and bats...

And mummy dogs =)

We missed out on the trunk-or-treat so we decided to go trick or treating too, on Halloween. Carter kept his cow "hat" on maybe 30 seconds... he hates hats.

Carter's Uncle Ryan got him a kinect game for kids.. with a PANDA in it, and he LOVES pandas. It was cute watching him copy Aaron, trying to play the game.

Happy guy on his birthday!

So Carter's actual birthday, we went to Chuck E Cheese with some friends, since he had never been. Carter had a good time, but I honestly think the dads had more fun, playing each other in arcade games :)

Val and Taylor getting intense

Carter with his buddy, Brighton

Auntie Val got Carter a Woody doll.. he lOVES that thing!

Here's where we're missing a bunch of photos. But we did do a PANDA theme for his birthday (the following day), and we had some fun little cupcakes.

I bought him these panda ears to wear for his birthday, and we were practicing the night before... Did he wear them for the party? NOPE of course not!

Here's some more fun times with his buddy Brighton. They're about 3 months apart and have a good time =)

So funny story... I took Carter to his 2-year old check-up. He ran around naked in the doctors room at first, and then after the visit, I put his clothes back on, and he sat behind the door, with his EYES CLOSED like this, just smiling. It was sooo silly and weird! He is full of so many quirks that keep me and Aaron laughing daily.

Some of his 2 year-old stats:

He's in the 10th percentile for both height and weight. He's a little guy, but he's developing just fine.

He's the pickiest eater.. goldfish are his staple, and he loves juice and milk. He also loves oatmeal and I have taken to sneaking pumpkin puree in it, with some peanut butter (and a bit of sugar). He loves it, and I'm proud of that ONE vegetable he'll eat.

He's talking soooo much more, and it reminds me that I no longer have a baby =(

It's fun though, that he can communicate, especially now that he's putting 2 words together

He recently has said his prayers really well! He'll actually repeat the words and that's fun

He's obsessed with Thomas the train. And Buzz and Woody. And cars/anything that moves

He's an organizer.. the fridge magnets, the train pieces, our shoes.... anything he finds, he will align them in a row =)

He hates baths- it's a fight everytime, and has gotten progressively worse at haircuts. In fact, he threw a total tantrum yesterday at Great Clips when Aaron took him, and has quite an ugly, uneven haircut now.

Carter has a stink face, where he scrunches up his nose.. no idea where he got it from or why he does it, but it's very humorous.

He has a hilarious, fake laugh that he's been doing for a while. He'll see a baby in a car seat and just laugh in their face loud. Why, I don't know? Or in the middle of Sacrament meeting, he'll just do this super loud laugh for no reason. Embarrassing, but still very funny.

When Carter gets hurt (or mad), tears will be streaming down his face, and he's bawling. You offer him milk or a cookie or ice cream, he immediately stops crying, and says yes. Just turns it off like that. So crazy.

He likes finding the box of holiday cookie cutters, and this is how they always end up...

also note the scowl, which is common

Carter has figured out how to unbuckle the top latch of his car seat... awesome.

He loves his Pooh Bear, and his "bee" which means blankie.

Little songs with actions are his favorite things ever, and he'll pay good attention to books now =)

That's pretty much it for this silly man.

We love him lots

Cruisin' on the eastern Caribbean

2011-11-10T18:21:00.001-08:00

These pictures are long overdue, and they are many. BUT they are fun!
SO here's how it went: we drove Carter to Yakima, WA (11 hour drive) to drop him off with my dad and stepmom. Then we drove 2.5 more hours to Seattle to catch a plane to Orlando. Next morning, boarded the Carnival Dream with our region from Vivint.
We hit up the eastern Caribbean, stopping in the Bahamas, and Virgin Islands: St Thomas and St Maarten

Atlantis in the Bahamas...

Unfortunately neither me nor Aaron got to enjoy this stop much because he was in the ER at the Bahamas... which made me worried and not super enthused that day to have fun =(

first things first

2011-11-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

So we just went on a cruise. YAY for us! And it was Halloween! Another yay!
I'm still organizing my photos, but here's some random ones of the weeks before our vacation...

Mommy and Carter

Carter and his 'stink' face

Carter got a new bow tie... but all you see is a disheveled little boy after nursery!

These are dark but you can see how Carter and his uncle "Do Do" (Jo-Jo for Joseph) got along so well while me and Aaron were on our cruise

Carter makes a lot of funny faces.. such a personality, i love it

back after our cruise, Aaron got suckered into reading all the kids a book =)

A few weeks ago, Aaron and a bunch of Vivint buddies got to head up to the Olympic Park in Park City and go off the ski jumps!!

We have a very cultured son, who appreciates art

Okay who are we kidding? He must be confused at the Italian Ice in all these pictures... we were at a gelato place and got a kick out of Carter just staring at the art =)

Silly yes?

And while we're on the subject of Carter, can you believe this is what we had 2 years ago?!!

Ah! He was so cute!!

Carter is turning TWO on November 4th.. stay tuned for the excitement ;)

WITCHY WOMEN

2011-10-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Every year, we round up some girls for Witches Night Out... in the past it's usually been a small group, with me and my sister Valerie, and our friend Jamie (and unfortunately Carter last year!)
We finally recruited a bigger group and got witchy last night.. :)
When it gets late, and you've got a group of girls together (no husbands and no kids!), things are bound to get a little silly...

And on another festive note, we took Carter to the pumpkin patch the other night...

This is the pumpkin he came home with =) Picked it out all by himself haha!

pix

2011-10-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

Call it laziness, call it busyness... either way I have been a slacker with the blogging. I have some more pics from our trip a few weeks ago, from our camping trip in Washington, and our trip to Montana. And some random tidbits

Auntie Val and Unlce Taylor sneaking Carter some treats at Blickenstaf's

Carter thinks he's hiding pretty good under his blankie

This is how Carter eats his PB & J- pulls them apart, then bites a hole in the middle

This is Carter's latest "stink face" he makes randomly. He has "ow-ies" from falling off the playground onto rocks.. it was so sad

Yesterday we went on a little hike... Carter is getting heavy to carry around like this anymore, but he loves it!

Seattle aquarium back a few weeks ago... Carter wasn't as into the starfish as I was

The children's museum in Seattle.. now, the cars and trains are what DO interest Carter

We went to Red Robin with our friends John and Danielle. Carter got tired and was whiny which is too bad.. he's not living up to his potential as Carter the Great

Me and Aaron on our 4-wheeling adventure in Washington

I am such a rugged camper

As is Carter

My silly boys with dirt all over their faces after a ride on the quads

Aaron insisted we take a "detour" back to Utah by way of Montana. I put up a fit, just because I don't love road trips, yet we always seem to be on one!! But we ended up having a lot of fun, visiting his stepdad Steve and getting all outdoorsy =)

Steve's fancy 5th wheel

Cozy cozy by the campfire

K check out this river- so beautiful. I love boating, all kinds.

Carter had a tantrum because he hated his life jacket... but then the raft lulled him to sleep... go figure.

Steve and I chillin for our picnic =)

So fun. Loved my "perch" in the back =)

And then on the road trip home, we stopped in Idaho Falls and met up with my bro Craig for dinner. We don't see enough of him!

And here's silly man Carter with no pants...

Lastly, a weird shot, but I love the way babies sleep sometimes!

Trip to Washington!

2011-09-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hello trusty family and friends who still read this blog....
We've actually been quite busy as of late, with house hunting (which has been unsuccessful) and some road trips.

Our latest trip was to Seattle, then Yakima to see Aaron's family, then mine. I'm sick of road trips big time. BUT we did have a great time so I can't complain!

Aaron's brother Ryan lives in Redmond, outside of Seattle (works for microsoft). He just bought a boat so we got to try it out!!

This was Carter's first boat ride, and he loved it. The life jacket? Not so much..

Aaron, back a few months ago when he found out he needed hernia surgery was SUPER bummed because we were looking forward to this trip and for him to be able to wakeboard. BUT he got the go-ahead from the doc...

And there he is!!

Mr Captain Ryan ;)

Aaron's dad and stepmom flew in, so that was fun to spend some time with them. I LOVE this picture... they had such a good time with Carter

Along the pier, we decided to all go to the aquarium..

octopus!

Don't let Aaron's rapist beard scare you!!.. he has since shaved it off, and is handsome as ever ;)

Yours truly, being weird, waiting for divers to come feed the fish in the dome

Carter got a kick outta the seagulls and tried to feed them his graham crackers

The pier.. i heart seattle

We also met up with some good friends, John and Danielle and took our kids to the children's museum and to Red Robin =) Stupid me forgot to get a picture!

If you're in Seattle, it just makes sense to eat seafood. We went to a sushi restaurant, with the food running on a conveyor belt. Genius idea, so fun, and ended up cheaper than what we usually pay! Wish we had one around here...

So on to Yakima to see my family...

Twice, we went to my parents restaurant. The food is so delish!

Here's my little bro James, who is preparing for his mission, I will miss him =(

Back at my dad's house, my dad is showing Aaron the 4-wheelers that we all rode around the fields by our house. We later went "camping" in the woods outside of Yakima for a day trip. Camping is not my thing, does that surprise anyone? I can handle a day, though when it's nice out and we get to ride around on quads. We DID have 6 kids there under 6 though, that does make it a little harder!

My little bro Luke, on his kids ATV =)

Mia and Alice.. so cute.

Mia + Alice + Joseph! Oh they are so funny. And little Jo Jo here is the cuddliest, sweetest little baby!

Dad with the little ones about to go for a ride =)

And the newest addition, baby Lilly. Soooo sweet, and has to be held all the time. I can't say I mind =)

We went to MONTANA on the way home but I haven't gotten pictures back yet, workin on it.
We're back in Utah, loving the warm weather, and are still house hunting, leaning now more towards building. Mr. Carter has a blast running around empty houses, and rolling around in homes halfway built, covered in sheetrock....

busy busy busy

2011-09-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

OUR FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR

Yup, it's right now.. the summer is over, Aaron is burned out from working, and we all just want to play! And that is what we're doing.
That, and a LOT of house hunting, but there's not much to update about that...

Here's some Carter updates---
1. Carter has become even MORE picky.. i didn't think it was possible. His staples include milk, strawberries, and goldfish. And sometimes chicken nuggets. We are digressing rapidly. He won't touch hot dogs anymore, nor mac & cheese, pizza, eggs, or any other food normal kids eat. It is so frustrating! I'm sick of trying to give him things he should like, just to have it wasted (or me eating the leftovers-- bad mom!)
This particular evening I had made chicken cordon bleu, and made Carter nothing. After all, he won't eat! I put the pan in front of him, and he picked up a chicken and bit into it.. and ate about half. I almost cried for joy. Didn't last long though... he still only wants goldfish.

Carter man perched on Roxy's seat. Roxy is my sister's dog.

Carter is naughty about staying in his car seat. Buckled of course he can't get out, but the top snap, he has figured out how to undo it, and then pull his arms out. Not safe... we gotta fix that.
We were parked though one day, and Carter thought it was fun to climb in and out of the truck window. Boys...

I think he likes this rug... he passes out on it a lot. (but hey, it's like 10 times softer than the nasty carpet we've got, so I'd prefer that too!)

This past week, we went with our friends, the Brown's to Trafalga..
Aaron is growing a rapist beard. Someone please tell him he looks scary so he will shave it and stop scraping me with it! lol

Kaden and Carter, super cute boys... and they are quite the active duo =)

And yesterday we went to SLC for the state fair.. I had never been, but Aaron has a couple times back when he used to sell Living Scriptures there.

see? rapist beard....

Carter (again) had skipped his nap. This is what happened by the time we got to Fazoli's for dinner..

And today, my great friend Alicia was in town with her daughter Capri, who is Carter's age, and we 4 went to Kangaroo Zoo! The two lovebirds just don't hold still long enough to get a picture together =( maybe next time.

Back to life.. finally!

2011-09-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I've got some things to blog about at last.

#1 Aaron had his surgery on 2 hernias.

This is not to be confused with hemorrhoids lol... many people texted him after the fact, asking how his butt was. Hernias are your intestines bursting out of the stomach wall in the abdomen and is often caused by lifting too much. He's been looking so good and fit, but I guess at a price =( But the surgery went well, it's been a week and he's back to the gym... doing cardio and eventually light weights.

Watching him in pain though for the first couple of days, trying to get out of bed was sad and brought back too many memories of my struggles post-c-section. Not ready to do that again! I guess now we're even =)

#2 We are house hunting!

This little condo has done a fine job but now we are breaking up. We need more space and especially storage.

We fell in love with 2 houses, and one we put an offer on, out in Lehi. There are other offers on it as well so it's up in the air.. we'll find out hopefully this week. Fingers crossed!

Here's some shots of our goofy selves the past 2 weeks

Still love my little baby's feet =)

Aaron took Carter on a little father-son outing to see Kung Fu Panda 2. (May I remind you I tried to take Carter to Cars 2 a while back and it was a disaster, so I was skeptical that they'd make it through).

Well, Aaron made it through the movie, because Carter fell asleep within 5 minutes of the movie, so he missed it all!

Home Depot- Carter found the lawn mowers- of course. And was very mad when we had to leave.

In this tiny condo of ours, Carter spreads his toys EVERYWHERE. I hate picking up after him several times a day, but then I see little things like this and just have to smile... One day I'm sure I will really miss finding a car sitting on a mirror. =)

UTAH

2011-08-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

We are HOME and glad to be here. Here's some random pics of Mr Carter this past week.

Back in St Louis I was trying to get rid of our food, trying to cook only with what I had, and that was quite a challenge- poor Aaron had to eat the strange recipes I came up with! Glad I don't have a picky husband! (only a picky toddler... he won't pass up cookie dough though)

Some family-related news: My stepmom had a baby! Here she is with little Lilly. So Carter has yet another aunt.. who is younger than him. And I now have another baby sister.

Carter playing while I was packing

This was shot on the day of Aaron's last work day out there! He went out selling though here in Utah the day we drove in.. Very committed, this man is. Today is his LAST DAY however for a while. Hernia surgery is next Tuesday =( Wish him luck!

There was a helicopter outside the hotel we stayed at during our trip (somewhere in Colorado).

I think Carter had missed all his toys we left behind.

Getting very smart. How did he know that you need a screwdriver to fix the bunny?!

Adios ST LOUIS

2011-08-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

Well we're not gone yet, BUT we are taking off this next Sunday, driving back to Utah.

We're supposed to be here 2 more weeks, but Aaron has a hernia! He has to get surgery but can't get seen by the doc for another week, so he's waiting it out, still working out here in St Louis for as long as he can. The hernia is getting worse every day and it's very worrisome to me, but Aaron has crazy good work ethic, so he's still out there knocking doors, trying to solidify our summer. Good husband. Poor husband. Crazy husband?

I'll be packing and cleaning and loading up the truck all by myself this weekend, so wish me luck!

Anyways, this past Sunday was our last one in St Louis so we tried to do the things we still wanted to, but nothing panned out. Our plan was to go up INSIDE the arch, but it was so crowded we gave up. We also wanted to see the Botanical Gardens but decided to let Carter run around a park and splash pad instead, but oh well, it was still a very fun day. =)

P.S. I'm kinda hooked on the instagram app.. too much fun!

Arizona trip

2011-08-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

Carter and I took a little break from St Louis to visit Grandma Belinda and Grandpa Steve in Fountain Hills, AZ (outside of Scottsdale). We just got back a few nights ago, and had the funnest time!

We hit up the park while we were there and Grandpa Steve had a blast taking Carter on the playground toys.

Carter says "raaaarrr" when he sees a dinosaur, or tiger, or something of the like =)

Grandma with Carter in his car

He is saying "weeeeeeeee" all the way down =)

Big turtle

We went to the Train Park, as is becoming our tradition down there. Carter just calls train "choo choo" and it was really cute to watch him ride one!

They had a new museum with model trains that they're building, Carter was fascinated by them!

Then they had a little caboose they could actually play on, this was his favorite =)

There was small model train going around up above, he loved that too

Love this cute face!! Grandma Belinda has decided Carter looks most like my brother, Craig. I can totally see it

Oh this was so cute, Carter eating an ice cream cone, for the first time I believe.. He was distracted by yet another train going around the ceiling. =)

Back at Grandma's house, Carter ended up getting all his toys outside

Carter got into EVERYTHING possible.. he found a ladder in the pantry

Carter's great great Grandpa Jay chatting with Grandma Belinda outside their pool while Steve takes Carter for a swim

Carter was a gem on the plane and we are happy to be back with Aaron!!

Love this man!!

Ohhh Carter!

2011-08-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

Carter has been very silly lately.
We went to get sushi downtown the other day and we walked around to look at shops for a bit, and ran into this fountain:

Needless to say, Carter really loves water

And I just love this pic

We have a ritual every morning of getting Carter a cup of milk when he wakes up and turn on cartoons (because we're not awake enough to do anything else.. don't judge us!) I had gotten back from running and Carter decided he was obsessed with shoes, kept saying "shoes" over and over and wanted to wear his with his jammies. This is what he picked out. A croc, and a Church shoe, both for the left foot.

And then he insisted on ME wearing shoes, so he helped me put them back on. Halfway, and on the wrong foot. lol I love it

Yesterday, kinda on a whim, I decided it would be fun to attempt to take Carter to his first movie. Cars 2 has been out for a while, so I was hoping that an odd hour for a showing would mean we'd be the only ones there, which we were for a bit. Carter seemed very excited to be in a theater, but then the show started, more people showed up, and then Carter discovered the lighted stairs. And it was history. We left 40 min into the show, and I wasted $5 plus the ripoff for his hot dog! But at least I know he's not ready for this! We'll give it another 6 months =)

And tomorrow we are OFF to Arizona!! Visiting grandma Belinda, and prepping ourselves for the 115 degree weather ahhhh! We're excited, though for a fun little break from here. =)

panda

2011-07-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

I'm finding that Carter is very much capable of saying a lot more words than he actually does. He likes Kung Fu Panda, but has never said "panda" til the other day. And he hasn't said it since, he won't do it! He calls everything "bees" for some reason... whether it sounds like bees or not. He brought me a rock today and said, "bees." What the heck?!

Freak OUT

2011-07-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well I have a story or two...
As a mom I realize I totally freak out and panic over things I never thought I would.
For example, since Carter was a newborn, I've had major anxiety about him sleeping soundly through the night. SIDS has terrified me, and even more so since a friend of mine had her child die in her sleep during an afternoon nap, when she was Carter's age now. This is my absolute biggest FEAR.
Carter rarely slept in our bed with us and if he ever did, I would wake up and panic that he was suffocating, not breathing, and I'd yell at Aaron and just go crazy, scared to death. Carter's always been just fine, but for some reason in my subconscious brain, I'll reach out for him while he's sleeping and the connection that he is still, and warm, and kinda "swollen," means that he is lifeless. MORBID huh! I ended up shaking Carter awake, in panic, way too many times, the poor baby.
The other night Carter was asleep in his pack 'n play in the other room just like every other night and in my sleep I reached over and felt Aaron's face, thinking it was Carter and I bolted up, panicking because it felt swollen and lifeless (like you do when you're asleep) but I just have these nightmares that it's Carter and he can't breathe!! Is this normal?!!! Poor poor Aaron got woken up to me hitting his face in the middle of the night, saying "oh my gosh, he's not breathing!" He wasn't all that surprised, this has happened many times in the past 20 months.

Story #2
This happy fellow is the cause of yet another panic attack on my part. At the waterpark yesterday.

This waterpark in Chesterfield, MO is really cool, with splash pads, water slides, lazy river, the works. There's this big playground for little kids in the water, and Carter's been gathering up his courage to wander up even though there's water splashing down on him everywhere.
There's a big-kid slide at the top that Carter has been inching towards but still looks scared, so I just stand up top with him while he plays around.
K so there's this little kid who's probably 6 or something who's going down the big slide and says, "I'll take him down the slide with me!" (Mind you- adults are too big to go down the slide apparently, the Nazi lifeguard blows her whistle at you if you try.) I'm not gonna let some random kid take my kid down this slide because it's rushing water, and then another splash of water when you get out of it, so he'd have to really keep Carter's head above it.. and I just don't trust him.
But the kid comes up and down the slide several times, and keeps asking to hold Carter, and Carter looks like he wants to so I relent. I give the kid specific instructions, make sure he's sitting on your lap, keep his head above water, blah blah blah. Kid says, OK! And goes to sit down in the slide. I bend down to hand him Carter, and the kid all of a sudden starts sliding down!!! And he's holding onto Carter's LEG while Carter is on his belly, face down in the water!! (alright I'm being slightly dramatic about this, the water wasn't very deep even at the end of the slide but I still panicked).
So I wonder if anyone saw my next move... it was a good one, and probably quite hilarious. I drop to my knees, sliding onto my stomach, reaching for Carter through the dark, watery abyss of the waterslide, grab his arm just barely before he fell in forever, and pulled the drenched little guy back out of the top of the slide! (insert victory music here).
Never mind that this was totally unnecessary, Carter would have been fine going down the slide even by himself, but I had a panicky mom moment, and freaked out. But alas...

Here are my battle wounds.

What's that you say? Mom Award of the week? Psshht that's silly, no need. Buuuuut I accept ;)

On a sweeter note, we went to a cupcake shop today!! Jilly's Cupcakes as featured on Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Tasty..

Me and Carter with our cupcake. He's kinda pissed cuz I wouldn't let him have any til he ate some of his sandwich.. which he didn't.

Us girlies.. Malia, Paityn, and me. I loving having fun girls out here

My summer VAY-CAY

2011-07-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well I had a fantastic last 10 days or so, up in the PNW.. Portland, OR, Yakima and Ellensburg, WA.

Here's Carter on the plane, playing with his noisy puzzle. He did okay on the way there but on the way back, he was an angel baby, not even kidding. Love this kid!

Grandma Cherie's house (my mom). Carter really liked the piano.. We need to get one asap.

This is how Carter spent the mornings lol... lounging about on my mom's bed... And notice that it's under construction- we are redecorating it and it's gonna look so good!!

Thought it would be fun to play in the tub.. with this clothes on. As you can see, he's very fascinated with the faucet =)

Happy boy in the car

So this is Julie, my best friend from high school, and this shot obviously was from back in the day.. before my mission, before we got married, but after high school. Now she lives in Corvallis, OR, is married and has 2 kids so I got to see em all while I was there!

We met halfway in Salem to take our kiddos to this:

It was cute, not extraordinarily entertaining for the kids but it was fun anyways. Here's me, with Carter hiding behind me, and Julie's son Caden on the train =) Apparently I am enjoying more than anyone lol

Is Oregon gorgeous or what? Little trail through the theme park

Me and Mr Carter

Carter and Caden being silly, and being boys. All you need is water to have a party..

And here we are! Me and Carter and Julie with Caden and her newborn Hunter. So cute. I wish we lived closer to them =(

Sooo after OR, we headed up to Washington to my hometown, Yakima to my parents house. And almost immediately headed up to Ellensburg for our PACKARD family reunion, yippee!

We stayed in a nice cabin (I hear the rest of the family got shafted in bug-infested pee-smelling cabins). Needless to say I was very grateful for where we stayed! Carter playing with his Auntie Alice, and Uncle Joseph =)

4th of July- we went out to Zillah cuz it's on the Indian reservation and fireworks are legal. Perhaps they shouldn't be... this is what happened because of some idiots that night....

But the firemen came, put it out, and we had a fun night, Carter loved the fireworks =)

Back in Yakima, here's cute lil Ali

Me and the 2 youngest

So we drove back to Portland, where Carter resumed his spot on my mom's bed once again...

My mom works in downtown Portland in the city courthouse so we got to go see it. Plus my mom wanted to show Carter off to everyone. Carter was most interested in pounding her keyboard..

Carter and grandma Cherie =)

While downtown, we took advantage of the fun shops and cute restaurants. I told my mom that is my ideal vacation- I love being in big cities, eating at cute cafes, and shopping in cute shops. =) Stuff Aaron has no interest in any of that, go figure. That's why you go on vacay without em!

Love my family, love vacations

And back in St Louis for 2 more months...... Bleeeeeeeeeeeeh

Cardinals game

2011-06-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

Fun times this week

Took Carter to the splash pad which he usually really likes, but that particular day he was more interested in wandering around =)

Me and Aaron and Carter went to a Cardinals game with Jake. This is how Carter started out the game...(skipping naps will do that to you!)

Me and Jake (my 2nd cousin). Bad day to go to a game. It was SO HOT, we had just gotten there and I was sweating like a banshee! Plus Cardinals lost to Toronto, and I spent 99% of the game with Carter out of the gate, walking around. It's all good though, he survived.

Carter only stayed asleep for 20 min or so. Poor thing was just too hot!

Leaving the game.. that made him happy

Random pic of Carter eating chicken crescent rolls... amazing, a new thing he'll actually eat that's real-people food!

Carter kissing Daddy goodbye. Or I should say Dad, because that's what Carter calls him now.. so silly. We're taking off today to Portland and Yakima to see my family. WAHOOO!!!

Father's Day

2011-06-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Eh, Father's Day was 3.5 days ago, but whatev... Here's some cute little shots during the week of Carter and Daddy

I dumped Carter off at the clubhouse fitness center with Aaron so I could go on a run. I should do this everyday...

You've heard of cake pops/bites right?? Deliciousness, all the rage. Well I attempted to make em for Aaron for Father's Day. He's kinda obsessed with PB & chocolate, so that's what I made. They turned out swell (but I actually prefer em without the final coating... just the cake & frosting mix, just FYI!)

Aaron reading Carter a story. Tender.

Name the book... I'll mail a dollar to the first person who can tell me what it is

And we went to Steak & Shake! Yes fast food... we don't do that often, but they have delish chicken burgers, we found out! Minutes previous to this photo, I had dropped Carter on his head! Not even kidding, he wriggled outta the booth and fell, it was sad... but he got over it =)

And another motion picture for your entertainment.

This is what my boys do during church, while I am in Sacrament meeting.

I just keep adding to this post, but I keep uploading my iphone pics!

Here in St Louis, they have the "Magic House" and it's the most awesome thing EVER. I've been meaning to check it out with Carter, and I finally did yesterday, with Angela.

It's safe to say I love this place, as does Carter. He can roam free with LOADS to play with in this children's museum. (I don't even need to put him on his leash!!)

They had a pretend grocery store, bank, auto shop, etc. SOO cute.

Now what I should have done while Carter was grocery shopping was have a little tantrum & run around trying to knock cans off the shelves & embarrassed him in public. Payback

This was on one of our runs/walks. I just got a jogging stroller. Love it

And I got Carter this puzzle after he loved playing with one at the Magic House. Total score.

Carter

2011-06-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Just some silliness from our baby.

I flipped the phone so he can actually see himself and it's quite funny

weekly bits & Six Flags!

2011-06-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun (busier) week I suppose. Carter makes things very interesting, usually in a good way =)

This was just a pic from my birthday I forgot about...

Yesterday all us girls went to Forest Park and to the St Louis science center. Carter did pretty well and was very entertained. At this moment, we were at the dinosaur part, and there was a big t-rex that moved and growled. He was a little worried...

You know what happens when a baby's wearing a regular diaper in the pool...

We went to Six Flags today! Our team out here won some incentive so all the guys and their families got to go. We spent most of the day taking Carter on rides, and despite skipping his nap, he did so well and had a lot of fun!

He just loves these splash pads...

Daddy and Carter on a little boat ride. Carter didn't really know what to think at first, hence the nervous face..

Aaron and his buddy Brent goin on the Batman ride. (Might I add that I went on ONE ride, felt sick, and sat out the rest of the day. Total bummer).

Me and Carter on the ferris wheel

Carter was so funny on this swing. He wouldn't really look at us when he went around, just stared forward awkwardly

In line at the Freeze ride (that I got sick on), there was this tall bb dude with a final four back pack. Aaron made friends real quick... his name was Josh Harrelson from Kentucky, which happened to be the team that knocked UNC out of the tournament

My little drenched rat after another round at the splash pad.

And the end: a worn out little boy =)

Family Update... finally

2011-06-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

Oh look, I finally have something to blog about! Yes it has indeed been a while. Things are the same, me and Carter hang out every day while dad goes out and brings home the bacon. I guess that's probably about the same lifestyle as many a housewife. Mine also involves a lot of pinterest and web surfing for things I don't need, but hey what they heck.

I had a fantastic birthday a week ago (turned 27- so sadly climbing up to 30). Aaron and the guys upstairs snuck around and made me a red velvet cake, and Aaron brought me some beautiful flowers, a balloon, and had Paityn (just like last year), pick out my gifts lol... Some think that requires no thought on his part, but I prefer it =) She's been shopping with me enough to know my taste, and Aaron frankly just does not have the time so it's all good

The day before, since Aaron didn't have to work, we had Frank & 4 other guys babysit Carter while we went on a date!! Yeah it was hilarious, 5 grown dudes, watching Kung Fu Panda and hanging out with Carter while we went to dinner and a movie. And when we got home, Carter had crashed in his (empty) kiddie swimming pool! Can't imagine what went on while we were gone....but I did appreciate getting out, that's for sure

Of course, I didn't bring a vase out here, so a vivint water bottle does the trick I suppose

Carter's been quite the ladies man lately. On my birthday we went out to the pool, and Carter was talking away to Brooklyn in her stroller, it was super cute

My besties Bennett and Jenna came through to visit on their way to Chicago, and we let their daughter Avarie and Carter take a splash in our kiddie pool =) They were so silly together

I did it.. I'm one of those moms now.. with a kid on a leash.. a DOGGIE leash for that matter. Carter is just rambunctious at the mall, grocery store, anywhere in public and just wants out of the cart/stroller to get down and walk. So this is what I've resorted to... he doesn't mind it actually, and walking so much tires him out, so that after 20 min, he's WILLING to go back to sitting in his stroller. Score =)

My friend out here, Jenna took these pics of Carter. I thought they were so cute

Today we took a family outing to Grant's Park in St Louis. It was founded by Ulysses S. Grant and is now owned by Busch... the beer company. (Kinda random, I thought). It's like a mini zoo with fun animals and shops, and we rode around on these big golf-cart like things to see elk and deer and cows.

Is it apparent that Carter does not like to hold still even while in a moving vehicle??

They had these little baby goats that you could actually feed bottles of milk to inside, so it was so funny to see Carter. These things were aggressive!

They're trying to gnaw on his shoes!

See?

We went in and those little goats were all over us, Carter liked it but was nervous at the same time

Carousel ride.. Carter had never been. He loved it =)

I believe he was singing while it went around

Carter's on the leash.. I'm still not used to it, a little embarrassed at using it, but whatever

gorgeous birds!

this animal was HILARIOUS. I mean, look at this thing! I have no idea what it was, but it's got fluffs around it's knees like a poodle, and a big ol mop of hair on his head.. so silly!

bald eagles, that was cool

Carter is obsessed with ice... so it was no surprise that he LOVED trying a snow cone, as evident on his purple mouth

elephant show! this was cute, reminded me of Rosie in Water for Elephants. We didn't see the whole thing because Carter of course, just won't sit!

Good times

cartito crandito

2011-05-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well my Carter man is a-growin! We had his 18-month checkup yesterday.. and he's 75th percentile in height, and 30th in height.......so he's "tall and skinny." Does he look tall and skinny to you?? And honestly, aren't the odds of me and Aaron having a tall skinny kid quite rare? Ya anyways, he's pretty normal and not that I worried about it, but Doc says he has no signs of autism whatsoever. Nope he is an active, chattery boy! An active boy that needs to eat more vegetables and less crackers.....ughh

Since I'm a mom posting about my kid, I may as well address the words he knows.. they're getting more numerous and I've found that while he doesn't say a lot of words, he totally knows what they are.

He says at least 100 times a day, "what's this?" I think I must say that a lot, trying to quiz him on animals, and such =) It's pretty cute though

He loves BIRD, and screams it any time he sees one

Same with BUS

and CARS

He says baby, uh oh, bye bye a ton

I taught him bug a few times, and he tries to say it but it just sounds like bird lol, and he loves kids and learned that word too

He finally starting saying yes.. that one took a while

Oh and he says duck, but it sounds like geek

Here's my silly man, trying on my sunglasses

pointing at birds, he loves them

looking up at an airplane

looking at bugs... (isn't it obvious he loves to observe things and be outside?)

So these are my little pilgrim boys lol... Carter was playing with a diaper and for some reason I was being silly and put it on his head... and he kept it there! It looked so funny, so I got Aaron to do it too for a picture.

After he threw a tantrum the other day in Ulta (those are becoming way too frequent), we went next door to Carters.. thank goodness that place is kid friendly!

And the crazy climbing has begun

I parted little man's hair for church the other day lol he looked very handsome

I guessed that Carter was getting sick of the few toys we brought out here, so I treated him to a new airplane!! He loves that thing

His favorite part is putting the shapes in the holes... who knew?

I love this little guy, and Aaron reminds me how lucky I am that I get to stay at home with him all day, and play with him and watch him learn. (sometimes I do forget that these are really great moments... like days when he chucks the remote control at my face or has a meltdown in the grocery store). But even though it's becoming a more difficult stage, he's still SO fun, I can't imagine life without my little sidekick!

trips to the park and the arch

2011-05-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Fun times for us this week, the weather has gotten less rainy so we've been busy outside!

I love my little Carter, just watching his movie on the computer

The boys on the vivint team get together about every other week in the morning and play some softball. Carter loves to watch & runs out on the field... maybe he'll actually play one day!

The vivint wives found a new park this week, and since it was a bright sunny day, I let Carter roam free, and this kid LOVES to be outside!

This was after the park, outside our porch... he still hadn't had enough of the great outdoors

Mother's Day! Carter's face is just so silly here...

After church we went back to the park, and Carter was so exhausted, so he went out in the grass, just sat down and played with dandelions =)

cute

I could have just fallen asleep in the handicap swing... if dang swings didn't make me sick!

We drove downtown to see the arch after the park!

Aaron & Carter

Me and Carter

Happy Mother's Day! We sure love our moms!!!

recent adventures

2011-05-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Most of Carter's and my days don't really involve that much of an adventure, but if we do get out to do something cool, it's a big deal for us!

Here's some fun pics of Carter hanging out with his friend Scarlet in the tennis courts =)

Carter really loves Paityn's dogs Shade & Callie

We went on a bike ride around the lake, with Carter in tow behind me... it was naptime so I was glad he fell asleep!

Carter getting technical in the apple store

me and paityn and the girls all went to see Water for Elephants and left the kiddos at home with daddies!

The other day all us girls went to the zoo! Here's me and Carter man on the train =)

Here's our clan so far: Marisa, Paityn, Jenna, me and Carley. Good times... it's a fun bunch I must say

Don't be grossed out by Carter's cracker crumbs hangin out his mouth. We were all just really excited!

Camels!

Scarlet and Carter chillin again, taking a break at the zoo.. silly lil lovebirds =)

Aaron's 30th!

2011-04-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

First, I Just thought I'd show some of the damage that is leftover from the St Louis tornados- it happened a week ago, but there's been such a downpour of rain that not a lot of people have volunteered to help clean up. So this is how Aaron spent his 30th birthday yesterday! All the reps and techs on the Vivint team met up in the morning and headed out towards the airport. The phone wires had been blown over, but had been fixed already.

Huge tree collapsed on top of this house

The orange makes em look quite a bit like jailbirds ;)

The birthday boy, hard at work

Even Carter had an orange shirt for the event =)

Here's Carter, "helping," dragging his stick to the rest of the branches

breaktime to pose with daddy

This house is unbelievable

family pic!

Humongous tree totally rooted out on its side

this pic is amazing. the sky looks like it just happened (it didn't though)

inside of a house, totally destroyed and the roof gone

Crazy huh!!! We were fine, and although there were 7 tornadoes in St Louis that day, there were no deaths. Alabama, we hear was not so lucky... Very sad

Anyways Aaron did indeed turn the big 3-0 yesterday, and just like every year, he spent it knocking doors (and volunteering!)
After work, we had a few friends over for ice cream cake

Got him the ipad 2 for his birthday, I know I'm a good wife ;)

Happy Birthday to the best husband ever!

And thanks to his family and good friends who sent in videos. He LOVED it!

Amazing

2011-04-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Luckily some friend posted this on facebook today and it was just so cool.
First off Carrie Underwood can do no wrong- so beautiful and so talented, I'm floored.
And even though country music can be so cheesy sometimes and annoying, I'm glad that they're proud to still incorporate religion into it. I love how the audience reacts, and I mean how many awards shows are there where the celebrities feel the Spirit??! Amazing

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

Man do I have things to report...

Here's some random shots of Carter during the week:

Eating his pancake with his feet on the table... who taught him this?

This kid loves to be outside

Silly face and an Easter egg on his head

I just love his little profile.. he has no nose!

Outside again, he's actually trying to pick up an ant

His Easter outfit!

Instead of Easter dinner, he was too full of candy so he colored on his tray instead

This was my tangerine ham with carrots, it was delish!

Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about the crazy midwest tornadoes, especially here in St. Louis... Yes we live IN St. Louis, and these hit just 10-15 minutes from our house! Scary but everything's okay. This kind of weather is common for Missouri, but even the locals said they've never seen this much damage

The airport got hit, and has been shut down for a couple days. They are just now starting to have a few flights coming in.

On a happier note, today is me and Aaron's 3rd anniversary!!! Yay for us, I love this man =)

(um my hair was so short!!)

CrAzY cArTeR

2011-04-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing to report except that me and Carter are having fun =)

He's into his normal mischief, and I just clean up after him 20 times a day!

This week is stressful because it is Easter, my dad's birthday, my brother's birthday, AARON'S birthday, AND our anniversary all within 5 days. Needless to say I've been doing a lot of shopping- and can I throw in there that shopping for men is not my favorite...

carter loves kiwis so much he won't even wait til they're peeled!

yup that's my swimsuit. so flattering on baby C!

If you've thought about plastic surgery, rethink it....

2011-04-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

OMG I saw this video on a blog and just couldn't resist reposting it. I laughed out loud all 3 times I watched it =)

we made it!!

2011-04-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

Here we are in St Louis.. more specifically "Creve Coeur" and things are going great! Missouri is really pretty and green and it's finally springtime!!

Carter did amaaaaazing on the road trip, just watched Despicable Me about 18 times, so WE are sick of it, but it kept him content =) The trip was around 20 hours, which we broke up in 2 days

Here's outside our hotel the one night, in Kansas. Carter was sooo happy to be outta the car!

The first day here we found an amazing lake that has a trail all the way around it, only 10 min from our house. It was sooo nice outside and I can tell me and Carter are gonna hit it up on a weekly, if not daily basis!

Yay!!!

Last week in Utah... for a while

2011-03-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well we've got one more week here.. I'm not even packing or thinking about packing yet, because it just doesn't seem time yet! Today actually seemed like a spring day finally, but I've felt in crappy winter mode still, which means it's NOT summer yet. Whatever

This is Aaron, and what he's been doing nonstop. Selling, at Vivint, or meeting with guys.

I actually look forward to the summer cuz I'll get to see him every day (without him leaving town!)

Here's me and Carter, sweet boy actually fell asleep in my arms... he RARELY does that ever!

My bro, "uncle Craig" came to town last weekend. It was super fun to see him, and to have Carter have fun with him, since the visits are way too few. Carter really liked Craig, and even said his name, it was cute =)

ha, cute right?

This picture absolutely cracks me up. He looks so mad, but he was just being silly.

A. he's on the dishwasher, and B. he just makes the silliest faces!

Oh boy I debated posting this in fear of revealing my bad mom moments. I set him on the counter to watch me cook dinner, standing close by in case he fell. I wasn't close enough... I did catch him but only after he hit his head on the open dishwasher. I felt sooooo bad, but he was alright. Hoping the scar fades very soon =(

At auntie Val's house. He's discovered the piano and loves the noise. We do not, but whatever, he's happy!

Family pic.. cheeeeese!

Daddy and baby. love

Sittin on his favorite little perch, the shower ledge =)

Farewell Utah... Next time I'll be posting from Missouri. Craaaazy!

Awesome weekend

2011-03-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

This picture was just too cute, I had to post it even though it's dark. Carter trying on bunny ears in Old Navy.. I love it!

So Aaron booked a weekend getaway for us & our friends Jared and Malia, up near Bear Lake so we had a fantastic weekend! We went snowmobiling all day Saturday and then stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Garden City.

I'm feeling like a thug trying on those huge rental snow pants...

We got a kick outta our ski masks... here's Malia

And me

And Aaron

The group of us, looking oh so cool.... right?

Me and Aaron on our snowmobile

So we got a double and the girls rode on the back behind the husbands. If you've ever done that, please tell me you got so sore and tired too! Being a small person, you just get lots of air on small bumps, so it takes so much energy to hold on. After a few hours I was soooo exhausted!

I refused to even sit up for this pic lol

Jared and Malia

At the Bed & Breakfast they had theme rooms (kinda like Anniversary Inn but cheaper). Naturally Aaron booked us the "golf" room- his dream come true I must say. The room was decked out in ~~tacky~~ golf decor and had a little putting green in the room. It was actually very nice, the pics don't really do it justice.

And then we just messed around, watched March Madness with Jared & Malia and went hot tubbing. It was super fun, and I loved the rest!

Because I have nothing else to blog about!...

2011-03-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

So I've got a super cute baby who is always happy and so funny. Actually I've been noticing lately that he's changing so much! Just learning new words and developing even more of a personality, it's so fun!

We are trying to get him off his binkie... not super hard though I admit. He just loves that thing

He really likes getting into my stuff, and Aaron gets annoyed because of course, it's all girly things. He is trying to curl his hair! (don't worry, it's not hot!)

He loves watching me cook, it's so funny. So I've started to pull up a chair so he can see =)

Just not as hamm-y as he used to be, I'm trying to get him to smile, but nada! He's just too cool...

Luckily he's been better at baths lately

Seems like all kids do that funny fist-clenching, teeth showing thing... Carter is no exception, and it's hilarious!

Moving to St. Louis in just a few weeks! Then I'll have something more interesting to blog about =)

man I've gotten lazy at blogging....

2011-03-05T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well, we've been busy, but not with super exciting things to talk about. However, we are going to St. Louis this summer with Vivint. Not the newest news, but I guess for some people it is! Here's a jumble of the past couple weeks for us:
Aaron and his co-manager Mark went out to St. Louis last week to set up apartments and check out the area. We're excited, but I'm not quite ready to up and move again =(

So speaking of Vivint, they throw awesome parties. Our regional manager took all his managers under him for a cabin retreat in which they went bobsledding!!
I might add that they also had a party for the manager's wives which was so fun to hang with the girls (sans baby!), eat scrumptious food, and play Bunko... in which I won a purse!!

So while Aaron's been outta town a lot, me an Carter find ways too entertain ourselves.... Carter is just not as photogenic as he used to be =(

Back before Aaron's St. Louis trip, he went on a Vegas selling trip. His 90-year old customer gave him this "artwork" to give to me as a Valentine's day present. He made it himself and says he sells them for thousands of dollars. (WTF??????????!)

Thanks to my awesome friends, the Earls and the Hoyts who volunteered to watch my precious Carter for the weekend, I got to join Aaron in Vegas for Valentines weekend!!! I drove down with my good friend Paityn and we hung out with our husbands down there. I freakin loved it but unfortunately did not get pictures of us. Boooo

Inside Planet Hollywood. I loved this.....

The new Cosmopolitan hotel,.. I was in LOVE with the chandeliers!!!

See what I mean?

Bellagio

Got to see Mystere... It was sweet. I love my hubs for spending such an awesome weekend with me! (That is rare this time of year with all the craziness of work!)

So back in Utah... Carter's just cute as can be, and always getting into things. He jabbers all the time and cracks us up with his quirks. This particular day, naked to his diaper, he made a pillow fort! We had not taught him this... he's just a silly smart boy!

Carter used to cry everytime Daddy "disappeared" into the shower. But the ledge just outside the shower is just perfect for him to perch his little bum for a rest!

Silly guy... me and Aaron are doing an 8-week challenge to get in better shape (I'm struggling but he's rockin it!) We thought it'd be funny to enter Carter too, whose goals are to GAIN weight, and not bite anyone again in Kid's Club at the gym. (Yeah he bit a lil black baby the other week!!) This is his "before" pic ;)

Cute or what?

I'm a bad mom..... my baby fell off the counter because I was not close enough to catch him (I tried!!!) He hit his poor lil head on the dishwasher, but he IS fine, I promise.

Today, we had another Vivint party at the Provo Beach Resort. I tried to get Aaron to do this indoor surfing but he was too lazy to change his clothes I think. So here's some shots of some of are good friends on our team...
Mark

And Jared

I rolled Carter's pants up so he wouldn't get soaked and he got so frustrated!!

Yay fun times for us!!

That's all

Deep in the heart of Texas

2011-02-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time I was a college student, living with random roommates in Provo, Utah. One day a girl moved in named Jenna, and became my room-roommate. Both being short, ex-cheerleader Washingtonians, it was obvious we'd be the best of buds, and we were. My parents even raved about Jenna, saying she was so fun and cute and that she needed to marry into our family! Needless to say I had no brothers her age, so we just continued our single fun crazy lives.

After both serving missions, and being back in Utah again (though sadly not roommates), I started dating my soon-to-be husband. Then a certain cousin of mine returned from his mission named Bennett.

And what's a girl to do?? Bennett and Jenna here were engaged by the time I got married. =)

Soooo, since Bennett and Jenna are living in Texas for dental school, I decided it was time for a visit! Crazy that we're married now and have kids, but it was so much fun!

Carter loved their new baby Cameron... I think he was being gentle

BFF for life... Jenna has no choice anymore, she married into the family

Cute little Avarie on the swing with Jenna. Carter and Avarie are only a few weeks apart.

Carter and me

Ohhhhhh swinging together... that means they're married!!! Ok just kidding, they're 2nd cousins so that is not allowed ;)

Hangin out in the back seat with the binkies

And obsessed with Elmo ( I believe.. either that or Einstein)

We got to go out to Bennett's parent's house.. my Aunt Shirlene's and hang out with some family!

And here's Bennett, looking like he's being mauled by the two gremlins!

The little kiddos really did have fun together. And Jenna (the hairstylist) and me (just plain silly) thought our kids would look funny with their hair like this, and they did

And I just couldn't get enough of this little guy. Sweetest little baby ever.

The End of my story. Friends who marry into the family are the best... you never lose touch =)

Randomness

2011-02-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

Carter with blankie at church. And he's got this look on his face like "you can't make me sit still at church." And he's absolutely right

This was back at Aaron's Aunt Carol and Uncle John's in Arizona. He's starting to loves cars =)

Happy boy at Grandma Belinda's

Carter ate quite well I hear while we were on our cruise. =) That makes 3 of us

Turning into such a curious, busy boy

He's soooo happy and fun, but....

This kid is into EVERYTHING!!

I don't know how well you can see this, but this is where he sits... on the floor with a mat underneath, but still manages to throw food all across the kitchen.

Throws all the books off the bookshelf then stands on them

Alright this one is really cute to me... he loves the fridge. He loves the little low button he can push to turn the light on and off... and loves to take things on and off the door. So curious!

uhhh yep, this is what entertained him for about 20 minutes in my bathroom. Why not a toy Carter??

This is my jewelry bin... on the floor. With tangled necklaces, one lost earring to every pair, he's broken a few and I catch them in his mouth!

Anywho, Aaron was only home in Utah for 4 days in January, that's how hectic it's been around here. I went to visit my bestie Jenna in TX last week (pics coming!) while Aaron headed to NY for a recruit...

They went up to Niagara Falls... amazing in winter but soooo freezing

It's getting busy with work for Aaron, getting preseasons in, getting (and keeping) recruits, checking out the area, which will be ST. LOUIS this summer. We're excited and the team is looking really good so far!

The other night we had a little dinner- okay big dinner, at Chef's Table, which I had really been wanting to try, with some peeps from our team last year.

And Apx is now VIVINT! Wooo hooo! Long story why, but it's the same company with fancier stuff and a new image... yes, vibrant orange. We went to a Vivint party tonight and are rockin our new t-shirts

Go us =)

Free stuff!

2011-01-26T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hello amigos,
I've just teamed up with some etsy sellers to do giveaways on my decor blog! All you have to do is comment to enter to win all sorts of fun things. Right now we're sponsoring Lily Gene, so head on over to http://stephfascinations.blogspot.com/2011/01/giveaway.html!!

I don't understand it!

2011-01-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

So I'm confused about a few things....

Why must I wait for 20 minutes in Nordstrom every time I go to the Mac counter for someone to help me?! Seriously every time, and sure I've got a kid with me, but I still wear make-up too! So frustrated

Why do I get into ridiculous shows like the Bachelor?? NONE of the relationships ever pan out, and I mean, how could they?? One guy, "in love" with 20 girls at once. And being a girl, how could you actually fall for someone (for REAL) while he's mackin on other girls?! I don't get it.. but I watch it every time it comes around...

I don't understand my bodybugg. It's supposed to be this convenient way to track your weight, calories, etc, but I have had the hardest time with mine!

On that note... I don't know how I turned down the girl scouts who came knockin on my door the other day. I did, and I guess I'm proud that I sent them away..(but I secretly wish they'd come back!)

Anyone seen Paula's Live to Dance? I've mentioned it before, but why the huge jewelry?? She's MY height but wears the craziest stuff that just overwhelms her. I am baffled once again

And finally, why does my silly, cute little man love mac n cheese one day, then throws it on the ground the next? Why did he love green peppers but now won't touch them? So finnicky and I'm just stumped as ever.

But then again, look how handsome he is at church!...With his blankie he's now attached to ;)

CRUISIN!

2011-01-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Funny story: the day I met Aaron (not even our first official date), he had asked me if I'd ever been on a cruise. My response, being a little bit silly, was "no, are you gonna take me?" We both kinda laughed about it, but 3 years later, we finally got to go! I was nervous to leave Carter behind, although I knew his grandparents would take great care of him, and we had such a blast! We went on Carnival with 2 other couples and went to the western Caribbrean. It was cloudy most of the trip which was a bummer, but I'm so glad we got to do this.. the first big vacation since our honeymoon.

Here's us on the cruise ship, leaving Miami

The wonderful animal towels. (This was the first night.. we're guessing it was a sting ray?? Cooler ones came later)

Our group: me and Aaron, Jared and Malia, and Paityn and Mark. Soooo much fun with these guys!

The girlies

Oh, the girlies again, glammin it up

Me and my handsome Air Bear

First port was Grand Cayman, where we got to snorkel and play with the sting rays! So cool

This almost looks fake doesn't it? Amazing

Aaron and Jared messing around with the sting rays...

I'm the only one of our group that took advantage of the coconuts. Haha

The ship from the port

Me and some strange statues they had lurking about the casino

Cozumel was our second port... the boys snorkeled while the girls hung out on the beach. The peacocks were so cool!

Silly Aaron and Jared

The little "peacock lounge"

We rented jeeps that day. Just too windy for the back seat!

So gorgeous!

3rd port was Belize. The water was so choppy, it took hours for the little tenders to even get close enough to the boat to let off us passengers. And it was kinda rainy, but still fun. Belize was crazy to me, because it looked just like Guatemala where I lived for a summer, rundown and very 3rd world, but it was trippy seeing everyone speak English!

Mayan ruins

Last port was Roatan, Honduras. Disappointing day for snorkeling because of the stormy weather which led to murky, trashy water. But hey we ended up eating at Coconuts, a restaurant with panties and bras and boob jokes all over the place. I don't think the boys minded!

The warmest day was probably the day we got off the ship and spent a few hours in Miami. We laid out on the beach and I insisted on finding Dash (from Keeping up with the Kardashians). Disappointing in case you were wondering ;)

Provo Gurls

2011-01-02T21:24:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen this passed around email and facebook yet, you have to watch it. So funny and so TRUE!!! Bahahahaha!

Christmas and catching up

2011-01-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

My bad, I haven't blogged in like ages. I get wrapped up in my decorating blog I forget to report on my family! Whoops, I guess my New Years resolution shall be to prioritize?

Well a few weeks ago, I took Carter outside to enjoy his first "snow." As you can see, he just wanted to eat it all.

During an attempt to Christmas shop at the mall, and keep my little tyke sitting still in his stroller, I bought him a chocolate sucker. Bad idea... ended up even in his hair.

Back home to Yakima... I am posting this pic just to show you what happens when you eat too much Christmas candy.. (besides the extra pounds I put on). You end up at the dentists with a few cavities... I won't tell you how many... okay I had 6. Hello Dad in the corner

My uncle has a really cool barn out in Selah, WA where it's become an extended family tradition to do the nativity scene in it since it kinda resembles a stable. This is Carter with my little cousin David, just a couple months apart.

And by the end of Christmas Eve, this is how C ended up.... poor guy got sick on the trip, and we're still trying to get him better! Love these cheeks though =)

So this little pink pony was not Carter's present... it was for my little sister Alice, from Santa...

Interestingly enough, Carter loved that little pink horse!

Oh there he is, at it again the next day

This is my sweet baby brother Joseph.. happiest baby you'll ever see. He's so chill and so sweet! He's turning one this month

Little Joseph and Carter... BFF's. Okay not really... They didn't play together all that much, but hopefully next year!

The kiddos playing again, with cute little Mia

Aaron pushing Carter in (once again) NOT his present... I think this was my little sister Mia's baby doll stroller lol Carter actually fit just right

This box warrants an amazing story.

My little brother Kent is on a mission in Texas, he just left in September. We got to talk to him on Christmas day, and it was so great! Anyway he gets my brothers on the phone and says, hey I buried some treasure for you out in the field. He tells them the exact location, to take some shovels and go dig it up! Mind you the ground has snow and is frozen, so it took some time but they found it!

And inside the box, my cute little brother had bought presents and gift cards for all the family, MONTHS before Christmas, and before he left for his mission! And the fact that he made it a treasure hunt is just so cool... =) (Why does my head look so gigantic in this picture? I have no idea)

In fact, Kent deserves a picture lol... such a stud! We miss him but are very proud

Anyway, we visited my mom down in Portland for a few days after Christmas and that was great... why did I not take more pictures, I don't know! But Carter was very glad to be home I think. He's obsessed with some new toys that he got... even more magnets for the fridge!

Happy boy, we love him

Happy NEW YEARS everyone!!

I wanted to post this mostly for my family, it's a little long, so don't feel like you have to watch it ;) I just thought it was so cute, my little brother Luke, playing and dancing with Carter

Family Pics

2010-12-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

Well, in a rush to get Christmas cards sent out this year (since I've never gotten my act together the other 2 Christmases we've been married), we hired a sister of a friend to shoot some quick family shots, and they turned out so great!! It was FREEZING, and poor Carter wasn't his normal smiley self- I guess I don't blame him. But here's some of our favs... and some are just plain silly-- One kid makes it so hard for everyone to look at the camera AND smile, I can't imagine how pictures are like with a big family!

Thanksgiving! (a little late)

2010-12-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

We headed down to Phoenix (Chandler to be exact) for Thanksgiving with Aaron's family this year. So fun!! We gained a few pounds, but had fun doing it! Carter was a great little boy, he loves company so that was great to be able to pass him off for others to play with (he gets very bored with just me all the time).

Me, Aaron, and his stepdad Steve went on a bike ride.. It was so pretty out in the desert!

That person is me

Me and Steve

The Air-Bear looking studly

Cutie faces at Aaron's Aunt Debbie's house

Carter actually ended up falling asleep on her bedroom floor that night, halfway under the bed!

Grandpa Dave got him and Carter matching Broncos jerseys (he's a huge fan)- it was so cute!!

Aunt Debbie lighting the candles on Grandpa Jay's birthday cake. He's the sweetest 85-year old man you'd ever meet!

Took a little walk to the park before the Thanksgiving feast

Carter looks a little terrified here, but he actually loves the slide!

Aaron's brother Ryan works for Microsoft and introduced us all to the latest- the Xbox Kinect. It's so rad!! We asked for one for Christmas (and already got it hehe)

Grandpa Dave carving the turkey

Carter was very spoiled by Grandma Belinda's delicious cooking.. he does NOT eat such gourmet food here at home =)

Loves mashed potatoes A LOT

Oh my goodness, I LOVE this picture. This is Carter's little second cousin, Brady who is a few months older than Carter. One afternoon, Carter was to be going down for a nap in the pack-n-play (in the closet!) Brady was missing, and we found him in with Carter, playing! They were so sneaky and it shows by their little grins under their binkies. Such cute little buddies.

Sportin the jersey again

Go Tim Tebow

Aaron's Dad got us tickets to the ASU vs. UCLA football game (both Aaron's parents went to UCLA). The game was really fun, and GREAT weather compared to what the rest of the country was doing.

There's Tarrah (Ryan's gf), Dave, Aaron, me and Ryan

Aaron's other Grandpa, Roger sent a little tractor for the 2 little grandsons to play with.. Carter loved it

Beautiful pic of the desert... Aaron found this cactus humorous..... boys are so perverted

We had flown out to Arizona, but drove back to Utah with Aaron. This is in the gas station right after Carter's toilet incident. He was SO anxious to get outta the car, we didn't care that he was all over the ground, and mauling all the winnie the pooh bears

And then again at Subway....

Aaron with his cousin Natalie, and the boys =)

One afternoon, Aaron's aunt Debbie volunteered to take Carter for the day so he could play with Brady at the Train park. Here's Brady with his daddy Ed, and Carter with Aunt Debbie. So cute

Natalie with Carter on the merry-go-round

Apparently Carter held on for dear life while sticking his bum out hehe

Ed (Natalie's husband) competed in an IRONMAN the day before we got there!! Yeah, SO impressive!

And a few more pics from Grandma's house. We love family!!

gas station + toilet + Vegas + Carter= no bueno

2010-11-30T10:48:00.001-08:00

Seriously I don't get it. Must be the age.. or the fact that he's a curious boy.. On our way home from AZ yesterday (and pics are coming soon) we stopped at a gas station in Vegas and I went to change Carter in the bathroom. I badly needed to wash my hands afterwards, lets just say, and I set him down to stand in the bathroom while I did so, keeping my eyes on him because I knew he would bolt straight for the toilet. (we have to close all our bathroom doors at home). I tell him no- as if he would listen, and before I could get to him, he had his hand in the toilet, and as I picked him up, he puts his hand in his mouth. So sick. Exiting the bathroom, I see Aaron and tell him what happened while Carter laughs at the story. Such a sneaky baby I've got here! On a good note, he's otherwise the happiest, funnest baby I could ask for =)

SIckies

2010-11-18T23:53:00.000-08:00

What a week. I must have some killer immune system, because between my two boys I've got, I've somehow escaped any and all sickness that they've gotten lately. Aaron was sick 2 weeks ago, lasted a week. Then Carter got something else, the stomach flu, (which he just had a month ago) and I think he is finally over it today. This is after barfing in Ikea yesterday, and everyday, in every room of our house since Sunday.

Undoubtedly this was after a bath, after he barfed.

Making matters worse, Aaron is out of town again so it's just been me and Carter.. and baby Einstein DVD. I had no idea babies could get obsessed with something, but alas Carter is ridiculously attached to his baby Einstein. I've had it on repeat, playing nonstop since Monday. And Carter's been crying all the time, and watching his movie is the only time he'll stop. Usually I'm having to hold him, and watch the dang thing 30 times in a row.
But man I love being a mom! ;) And hey maybe when everything's said and done, Carter will have become some sort of baby genius, all while being sick!

Have you ever been 5 pounds from your weight goal, and you're on a roll going to the gym everyday, things are looking good, and then bam your kid gets sick, you can't go to the gym, you sit around all day, and scarf your face? Cuz let me tell you a little something. I don't work out to lose weight. I work out to not GAIN weight. I like food, and I don't like to feel hungry. Diets are not my thing. So I pretty much have to work out everyday just to not get fat. Needless to say, I'll be avoiding the scale, til after Thanksgiving!

Anyhow, since my baby's been sleeping a lot (I've been trying to get him to at least), I've been pretty bored. SOOO the husband's gone, the baby's sick, what else do I have to do but decorate?! I did indeed put up our Christmas tree and some decorations. And I set up my Christmas radio on Pandora, bought some peppermint ice cream, and suddenly life is looking pretty bright!

Still needing a tree skirt.. where in the world do you buy those without spending a fortune??

On another good note: My dad and little brother Luke are coming to town for the weekend for the BYU game... very excited about that.
The BIJOU MARKET is going on this weekend also in Provo, you KNOW I'll be hitting that up!
AND my cousin Bennett and my bestie Jenna (who happens to be his wife) had their baby today!! Yay for them!!

And heading to Arizona for Thanksgiving, and meeting up with Aaron at his mom's house... it will be a much needed break!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Carter's 1st Birthday!

2010-11-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks, this is gonna be a long one..

Carter was born November 4th of last year, just about 10 hours after his 2nd cousin, Liam Kaufman. So since their birthdays are only a day apart, we had a joint party at Kangaroo Zoo! (The party was a few days before Carter's actual birthday).

Carter was soooo tired since he skipped his afternoon nap, but he did great, just running around and "jumping" on the blow-up toys.

This was how Carter started out his birthday... dead asleep when we got there.

He only got about 20 minutes of a nap.. but when he woke up he was happy as can be

Here's my awesome cousin Doug, with his son, the other birthday boy, Liam!

Carter chillin in the birthday chair, waiting for cake. Love his crossed ankles =)

Best little buds eating their pizza! Or maybe it's just Carter hogging it all...

We managed to trick Carter into wearing a birthday hat, but Liam would have none of it! Poor guy was very upset. But look at their delicious cake!

Daddy and the birthday boy

On his real birthday, Grandma Belinda came to town to come celebrate... he got wayyy too many presents but he's loving life right now. I love his new coat from Grandma =)

Carter with Grandma in his new big boy car seat!

We went to La Jolla Groves for dinner- not that it's Carter's favorite, but we all like it! On the way we stopped at this super cute toy/candy shop called Blickenstafs and let Carter play around. He liked riding the horsey.

You can vaguely see some dogs in the background.. Carter would walk up to them and suck on their noses lol

Carter opened his presents and loves them. This little musical stand is from his Uncle Ryan, I get a kick out of watching Carter push the buttons

Magnets, with his little tin box... major hit. They end up ALL over the house, but hey, maybe he'll be spelling in just a few months? ;)

Carter's birthday cake, yes another birthday cake. Nothing fancy but he ate his whole piece plus ice cream!

Sadly blurry, but his little face was so funny!

I think he enjoyed it, yes?

I love my little peanut!!