I was just in the kitchen, and heard Carter yelling "Nice, Nice!" I walk into the family room, and he has a death grip on our dogs back leg. Poor Roxy!

Knock knock

My little alarm clock (Carter) went off at 5:30 this morning. Gotta love it.

After yelling "MAMA" for the fifteenth time, and getting no response. I then hear, "Knock knock!!! Mama, knock! knock!!!!" The last couple of knock knocks had extra emphasis.

Even though I was tired as heck, that little booger still made me laugh.

Wow, i've been slacking!

Just a quick post today. I'll write more later, and I have a few pictures to put up too. :)

Carter and I have had a busy morning of chores. Laundry, dishes, picking up, grocery store, michaels (that's always a fun trip, not a chore) :) We got home, ate lunch, and then its glorious nap time!!!!!

I put him in bed, he asked me to pat his back for a minute (so cute!) and then he waved bye to me, which means he's ready to go to sleep. That doesn't happen all that often, usually he begs me to stay longer, by putting up his pointer finger which he thinks means "1 more minute" or "1 more." lol. Anyways, i'm gone for maybe 3 minutes before he is yelling "DADA, MAMA, DADA, MAMA" on and on and on....

I finally walk in, and he's pointing to his butt. Not that I blame the kid for not wanting to sleep with poop in his diaper, it was just funny to me because he has never done that before.

At the store today, I kept telling him my list. He would do his best to repeat, "milk, bread, bananas." He's turned into quite the little helper, although that list was short enough to remember even with my pea size brain. :)

Check back later for a few new pics, and some new scrapbooking pages I did this weekend!

AGHHH

I hate my closet. Nothing fits, and I have no money to buy anything that does.

I hate my closet. I hate my closet. I hate my closet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The end.

Like I needed one more thing to do on the computer.

In case I don't already spend enough time sitting in the computer chair, I added one more thing to use the computer for. :) I'm getting hooked! I'm thinking I will mix up my scrapbook albums from now on with some paper layouts, and some digital. Digital scrapbooking is fun, except I spend WAY too much time browsing through all the kit options! :) Here are a few random pages I have done in the past few days. I'm still learning my photoshop, so they aren't too elaborate!


Template by Liz at Scrappingwithliz.com

Kit is Moody Blues by Shabby Princess

Kit is A year in the life, by Lyndsay Riches

Kit is Under the sea, by Tabby Scrap Designs

Seriously?!?! Lil Kim got voted off DWTS instead of Ty??? You have GOT to be kidding me! She is SO much better than he is!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First digital scrapbook page

I did my first digital scrapbook page today. Normally i'm a paper scrapping type of girl. I thought I would give this a try and see if I can get a few pages done a little faster. Maybe i'll mix some digital pages into my regular paper albums. We'll see. :) I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I don't know what else to do with it right now. Maybe i'll come back to it later. :)

Kit is I am toddler hear me roar by SPinky Dink Scraps

I really have misplaced my brain!

This morning I got up, opened the cupboard to get a class...and sitting in front of me is a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted of course!!! It was the rest of the bag of the veggies I gave Carter for dinner. I didn't even put them in the food cupboard!!! Don't ask me WHY I put them in with the plates and glasses. I really am losing it!

Really? Are you kidding me?!?!

Jordan and I were greeters at church last night. Since we get there so early, and we don't go in to sit down until after worship has ended, we always save ourselves a couple of seats for when we sneak in. Last night, I was kinda surprised by this lady who I handed a bulletin to, she pretty much just grabbed it out of my hand, and kept walking through the doors. It's just not very common that someone completely ignores your smile, and hello, welcoming them to church.

So anyways, after we are done passing out bulletins, we go in to sit down. The seats I saved are full! Guess who decided to sit there, and move my purse, and bulletin that were saving our seats???? Yep, that rude lady!!! I couldn't believe it, I mean seriously, you are coming to CHURCH! I had to go get my purse, because I wasn't going to let it sit there the entire service, so I walk over, say "excuse me" and grab my purse, AND bulletin. She just looks at me, and doesn't say a word. I seriously just sat there and chuckled....some people just DON'T get it!

Carter vs. playground

Playground 1 - Carter 0

It's quite the task some days at the park to keep Carter from nearly killing himself. I seriously think he would jump off 5 ft. high equipment, and not think twice about it. He is absolutely fearless! He face planted this morning, and now has a big bruise on his cheek, and looks like he has a black eye. I took a few pics this morning after we got home from the park, but its bruised up more since then. Good thing I wasn't planning on getting his 18 month pics done quite yet!


Mischievous little boy!


He thinks he's pretty funny stuff!!!



We were saying prayers tonight, and we prayed that Grammy and Papa enjoy the rest of their vacation, and have a safe trip home. Carter puts his milk cup down, says "Grammy" (by shaking his finger, thats still how he signs Grammy, lol) and he says "Papa." Then he waves and says "bye bye" and "bus." He was so cute! My dad took him out to the motorhome alot while they were packing, and they call it "the bus" to Carter. I just love seeing him try to formulate a sentence, its adorable. :)

Amish friendship bread

A friend of mine gave me an amish friendship bread starter. I was really excited! I had some for the first time last year, and it was delicious!!!!

So anyways, i'm just confused as to how we can eat it, and not end up puking our brains out. Basically, you are given a starter. It has a cup of the mixture in it from your friends starter. It's kinda confusing! Anyways, it has instructions, but you let it sit out for 9 days. On day 5 or 6, you add a cup of milk, sugar, and flour. To make a long, rambling, confusing story short....basically you could be eating a loaf of bread that has milk it, which could possibly have been sitting out on the counter for months!!!! Make sense? So say I got a starter from a friend, and she got hers from a friend. On day 9, when their starter is done, you add more milk, sugar, and flour. Then you take out a cup of mixture, and put it in 4 seperate bags. Voila! 4 new starters! Then I give a couple of my starters to a friend. Although the amount gets smaller, and smaller...their still is a trace amount of milk/mixture leftover from my friends starter, and her friends! Are you totally confused yet??? :) Google it if i'm making no sense. But seriously, my question is, how can you eat something with milk in it, thats been sitting out for maybe only 10 days??? When it ferments (whatever that means) does that make it somehow more safe?

All I can picture is a sippy cup of milk thats been sitting in my car for a week. There is NOOOO way I would want to drink that nasty stuff!!!!!! Why is it different with the bread mixture? Someone enlighten me!!!!

My 2 loaves are now cooking in the oven. Regardless of how the heck it works, i'm still excited to eat some! :)

Boys will be boys!

Today Carter and I went to the park with my friend JoEllen, and her two boys Ethan and Gavin, and also my friend Danielle and her son Dillon. Us girls had a great time chatting, and the boys had lots of fun running around and playing in the sand! We stayed for 2 1/2 hours, our longest park trip yet!!!

Here are some pictures from our fun morning!

All 4 boys


Dillon :)


A of course, a few of Carter!

Just another day

After an emotional morning at MOPS, I was inspired to scrapbook tonight. I wanted to create a page to help me remember the everyday moments that seem to slip away as time goes by. No photos on these layouts, just memories. :) This is what I came up with.




The journaling says...(I realize my grammar is not the best...thats what happens when I just write, and don't proofread. Oh well though.) :)

Tuesday April 21st 2009.

My built in alarm clock...AKA you, woke me up at 6:12am! Way too early for you & I was tired!!! I changed your diaper, got your milk cup, and we went back into my bed to cuddle. I really just wanted a few more minutes of sleep! :) You began to wiggle your upper body, which is your baby sign for when you want to watch the TV show "The Wiggles." It's so cute!!! I showered while you ate breakfast. We had MOPS today, and we made it out of the door on time! You were a big helper this morning, and actually waited patiently at the door...while waving "bye bye." (as I gathered last minute stuff) At MOPS we got out of the car, and you saw Rhiannon. You immediately go give her a hug...completely unprompted by anyone. <3. You are such a sweet boy! After MOPS, we had lunch. You finished your grapes and said "mama" then signed "more" then said "ball" meaning....more grapes Mommy! Nap time was from 1:15 - 3:45! You woke up crying after sleeping for an hour, but i'm thakful you went back to sleep for another hour+! I enjoy the break of nap time!

After you woke up, we read a few books on the couch, and watched a few more minutes of "The Wiggles." Then we went out to Moreno Valley to get you a few pairs of play shorts...it was almost 100 degrees today! We got home about 5:15 and Daddy was home from work. You LOVE when Daddy gets home! We all played in the family room for a while. Fun stuff! I helped you practice your jumps for The Little Gym in the morning. You kept trying to sneak up behind me, and you would laugh hysterically! You would push my back with your arms, and you thought that was even funnier! You had both Daddy and I cracking up! Next was dinner time. You had veggies, fruit, and some yogurt. Go figure...thats ALL you will eat! You threw a FIT the night before when I offered you a chicken nugget and ketchup. I call you my little vegetarian. After dinner Daddy filled up the bath for you. I came in to take a few pictures since I don't have any recent bath pictures. All of the sudden, you lean over to the side, and take a big poop in the bathtub. Nice! I LOVE cleaning a poopy bathtub! (insert sarcasm here) :) We got the you and the tub cleaned up and then it was bedtime. After we played with you wrapped in your puppy towel of course! We bark and call you Carter the doggie...you love it. You pant like a dog the whole time. :) After a story, hugs, kisses and prayers....you were out for the night at 7:35. Sleep tight baby boy....hopefully past 6:12am!

I love this!

A friend made this for me today, and I absolutely love it! :)



Thank you Kara!

Thank heavens he isn't repeating me yet!

I was getting Carter ready for bed tonight, and we sat down to read a story. He has this book called, "Guess how much I love you?" Its about a rabbit called little nutbrown hair, and its Mom called Big nutbrown hair.

Anyways, as we sat down to read, I picked up the book and asked Carter if he was ready to read about the little brown nut hairs.

I don't think we are quite ready for that conversation yet!!!! I did get a pretty good laugh out of it though. :)

Never a day without laughter

I can't tell you how many times every day Carter will do something that has me busting up laughing! I was watching him tonight and thinking about how thankful I am to have him. Laughter is the best medicine for anything! :)

There were a couple flies in our house this morning that were driving me crazy. I looked around for the fly swatter, but I couldn't find it. The flies kept landing on the coffee table, so in place of the fly swatter, I grabbed one of Carter's books. He was playing with something in the kitchen, and I didn't think he was looking my way, so I took one big swat at the table with the book. Of course I missed, but then he was walking back my way, so I gave up. Two seconds later, he goes and grabs a book, lifts it up to his head, and slams it onto the coffee table. I tried SOOO hard not to laugh, but the proud look on his face, I just couldn't help it!!!!! He laughs this develish little laugh, and does it again. I don't know why it was so funny, but it was. Pretty soon I distracted him with something else and thankfully he gave up the book slamming.

Carter went to Grammy's today since I was working. Uncle Todd decided to come out for a visit since he had the day off. Carter absolutely LOVES him, its adorable! He doesn't want much to do with me, or my Mom when Todd's around. They wrestled, went for a walk, took a little cat nap on the couch, and had all sorts of fun. Carter kept running up to Todd's legs yelling "aghhhh" and would give him big bear hugs. <3

He loves the word "ball" now. We went to Target yesterday and I was wandering the kids toys and sporting goods aisles, trying to fill up his Easter basket. All I heard over and over...."baa, baa, baa, baa." He can't quite say the "l's" yet, but he's trying. Its really cute when he tries to say baseball. It sounds nothing like the word itself, more like "buh-baa."

So at random times throughout the day, we go through the progression of words he knows. I ask him to say Mommy, Daddy, Papa, Grammy, ball, and baseball. He will say all the words, except for Grammy. He made up his own baby sign for Grammy which he does ALL THE TIME! He sticks out his pointer finger, and shakes it (think "no no") We aren't quite sure where the sign came from, but its funny that he will say all the words you ask, until you get to Grammy, he shakes his finger around. :) Then I will say, "No Carter, say Grammy with your mouth, use your words." He just sticks his pointer finger in his mouth. haha.

Just for kicks, here is my favorite picture so far this week. :) I was in the kitching, and he starts yelling, "MAMA, MAMA!!!!" I walk around the corner, and this is what I found.


Never a dull moment! :)

In a blogging funk

Can you tell I haven't been in the mood to blog lately? As a matter of fact, i'm still not, but I decided it was time to write at least a sentence or two. :)

Life has been busy!!! Work has been really busy, which is awesome! My scheduled days have been almost completely booked for the past 8 weeks. It's incredible, and i'm SO thankful! I did have a nice break today, and it was a great chance to get caught up on laundry, grocery shopping, semi-cleaning the house, etc. :)

Carter learned a few new words this week. He says Papa, and also Ball. They don't really sound exactly like they should, but he's trying. :) He has been trying to say MINE for a few weeks now, I really don't know where he learned that one.

As for an update on my last post...a few people asked me about. We decided to wait until he is 17 months for his MMR shot. They like to wait about a month inbetween vaccines, so I decided to do it then that way we don't get behind on his 18 month shots. I will just take him in a couple weeks late for his 18 month appt. I feel better about the decision, and then at 18 months, he will be all caught up and done with vaccines for a while, YAY!

Thats all for now. Hopefully I will be back before another 2 months go by!

MMR Vaccination

Tomorrow is Carter's 15 month appointment. I postponed the MMR vaccination at his 12 month appointment, and said I would reevaluate my decision at 15 months. I am still SOO torn on what to do. I have prayed for guidance, and clarity, and I feel as though i'm still right where I was 3 months ago.

I wish I would just feel like I knew what the "right" decision was for us. I know this is such a controversial topic, and I don't think blogging about this is going to give me the answer i'm looking for, however I just need to get it out.

I understand that there is a lack of evidence on both sides of the argument. I have reseached vaccines off and on for the past year, and still have yet to make a solid decision.

I just feel like its a catch 22. If I give him the vax, and he has a bad reaction, I will never forgive myself. However if I don't give him the vax, and he contracts one of the illnesses, I would feel the same way.

I am praying God will help me make a decision. I just want to make an informed decision, and do what is best for Carter!

AGHHHHHHHHH

To Daddy: Love Carter

Happy Valentines Day!!!

I heart faces - Joy

This weeks theme is joy. I thought this picture fit the theme. :)




Check out http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

Can't live without a binky and blankie

Carter came walking out of him room today looking so cute holding his binky and blankie. He likes to snuggle lately before he goes to sleep, its the sweetest thing. I had to grab my camera today when he came walking down the hall pulling his blankie behind him, sucking away on his pacifier. He just melts my heart!!! The second he sees me lift up the camera, he tries to smile, with his typical "cheese" face. :)






Trying to put his socks back on. :)

And one more, just because I love it. :)

I heart faces

I saw this fun little contest on Paige's blog, http://www.dreamlandphotography.blogspot.com/ and I thought I would join in the fun. Check out their site! http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

Lovely convo with my neighbor today

A little over a year and half ago, we got new neighbors next door. They are from Hong Kong, and have lived here in the US 2 or 3 years. They have a little boy who is a month or so older than Carter. We chat a couple times a week while the boys play in the association park. She is very nice, and I have really enjoyed getting to know her. She has no family here, only a few friends, all from Hong Kong as well. She says she has had a difficult time learning English, but she seems to speak it pretty well.

So, its quite obvious Carter has always been a chunky baby. When he was 6 months or so, we were outside, and she hadn't seen Carter in a while. She looked at him, and said WOW, Carter.....you so..... (insert huge pause here) FAT. :) haha. I know she didn't mean it in a negative way, as she followed it with how she had always wanted a chunky baby, and her son is rail thin, but it was hilarious.

So today, we are outside chatting about random things. She knows I went to college and my degree was in Kinesiology, which I explained to her was more or less physical education. We talked about that a few weeks ago. So as we were discussing education today, (her husband teaches college here) she says to me.... your degree was in physical education? I said, "yep." Then she says, so you should be very physically fit! I said, I couldn't really think of a good response to that one, haha.

Then about 10 minutes later, we were discussing pregnancy weight. She said she had her physical last week, and weighs 104, which is less, or right around what she weighed before she had her son. FREAKIN 104!!!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! She's obviously built VERY different than I am; not too much shorter, but much smaller bone structure, and I swear i'm not saying that as a cop-out. Then she tells me she used to be fat. I was surprised, and said really? She said, Yes, I used to weigh 120! Geez loiuse, last time I weighed 120 I was probably 12, and i'm not even kidding. Needless to say, I didn't tell her how much I weigh. :) I wasn't offended at all by what she said, because I know she wasn't meaning it in that way, but it still made me laugh. She did tell me that I look like i've lost weight recently, so it wasn't an entirely horrible conversation, haha.

She invited me over for lunch next week. It should be fun, she said she will make a chinese lunch of some sort. I know this was probably totally rude, but I told her I will eat anything but fish. I can't stand fish. Hopefully that wasn't too rude of me, but I couldn't handle the idea of her taking the time to make something for me to eat, and then having to choke something down that makes me want to vomit, only because I feel bad. :) When I told her I don't like fish, she said "REALLY!?!?! Fish is the food that makes you smart!" I told her I was a dummy. :) She probably thinks i'm a wack job!

So...i'll update after our lunch next week, but i'm looking forward to it. :)

Oh my gosh, thank goodness I have made progress! (updated!)

I found this picture today while ordering pictures for Carter's scrapbook. EW. Thank goodness I went back to blonde, and have lost weight! I'll try to find a current picture of me so you can see my progress!



This was December 5th (- 20.5 pounds)


1-18-08 (-30 pounds)



11 more to go! Unless I decide I want to shoot for my pre-pregnancy weight, which is about the same I was at our wedding. It's not very enjoyable for me, my body just doesn't like to be that small. We'll see...until then, i'll keep plugging along!

There's no such thing as a lazy Saturday in my world

Today was my first Saturday off work in at least 2 1/2 months. It was a great day! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, and enjoy working, but it was nice to spend the day at home with Jordan and Carter. I feel accomplished today! I got a lot of picking up around the house done, cleaned, ran a few errands, went to church. It's just so nice to see my life becoming more organized and together, because that has been a goal of mine for a while.

Just for fun, and because I like to see my list crossed off, here is what I did today. :)

- Picked up produce at Washington produce (everything is SO yummy!)
- Went to Joann's and special ordered a cricut cartridge on sale
- Went to the grocery store for a few random necessities
- Washed, cut, and prepared all the produce we bought today
- Cleaned the guest bathroom
- Dishes done
- Kitchen cleaned
- Bottles washed, dried and put away - ALL of them (doesn't happen too often)
- Made cinnamon raisin bread
- Swept and mopped floors
- 2 loads of laundry
- Washed and cleaned out my car (its been MONTHS!!!)
- Went to church

I think thats all! It was a productive day!

Hugs for strangers

Carter and I went on a little walk to our associate park today. We go most days of the week, around 4:30 when Jordan is just about to get home. By then, we are usually both going stir crazy, and are ready for Daddy to be home...plus Carter LOVES to see Daddy pull up in his work van, he screams "dada, dada" and runs towards his van. Yes, I am teaching him not to run at cars, but for now, its still cute! :) Today I took my cameara with me, and was trying to get a few cute pics of him playing, but we got kinda sidetracked. :)

Anyways, as we were running around in the grass, there was a little girl playing a ways away from us. She started wandering our way, and she caught Carter's attention. It didn't take long before he was running towards her. Curious to see what he was going to do, I stayed a few steps behind him and watched. He runs right up to her, and puts his arms around her legs and hugs her. He looks up at her with the sweetest look and just held on. It was sweet, but he is so strange. He doesn't even do that to me! Or maybe I don't notice it because after he clings to my leg for a while, I pick him up, I don't know.

Anyways, here is the rundown of the conversation between me and the little girl.

Me: Hi!
Her: Smiles, waves, and says hi.
Me: This is Carter, what is your name?
Her: Miranda (as Carter is already attached to her legs)
Me: What are you doing?
Her: Throwing my sweatshirt in the air and catching it. (oh, to be 5 again)
Me: How old are you?
Her: 5
Me: Carter is being pretty friendly, is he bothering you?
Her: Ummm, kinda

So I pull Carter away and tell her we will go play on the other side of the park so she can play alone. This lasts about a minute before she starts hopping on one leg towards us with a big smile on her face. Carter begins running towards her again, and latches right back into another hug.

Me: He sure likes you, do you have any brothers or sisters?
Miranda: Yep, I have a little sister who is 8 months, and an older brother
Me: Thats cool, Carter is 14 months. Pretty soon your little sister will be chasing you around and giving you hugs like he is!
Miranda: Wait, I thought you could only go up to 12 months old?

Then Jordan pulled in the gate, Carter looked up and starting running and shrieking "DADA." We waved by to Miranda, and followed Jordan back to the house. :)

hahaha I don't know why, but our conversation just amused me. It probably isn't all that interesting to anyone else.....but I just love the simplicity of a 5 year old. I did manage to get one picture of Carter kinda releasing his hug, but its not that great.

Oh my gosh, thank goodness I have made progress!

I found this picture today while ordering pictures for Carter's scrapbook. EW. Thank goodness I went back to blonde, and have lost weight! I'll try to find a current picture of me so you can see my progress!

Photo a day.... 1-8-09

This is Micah, he is the cutest! Snapped this yesterday while he and Carter were playing!

Unintentional early Valentines craft

So, we had company over for dinner on Tuesday night. As I was getting ready that day, I realized that the red placemats I was going to use were pretty dirty, and I should probably wash them. I'm sure you can guess where this is going.... :)

I told Jordan I decided his boxers need a valentines makeover, haha. They used to be red/white striped.


This is my dish towel, which USED to be red and white


OOPS!

Apparently, its not a smart idea to wash NEW red placemats with the rest of your red and pink laundry. My pink sweatshirt is now a interesting shade of coral, as are the rest of the pink clothes I had in the load. This is seriously the first load of laundry I have EVER messed up. At least I didn't ruin something i'm devastated about, just a little annoyed. :)

365

So i'm stealing this fun idea from my friend Paige. I am going to try to post a photo a day for 365 days. I'm thinking I might make a scrapbook out of it when i'm done. Now that I finished Carter's "ABC" photo book, its time for another photo project. NOT that I need one more project, lol. This just seemed like fun. We'll see if I can keep up though!

I probably won't post every day, maybe 3 or 4 at a time.

1-1-2009 ~ I don't see this very often as he is such a light sleeper. I needed to wake him up (it was 5:30 pm!!!) so I went in with the camera. I took 6 pictures, WITH FLASH, and he still didn't wake up. SO unlike him!

1-2-2009 ~ This is how my crazy little guy wanted to swing

1-3-09 ~ A horrible picture as far as composition goes, but oh well. Carter and Daddy watching Sat. afternoon football

1-4-09 ~ is coming. It's on a different camera
1-5-09 ~ All done!!! Like Mommy like Son??? :)

Goals for 2009

1. I will try my hardest to enjoy every day, and not sweat the small stuff.
2. Use the credit card for emergencies only!
3. Move into a bigger house
4. Catch up on Carter's scrapbook
5. Maintain a healthy lifestyle consistently. Eat more organic and less processed foods. Exercise regularly.
6. Spend more quality time with Jordan - plan some date nights
7. Lose the final 15 pounds of my pregnancy weight
8. Expand our family :)
9. Continue building my business
10. Read the Bible on a regular basis
11. Stay caught up with the housework
12. Clean the car out on a regular basis! No more trash can on 4 wheels
13. Make lists - It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I can cross things off
14. Keep paperwork organized - and maintain a filing system
15. Keep a medical journal for all doctors appointments, copays, prescriptions, etc.
16. Tithe 10% at church EVERY week!
17. Be a better listener and a better friend
18. Be confident in myself, and stop worrying about what others think.


It sure looks like I have my work cut out for me!