Firsts

Oliver was born on Christmas day in 2011 so I suppose this is technically his 2nd Christmas. However, he did not get to enjoy much of his holiday last year and I'm sure the trauma from being squeezed through a birth canal ruined anything good that happened that day. So this year is Oliver's First Christmas/First Birthday. I will do an official 1 year old post after he goes to the doctor this week and we see how he is measuring up. This post is just a million adorable pictures of our Christmas and Birthday celebrations because words can't say how awesome it was. We had my whole family gathered at my parents home this holiday and it might not happen again for awhile (more on that later).

Christmas eve we all opened a pair of matching Christmas jammies, listened to Grammy Pie read the Christmas story, sang Christmas hymns, watched The Grinch, and had a fantastic hot chocolate bar. It was magical :)


Getting a group photo with the auto-timer was a bit tough. I was trying to set up the camera and take practice shots and this is about how it went....

This is what we ended up with which still isn't great but everyone has a face in it, kind of. 

Grammy Pie reading the Christmas Story

 Kate and Jared singing Christmas hymns

 Our Christmas had a monkey theme this year. My mom went around to several DI's and bought out all of the monkeys and dressed them up very festively to hang on her 12' tree. They were pretty cute. 

 My mom and dad

 Kate and Jared

 Hot chocolate bar ... mmmm!

 Ellie was trying to make a snow angel in the carpet

 Story telling that prompted the snow angel making.

Oliver's birthday breakfast consisted of an old favorite, eggs, and a new favorite, left over Christmas Eve ham. He ate that for about 6 days. 

 There aren't any pictures of Christmas morning which is just as well because Oliver didn't participate anyway. His main concern was finding food. 

My niece Ellie got an InnoTab which she walks around the house referring to as her IPad. Kind of cute. 

 Aneleise got "so many presents I can't remember any of them" and this awesome diary with a lock! 

 Oliver spent the majority of the day getting spoiled with junk food. Chocolate milk and brownies from Grammy. Snuggles on the side. 

                                  In the afternoon we had a rockin' birthday party for the little dude.

                                       He got a lot of fun presents and some cute new clothes.

Mom found this beauty on the internet for sale from a guy in Ririe. Had to have it. He was the star of the show. Giving him to Oliver for his birthday caused quite an uproar with the other cousins which may have resulted in the gift being taken back by grammy to leave at her house for everyone to play with. I'm still going to try and sneak it out when we go though.

                Lounging around in his throne with a candy cane in hand. He has never been so sticky.

 One of Ollie's favorite snacks is toilet paper. He got a roll of it for his birthday and promptly started to eat it. 

 He got this partially finished blanket from his grandma. Ollie Wog is her grammy nick name, she says.

                      Holding daddy's hand, waiting for cake. The anticipation is just too much!

                                                           Just giving him a little help.

 I wanted him to taste the actual cake part and not just the frosting so he might dig in a little deeper.

                                              But he preferred the candle over any of it.

 He ended up in the tub after the cake which is why he is naked from here on. 

Enjoying his horsey in his birthday suit. Nothing better. 

 Dad had to pull him off to give some one else a turn and he wasn't too thrilled. 

 Luckily he had more amazing toys to quickly distract him. I love how happy Ellie looks in this picture considering how much these two make each other kick and scream.

 I have never seen such genuine joy. This is a happy baby.

Warning: Ooey, gooey, lovey, dovey, mushy blah blah blah Ahead

I blog a lot about Shark because, well, he is a major part of my life and I want to remember our time together. However, my husband is another major part of my life and today I want to recognize him.

This week Bear will take his last tests at BYU. This week he is no longer a student, but an alumni. I am so proud of him for the work he has put in to his education and to his job so I am able to stay home and take care of my child/ren. But it doesn't stop there. He has done so much in his short 25 years. The good choices he made growing up have proven themselves time and time again and he has been blessed beyond belief. And now I get to benefit from those blessings. He has always been very dedicated to his education and at the same time has always made plenty of time to serve those around him and make friends with every person he meets. He genuinely cares about everybody. I mean EVERYBODY. This guy gets pretty emotionally invested in the lives of the people around him. It's a quality I really admire in him. He loves unconditionally. He serves without reservation. He lives life to the fullest.

I also have to put in a word about the amazing father he is. My heart melts every time I get to witness him teaching our son how to use a spoon, or trying to force the word "mama" out of him because he feels bad for me that he only says "dada", or making the poor boy laugh so hard he can't crawl straight.  He has taken on the responsibility of bathing Shark before bed every night and I like to stand in the doorway and spy on him washing his hair and carefully rinsing to avoid getting soap in Sharky's eyes. I love standing in the kitchen and hearing them singing songs and splashing each other, or making up a new game with the toys in the tub. He is always teaching, he explains every thing he does to Shark. I always kind of shake my head and mumble something like, "he has no clue what you are talking about" but he will someday and his little sponge of a brain is taking in more than I realize. The role of a father came very naturally to Bear.

Here are some pictures of Austin as a kid that his father sent to me today. Enjoy.

No doubt, this is a shot from a trip to Lake Powell. His family was always up to something exciting.

This is Austin with his two older brothers, Kyle, and Ryan, who he admires very much.

 He was so adorable! Love his blonde hair (preview of what Oliver will look like)

Austin is the slouching, grumpy looking little guy in the middle. So cute!

Well there you have it. I realize people don't really like mushy, love posts but sometimes a gal has to gush a little about the big hunk in her life. If you've got one of your own, you understand. If you don't yet, you are probably gagging.

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.....