Christmas card pictures

My sister Cindy was kind enough to take some pictures of our family for our Christmas cards. We sent out as many as we could and some were returned with wrong addresses (which I haven't resent) so I apologize if you did not personally receive one.

I found this perfect picture spot earlier in the year while running along a trail near our house. Here are some of the pictures that didn't make it onto the card.

Carson's first pumpkin pics

Last week me and my sisters Cindy and Jackie went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland which my hairdresser told me about. It was a really cute farm with an animal petting zoo, line railroad, tree house slide and some things we didn't do like the corn maze and hay wagon ride. We wish our husbands could have been with us but then again are grateful that they are busy with their professions.
I'm surprised Carson stood still long enough for me to take so many pictures of him with the one pumpkin. It may have been that he was distracted with the large piece of pretzel that I didn't realize he had in his mouth until he choked on it and threw it up along with the rest of his lunch.

Of course we all had to pile on the train together.

Eight is great!

Today marks 8 months for our sweet little boy. It seems like yesterday that I was looking down at his sprawled-out toes and perfect little nose in the hospital room... okay not really. Anyhow, Carson is such a happy and VERY active baby. He has been crawling since the end of his sixth month and now follows me everywhere around the house. His favorite thing to do is stand up wherever he is, of course holding onto whatever he can. This makes for many bumps and bangs throughout the day. It is almost impossible to bathe him now because he will not sit still for any length of time. (I don't know why I made it a nightly habit before bedtime because now I'm stuck). At night he sleeps like an angel, averaging 11-12 hours, however naps are a different story. We're lucky if he gets past thirty minutes at a time. He loves swimming with us in the pool and also watching his cousins play. His big blue eyes stop all the passers' by, as well as the big toothy grin he gives them. A few weeks ago he started shaking his head in a 'no' motion which cracks me up because I never taught him how to do it. What is funny is that he does it a lot when I'm putting him to bed. (It brings to mind a comment my oldest sister always says, that they are smarter than we think). Although he grew so fast out of the 0-3 month clothes which made me very sad, now he is still wearing some 3-6 month sizes. We know the day of January three is rolling around fast, and we hope we can just enjoy the daily surprises he brings to our lives before he is not a baby anymore.

All the girls

My oldest sister Stefanie came for a visit recently from Idaho with her five kids. This is the first time we have all gotten together since we have had our babies this year. Here are all the sisters lined up oldest to youngest. Stef is holding Pryce 3mo, Cindy with Kate 2mo, me with Carson 7mo, and Jackie with Tessa 6mo. It was so much fun to be together while all the cousins played. We even attempted getting JC Penney pictures taken with all 11 kids. It was a pretty crazy morning if you can imagine.

Here are the babies lined up. Carson, Tessa, Pryce, and Kate.

Last Tuesday we took a day trip to the beach in Pacifica. We watched Jeff surf a little and Carson loved crawling around in the sand...as did Taylor!



I was a little nervous at first to let Carson loose in the sand, but fortunately we only had one face-plant into the sand.

And of course we had many days of swimming at our house.

Triathlon

On Saturday Jeff and I competed in a Sprint Triathlon at Rancho Seco, which was .5 mile swim, 16 mile bike, and 3 mile run. It's actually the same tri we did together three years ago for our official first date. They start the race in waves of five minute increments, going through the men first. Our plan was to have Jeff wait for me in the transition area after the swim so we could do the bike and run together. After I got to the trans. area after my swim, Jeff had discovered that his bike had a flat, so he was fixing it and was almost done by the time I was ready to go. I thought he would be right behind me so I went ahead, but it took him longer to put the tire back on than we thought and he never caught up. I feel really bad that I didn't wait since that was our plan in the first place. Anyhow, low and behold, I won first place in the group I was racing with, which was Athena. For any of you unfamiliar with what that is...I call it the fat girl club! Really. It's a category for women over 150lbs. We decided to stick around for the awards ceremony just because, and next thing you know I've got a first place plaque in my hand. We had a fun day doing something together that reminded us of that first date. We both finished in under 2 hours. Sorry for the blurry picture, when a stranger so kindly takes your picture you can't really ask them for a redo after looking at it, can you?

Come to Momma

This is my attempt at trying to capture Carson crawling. Last Saturday he figured out how to move his knees along with his arms instead of just pulling himself along. He's only done it a few times since then, but we think the time to baby proof the house has arrived. Thus the time to do a little more vacuuming as well.

New found mobility

I think it's time to lower Carson's crib. Enough said.

Tucker and Carson

On Monday we had my nephew Tucker overnight so that Jackie could prepare for Taylor's birthday parties. Although Carson is really good at playing in his room by himself, it was really nice to have Tucker here to entertain him...and teach him how to have a light saber duel...so that I could get stuff done myself. I'm not sure how it all happened, if Carson picked it up on his own, or if Tucker handed it to him, but this is what I captured...

R&R

There is a spot on the north fork of the American River that I try to get to every summer. It's near Colfax just east of Auburn and for me it's not a very long drive to get to a beautiful place down in the canyon where the water is cool and refreshing. I have been going there for about fifteen years now and the only complaint that I have is that there are an increasingly amount of other people there, even if it is on a weekday. A couple weeks ago my sister Jackie took Carson for a few hours so that Jeff and I could go by ourselves. It was really nice to just go and have a picnic and then swim and relax. Thanks Jackie!

Girl's Night

Me, my mom and sisters have decided to try and have a girl's night out once a month. Luckily we all have wonderful husbands that are so willing to watch the babies. June was our first month which I was in charge of planning. We went to Chipotle for dinner and then played Croquet in the park. It was so much fun and I think it was the same week Cindy was due with her baby. It's not something I could have done if I was 39 weeks pregnant thats for sure! In fact, she had so much strength that she broke one of my wood mallets while hitting a ball so hard. She must have been mad at me for winning. :)

Trip to Idaho

My oldest sister Stefanie had her fifth baby on May 5th, so I decided to take a drive to see her since Jeff was going to be in Arizona for a friends graduation from Dental School. Carson did so amazing in the car and I only had to break out the video player once each way for Baby Mozart. We did split up the twelve hour drive by staying overnight in the middle of Nevada, (which really didn't help me get much rest) but was nice for Carson.
Here's a pic of the whole gang.

This was a free water park in Rexburg...so fun, but it was a cold day!

Carrousel ride at the same park.

Arianna and Carson.

Here's a shot in the car watching Baby Mozart.

Having a tender moment with Price.

Tucker and Carson

My friend Jenn was in town visiting her parents about a month ago, so I took Carson over to play with her little guy Tucker. Tucker was born about 7 weeks before Carson. He is a big boy, (she won't mind me saying) and is wearing 18mo. size clothing already. It was funny seeing them next to each other since Carson is such a shorty. They are both such happy smiley guys...it was fun.

This is Carson's favorite toy of the moment. My sister Jackie is letting us borrow it. He especially loves eating the balls.

Last Friday me, Cindy and Jackie went to the Sacramento County Fair. It was a hot day but we had fun walking around and the kids got to go on some rides. Carson felt so sick that day, but he was such a trooper. Tucker, Taylor and Jack spotted something in the dirt that captured their attention. Such boys!

Jeff and I went down to Orange County a few weeks ago for a dental convention. We got to visit our old ward in Vista which was so much fun. We stayed with Jeff's sister Rachele and her husband Wes in Aliso Viejo. These two pictures are the only ones we got of our travels...kinda sad. Especially since it was Carson's first plane ride.

Our little mover

Where I placed Carson before I got in the shower...

...and how I found him after I got out. He never moves that much when I'm watching, go figure.