Zoo Party

This year my Dad's work threw a work party for the family at the Zoo, so we were excited to go! Rob was swamped in the middle of a trillion (seriously!) exams and studying...boring!... so it was a great way for Carson and I to spend our Saturday and get out of his hair! Plus, we are always excited to see family! My sister and her husband were so sweet in letting C and I catch a ride with them! Thanks guys! It was a pretty cool party because A) Carson LOVES animals B) Everything that normally you have to pay for was FREE.. yes FREE!! even the food and giraffe feeding and C) we got to go in the evening, after hours, which helped make things a little cooler outside!! Carson and I hadn't seen the new Elephant exhibit that opened, so that was exciting. These elephants are so much better and way cute. Carson loved watching them. His favorite thing at the zoo this trip was the random peacocks that roam free. One was digging a hole and he was full on laughing his head off at it. I will agree it was pretty funny to see a bird digging a hole similarly to how our dog digs holes. Carson also liked the giraffes, until it's tongue touched his hand, then he wanted nothing to do with it. Carson even got to try out some of the giraffe's food himself. They handed us a couple carrots to feed the giraffe and before I knew it Carson was nibbling away at it... a little slobber can't kill a giraffe right! Carson would hold out the carrots until the giraffe was about 6 inches from his hand and then he would throw it to her. For the last carrot I held Carson hand and we let he giraffe's tongue touch our hands. Carson and I both did a little creepy wiggle and Carson was done with that!  We all had a great time and Carson even got to try his very first hotdog (I try to avoid giving him hotdogs at all cost, but whatever...) and got a fun prize on the way out the door! Thanks Pops for inviting us! We are so happy your work decided to have such a fun party!

Don't worry, that's not how much I weigh ;)!! We got everyone on this big scale that we could fit to try and see if we could weigh the same as an Elephant....almost!

laughing at the peacock

15 Months

Our Baby is already 15 months! Crazy! I am one of those crazy Mom's that wants to remember when my child started doing things and I was pretty good about writing stuff down every month for the first year, but I realized I hadn't written anything down for 3 month now...yikes! So here is what C is doing at 15 months! It's a long list, but seriously if I don't write down every little thing that I can think of right now (which I know I am forgetting a TON of stuff in this post alone) I will forget in a month what he was doing at 15 months. Seriously! I can't even remember when he smiled or laughed or did any of that fun stuff without looking it up. So here we go... long list and all!

15 months

• 31.75 inches
• 23.10 pounds
• Size 5 Shoe, Size 4 diaper
• Bedtime- between 7-7:30pm and sleeps till 7am or later
• Takes 2 naps still. Morning nap is about an hour. Afternoon nap about an hour and half on a normal day... not a long napper)
• Uses fork correctly
• Says= two, go, wow, uh-o, Mama, Dada, more, thank you, duck, water, Carson, bye, choo-choo, kick, stab (weird I know, but he says it when he stabs his food with a fork..Thanks to Daddy!), chicken
• Signs- More, dog, train, plane, bird, all done, thank you, and occasionally please
• Dances when he hears a good beat or while Yo Gaba Gaba is loading on Netflix
• Exaggerates his arm swinging when walking and running… cutest/funniest thing ever!
• He understands us SO MUCH now. I can’t believe it! When we tell him what we are doing, he runs to the right room and waits for us. Like when we tell him we need to wash his hands he runs to the sink and tries to climb up or when we tell him it’s time to take a bath he runs in the bathroom and turns the water on.
• Swimming or anything water is still one of his favorite activities
• Whole Milk Dinker—and finally loving it!
• He is growing more and more in love with his blanket and I often find him trying to pull it out of his crib threw the railings! (we only let him have his blanket and binkie in the crib)
• Eats all table food and tries new food all the time. We are still working on getting him to love more than his favorites. (His staple favorites are-Chicken nuggets, Mac & Cheese, Grilled Cheese, PBJ, Lunch Meat, any kind of cheese, any fruit, squash and peas… only in baby food form though, avocados, bread, goldfish, applesauce, veggie sticks, nutriagrain bars, cereal, pancakes, smoothies, yogurt, Spanish rice).
• Slides down the slides at the park all by himself sitting up… such a big boy moment.
• He folds his arms for prayer when we sit down at the table to eat and before bedtime, even when Rob and I are totally not ready for prayer. Such a good example and reminder for us!
• Loves to listen to sounds he hears outside from inside the house. He stops and listens so carefully.
• Looks up when he thinks you are looking at him and he doesn’t want you to.
• Has totally mastered how to ride his little bumper car and is so good at it. He also loves to giddy up on his rocking horse.
• LOVES playing outside and digging.
• Kicks the ball around saying “ick ick ick” and has started throwing balls and whatever else he can! 
• Loves animals and looks at his animal book ALL the time
• Totally knows how to work the I-pod and is one of his favorite things to do while riding in the shopping cart or following Mommy as she does housework
• Fake laughs when people say something funny or he thinks something should be funny
• Runs to the door and waits for Daddy when he hears the garage door opening
• Has 7 teeth (4 on top, 3 on bottom) and one more bottom one on the way
• Totally lights up when around other kids or his cousins.
• Waves Hi and Bye
• Excellent fit thrower ;)
• He is a super strong and independent/stubborn boy. He knows what he wants and he will try and wrestle you into it! :)
• Loves to explore and will run off and not look back (scary!)
• When you lay on the ground he will for sure come over and dog pile you
• Favorite book= “I See a Monster” “Peek-a-Who” “Animal Book”
• Favorite toys= Cars ramp, Radio Flyer Bumper Car, Cozy Truck, Tunnel, Drum Set, and loves to “Giddy Up” on his rocking horse
• Favorite Shows- Yo Gaba Gaba, Curious George, Sesame Street, and Thomas the Train
• Does actions to “itsy bitsy spider” and “Open shut them”
• Knows where his belly button is and “honks” our noses when we ask where his nose is
• Finds the moon and points to it
• Calls the dog using the sign and always tries to play tug-a-war with her
• When a hymn is sung at church he instantly starts leading the music
• Runs everywhere he goes
• Whenever I give him a smoothie he goes and hides in a corner, like he isn’t suppose to have it or something, and will drink the whole thing before taking the sippy cup out of his mouth for the first time!
• Blows bubbles, kicks, and splashes on command in the tub! His favorite!
• Does NOT like to get his diaper changed
• Loves playing tag and wrestling with Daddy
• Loves to climb on chairs and the couch to sit… and stand on and act like a crazy man, oh dear!
• He is really into things with lids (screw on or snap) and takes the lid off, on, off, on, off, on
• Can open doors that have a lever knob
• He just recently became interested in coloring
• When he wants something he will come get us, grab our hand, and lead us there
• He hasn’t gotten too old for his awesome belly laugh yet!
• Hates the vacuum. Not the sound of it, but the sight of it. 
• Fights getting snapped into his car seat, so our back seat is full of distractions, but is fine as soon as he is snapped in.
• Loves going on walks and pushes all the noise making buttons on his steering wheel the whole walk.  
• We fill our days with story time, swimming lessons, Music Class, play dates, 2 naps, errands, chores, and lots of play time. 

 And since I don't have any recent pictures on my computer right now [Insert Picture Here Later]!

Be Aware!

Once we moved into our new rental house, we quickly realized our neighbors were also LDS! They are the cutest family and have been sooooo sweet to us. Almost two years ago, their youngest boy swallowed a button battery and their life was forever changed. I had heard a little about the dangers of button batteries before meeting them, but I had NO idea the severity. Rob and I have definitely reevaluated what is in our home and what we let Carson play with. The things that are low that we keep out (like our bathroom scale) we secured with duct tape! This family has such a sweet and positive attitude (it really is amazing) and they want to make everyone aware of the dangers of button batteries in hopes of saving a child's life. So PLEASE watch this short video and be aware of what is in your home!

Swing Swing Swing

Over the summer we moved to a different rental house (which we totally love) that actually has a nice yard Carson can play in and a covered patio for a swing... this boy is in heaven! He sure loves to swing and loves to try and get us while swinging!

Birthday Madness!

Rob and I have birthdays that are only 4 days apart so pretty much the first week of September we just party all week! If we get lucky one of our birthdays usually falls on the Labor Day weekend. This year my birthday did. On my actual birthday two of my best girl friends took me out to lunch and we had a great time catching up!

**As a side note, while at lunch we told the place it was my birthday, trying to get free cookies which worked, but then the teenage-aged girl helping us asked me how old I was and responded shockingly telling me she would have only guessed I was 18. Seriously?!?! Come on, do I really look that young! Obviously she didn't look too close at my aging face! :) I shouldn't complain because one day I will want to look younger, but I at least want to look 21... not 7 years younger haha! Oh well! No wonder I sometimes get strange looks in the store when I have Carson with me. They probably think that I was 17 when I had him. :)**

That night Rob and Carson took me out to dinner and then we had cake and presents! It was so fun to spend my birthday with my two favorite boys and they were so sweet to me! Rob even watched a chick flick with me! Both of our parents also came up during the long weekend and helped us celebrate both of our birthdays too. Then 4 days later we got to do it all over again! On Rob's actual birthday he did have to go to school... total bummer! But after school, we took Carson to swimming lessons and  let Rob pick where he wanted to go out to eat. Then back to the house we went to presents, treats, and a boy movie!! Yay for birthdays!

Rob family took us to Texas Road House nicely made us both get on the Saddle!

He was trrrrooouuubble that night. He did NOT want to sit in his high chair and he kept spying on the people behind us. Poor couple!