Thanksgiving 2012

We had an awesome holiday this year. We were able to spend almost a week with our family in Colorado doing all kinds of fun things. The girls went shopping or to a movie while the dudes spent the day on the sand dunes with their toys or walked around the gun store dreaming. We ate a LOT of good food, naturally, and all the kids got to spend some quality time with their cousins. The weather was pretty mild and we got to play in the back yard quite a bit. Oliver was in heaven with all the little kids running around. His older cousins (6 years old) loved toting him around, dancing with him, wrestling with him, or trying to teach him to walk. Grandma LeBaron has a big, fat, extra slow dog named Harley that Oliver fell in love with. He chased him all around the house with his one legged crawl and they even ate out of the same bowl :) (Not because we allowed it, but it happened way too many times)

I know this is disgusting and I'm a bad mom, but it was a great photo op...the first time. The dishes were quickly removed on the second and third and fourth and fifth and............

 Navy enjoyed some quality Harley time as well.

 Oliver had fun most of the time, don't let this fool you. 

These two are about 3 months apart and I can only imagine the trouble they are going to cause....

Early Thanksgiving morning, Ryan was sent out to gather the Black Friday ads and we all scoured over them at the breakfast table.

Uncle Austin putting together a puzzle with Addy. 

All the dads took turn giving their kids a ride a the little mini 4-wheeler. Oliver loves anything that moves. 

          It was a little cold for this Arizona gal, but her Coloradan counterpart didn't seem to mind.

Oliver's cousin Navy, almost 3, with her daddy, Kyle, waiting patiently for her turn on the 4-wheeler.

She fell in love with this red helmet as you may notice in following pictures. 

Allison driving like a boss.

Austin walked around the yard looking for dog poop while Craig scooped it. 

Little Navy with her aunt, Brittney. 

           I love the expressions Ady makes during her ride. She goes through a few emotions.

         Kaitlin patiently waiting for Ady to come back and play. Navy and that helmet.

These are the neighbor horses that get fed by just about everybody. They are always waiting at the fence for a snack from one of the kids.  

Annikas turn with her daddy, Ryan. 

Oliver didn't like the helmet as much as Navy did. 

I'm missing the actual Thanksgiving dinner festivity pictures because they wouldn't download for some reason. So I'm sorry to all the faces (Baby Carter) that are not pictured here! You were not forgotten. I will get it all sorted out. We had some family pictures taken of the whole group that I will post when I receive them. I'm glad we were able to do that because we aren't all in one place very often. 

No Longer an It

Today I was blessed to find out the lump in my tummy is a little girl. I was elated. Girls are what I know, and not just because I am one. I have sisters, cousins, and nieces galore with very few boys in the mix. Austin wanted a boy, which would have been fun for Oliver to have a little buddy, but brothers and sisters can be buddies too. I know some.

When we left the doctors office and got back in the car I turned around and looked at Oliver in his big boy car seat and said, "You're a big brother! You're getting a little sister!" and in that moment he looked so grown up. He had no clue what I was saying but he was excited because he could tell that we were excited, too.

Austin noticed a big difference between this gender reveal and the last. I was giddy and giggling as we left the office today unlike at Oliver's appointment which I left in tears. It's not that I wasn't excited to be having a healthy baby boy, I was just freaked out by boys and a mixture of hormones made me a little emotional. I couldn't stop imagining him as a teenager with body hair and body odor and giant, man-sized, sweaty shoes lying around the house. My mom tried to reassure me that those worries could be put off for several years but those were the only images of my baby boy I could muster. But look at him...who couldn't love this face? There's nothing hairy or sweaty about him... for now.

It's extra special having a girl because everything is new again, it's like I'm having a baby for the first time, all over. Plus, I get to decorate another nursery! That is pretty darn exciting to me. If we were having another boy we had decided they would share a room.

We didn't get any good ultrasound pictures because the little girlie wouldn't come out of hiding. We were able to see that she was a she and that all of her parts were in working order but we didn't get that precious profile shot, or little waving hands or anything like that. At my next appointment my doctor said we would take another quick peak to see if she is cooperating for a good photo shoot, at no charge! Sweet! I'll take a peak at my little cantaloupe any chance I get!

I've posted a poll about her name, the first two options are just different spelling. We already have our hearts set on a name, I think, but I want opinions anyway, just for fun. It takes the fun out of waiting for a baby if the name is already set in stone way before they arrive. It's a neat thing to toss ideas back and forth and decide on an identity for a new human being. Our minds are open.

Half way through, this baby is coming fast! At the moment, I have no idea what our life will be like or where our life will take us past December. Austin graduates in just a month and a half and he is applying for jobs and interviewing like a mad man. We could be anywhere when this baby lands. It's all out of my control and that is very strange for me, but I am at peace with it. The Lord will place us where he needs us most and our lives will be good. And the next time we move I have promised Austin that we will find help for him and he won't be on his own. I have been pregnant for the last two moves and will be again for this upcoming one. Not like that is an excuse, I'm not a lot of help when it comes to the heavy lifting anyway, even though I like to think I am. Taking volunteers now.....

Hair Cut

Oliver got a hair cut and it was pretty fun. It was sad to see a little pile of soft, blonde, baby hairs lying on the floor. I have a few pictures, and a few cute ones of him being destructive.

Oliver's First Halloween

We didn't have any Halloween plans until the very last minute. I hadn't made any because I don't think 10 month old babies make very good memories at this age and I don't have to courage to go trick-or-treating when everyone knows the candy will be for me. I already had the Halloween photoshoot in Ollie's costume so I wasn't even planning on putting him back in it. But, the social butterfly for a husband I have RSVP'd us to a Halloween party in Salt Lake and BOOM, we had plans. I went to ShopKo and picked up a couple of wigs for 60% off (which was still a big fat waste of money) and turned us into some pretty pathetic hippies. Before we left, Austin expressed to me his concern that we hadn't carved a pumpkin this year, so we had to do that first.

Little Shark trying out the hippie hair

Thrilled with his find.

I wish I looked as good as he did at 18 weeks. 

Let the carving begin!

He was very curious about what was inside and it was pretty nasty. 

See? 

He didn't mind. 

The artists!

These are some of the decorations at our house. 

This handsome fella greets us when we get home. He stands watch over our cars. 

Precious moments <3

This baby loves those horses. 

No pictures in costume, but that isn't a bad thing. It was a pretty fun evening after all.

Pretty and Pregnant: Dead Hair

Pregnancy sucks the life out of my already lifeless hair. It's not the hairs fault, I'm the one who blow dries and flat irons it. But pregnancy (plus Utah winters) suck every single ounce of pretty out of my hair. It is DRY. I'm growing my hair out and I came across a blog with some tips.

I think my first step is to give this hair a drink and healthy it up. So, number one on my tip list is no more blow dryers and no more flat irons. This is not a pretty picture. However, on another bloggers hair tip list (maskcara.com) I found a recipe to make my not so pretty air dried hair a little prettier.
     1. Brush hair before you get in the shower
     2. Brush again with conditioner in hair
     3. Don't brush it again until it is dry. Towel dry and lightly run your fingers through.
The trick is not to touch your hair until it is dry. No twisting, scrunching, combing. And since this routine my hair is more presentable.

Next step I am trying is to wash less often. I can't go more than every other day and a lot of times I want to wash it every day. I don't understand for the life of me how one can take a shower and NOT wash their hair. It is not possible for me to do so. So this step sounds simple but is pretty tough on me. Another reason I want to wash it every day is because.....

Step three, I got new shampoo! I am taking the WEN challenge and I love it so much! My hair is crazy soft and feels healthy again. I read a lot of other users mistakes and have tried to use the product the right way. Number one complaint I have found is that the hair feels greasy after using WEN. The natural reaction is to use less of the shampoo, but you need to use more. And it doesn't lather so it takes a little elbow grease to work it through from scalp to tips. Following the instructions is key. I will update my review after I have used the product a little longer including some before and after photos.

Step four. I brush my hair 100 strokes every night. I don't know if this helps it grow but the theory is that stimulating the scalp will stimulate hair growth. Either way, it feels good and my hair is soft.

I am fighting my pregnancy woes one day at a time and I will post again on other pick-me-ups I have discovered for myself.

My Growing Boy

Waking up to an oven full of muffins was the best thing that ever happened to him. You can't tell here, but he was licking the glass. Next stop--spying on Dad in the shower. It's a good start to a new day!

These guys are my whole world.

   I took the leap tonight and deleted my Facebook account. I'm talking real live delete, not just deactivate. I think it is an awesome tool for keeping up with friends and family but I'd like to spend less of my time "keeping up" with other people's lives and spend more time in my own. Because mine is pretty darn good. With a new baby on the way I am having major attachment issues to Oliver. I want to soak up and cherish every little moment we have. He's my best little buddy and it's his life I should be immersing myself in, not everyone else's. I feel like every one of his days are worth documenting and every picture I take is worth posting but frankly, I take way too many pictures to post and how many posts can one write about what a great kid he was today. 

   Oliver's sleeping habits are improving, sometimes he sleeps so well I want to wake him up because I miss him! We are slowly decreasing the amount of bottles he gets in hope of an easy wean and transition in the coming months. His adorable toofless grin is filling up with little teeth. All the kisses I thought he was giving me have turned out to be him biting my face. I should get that under control but I think it's so cute! He is just playing anyway because Dad and Mom are always nibbling on him. I love watching his personality emerge. He looks a lot like his pops but I think on the inside he is all Mom. He's a very timid and sensitive little soul. Animals scare him, heights scare him, sneezes scare him. Almost everything scares him. Still not the dark though, which always amazes me. I can shut him in his room at night and he doesn't care at all. I'd be pretty vocal about being shut in a dark room all by myself. He loves to play catch and his throw is getting better and better. He gets so excited though, that as he throws he crawls closer and closer to me and soon he is in my lap and we are just handing the ball back and forth. Bath time has also become pretty cute. He likes to flip over onto his tummy and stick his whole face into the water. I think he is going for a drink but can't quite keep his eyes and nose out of the water yet. It makes for a good laugh. He is such a boy! He loves to play with anything that moves. If he sees a steering wheel or a set of handle bars his hands are glued to it! Stuffed animals and dolls are not interesting in the least. Everything he picks up he tries to tear apart. He loves yelling and smacking things and ripping paper (including books that I carelessly leave around). He even has a little baby six pack. It is so cute! You can see it really well when he climbs on and off of the couch over and over again. He also loves the cell phones, lap tops, iPad, etc. Tonight he got his fingers on my key board and pulled up the "P" key which is now very difficult to press. I have a feeling I am in for a lot of things being destroyed in my future. He is already wearing holes in the knees of his jeans and his once white socks are now a grimy shade of brown. 

   We are looking forward to finding out Baby #2's gender in the coming weeks. Our appointment is on November 5th and I keep going back on forth between wanting a boy and a girl. I've been wanting a boy but I pulled out a bag of little baby girl clothes today and my heart just melted! And in my emotional state, now that I'm back on the Pink team, the thought of having another boy makes feel a little sad. It's ridiculous! Austin is a good man for being so patient and understanding with me. I'm generally happy but I have days that I hate everything about my body and I don't want to leave the house (like the day I watched 11 consecutive hours of Law and Order). My hair is also taking a beating right now, it's dry and I have a MILLION little angel hairs from all of my hair falling out after giving birth to Oliver. Fly aways galore. I have a fuzzy head. But I am trying very hard to ignore it and not do anything rash. I really want to grow out my hair and it's times like these that I lose control and cut it. So for now I just look in the mirror less. That is probably a healthy decision regardless of my bad hair days. 

   I don't know how many of you will stumble upon this blog anymore without me posting the link to Facebook with each new post but I use this as a journal so it's important for me to keep up on it, whether or not anyone else is able to keep up.