Christmas fotos

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 =)

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

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!!

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

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

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