Nap time is over!

If only we could all wake up this happy!!

5 Years and Counting!

Well, we did it! One more year under our belt and an awesome year it has been. The obvious highlights include Carter joining our family, Booker completing puppyhood, and Jared starting Redstone, which has been a big success so far.

To celebrate, we took the day off and relaxed. We started out with a rollerblade ..

(I had been bugging Jared to come up with a way that I could crosstrain with the baby and the dog!), then took some family pictures at a studio (I will post when I get them!), went out to TownSquare and ate lunch at Claimjumper, (not my fault or choice that I am the only full face in this pic!)

and shopped until Carter could barely keep his eyes open. Nothing like watching Jared push an empty stroller, while holding a sleeping baby, and finding a different size for me to try on. Can we say superdad?? After all that, we came home, took a much needed family nap, and cooked an awesome steak dinner. It was an amazing day and Carter was a champ! He did sooooo good, it was motivating for us and really the best time we have had as a family in a long time!

Carter felt like such a big kid in the high chair, and has started to think that washing his hands is a really fun game!

We had an awesome time, and Jar-babe, I love you more now than ever!

Can't wait for next year!!

May Flowers..

Yes, I can say we actually have May flowers, unlike all of you up north from what I hear. Sorry about that!

Well, we had our 6 month check up a week ago now, and Carter is doing great. I kept waiting to post cause I wanted to get some pictures (official 6 month pictures) to go with it, but I am way horrible at getting it done, so here are the numbers:

Weight: 18 lbs

Height: 27 inches

Head: big... we'll leave it at that!

Hair: You can actually see some.

Other Achievements:

• Laughs like a champ.



• Eats like it's going out of style



• Jumps as though he can't stop... gets to the point where he is crying to get out but can't stop jumping still!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


• Can make it through a 5 mile run... depending on the day!
  
  
  
  


• Has mastered grabbing the dogs cheeks. Now we just need to get the letting go part!



• Working on the sippy cup. I have never seen someone so bendy. We will eventually get the lifting it to you part.
  
  
  
  


• Has made a few puts without even being able to see! 1st mini-golf trip!

• Plays with his friends. Or at least doesn't scream when they play with him!

• Wants to look just like daddy!

• Hikes... sleeps... it's all the same.

• Graduated to big boy jammies.. size 12 months!
  

He is doing so awesome, and every day I love love love watching him grow up. I am the luckiest girl alive!!

Stae

Nap Time...

... can no longer be in the bouncer I guess! At least he is starting to take naps, right?

PMA - positive mental attitude!

8 Posts in 1!

So, because I find it a rare moment when I load my pictures on, pretend like this is 8 different posts, cause March was a big month!

Post 1: CUTEST KID EVER!

It's no lie, every parent thinks theirs is the best, and I am no exception! Carter not only started solids earlier this year, but his two first teeth cut through officially (at least I noticed them) on March 3rd! Again, who wouldn't love that face! (One picture simply demonstrates the insane amount of drool every mother gets with a teething child!)

Post 2: ROLLING AROUND WITH MY ROLLY POLLY!

On March 10th, I was being a good mommy and actually doing laundry, when I needed to move it along. So Carter went onto the bed and I was retrieving the clothes from the laundry room and throwing them on the bed when all of the sudden he was on his tummy, head up, laughing at my surprise! So I flipped him over, left for the rest of the load, returned and there he was again, looking at me with a huge smile from his belly! My little boy had decided he could roll over and was thrilled! Sorry, no pictures of the laundry party. Also March 10th, later that day, it is worth noting that daddy was giving pre-mature driving lessons on our drive to Utah. Lucky me that the car was not actually moving! There are no words!

Post 3: FUN IN THE SUN!

Yes, he is a miniature grandpa! I truly feel that words are unnecessary for this picture except to say this was on March 5th, and he has already outgrown that hat! We were trying to wash the cars... I got distracted!

Post 4: SITTING UP LIKE A BIG KID - OR ALMOST!

Had to do it... he is getting close, and we felt he couldn't get cuter than on an ocean of a bed! He is obviously thrilled at the thought of posing yet again... and we were on our way out for a walk (this is to explain the outfit!). PRESENTING... SITTING UP FOR REALS!

First time... on March 21st! He has quite a few red spots from day to day where he topples and bonks his head, but they are minor bonks, and he LOVES LOVES LOVES to sit up! This may be my favorite picture I have ever taken... care to guess why!?! (:

Post 5: GO COUGARS!

Like father, like son. Basketball game, one of the games that was won, thus the reason Jared is smiling. Also grown out of this shirt. Sad times, but BYU bookstore here we come! Sorry... after about 15 tries we gave up trying to get both of them smiling and showing their shirts!

Post 6: FAVORITE CHORE TO HELP WITH...

...is making the bed! He is really good at it! He lays right in the middle, gets buried by the sheet, and claws his way out giggling. Best part of my morning!

Post 7: THE MOSTLY BIG KID BATH

Ages ago, our friends left us a duck on our doorstep as a joke for Jared... turns out he had left a real one in another family's sink as a teen (another story for another time!). Who would have thought we would actually use it! The benefit is it scares the dog which gets him out of my face during bath time, and Carter has a little more room to sit up without having to be in a huge tub! Love it!

Post 8: HIKING BACK PACK TRIAL RUN

We have high hopes of doing some serious hiking this summer, so we decided we had better start trying out the backpack. We love it, but by the time I got the camera out for Jared, this is what had happened! Yes, he had already worn himself out pulling my hair. Jared gets to carry him next time! Like I said, the hat doesn't fit, but made a great cover anyway! (...and don't judge me... it was a good but long and showerless day...) So there you go! Man, 8 posts in March, I feel like a champ! (:

75 degrees and sunny... best day ever!

Catch Up!

Well, to be honest I thought I would have a TON more pictures, but apparently all of the cute things he has done lately have been caught on my phone, and I still have no way of transferring them! Anyhow...

Tara came to visit and caught this precious face...

And this was over Christmas... Carter met his Grandpa Haynes!


And finally... the baby blessing!

The girls...

...The boys!

The girls were slightly outnumbered as you can see!



Knudsen Family...

... and the cousins!

Life here has been busy but fun... apparently I need to get the camera going again. I figure if I get one post for every four of Britt's than I am doing good!

Carter is growing so much it almost makes me sad. I feel like he always moves on before I am ready... I already miss cuddling with him! No this is not a secret way to say I want another... just amazed at how fast they grow up. Sometimes I get teary eyed at the most random thought. I also wish I could take still frames off the monitor, cause he does some pretty cute things there.

Jared is working so hard, and I love him so much. He is LOVING seminary until he spends a morning home, and then we all kinda miss him being home in the mornings. But We are getting along just fine, and still pray every night for good sleep~as it feels more off than on lately. Poor little guy can't figure out what he wants... or maybe that's just me.

Miss you all!

Stae

Finally, Pictures!

Here they are! I will fill you in as we go:

• We have had an awesome January. First we had Chris and Britt visit for a weekend, and it was a blast. Perfect weather, and some awesome runs (best I have had since before baby days) and the best part was... cousins!! Audrey and Carter are so close together it was honestly hilarious watching how different they are. With less than two weeks to separate them, they could not be more opposite.

• Above was the warm up, and below is the true personalities:

• Who couldn't love that! Audrey is the happiest little babe, while Carter has quite the demanding but cutest personality ever!

• Next milestone: THE BUMBO! We were laughing so hard at how many circles his upper body made the first time he was in it! It was making me dizzy, so he didn't stay long

• And then... SUCCESS! He finally decided to take a bottle. But he didn't just decide to take it, he wanted it all to himself!

• Then Grandma Knudsen came to visit, and slacker that I am I didn't get a picture of her with Carter, but I did get a picture of the awesome outfit she gave him... finally, a shirt that talks about mom and not dad!

• All the while, thanks to Rob and Jen he has had the appropriate attire for every BYU basketball game we have watched. I learned not to put it on early, just in case! It may be possible that he likes BYU better than mom based on these two faces!

• Following his progression through the month, mommy needed a way to set him down without laying him down, so the exersaucer was purchased... off of Craigs List of course! But he could not be more cute... and I am sorry about the baby talk!

• Also to be noted, he is getting pretty darn strong! We are SOOOO excited to sit up!! Tummy time is virtually non-existent because he rolls over so fast, I can't keep him there long enough! Tried to get it on video about a thousand times, not fast enough.

• And then of course, we had our four month appointment where Carter was given the OK to try solids... starting with the rice. There is for sure room for improvement, but it had to be documented!

STATS:

Healthy, mostly happy (except when with dad! /: ) little boy, weighing in at 15 lbs. 1 oz., and 25 1/2 inches long! We LOVE him!

Still to come:

• baby blessing pictures
• the night were 4 hours doesn't feel like a miracle
• when he gets more food in his mouth than on mom!

Stae