The Po Po

So this is such a funny story that I had to blog about it. Yesterday we went to Walmart and when we were coming out there was a policeman outside. Carter immediately recognizes him and says "The cops Daddy, look". Nick proceeds to say "Yup, its the Po Po"(an inner city slang term for police---for those of you who didnt grow up in the hood) :) Any way, so then we head over to Shopko and on the drive over I told him we do not call them the Po Po. They are nice policeman that are here to protect us. So we go inside and as we are waiting for the one of the clerks to retrieve the item we just purchased, I see a cop car speed by. Nick and Carter go outside to see what is going on. They see a policeman park his car and get out. Carter sees the policeman and as if he knows it was wrong, screams, "Its the Po Po!" and turns and runs into the store.

Thank You Bryce

On Friday I decided to get the kids all dressed up in patriotic colors and go to a funeral precession for Spc. Bryce Millward. He was a cousin of mine and he died in a helicopter accident in Hawaii while on active duty. I knew that the community was going to support his family by displaying flags along the route to the funeral home from the airport as they brought his body home. Before we left I showed Carter the US Flag on his shirt and explained that we lived in a very special place and that there are "nice people" who protect us and our homes by fighting against the "naughty people" who want to take that away from us. Once I could tell he sort of knew what I was talking about, I explained who Bryce was, a "nice person", who died trying to protect us and is now in heaven with Jesus and Heavenly Father. Then I told him that we were going to show our support to his family by waving our flags and saying Thank You as they drove by. As we headed out the door we grabbed our little flags and bundled up since it was pretty chilly. We got a really good spot on the street and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson showed up with blankets. While we were waiting, I again took the opportunity to explain to Carter why we were there. I wasnt sure it would all sink in. Then, we heard the police sirens and the POW/MIA motorcycles leading the precession. Carter jumped up in my arms to see better. As they all drove by, the entire street fell silent. You could feel the gratitude in the air from everyone around us. Then we saw the hurst carrying Bryce's body and tears began to stream from my eyes. Carter kept asking me, "Mommy, who is that?" I told him it was Bryce. And then, just when I thought that maybe he didnt remember anything we had talked about, he silently whispered...."Thank you Bryce". My heart melted and I held my son as tight as I could knowing that the Millward family had just lost theirs. It was a moment I will never forget. I am so happy I shared that experience with my children. I didnt know Bryce, nor did they but I knew it was important that they knew about him. I hope I can install a sense of honor and gratitude in them for the free and wonderful country we live in. We are all truly blessed!!

Short and Sweet

I always feel like I have to blog with a ton of pictures and lots of fun news and then I get so discouraged because it will take me forever to blog it all. So what im gonna start doing is blogging random things..quickly and maybe even sometimes without pictures!! I need to do it so that I can count this as my journaling. So far....here's a recap since the last blog. Short and sweet!
1. Avery turned 1....it was a great day but sad for me. My baby is one and getting bigger.
2. I turned 31....again a good day but sad for me. :( I hate getting older too. Nick took me to a beautiful themed suite and dinner. It was really fun.
3. Carter tried to potty train and did really good but got really distracted because it was so nice outside and never wanted to come in to go potty. So we gave up....Honestly, I wasnt ready. :)
4. I had an awesome Mothers Day. The kids gave me a maple tree to plant in our front yard to watch grow as they grow....how thoughtful. Nick changed all of the diapers and we had a BBQ.
5. Carter called me at work the other day to tell me he pooped in the potty all by himself.
6. We planted grass in our yard, had a sprinkler system installed and just got A/C installed.
7. I heard some sad news about a friend of a friend. My friend Jen has a friend named Angela who has a little girl named Tegan and she has just recently been diagnosed with MRT, a rare form of cancer that only affects 15 people a year! Jen organized many fundraising events for Tegan. I have offered to help because seeing what this little girl and her family are going through is heart breaking and it really maked me appreciate the healthy children I have. If anyone is interested in the fundraising events go to teganlyn.blogspot.com or click on the link on my side bar labeled Tegan Lyn. If anyone would like to make a donation or help in anyway please let me know. Any donations are appreciated. The main fundraiser will be next week June 12 and 13 at the Diamond Court Apartments. There will be a yard sale where the money earned from all items sold will go to the family. They will also be selling raffle tickets for some really awesome prizes. I hope there will be a huge turnout!
8. Summer is here...kind of...and Im looking for fun ideas to do things with the kids on my day off. Hopefully we can go swimming or something. If anyone is interested in a play date let me know. My kids need to get out of the house and play with other kids! I am really looking forward to the summer. I might try and add just pictures tomorrow. I have a ton of them.
9 My sister and her family coming down for the fourth of July and I am really excited. Ive got some stuff planned and hope to keep everyone entertained....especially myself and the kids. :)
10. I went to the foot doctor because I have been having tremendous pain in my heel. I have plantar fasciitis and had custom insoles made....which were expensive and so far have not done anything to help relieve the pain. My next option is probably surgery....which I am totally avoiding. Im going to see how the next months go and then make up my mind....so wish me luck.
11. Carter got pneumonia and was pretty sick. He was so weak he couldnt even sit up to let me dress him. It was so sad! But he recovered quickly and is healthy now.
12. Avery is trying to walk....but only when she wants to. She is stubborn and if youre not paying her any attention, she'll walk all over!!
13. We found out that we are adding a new niece and a nephew to the Bullock side of the family. We are super excited to have one of each. Cassie is due at the end of October and Erika is due at the start of November. Why cant anyone in our family have a summer baby? They are all winter babies!! Sheesh..... :)
Well there it is....the long and short of it all. Happy Blogging!!!

I'm A Survivor

I went to bed at midnight and talked to Nick for an hour. At 1:45 am Carter came into our room (not crying). I picked him up and carried him back to his bed and he asked me to sit with him. I did until he fell asleep and then went back to bed. Five minutes later I heard him crying for me so I went in his room and laid on the floor next to his bed with a blanket. For some reason he wouldnt go back to sleep but he still hadnt asked for a bottle. I asked him if he wanted to sit on the recliner in the living room with me and he jumped right out of bed with his Cars blankie. When we sat down he started crying again and then finally asked for a bottle. I reminded him that he threw them away so the Bottle Fairy could take them to the new babies at the hospital. A few seconds later he stopped crying and fell asleep. I put him back to bed and shut his night light off since it was pretty bright. I figured that may be the reason he couldn't go to sleep. As soon as I did that he never got up again!!! At 7:07 am he came walking into our room. When Nick set him up on the bed he asked to pick a prize out of his bag.......he wasnt gonna forget! I got up to go get the bag from his room and he yelled to me that he wanted the M&M's! He already knew which prize he wanted. He was so cute. He picked the little baggie with Smarties, Sixlets and of course M&M's. He put them in his mouth pretending to be an walrus. Nick and I gave him high fives and told him how proud we were of him. He just grinned from ear to ear. I think we have a Big Boy on our hands now!!!

Bye Bye Bottle Party

Today we threw Carter a Bye Bye Bottle Party. Carter is 2 yrs old and still demands a bottle at bedtime, during the night and at naptime. I decided that in order for the weening of his bottle to work, it needed to be a BIG deal. So we threw a party and told him that for every bottle he throws away he gets to open a present. We bought him a new toothbrush that sings, a football nightlight and a bedtime book. His final present was a back pack full of small prizes. Every night he goes without a bottle he gets to pick a prize out of the back pack the next morning. I also bought him new sippy cups, which we decorated with stickers. We also decorated Averys bottles with stickers too. We made cookies and had milk in fun animal cups. We invited our parents so that Carter would really think it was a big deal. Every time he threw a bottle in the garbage we all clapped and cheered and high fived him. Grandma Kim gave him a horse on a stick (which he used to hit all of the balloons with) and a giant bubble wand (which also used to hit the balloons with.) We had a really good time. After he threw all of the bottles away and opened gifts he tied up the bag and put it on the porch, where we told him the Bottle Fairy would come and pick them up and take them to the hospital for all of the new babies. This whole bottle thing has been such a struggle for us because he is sooooo attached to them and its hard to ween him when Avery still drinks bottles. Tonight will definitely be the test to see how he does. Im anticipating it NOT going well but praying for the best. We said a special family prayer tonight that it will not be too difficult for him or for us and that he will enjoy all of his new gifts. I hope everyone will remember us in their prayers. I will update everyone in the morning on how tonight goes. It should be interesting.........or a nightmare! :) Wish us Luck!

Moving and Birthday ideas

Ok so I know its been a long time since I last wrote but we've been trying to sell our house and we finally did! We just moved into our new house and are still living out of boxes. We just got our internet set up yesterday and Ive been dying with out my computer. So as soon as I get my house put together and finish unpacking then I will definitely post new pics of the house and some really cute pics of the kids. Avery's birthday is at the end of the month and she will be ONE. I cant believe it. Im trying to think of some cute and fun ideas for her first bday party and am having some trouble so if anyone has any great ideas, Id love to hear them. Thanks to everyone else who updates their blog often cuz I love to read them! Ive been so busy lately that I just havent had the time to sit down and do it. I promise I'll be better! :)

Playing Catch Up

Okay family and friends.....I apologize for the delay in updates in our blog. Life has been crazy to say the least. I think what I will do since there is so much to catch up on is to shortly write what's been going on since Halloween and then post random pics. My sister, Amanda, and her family came home for Thanksgiving and we all had so much fun. Carter and Sam get along so well. There is no fighting or crying and I wish they got to see each other more often. We had a great holiday. We invited my entire family and Nick's family for a combined dinner. Most everyone showed up and we ate til we were stuffed and then ate some more. The boys played basketball, the kids ran around and of course us women cleaned up the dinner. But that's the way it goes right? Actually, I prefer it that way cuz then we get to have girl talk. Unfortunately, Amanda and her sweet family had to go back to Spokane. That meant Christmas was just around the corner and I needed to start planning and shopping. For some reason I actually left all of that until a few weeks before Christmas because I had so many other things going on. Carter had his first dental appointment. He actually had his teeth cleaned when he was 18 mo old but that was kind of impromtu. This appointment was actually scheduled. He looked so cute sitting in the waiting room waiting for his turn. He did so good!!!! We were able to take x-rays, clean, polish and apply fluoride. He got a new SpongeBob Squarepants toothbrush and for his prize......chapstick!! It was a pretty good experience. I thought he might cry or freak out but he didnt and he did great. Right after that, he had his wellness visit and I am proud to say he is healthy. He weighs 30 lbs, and is 37 in tall. he is in the 96% for his heighth. He is tall!!!! Avery also had her wellness visit. She is 16 lbs 9 oz and is in the 25% for her weight. She is so little but it seems like she is growing every day. She is getting around so well. She isnt crawling in the normal sense but she does this weird army like crawl and thats how she travels. She finally cut her first 2 teeth.....thank heavens. She looks so cute with teeth.

Carter had his 2nd birthday last week. I cant believe my little boy is finally two!!! He had a pretty good day and of course he made out awesome with the toys at his party. He wanted basketballs, Cars toys, and Walle stuff. He got it all!!! Plus he had fun playing with the balloons. Cayben and Ellie also joined in. Actually, Ellie is more of a watch from a distance kind of participant. She liked to play with Avery for the most part. She loves babies. Ellie is Carter's future wife. She and him have already made out, slept in the same bed and Ellie likes her new mother in law....Me! Anyway, the birthday was a great success. Then there was Christmas. We had a really good Christmas. Carter of course made out and received so many toys that now we have to figure out how to store them all. Avery got lots of clothes which she desperatley needed. We had such a crazy Christmas that for the last 2 days we have done nothing but stay in ourPJ's all day and be lazy. Its been awesome. Well.....I hope I've covered everything. If not then I will post again soon. I'm pretty sure thats all of it. I will try to be better hopefully after the new year.