What a day!

Friday morning of last week was quite the day. Our dog Millie got spayed 2 days before on Wednesday. We woke up Friday morning and I went downstairs to let Millie outside. I could smell a horrible smell coming up the stairs. I thought "oh no!" I went to Millie's kennel and she had diarrhea and vomit all over in her kennel. Not to mention that it was all over the cone she has to wear to keep her from messing with her incision. (Well, Carson wakes up early so of course he was with me. He also likes to eat shortly after waking up.) I had to put Carson down so I could get Millie outside and clean her kennel. All while I was cleaning Millie's kennel, I was dry heaving. I can't stand dog poop smell. Carson was also screaming because he wanted me or wanted to eat. Then I went outside to clean Millie off. Well, her cone was covered in dog poop and vomit. I had to get my hands in it to get it off of her so I could clean it off. I finally got it cleaned off. Then I had to sponge bathe Millie's paws off because she had stepped in it. Keep in mind that I couldn't bath her otherwise I would have done that right off. Finally, amongst all the dry heaving and screaming from Carson, I got it all cleaned up. I lit a candle and sprayed my house with febreeze because my house reeked.

Shortly after that, Kelli wakes up and wants to eat. So I start to get her food ready. While I was getting Kelli's food ready, Millie goes to the door. She does that when she needs to relieve herself. So I stopped what I was doing and took Millie outside. Meanwhile, Kelli opens the door and Carson goes outside. It is freezing cold and Carson is running outside in his pajamas and into the street. At the same time, Millie is going diarrhea again. When Millie is finished, I run over to get Carson. Then at the same time, another dog is outside and Millie is going crazy. I have her on a leash and she is pulling me and wrapping around me while I am trying to pick up Carson. Finally I manage to get everyone inside. Once I get inside, Kelli starts crying and wondering why I haven't got her food yet. That pushed me over the edge. I just lost it right then and I yelled and said, "What do you think I have been trying to do this morning?" Then I yelled, " I am fed up with you! I am fed up with Carson! And I am fed up with Millie!" Then I left everyone and went up the stairs to cool off. After a few minutes, I went back downstairs, apologized to Kelli and finished getting her food. Talk about a morning. That morning pretty much topped them all. I probably sound like a horrible mom for yelling at my kids.

Anyway, a couple of days later, I had to take Millie to the Vet again, because some lumps were forming around her incision. The Vet told me that one of her stitches had ripped and her intestines were poking though hence the lumps around her incision. Then it turned out later that it was an allergic reaction instead which caused swelling and blood pooling around her incision. Good thing it wasn't as bad, but it gave me an understanding for all the diarrhea she had the past couple of days. How awful. Now things are going better with Millie and hopefully she will get better.

Happy Birthday Kelli!

I can't believe I have a 5 year old! Kelli has been so excited for her birthday party ever since her last birthday party last year. This year she wanted a pirate party. We ordered pirate hats that the kids could decorate, pirate patches, treasure boxes with fake gold coins, chocolate gold coins and skull rings. I also bought beaded necklaces, and ring pops to go inside the treasure boxes. I made pirate hooks and a pirate ship cake.

When the guests arrived, they decorated their pirate hats and put on their eye patches. We played pin the treasure chest on the map and then they got their pirate hooks.

Then we had a treasure hunt around the house and they found all their individual treasure chests. They seemed to think they were so cool. After that, another thing I bought were pirate sticker scenes. They sat down and decorated their pirate scenes. After that, we ate cake and ice cream. Then opened presents. Here is the lovely cake.

Happy Birthday Kelli! I sure love you. I can't believe that your 5! Time sure flies.

October Fun

During the 1st part of October, Chris and I, along with our dog Millie went chucker hunting with my dad, brother and nephew. We had success and Millie did a pretty good job for her 1st hunt. Plus we found some deer antlers.

Kelli had a hay day at preschool. She got to dress up. The parents came and the kids sang Halloween songs to them. It was sure cute.

Kelli with her preschool teacher.

Over Halloween weekend, we carved our pumpkin.

Then the highly anticipated day came. Kelli was so excited for Halloween and trick-or-treating.

When the afternoon came, she started complaining about her tummy hurting. Then by dinner time she was throwing up. I was feeling so bad for her. I could remember times when I was little and I was stuck home on the couch with a throw up bowl on Halloween. It was horrible. Well Kelli threw up a few times. I knew she wanted to go trick-or-treating so badly. I asked her how she was feeling and if she still wanted to go. After a bunch of debating, she said that she still wanted to go. I said to her that we could try a couple of houses and see how she was doing. I thought for sure that she wouldn't make it for very long. After we went to a few houses, Kelli started acting like she was feeling better and before long, she was running from house to house and beaming with excitement. I was thrilled she got better so quickly.

My little trick-or-treaters.

Kelli was Rapunzel and Carson was Scooby Doo. Carson also loved the whole trick-or-treating thing. He would run right up to the door and participate with the knocking. He would get so excited about the candy. Carson would pick out his piece of candy and run away with it. I couldn't believe the excitement in that kid that night.

Checking out their loot.

September

September has been a super busy month. At the beginning, I took a trip up the mountains with my dad. It was absolutely gorgeous up there. There were tons of wild flowers. I took some pictures.

For some reason this writing is showing up blue and I can't figure out how to fix it. Anyway, over Labor Day weekend, my parents invited the whole side of my family down to Grover, Utah. We drove down there and stayed in some cabins. We had a hay day going on hikes, fishing, riding in the paddle boats and just hanging out.

Some of us hiked into Blind Lake on the Boulder Mountain and fished. Kelli had so much fun with all the boulders that were all over the place.

Blind Lake

Picture out behind the cabins.

Kelli is now back in her 2nd year of preschool. She absolutely loves it.

And last but not least, I would like to introduce you to our newest member of our family. Meet our new puppy Millie!

We got Millie when she was 9 weeks old. She is now 11 weeks old. She is a Wire Haired Pointing Griffin and is known to be an excellent hunting dog, family dog and house dog. So far those qualities prove to be true.

Happy Birthday Carson!

Today is actually Carson's 1st birthday. We celebrated a little early. Chris made the awesome videos. He did an awesome job. I could never do anything like that. My computer skills are minimal. The video has more of Carson's birthday celebration pictures and some video clips, so enjoy. I can't believe Carson is a year now. Man time flies. Just a little more information on what he is up to....

Carson is starting to walk. He can take 5 to 7 steps by himself. Pretty soon he will be full on walking. He has 8 teeth and eats real food like a champ. There is practically nothing he won't eat. He sleeps well, going to bed at 8:00 and waking up around 6:30/7:00. Carson loves his monkey blanket and won't go to bed without it. He still loves, loves, loves taking baths and hates it when I take him out. If Kelli is taking a bath, Carson will try his absolute hardest to get in with her. He totally hates it when his daddy says "No." He gets so offended and cries his eyes out.

Carson had a hay day when we celebrated his birthday. I gave him a big piece of cake and a slab of ice cream. He downed both of them and grinned with excitement the entire time he ate them. He sucked away on the slab of ice cream. It was hilarious. After he was finished, he got so mad. So we cheered him up with a bath.

Well, Carson, I can't believe you are a year now. I just love you to death and I have had a blast the past year watching you grow! Happy birthday big boy!

Happy 1st Year Carson!

So Kelli wanted one as well so here you go Kelli!

The Past Month

I have been extremely busy the past month. I apologize because I haven't been on anyone's blog to see how you all are doing, nor have I posted for a long time, so here is a little update.

On the weekend of June 25th, my husband and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. We had the opportunity to stay at his parent's cabin. My in-laws bought a cabin recently which has been awesome for us and the rest of the family. Here is the beautiful cabin.

We spent the weekend, fly fishing, riding four wheelers and enjoying all the wildlife.

A day doesn't go by where you don't see a deer hanging out by the cabin. One of the mornings, we pulled up to the cabin and there was a deer sleeping right under the deck.

The next weekend, July 4th, we went to Gunnison to enjoy the celebration. Kelli and her cousin ready for the parade and the candy.

Carson enjoying the parade from his stroller.

Look who came to the small town of Gunnison.

After the July 4th festivities, we went up the mountains, had a picnic and went fishing. It was a blast!

The next weekend, I went back down to Gunnison to hang out with my parents and my brother and his wife and kids. On one of the days my brother and I took Kelli and his 2 older kids and we went rock climbing. Kelli climbed for the first time and she quite enjoyed it.

And she learned how to come down the right way.

Also, during the month of July, Kelli has been involved in swimming lessons. She has absolutely loved it! She is my little fish. Kelli can now move for about 10 feet through the water with her face in the water. I am quite impressed with how long she can hold her breath. She can float on her back and belly all by herself. She just loves to swim. It's a very good thing.

Kelli looks deep in thought in this picture.

Carson has figured out how fun it is to open cupboards and how neat everything is inside. I am considering buying baby proof stuff.

Birthday Present

This post has taken me a long time. My birthday was about a month ago and I just love what I got so I had to post it!

This stroller has been great. I love to go running and it is hard to go when you only have a single stroller and 2 kids. Another thing that is great about this stroller is that it converts into a bike trailer.

Don't they look so cute together.

9 Months

I can't believe it is 9 months since my baby was born! I feel like I am counting the months wrong. Time sure flies. Yesterday was Carson's 9 month birthday. A lot has changed since 6 months.

Carson has just started crawling. He can do the knee to hand crawling movement about 5 to 10 times. Now I have to keep an eye on him constantly because he goes for everything. I am glad that he isn't as quick as Kelli was because he would almost be walking now and that is too much for me to think about right now.

Carson now has 4 front teeth and 2 bottom teeth. For a while he looked like a vampire because just the 2 side teeth were in and not the front 2. But now the front 2 are through so he no longer looks like a vampire. I am amazed at how much teeth he has which kind of presents a problem, because he grinds his teeth. This next picture makes me a little sad.

You're probably wondering why it makes me sad. We had to move the crib mattress down. There were a few times I went into his room to get him out of his crib after he woke up and he was sitting up. I was worried that he would be able to pull himself over the railings, so for safety reasons, the mattress went down.

Carson is now a good sleeper, thanks to the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." It has been a life saver for me. Carson now sleeps all through the night. He goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up at 6:30.

I am still Carson's favorite person. He can only handle 10 minutes tops on the ground playing by himself, then he needs me to hold him. Oh well, I know that when he gets older, he won't be like that anymore.

Carson loves to eat. He will eat anything I put in his mouth as long as it is not baby food. I guess he just likes more texture and something to chew up.

I just love you to death Carson. You are so much fun and I am grateful every day to have you in my life.

Disneyland

It has taken me quite a while to put this post up. At the beginning of March we took Kelli and Carson to Disneyland. Kelli had a blast. It's always great to see your children's faces light up with excitement. A week before our trip, Kelli are Carson were sick with a stomach bug. So I get the stomach bug while we were in Disneyland. I'm just glad I wasn't throwing up and that Kelli and Carson weren't sick while we were there. But other than me not feeling well, it was fun.

I don't know how to get this picture turned around and there are a couple more that are like this one, so if anyone knows how to turn them around, let me know.

This ride would not have worked for me. I probably would have puked if I went on it, but Kelli thought it was super cool.

And of course it is always wonderful to see Mickey Mouse at Disneyland.

Chillin with their new toys. I just loved this picture.

We also went to California Adventure. Kelli was tall enough to go on the Tower of Terror. So we took her on it. She hated every minute of it. I don't blame her. Now we joke around with her and ask Kelli what her favorite ride was. She always responds with Thunder Mountain Railroad and Peter Pan. Then we ask her, "Why not the Tower of Terror, that was my most favorite ride?" She shakes her head no, but I find her sometimes building big towers with her legos and calling it the Tower of Terror. Kelli says that when she is bigger, she will go on the Tower of Terror again. I guess we will see. Hopefully we didn't ruin her excitement for the thrilling rides.

Daddy Daughter Ski Day

Yesterday, was one of the funnest days of the year so far because I got to go skiing with my dad to Alta. We have been keeping this a tradition every year except last year because I was pregnant with Carson. I don't think we could have picked a better ski day. It snowed all morning on us and the night before so we had about 18 new inches of fresh powder to ski in. By the afternoon, the clouds went away and it was a beautiful sunny day.

Thanks to my mom and a wonderful sister-in-law for watching my children and my dad for taking me skiing with you.

Stake Conference

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go to my parents house for their stake conference. My dad has been the stake president for the last 9 years. It was time for him to be released. My whole side of the family came. It turned out that Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles was the visiting authority. On Sunday, we were sitting in the front. When Elder Nelson was speaking, he had all the primary children stand up and sing, "I Am a Child of God." Well Kelli loves "I Am a Child of God," so she sang her heart out. While she was singing, Kelli kept waving at Elder Nelson. After the song was over, Elder Nelson motioned for Kelli to come up on the stand. I would think that any other child would be scared to go up there, but not Kelli. She went right up there and Elder Nelson picked her up and gave her a big hug. After Kelli went back down, Elder Nelson said, "That's President Anderson's granddaughter. She and I have been eying each other the whole time." I thought how awesome that was for Kelli to get that opportunity and of course I had to record it. It's not very often that you get to hug an apostle.

Another incredible thing happened. Back in 2005, I did a study abroad in Nauvoo through BYU. One of my leaders/floor parents/teachers, were the Pinegars. Sister Pinegar had been the general primary president. Brother Pinegar had been the MTC president and a mission president. You can tell that they are an amazing couple. They were wonderful teachers, speakers, an incredible example and great friends. Well now they are the Manti Temple president and matron. And because Manti is so close to my home town, they also spoke at the Stake Conference. It was a treat to also hear them speak again and I got to talk to them for a little bit after wards. I just love those kinds of experiences in life.

It was also wonderful to be with my whole side of the family and be able to see my dad as the Stake President one more time. I have always looked up to my dad and have known him to be an amazing person. My mom and dad are right behind Elder Nelson in the picture below.

Winter of 2011

This year we have gotten so much snow. Our front yard is north facing, so the snow just keeps piling up. Last week, I built an awesome snow tunnel for Kelli, but then over the weekend, we got dumped on again and the snow tunnel was ruined. It was a sweet snow tunnel. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it. My husband is the scout leader in our ward. They are trying to plan their winter camp out. I keep joking with him to just have it in our front yard.

Anyway, here is a great picture of Kelli out front with our mountain of snow.

Look Who Got Her Ears Pierced!

Kelli has been asking me for a while if she could get her ears pierced. Finally I decided to let her. I warned her over and over that it hurts. I also told her that I needed to put medicine on her ears every day and that she needed to let me twist her earrings around. She told me not to worry and that she would be brave.

Last weekend Chris and I took her to the mall to get her ears pierced. She didn't back down once or show any signs that she was scared. Kelli picked out the earrings she wanted and sat down in the chair. When the ladies pierced her ears, she cried a little bit, but when they held up the mirror for her to see, she lit up. Kelli has been so excited about her earrings and has been wonderful in letting me put medicine on her ears and twisting her earrings. And I also have to say that they look so cute on her.

6 Months

I can't believe my baby is 6 months old now. Carson is growing so fast. He is super long. Just a couple of days ago he finally decided that rolling over is something he is interested in. He is already starting to sit up on his own. That happened at about 5 1/2 months. Carson got his 2 bottom teeth in. The 1st one came in when we were in Hawaii. Yeah he was a pain for a couple of days The 2nd one came in when we got home. Talk about wonderful timing.

Carson used to be the best sleeper. The 1st 3 months of his life were wonderful to me. He slept through the night. Now he wakes up whenever he wants. Sometimes he will sleep through the night. Most of the time he wakes up 1 to 3 times during the night. I have tried everything to get him back to his schedule when he was a newborn. I've let him cry it out several times. I've just fed him. I've held him and rocked him back to sleep, but he still feels like he can wake up whenever he wants. Hopefully it will get better when I start him on cereal. He has his 6 month appointment in a few days and I'm sure his pediatrician will give him the ok to start on cereal. Yikes! I can't believe how fast he is growing.

As of right now, Carson does not have a schedule. I think he is transitioning from 3 naps a day to 2. I don't really ever know when he is going to take a nap, nor do I know how long he will sleep. It can vary from 30 minutes to 2 hours. He is just full of surprises. One thing for sure is that he loves to smile and laugh. It is so cute and he screams when he is excited. He loves to get his clothes changed, his diaper changed and loves to take baths. His most favorite toy is his binky. His 2nd favorite toy is his sock and his 3rd favorite toy is his new toothbrush I just bought him. His favorite person is his mommy. Lucky me.

Carson, you are so much fun. I just love you to pieces!

Here is a little video of him sitting up at 5 1/2 months.

Family Pictures

When we were in Hawaii, Chris' mom hired a photographer to take family pictures. The photographer did a great job. It's not very often that you can get professional family pictures taken in Hawaii.