My favorite time of year

We had 3 year pictures of Carter taken and they turned out great. Thanks Hilary.

I don't know where his personality comes from.....:)

Cheese....

But yet so innocent....

What does yellow mean?

The other day we were driving in the car and I decided to teach Carter what the traffic lights in Utah meant.

Then I thought it would be fun to work on counting with him....

And spelling....

He still has some work to do, but hey he is only 2.

Its been a long time....

I have decided today is the day to start my blog again. I know it has been a long time, but hey at least I am starting now.

We have been pretty busy with our new house, the holidays, and keeping up with this little 2 year old. I just cannot believe how fast these little kids grow up. He is talking pretty much in full sentences, he says bless you when you sneeze, please, thank you and your welcome, and he will get himself a napkin when needed. We are having a hard time with things to eat, but he is still growing up nice and healthy.

Here are a couple videos of him singing his ABC's and twinkle twinkle little star.

I have noticed that the reason I dread updating the blog, is because I feel the need to post huge things. So I am not going to. Just short and sweet. So enjoy these videos!

Our trip to Cabot, Arkansas

A couple of weekends ago, Carter and I flew out to Cabot, Arkansas to visit a good friend of mine and her family. It was so great to see Jessie and her hubby John, and their four boys...Joseph, Hyum, Henry and Benson, and number 5 is on the way. Carter had so much fun playing with all the boys that were his same age. He didn't want to leave!!!!!

John is in the airforce, and we got to watch all the planes take off and land at the air force base.

Here is her car full of little handsome boys!!!!!! So much fun!

And here they were all getting ready to eat lunch! Thanks Jessie for having us over! It was so great to see you all. You are a wonderful mom!!!!!! I have learned a lot from you.
I had never been to arkansas so it was very interesting to visit. I took some very funny pictures, that I will post next.

Sorry!!

It has been awhile since my last post, but I really don't have anything to write about. We are still alive, and doing well. Here are some things going on:

Devin is getting ready to take the GMAT this Saturday, so he can get into Grad school at the University of Utah. He also has gotten a new office, and is no longer in a cubicle. We are so excited for him. He is moving up in the world. He has also been working his tail off to finish our ward picture roster. That is about 700 people that we need to get information from. But he is doing a very good job.

~We are excited for the super bowl this Sunday, I don't know why, just something to look forward too!

Carter is growing up faster and faster. It's amazing how fast they learn and grow.

We were going to do ear tubes about 2 weeks ago, but after talking to a few more people, we decided to wait. So far so good. (knock on wood) But he hasn't had an ear infection for the past 2 months. yay!!!! He is also eating better and learning to sleep better. ( still not all the way through, but only waking up twice its amazing!) He has learned to run and is pretty fast.

~We had to speak in Sunday a couple weeks ago, and I almost passed out. Devin gave a wonderful talk, and man I am glad it is over with.

~Our church has now changed to 1 o'clock, and that is a good thing and a bad thing. That is around Carters nap time, so He will fall asleep in the car, and I will hold him the rest of church and he will sleep till about 3:45. So really only 15 min he has to be in church. That is the good part. The bad part, well it starts at 1:00 so the whole day is used in getting ready...etc.

Other then that, nothing else has been going on. But if anything else happens, I will let you know.

15 Month Appt!

We took Carter in for his 15 month Appointment on Monday and here are the specs
He weighs 24.5 pounds 45th percentile
He is 33.5 inches tall- 95th percentile- the pediatrician said that if he keeps growing like this, he will be at least 6'1''. So that was exciting.
Here are some new words he can say: cracker, mommy, daddy, turtle, Elmo's world, apple, banana, ball, car, tree, grandpa, ho ho ho, bath, Einstein, toast, snow, cold, brrrrr, night-night, bye-bye, hi, and he has a friend named Audrie, and he can say her name. It amazes me how fast they grow up and how much they can learn by just watching and listening.

He also knows what some animals say, we need to work more on it, but he knows what a horse, cow, dog, cat, snake, pig and duck all say. And he likes to sing whenever there is a pretty song on. (especially Christmas music). He also likes to direct the music with his hands, and also he has learned how to fold his arms and close his eyes to pray.

He loves to give kisses and hugs and waves bye-bye. and for the first time ever in his 15 months of life, he slept all through the night.

We are so happy and we love being parents.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year for Thanksgiving, I thought I would be fun to invite my family from Colorado and Boise to come to our apt for Thanksgiving. I didn't think they would go for it. I mean I wanted them to, but I didn't think they would. Anyway, they all thought it would be a fun idea, and then we could go see Temple Square and all the lights on Friday. So we started planning for just my family to come. That consisted of my mom and dad, my little sister Vanessa and my little brother Wesley all from Colorado, my older brother Russ and his wife Jade and their 3 kids from Boise. Then at the last min, my grandpa called and said they were going to come too from Colorado. So we were planning on 13 people in our two bedroom apt!!!!

Well...We had enough space....

Everyone had their own seat....

And we had way to much food!!!!

But we are so very thankful for all our family being willing to come to Utah!!!!


It looks crowded, but we had fun anyway.
My parents and Grand parents stayed in a hotel, and my brother and his wife and their kids stayed with us. I love having family over!! We did however, miss our other sister Elli and her husband Matt. But next year for sure we will all be together.

The day after Thanksgiving, we all decided to go down to Temple Square and look at the all the Christmas lights! There are over 100,000 strands of lights!!!! So beautiful!!!
It was a wonderful and very memorable Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for, and I am aware of it more and more everyday!

Head First

Carter and I went to the Wet, snowy park today, and he decided to do the slide by himself.
The second time he went down, he flipped over and landed head first in the snow.

This last weekend, we went with Grandma and Grandpa Hendersen on a drive through Small Cottonwood canyon to look at the rocks where they cut out the slabs for the SLC temple. The trees were starting to change colors and it was beautiful.
Carter and Grandpa have sure become the best of friends!! As you can see...

Macy's is the perfect place to learn more than just shopping...

See for yourself!!!! (sorry it is sideways, Devin took it on my phone!





Go Buddy!!!



They grow up wwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy to fast!!!!

YAY FOR Birthdays!!!

Well today is my birthday, and I had told Devin that Carter will be walking by my birthday. This morning, I woke up to breakfast in bed, and while I was eating, Carter crawled into the living room, and stood up onto his feet by himself, and started walking. If he fell over, he would stand up again and try again!!!!!!!!! That is what I wanted for my birthday, and that is what I got. Thanks buddy. I am trying to get a video of it, but he won't do it when I have the camera.

we are sleeping better!!!!

Almost everyone knows that Carter has had a very hard time sleeping for the past year. He was waking up about 5-6 times every night, and for a while there, would not go back to sleep for about an hour and a half. I was at the end of my rope, just barley hanging on to the knot. Anyway, I have been reading the book "What to Expect the First Year" which has every situation or question that someone might have about their baby. There was a question in there about helping your child sleep through the night without making them "cry it out". Which I have never liked that method. But a lot of people do, and it works great for them.

But I had to find something else. It suggests to lay them down while still awake, and leave. Come back in 5 min, just to lay them back down and give them kissies etc. and then leave again. Come back in 10 min, then 15, then 20, then start over at 5 again. It was a long process, especially doing it in the middle of the night. But Devin was a trooper and would help me and get up with him. Carter was used to us rocking him to sleep, so while we were doing this routine, we would put Carter on his tummy and he would tuck in his knees and rock and back and forth. For a couple days, to comfort him, we would keep our hand on his lower back so he would know we were there. He has a beany baby ducky that is about the same weight as our hand, so we would replace our hand with the ducky and leave. It worked wonderfully!

So, it took about a week, and we can now, even during nap time, just lay him down in his crib and he will rock himself back to sleep. We have also got him on a nap schedule, 2 naps a day for about 1 1/2 hours each. He was only taking one nap a day, for about an hour, but I was noticing how tired he was acting all the time. So he now goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 12:00am but goes right back to sleep and sleeps till 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes!!! The past 3 mornings I have woke up at 6, and couldn't believe that I have been able to sleep straight for 6 HOURS! WOW Way to go Carter! He is much happier, and is learning and growing so fast.

He used to sleep like this with the bear and all. The bear made him think he was sleeping next to me, and helped him for a little while. But now he has a new crib and sleeps wonderfully! I think we have tried everything to help him learn. But I hope and pray that from now on, it will just continue to get better.






Here is also a little update on what else is going on in Carters little life. He can say bye bye, doggy, kitty and tries to immitate everything that we say. He can wave bye bye, and blow kisses, and he knows what a monkey says. He is trying so hard to walk and is getting better and better everyday. Eating is also getting better. He knows how to blow on his food to cool it off, and he is trying to use a spoon. For a while there, the would not let me feed him anything. He had to do it by himself. Which was very frustrating. But he is leaning how to try different things and let me feed him.

We are loving our new apartment and ward. The ward especially is awesome! They are very welcoming and we have already made some very good friends. Its too bad that houses are so expensive in this area, we will never be able to buy a house. Oh well, we can just rent the rest of our lives. Ha Ha. Nannying is going good, the kids are super cute, and Carter LOVES playing with them. Other then that, we are doing awesome!

Dancing with Elmo

I have started to Nanny some kids, and they have this Elmo that plays the guitar and sings. All the kids love it, and they dance to it. The first time Carter ever heard it, this is what he started to do...


(sorry its blurry, I took it with my phone)
They also have a tickle me Elmo, and another one that does the hokey pokey. They love Elmo, and Carter is starting to also. Carter is also learning many other things from these kids. For example, he won't let me feed him anymore with a spoon. He has to do it. So, he no longer likes baby food. He also tries to talk and make us understand. He can go up and down the stairs too fast, and loves to suck the dirt off of rocks. He likes to pull hair, especially girls, (sorry nat, we are trying to teach him so christmas won't be so bad), and he likes to tackle and beat up older boys. He is just learning so much, we may or may not be a good thing.

Carter's First Birthday!!!!

For Carter's first birthday, we decided to go up to Idaho Falls, to Palisades Reservoir, and celebrate his birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Phillips, Aunt Hily and Uncle Adam, and the timing was perfect for my Grandma Jaynes and Aunt Nessa and Uncle Wesley to come out too. They were on their way to Rexburg, to drop Nessa off at school, and decided to make a camping trip out of it.

Well we spent his birthday 4wheeling, hiking, and then ended with presents and cake.

He loved all the presents that he recieved. The hardest part for him was having to open muliple presents and not get to play with them. The Cake on the other hand....well...

sad to say, he didn't really want much to do with. He just poked and grabbed it, and really only took 1 or 2 bites. But can I really complain? He would much rather have a bag of cheetos, and crackers, then a huge cupcake. Oh well. It was so much fun.

We came home from our camping trip on Sunday, a day early, and not because we were tired of camping, (in a motorhome, how can that be tiring), but Carter had not been sleeping well, so no body was sleeping well. So we decided to pack up and head back early.

Monday morning, we woke up and decided to all go to the Idaho State Fair. It was a beautiful day full of tiger claws, corn dogs and those potatoe twirly things. MMMMHMMMM!!!!!!

Monday evening, we invited some friends and family over for another birthday party for Carter. We were hoping to have some friends there for Carter to play with, but they were still "baking" (meaning there were 3 pregnant girls there) and they are due in the next few months. It was a great trip to Idaho, and Carter had a wonderful 1st birthday. Thank you for all who came.

One Year Pictures

Yes...Can you believe that Carter is ONE????? I can't! Well we had a coupon for Jcpennys and we were able to get $140 worth of pictures for $40.
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We are still Alive....

We have finally gotten internet in our new apt. And what a busy/frustrating/wonderful last couple of months. But we are finally settled in, again, and I am now able to start keeping up the blog better. There have been some pretty big things happening that past 2 months.... But I'll start from the beginning...

About 3 months ago, we moved from a one bedroom at Brighton Place, to a 2 bedroom. It was very large, had new carpet, linoleum, and paint. Also they let us keep our new oven and the fridge was bigger. Needless to say, we were very excited for Carter to have his own room, and just a bigger place overall. We moved in July 3rd to this apartment, and then went to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July. When we returned home, we finished unpacking EVERYTHING! Pictures and everything. Well the first night we slept there it was fine, the next night...not so much. When Carter woke up, he had 60-70 bites all over his face and hands. We were really concerned and grossed out. But we thought it was a rash or something and just put some cream on it and blew it off. Well the next day, I noticed he had more bites and I had them on my feet. They were little red dots and itched like crazy.

After researching and talking to a lot of different people, we called Brighton place and told them we had a bed bug problem. They said they would call the "bug man" and get it taken care of that next friday. So we had to wait a week. Man I was dying knowing that my little baby was getting eaten by bugs. (He slept in our room after that). The bug man came and sprayed supposedly everywhere. The couches, mattresses, bed frames, chairs etc. We had to leave for 4 hours for it to air out. We washed and vacuumed everything also.

After we were back to normal, we called Brighton place and they said the "bug man" didn't see any signs of bed bugs anywhere. We thought "oh good." well a couple nights went by, and Carter was back in his room. The next morning, Carter had more bites on his face. and me on my feet. Ok we thought. There is still something wrong. And Devin hadn't gotten bitten once. So we called the managers again, and they sent the owner of the bug company to come and evaluate what was going on. Ok, so fyi, bed bugs, after they bite you, leave a blood trail. Little spots of blood as they run away. They are also microscopic, until they become adults, and they are still VERY hard to find and see. And they also shed skin and can live dormant without eating for 18 months. Ya gross.

Well....The "owner" of the bug company, came over and checked over Carters crib and said "I don't see any signs of bed bugs. It must be mosquitoes." Then I asked him about all the little brown spots all over Carters sheets. he said "thats not blood. Blood is bright red when it dries." YA RIGHT!!! ARE YOU STUPID???? Come on. UGH

So we just thought ok fine. There is nothing wrong. Well I had been looking online for some kind of nanny position, and this one came up. It said...Nanny Tenant sought for 2.5 days for 2 children..Apply here....So I applied and interviewed and got it. The deal is I babysit Wed. 12-3, Thurs. 7-2 and Friday 7-2 for 2 kids ages 16 months and 2.5 years and in turn we only have to pay $300 a month for rent, in a 1400 sq ft brand new apartment, in the Holladay area. We were so excited. Except that we have to move again...Just 4 weeks after moving to a 3rd floor apt. Ya Devin was not very happy. LoL.

We started packing again, and had not seen one bed bug or anything. On the last morning of living there, the day we had planned for moving the rest of our things, I saw a black spot in our room. I shook it off, and saw it run away. I ran and caught it in a jar, and showed Devin. IT WAS A BED BUG!!!!!! Ya. So We went and showed Brighton place, but since it was a saturday, the main manager wasn't there. We knew something was going on. We were both excited because we finally had proof, but not so much, because more then half of our stuff was already moved into this beautiful new apartment.

We moved the rest of our stuff in, and we were putting Carters crib together, and his bedding back on, when 4 bed bugs fell off the bedding and off the crib. We caught them, and then starting worrying. because once they are in your house, they are VERY hard to get rid of. And they are hitch hikers, mostly from beds though. So we hurry and threw Carters Brand new crib and mattress away, and sadly went upstairs and tell our new managers that we have bug infested their brand new apt. How embarrassing. So $600 later, we are bug free. Haha ya that makes us feel better.

Watch his weight...

This past sunday Devin and I got out our dominos and played Mexican Train (thank you Jesse and Emily for teaching us that game). Well Carter wanted to play too. So we took all the dominos and put them into carters onesie, and he actually tried to crawl with all of them in his shirt. It was pretty funny.

Mom... What are you doing to me?

OH that is what is in my shirt...

Playing with Daddy... He LOVES daddy...

It is so sweet to listen to babies trying to talk like we do...