Fun Fall Day

Today we went to a pumpkin patch to get a couple of pumpkins. When Carter found his pumpkin he gave it a kiss. Carter and I picked out a pumpkin for Avery but unfortunately I put it on top of the truck to load stuff and forgot about it. The pumpkin died. The park was full of pumpkins and leaves. Carter had so much fun kicking the leaves around and Avery was enjoying eating her leaf. Plus I was having fun with my new camera and I took like 80 something pictures. My hubby got me a new Canon EOS XTi Digital SLR camera. I LOVE IT!!! I can take multiple pictures at once. It was a $600 camera that we got for $250 because the newer model came out this week. Anyway after picking pumpkins, all of our family came back to our house to decorate the pumpkins and sugar cookies. Everyone had a good time and frosting found its way all over the place. The kids had fun with each other and we ended with some pretty awesome looking pumpkins. I am getting so excited for Halloween. I am making Carters costume and I have most of it done but I need to sew a few things. I will post some pics once its done.

What a week!!

Our family has had a very long week. On Tuesday we finalized Avery's adoption. I was worried about going to court just because Carter has been a little stinker and I was afraid he would throw a tantrum during court. And.....I was right. My mom had to take him out of the courtroom. But after all was said and done, we finalized, the judge commended us for our part in the adoption process and even took a picture with us. After court we went back to the church house so that we could bless her. Our family all came while Nick gave her a name and a blessing. She looked so pretty. It was a long but happy day. Then on Saturday we took Avery to the Idaho Falls temple to have her sealed to us. Again I was afraid of how Carter would be we dropped him off at the temple day care to get dressed. He wasnt too happy when we left but thankfully, Nick's dad showed up and went down to comfort him until they brought

him to us with Avery. It was an awesome experience. While Nick and I were waiting to go into the sealing room we were talking about how blessed we are and how much we would like another child. We know that we are not done at two and we would like to build our family even more. Hopefully the Lord will bless again soon with the opportunity to have another child. Also this week I started a photography class with my best friend Jenni. It was pretty informative and we have our first photography assignment due next week. I will post it when Its done. I hope to learn alot so that i can take outstanding pictures. On Thursday night I also received some very sad news. My dad's dad was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He's been struggling with this illness for quite some time but he is tired now. I dont think any of us are ready for him to leave but I cant imagine going through what he has. At least he is not in any pain and we can be thankful for that. We are all going to take advantage of the time we have left with him. He has been a wonderful influence in my life. He was honest, hardworking and loving and thats what I will take with me. So all in all, this has been a very long week for my family. Maybe things will slow down next week and I can catch my breath. Also I have been trying to think of a fun Halloween costume for Carter. I dont want to spend much on it but if anyone has any cute ideas for homemade, easy costumes.....please share. I bought Avery a kitty cat costume. I was thinking maybe a dog for him but not sure how to make that work. To all the moms with older kids.....HELP. I need ideas!!!!! I hope everyone has a good week!

A First For Everything

This last month Carter has experience some of his "Firsts". These are not only Carter's "firsts" but ours as well. They were so much fun that I had to blog them so I wouldnt forget how memorable they were to us as parents. Carter's 1st "First" was when we went out my grandparents house for a little family reunion. My dad and I decided to hop on the horses and go for a ride. Carter was much happier riding with grandpa than he was with me. He had fun and now he knows what horses say and gets excited when he sees them. His 2nd "First" was his new Big Boy bed. When Avery started to outgrow her bassinet, we needed to put her in the crib and kick Carter out. So we bought him a toddler bed and let him pick out his own big boy blanket and pillow. He picked Cars because he recognized Lightning McQueen and Mater. He was so cute jumping into bed that I took a bunch of pictures and had him put his hands behind his head and even get on his knees and pretend to be saying his prayers. This picture is the cutest though. He just looks like a big boy sitting in his bed. We thought we would have a really rough first night because of the stories we'd heard from friends. But he slept so good his first night.

When we went in to wake him the next morning for church, we found him laying on the floor fast asleep. I laughed my guts out and took a picture. Apparently the floor was more comfy. He did that for a few nights and then we figured out that the pillow was too big for him. He sleeps better without one......for now. His 3rd "First" was today. Hair cut day. I was a little hesitant in scheduling the appointment because I know what he's like when we try to do it but he did so good!! At first he started to cry but when we told him he could have a sucker when he was done he stopped crying immediately. Heather our hairdresser has a son the same age and she did so good with him. He held very still for her and she did a good job on his hair cut. Doesnt he look so handsome!!! My little boy is growing up so fast. I love experiencing all of these firsts with him but at the same time it means he's growing up and I dont want him to. I guess I will have to get over it though. My little boy is now a Big Boy.

Diaper Rashes, Sunburns and FUN, FUN, FUN

Ok....so my last post I was complaining about packing for our camping trip to Bear Lake. Well we went and had tons of fun. The kids were so good despite a few hiccups along the way. Carter had a really bad diaper rash that left open sores the entire time we were there. But that didnt stop him from playing with his best buddy, Cayben. In fact when we got to the campground to change him, we let him go naked to air out his bottom. Cayben was riding Carters bike and Carter decided to hop on the back.....bare bottomed and all!!! It was too cute. That night we decided to go down to the beach and play. It was about 8:00 and the boys pretty much just dove into the water. They floated and swam on their belly's. In fact when I got my camera out and was turning it on, I looked over to my left and saw Carter posing for a picture already.
He is such a ham. He loves to have his picture taken and show everyone his teeth. The next day Cayben and Carter were like fish. We couldnt get them out of the water. In fact the only time they came out was to bury Uncle JJ's feet in the sand. That's a whole other story. JJ didnt put any sunscreen on his feet the entire day and he got burned so bad that his feet swelled and he ended up with silver dollar sized blisters that filled with yucky stuff. Avery and I mostly hung out on the beach and played in the sand. We did take Carter out on the jet skiis. He sat between Nick and Grandma Kim. He was so scared that he feel asleep on the jet ski. That is his scary coping mechanism.....to fall asleep. He did it at the fire work show on the 4th of July too. I was disappointed I didnt get a picture of it because I was on the other jet ski. Oh well......I got lots of other cute pics and we had lots of fun. We went into town that night and Montpelier had a firework show that was pretty cool. Carter didnt go to sleep this time but he was still scared. All in all we had a great time. We cant wait to go again soon.

Today is my mom's birthday and I want to wish her a Happy Birthday!!! She is awesome and she does so much for me, Nick and the kids. Thanks for everything mom.....we love you!!

My Vacation Woes

This morning my husband said to me, "I'm so excited to go camping this weekend." For some reason this hit me wrong. Maybe I was in a bad mood but my response was, "Yeah Im sure you are because Im the one that has to do laundry and go to the grocery store and prepare the food and pack EVERYTHING for our little camping/beach trip." This was not what he wanted to hear from me and he let me know it by thanking me for such a negative comment when he was just getting excited for our fun filled weekend with the kids. Am I too negative when it comes to this? What about bitter? Dont get me wrong, I love camping and our annual beach trip every year but the preparation is a nightmare. I mean I have to pack enough diapers and wipes and clothes and all of the things for 'what if I need this'. And then I get made fun of because of the lists that I have to help me get everything packed and ready. My husband just cant believe that I am going to take all of the stuff on my list. I usually follow with a comment like, "Well pack your own stuff and we'll see if you remember your deodorant, pills, and swim suit." I guess I just hate the fact that as the wife and mother it is my responsibility to make sure we have everything for a vacation. But if my husband did it......I wouldnt trust him to remember anything. Does that make me psychotic? How do other wives feel about this? Are you in the same boat? I should be packing at this very moment but my husband took the kids to the park so I could pack and Im loving the peace and quiet to blog and relax. I better get started. We leave in the morning and I havent done anything yet!!!

Surviving Seattle

So I decided to take the long 12 hour drive to Seattle with my parents and my 2 kids to visit my sister, Amanda, who is 8 1/2 months pregnant. We left Tuesday night and the drive nearly killed me mostly because my dad is a scary driver and my ankles swelled to 3 times their size from sitting and not moving around for 12 hours. Plus my son found it difficult to sleep sitting upright when it was bed time and needed to scream every 30 minutes just to remind us of his discomfort. I actually felt sorry for him because I could move around in the van and I was uncomfortable. I can only imagine how it would feel being strapped in. We tried to get out and stretch as often as possible but apparently it wasnt enough. And then to make the trip worse, my parents used their GPS to see how it would get us to Amanda's house. The stupid thing never got us lost but took us the long way twice and mad our trip even that much longer. I warned my parents that if they used it on the way home, I was throwing it out the window. I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of how packed our van was and how little room we had to move. Plus I wanted everyone to see my massive ankles. They werent just cankles they were more like thankles. I actually got worried enough about it that I called my husband, who is a nurse, to ask what I should do. But they went down the next day and Im good to go. We've decided that when we leave on Sunday to drive home we will stop every 2 hours for 30 minutes. I hope that helps everyone.