Priceless!

Carter did something else last week that was SO funny. (I hope I can do it justice and that it won’t gross you out… sorry if it does.) He has seen me pump (do you know what breast pumps are? Basically, you put them on you and they put your milk in a bottle so Addi can drink from the bottle and not me but still have breast milk.) I didn’t want him to see me do this for obvious reasons. We stopped the whole seeing-mommy-maked thing when he was 18 months old. Bryan swore he wouldn’t even notice me pumping. YEAH, RIGHT! He stood there completely confused, pointing at me and saying “What’s that? Hat?” haha!
Anyways, a few days later, I had all my pumping stuff on the stairs so I would remember to take it back upstairs. While I was working on dinner I could hear Carter playing over by the stairs. I went to investigate and he had his shirt pulled up with my pumping stuff on him. It was AWESOME! I ran and got my camera and took a few pictures. Priceless!

A Family Update

The Ladies love to hold their new little cousin... for about 30 seconds and then they decide she's boring! :)







Having a little unproductive tummy-time before church.

Bryan is now in full swing at his first rotation at the Veterans Hospital. He was actually only about 100 yards away from where the two news helicopters went down. He did have enough sense to call me and tell me that the hospital was not of fire, despite what the news was reporting. I was relieved to hear that! He is loving it and enjoying having an assistant instead of having to do everything for himself. A little more like "real life", I guess.
Addilyn is as cute as ever and finally starting to pack on the pounds. While she is far from being as chunky as Carter was at her age she is getting a few rolls... just like her mommy! She is starting to coo more and sleeping 9 hours straight!!! We put her down at 8:00 when we put Carter down and she doesn't wake up until somewhere between 3-5:00, when we feed her and put her right back down until 8 or 8:30. Gotta love it!
Carter is still learning new words every day. It truly blows our minds when he says some things. Where in the world does he pick them up? I showed him ants tonight. He said hello to them several times and calls them "hants". I must not speak clearly. :) Violet is his bestest friend and when he wants to get out of his room after nap, he calls repeatedly for her. Too bad she doesn't have opposable thumbs to undo his baby gate! What a cutie!

Here's a picture of Daddy laying down with a sleeping Addilyn. Every time we give her tummy-time she falls asleep. Oh well...

Two Last Pictures

The Photographer sent a few last pictures of the kids together. They are so darling! So, I wanted to show one off.

The kids are doing great. Addilyn smiled at Bryan for the first time on Friday night. It was her 11pm feeding and she just gave him a little grin! She gave me a courtesy smile shortly thereafter but it wasn't nearly as sincere as the one she gave Bryan. For those keeping count, that is TWO children that prefer their father over their mother!! I don't blame them... he's pretty awesome!

Carter is doing a new little thing that I am sure isn't nearly as funny to people other than his parents and maybe grandparents. He puts his hand in front of his ear (not behind the way you should) and says "Shh... Listen..." in a quiet voice, stops moving, and raises his eyebrows! It's so darling. Just a mommy story. :)

WOW!

So, Kristyn has really outdone herself with these pictures of my kids. I am so totally in love with them that I have been looking at them for hours... I know, how arrongant am I that I think my kids are the cutest ones around... can't help it! Here are a few of my favorites... and by a few I really mean, like 15. :)

Water Fun!

Carter, playing in the water... still in his jammies.
By the way, Bryan shaved his head for those who haven't seen him lately. :) He looks totally hot!


Yesterday Bryan was in the backyard planting a much needed tree. Carter REALLY wanted to play with Daddy so we went out into the BLISTERING heat. I decided that I didn't want anyone to pass out from a heat stroke so I got out the hose and we (and by we I mean Carter and Violet) got all wet. Violet was so funny. She would just roll around on the ground while we would spray her. Carter really wanted to "hold it" (the hose) so I let him... while I stood at a safe distance. He couldn't understand why he kept getting himself wet. He had no control over the hose. Then he would just yell, "Violet, come here! Come here, Violet!" He would laugh hysterically whenever she would come over and let him spray her.

I really want to get into photography. I am starting to look into classes that I can take. The original plan was to wait until the kids were all in school but anyone who knows me knows that patience is NOT my strong suit. I have wanted to pursue this dream since High School but never really had the time.... not that I have the time now. Then at BYU I tried to sign up for a class but you had to be a Photography Major to even take Intro to Photography. I mean, you had to have a portfolio and everything. So, here's the problem... I need a nice camera. I haven't looked into them enough to know which one I want but I do know that I can't afford one. Last I checked Bryan and I have no money. But, that doesn't change the fact that I am going to do everything I can to learn about it. I have thought about calling a few photographers I know and asking them if I can shadow them for a day. I don't think I would have a hard time with the creative side of it. The working the camera part is a different story. That is where the classes come in. But that takes us back to me having a really nice camera... It's just a horrible, mean cycle...

Say Cheese!

Yesterday we had an awesome photographer come over and take pictures of the kids. I was concerned that Carter wouldn't cooperate because the pictures were late in the afternoon. Boy, was I wrong. He was such a ham! He couldn't get enough of Kristyn and her camera. When we were trying to take pictures of Addilyn he wouldn't go away so we had to put on Blues Clues to distract him. It was too funny. I was just glad that he was so cooperative. I can't wait to see the pictures. I'll be sure to put some on the blog for everyone to see. And by everyone, I mostly just mean my Grandparents because they are the only ones that even look at the blog. What great people!

Independence Day

Watching the show in the 105 degree heat. You know it's hot when the 90 degree breeze cools you down!
McKenzie and Addilyn discussing how cute the bows their Mommy's made them are.

Carter and Blake are best buds!

Happy Fourth! I can't believe it's been 5 years tonight that Bryan and I met. I thought he was so cute because he was nice to a nerdy girl who was flirting with him. My, how things have progressed. Tonight we went with Ryan and Courtney and their kids to watch fireworks. It was so much fun. Carter was much less scared than I thought he would be. They didn't start until 9:00 so about 15 minutes into it he wanted to come sit on my lap and attempt to sleep. They did frighten him a little bit. He wanted to be sitting on someone's lap the whole time... not on the blanket. But I loved it because he totally cuddled with me. He kept calling the fireworks "rockets" and saying "Rockets more! Rockets more!" It's so fun watching him experience all these things for the first time. What a cutie!

I do realize that this is a bad picture of Addi but I look really fat in the other one that was taken and since i am the one writing this, she gets the bad picture put in instead of me... I am such a mean mommy! :)

Four Generations

While we were in San Diego Addilyn got the chance to meet Grandma Great and Granky, my paternal grandparents. It was so fun to see them with her. I love how much they love her! Here are a few pictures. I am also including one of her with Nona and Papa.

Happy Birthday, Carter!

Carter turned two (in EVERY sense of the word) a few weeks ago. We had a little family party for him at Ryan and Hillary's house. Maureen helped me make a really cute train birthday cake. Carter LOVES trains right now and got a ton of train crap for his birthday. He was also thrilled to blow out the candles on the cake. He was even more excited to eat the poptart on the top of the cake. I can't believe he is already 2 years old. Before I know it I'll be kicking him out the door onto a mission. Here are a few pictures from the big day.