February at a Glance

I've had a few people ask for some prego pics so here they are. I'm officially 27 weeks along now or 6 months. I actually went to the doctor today and she said that Cupcake was measuring on the small side. The doctor said not to stress too much yet, but of course I am anyway. She's going to measure her again in 2 weeks to make sure she's gaining weight. If not, here come the steroids and bed rest...yikes! Needless to say for the next two weeks I will be on the Atkin's protein diet so we can beef this dainty baby girl up.
On Valentine's Day, Carson and Daddy made a snow fort. Carson only lasts so long in the snow before he's ready to go in. The boy won't keep gloves on so his hands get cold and then he's done. It was a fun day nontheless.
Eating the snow from Valentine's Weekend.

All tuckered out. Between making Valentine sugar cookies and playing with his friends, Carson didn't get a nap in. As I was getting dinner ready, it got awful quiet and I found him asleep on the floor.
Carson at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, looking at all the Finding Nemo fish. I took him up there on my birthday for something fun to do. We hadn't been in a really long time, he had a blast.

Baby Bedding

Target currently has a bunch of their baby stuff on sale so I headed over after my Dr. appt. this morning and I was able to find some bedding for Cupcake. Yeah! Now I just need to figure out paint colors for her room and then we'll be set. Nesting...what's that?

Baby Cupcake

I'm a little slow at posting this, but this is Cupcake at our last appointment (which was the beginning of the month). Just a little profile shot of our growing baby girl.

Week of Firsts

So last week was the week of firsts. To start off, Carson went to primary for the first time and did great. He wasn't overly excited about taking a picture so this was the best I could do.

Second, Carson went to his first dentist appointment and was so brave. No cavities either, woo hoo! I tried getting his picture afterward but he refused.

Lastly, this is the first time and hopefully the last time that we will open our blinds and find cows in our backyard.

Christmas Memories

This Christmas was definitely one for the books. We spent it up in Oregon and for those of you don't know, Oregon doesn't generally get snow. In the 8 years I lived there, the most I ever saw was a couple of inches that would melt by the next day. Of course the year we decide to drive, not fly to Oregon it has to be the Arctic Blast of 2008.

Tim, Carson, and I headed out at 4:30 in the morning to try and beat some of the storms that were headed in the same direction that we were. We were actually making really good time, until we were about 1 1/2-2 hours away from Portland, our destination. That 1 1/2-2 hour drive turned into 4 hours of snow packed roads, single lanes, semi trucks galore, and off and on "whiteout" conditions...SCARY! I'm just glad that I wasn't the one driving. At one point we pulled off the freeway and were going to get a hotel, that is until we heard that there was a freezing rain storm on it's way which would make the roads even worse, thus leaving us stranded until who knows when. We finally made it to my parents house at 7:30 pm, which is 8:30 Utah time. UGH!

It was just a horrible time for traveling period. My poor sister, Shelley, was supposed to fly in the same night (Saturday) we were driving in, but then her flight got cancelled. She tried again on Monday and it was cancelled again. She finally made it Christmas night and that flight was almost cancelled as well. Everyone elses' flights made it in on time thank goodness. What a stressful time it was though.

So for the first half of the week we were practically snowed in because Oregon doesn't know how to take care of their roads. We were able to sneak away one night to meet up with Tim's sister, Angie and her husband (who is from the Portland area also) to go to a Blazers game. We borrowed my parents van, but even then the driving conditions were still scary. The only other outings we made were to visit my Dad's two new Ashley Furniture stores. We had planned to go to the coast and several other places, but it just wasn't worth it with the roads the way they were. One afternoon/evening (before the whole crew was there) the power went out, so to make the most of it, Tim, Bry, Carson, and I decided to play hide and go seek in the dark. Carson thought it was the greatest and still loves to tell everyone all about it. The rest of us had a good time too. :)

Despite the crazy weather we had a great time, especially when the whole gang finally made it safely. I just wish it didn't go by so fast. We only got to spend a couple days with everyone there before we had to drive back. It will definitely be a Christmas to remember.

Christmas Excitement

Santa brought Carson a Polar Express train set this year. It just so happens that it is compatible with the wooden Thomas train set so Grandma Liz and Grandpa Ed got him a Thomas train to go with it. He was so much fun this year! Christmas with little ones is the best!

Happy 3rd Birthday Carson!

For Carson's birthday we took him to Chuck E Cheese and boy was that an experience! It was so loud, crowded, the food wasn't that great, the list goes on. Tim's sisters have now decided to call it Chuck E Sleez because of the kind of crowd that was there. Needless to say, we won't be going back anytime soon. Carson still had fun so I guess that's what really matters.

After Chuck E Cheese we came back to our house for cake and ice cream. We invited just a few of the neighbor kids to join us. Porter is Carson's best fried these days (he's the one in the Jeep with him). Oh and don't look too closely at the sad attempt at a train cake. One, I was rushed and two, I didn't have the proper tools to make it look pretty. I think I need to go to a cake decorating class if I'm going to keep on trying to make my own birthday cakes. I still can't believe my baby is 3! We love you Carson!

Merry Christmas to All!

The morning of Carson's birthday, we went over to Albertson's to get some balloons and we ran into Santa Claus. Pictures were free and everything...sweet! We're hoping to get Christmas cards out, but if it doesn't happen this year just know that we're thinking about you all and hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

Bows, dresses, & drama, here we come!

I know I'm a little slow at posting the baby gender results and I do apologize. My family was in town for Thanksgiving and so Tim & I hosted the large feast at our house. All went well and thank goodness my Mom was here to cook the turkey. I must say that I did watch and learn so maybe I'll be brave enough to try my own one day. We're now working on celebrating Carson's 3rd birthday, getting ready for Christmas, as well as getting ready to head up to Oregon, oh ya & Tim is in the middle of finals.

Anyway, back to business...IT'S A GIRL!!! We're so excited and my OB has already warned Tim that he was going to feel "lighter", in that his pocket book is going to dwindle fast. Carson seems to be thrilled about the baby, at least for now. He insists on looking at my growing belly & is telling everyone that the baby's name is going to be Cupcake. (I believe Tif & Gma Lanie helped him with that idea, but I can't exactly remember how it all came about). I'm currently about 17 weeks along and even though I'm out the "danger zone" for miscarriages, I remain paranoid. I guess worrying & pregnancy go hand in hand though right?

Bun in the Oven

Well it's happened again, we're pregnant. I'm currently about 13 weeks along and have been feeling pretty lousy, mostly at nights. I wanted to wait and tell people until I went in for my first appointment, I didn't want a repeat of my June first appt. (For those of you who didn't know, I had a miscarriage in June. I went in for my first appt and there wasn't a hearbeat.) Needless to say, we're very excited for this new little addition to our fam. Heaven knows Carson needs a sibling. What's fun is that he'll be getting a new sibling and a first cousin within the same week, with Harmony also expecting. My due date is May 20th and hers is May 26th. My doctor actually said that she'd bet on a girl this time and we should find out on our next appt, which is the day before Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween

The first few pics are at our ward Halloween Carnival that was the Saturday before Halloween. As you can tell, Carson loved the doughnut on a string game. We carved our pumpkins the night before Halloween. Tim's turned out the best, his is the largest pumpkin that has a cat, spider, and pumpkin carved on it. Mine is the vampire one, like Harmony, in the spirit of Twighlight. Carson's is the cute little smiley face one. On the day of Halloween itself, Carson and I went trick or treating at Daddy's office and then proceeded to do some more trick or treating around our neighborhood with Auntie Harm. Talk about candy overload. Yes I was lame and didn't dress up. I did try, but the witch costume I bought last minute ended up being too small. Better luck next year. :)

Witches at Gardner Village

The Monday before Halloween my friend Lisa and I took the kids to Gardner Village to see all the Halloween witches that they have scattered around. It's such a fun place to go, especially around the holidays.

Pack's Pumpkin Patch

This last Monday we got together with the Park's and the Grimm's at Pack's Pumpkin Patch in Farmington. There was a fun hay maze for the kids to run around in and we were able to pick out some pumpkins to take home. It's always fun getting together with friends we don't get to see as much anymore. (I apologize for the sideways pictures. I pulled them straight from my camera so they didn't make it to a computer beforehand to get rotated.)

Studious Carson

Tim was home one night working on homework and so Carson decided that he too needed to be studying. He went into the office and pulled out a church book on the Articles of Faith and sat at the table to read. Maybe he's trying to tell me something? I better get studying my scriptures.

Final Lagoon-a-Beach Days

Chillin' on the Lazy River

This was our last Lagoon-a-Beach trip of the season.
It was right before Tim started school again.
As Carson and Daddy would say, "This is the good life!"

Binky Fairy

So it looks like I'm doing a once a month post these days rather than a once a week. I do apologize. Our computer is still out of wac and it's throwing off my photo organization and it's driving me insane! I'm looking through my camera and can't remember when some of the pics were taken so bear with me on the next few posts.

I guess I should get into the reason behind the post title. Over Labor Day weekend, my sister Shelley came to town, she e-mailed me copies of the pics we took while she was here, but they're still on my e-mail because I don't have a computer to save them to. Anyway, with her added support, I decided that it was time for Carson's binkies to go bye-bye. He had seen a toy guitar at the store that I told him he could have, but only if we could call the binkie fairy to come and get his binks. After we purchased the guitar, he immediately wanted to play with it when we got home. I told him he had to bring me all of his binks first. He said, "Binky fairy will give them right back?" I told him no, they're gone for good. After the wheels turned in his head for a few minutes, he handed them over. All seemed great and dandy until later that night, bedtime. He told me he wanted the guitar to go back to the store. Luckily he didn't throw any major fits for the binks to come back, it was just a rough two weeks to get him to fall asleep without them. Needless to say, we survived and are currently almost 60 days binky free! If you ask Carson now what happened to his binks he'll say, " The binky fairy took them and gave them to the new babies that need them."

Weber County Fair

Carson and I went to the Weber County Fair with Harm and Josh in August. Josh's brother was competing in the "Fair Idol" so we went to listen and help cast our votes. He ended up making the top five actually. Carson had fun dancing to the music as well as experiencing all the new scents that the fair has to offer and I'm not only talking about the cows and pigs. I didn't think anything beat the Lagoon crowd on the weirdo factor, boy was I wrong!

Fun with Bryson

Back in July my little brother, Bryson came to town and stayed for ten days. He spent half the time with us and half the time with Harm & Josh. Carson was his little shadow. Even when Bry had to run to the restroom, Carson was there. We had fun playing guitar hero, going to the park, swimming, and going to Lagoon. I have a few more pics that are on our other computer (the one that is currently out of commission), but I thought to myself, hey I can still upload what I have on my camera. It only has taken me how long to figure that one out?!

Mommy Bites

I have to share a funny story that happened this weekend. To start off, Carson has turned into a biter. If he's mad at me, he not only hits but he has started biting. Time outs don't seem to be phasing him so I've had several people tell me that I will need to bite him back. I've been putting it off because the thought of biting my child sounded horrible to me. So anyway, last weekend Carson was having one of his meltdowns and bit me. I had HAD it and I went ahead and bit him back. He smacked me in the face afterward and then he just started sobbing, like a "How could you do that?" sob. He gave me a big hug and I felt horrible but proceeded to tell him that ya, biting hurts! The next day, we had a wedding to go to, one of Tim's friends. While we were at the reception, a lady came and asked Carson if it was okay that she sat next to him. She then went on to say, "It's okay, I don't bite." Carson turned to her and said, "Mommy does." I about died! I don't think the lady heard him or understood him thank goodness, but talk about a mortifying yet hilarious moment in the adventures of motherhood.

Out of Commission

No I'm not just being lazy with my posting, Tim was trying to download some software that turned out to be bogus and left us with a virus. Thank goodness he's good at retreiving all our documents and pics otherwise I'd be freaking out about now. I'm currently using a temporary computer that does not have my recent photos on it. Needless to say, when Tim gets it up and running, I'll get back to my almost weekly posts.

How to Install an Attic Fan

Ah ha, so this is how it's done.

CHEESE!

So the other night, Tim was online researching attic fans. We're thinking of getting one put in because our house doesn't seem to want to cool off at night. We still need to get our Lennox guy out to check on the AC, but an attic fan still might be a possibility in the near future to help lower our bill. While researching attic fans, Carson and Daddy found a "how to" video on thisoldhouse.com. Carson was so fascinated by it that he wanted to watch it over and over again. These pictures were taken that night, but sure enough the next morning, he wanted to watch the attic fan video. Who's kid is this?

Happy 4th of July!

The holidays can be pretty lonely around here with the majority of immediate family living out of state. We tried to make the most of it though. We got up and went to the Kay-trash parade, had nice naps in the afternoon, had a BBQ with Harmony & Josh and then we went to the city fireworks that night. Thanks for coming with us you two. It was so much fun watching Carson get so excited at the parade and fireworks. He is so full of life and is constantly doing things that make us laugh.

Franklin Templeton Lagoon Day

This past Saturday was Tim's work Lagoon Day. It was such a hot, not to mention extremely crowded day, so we went to the lunch, rode the train and then played in the entry fountain. We've gotten spoiled with our season passes I guess so to wait in any more long lines in the heat of the day just didn't' sound appealing. Even the fountain was jam packed with people trying to cool off. Here are a few shots of Carson and Tim getting drenched.

Slip'N Slide

Last Thursday I had to take the car in for some safety recall thing that was going to take a good 3 hours to fix. Luckily the dealership was in Bountiful so instead of waiting around, we got a ride to Grandma Lanie's house. I had packed up our swim suits as well as the new slip'n slide for something to do in the meantime. Our grass is still growing in so I haven't been brave enough to test it out on our lawn so I thought we'd try Grandma's instead. Carson had been exposed to a slip'n slide at one of our neighbors the previous week, but was a little nervous at first. This picture cracked me up because it looks like he was praying for the courage to do it again. Within a few minutes, he had warmed up to the idea and was slipping and sliding to his little hearts content.

Sprinkler Heads

Carson's current fixation is on the sprinklers. He's constantly asking me, "Sprinklers turning on in one hour or four hours?" He'll run from room to room to watch our entire cycle go. Now when the sprinklers are not on, we're drawing them. As you can see in these pictures, we draw them on his markerboard, chalkboard, as well as on multiple sheets of paper.