Winterfest

One of the funnest pre-Christmas activities we did this year was go to the Winterfest in Henderson. I found out they were doing pony rides there and knew we just had to go! Of course I'm a horse fanatic and wanted Carter to be able to ride one. He absolutely loved it! He was just beaming from ear to ear the whole time. He did NOT want any help from Justin and I...it was so cute! And Just got to get one of the much beloved funnel cakes with strawberries and whipped cream...yummy! Here's some pictures from our fun night:

They also had a petting zoo there, which was extremely crowded, but fun anyway! They had goats, sheep, bunnies, and lamas. Here is a funny video of us feeding these crazy animals...some of them more aggressive than others!

I love this show!

I am so excited The Bachelor is starting again and even more excited that Jason is the new Bachelor! I was so sad when Deanna didn't pick him. A week from today, I will be so happy to watch the premiere!!!

Santa Visit

This past weekend we took Carter to see Santa with my parents, Robert, Nicole and Hayden. Carter has been asking for weeks to sit on Santa's lap, but every place we've gone to didn't have a very "real" looking Santa and I didn't want him to get freaked out by the fake beard. So, he's been much anticipating this moment. He even had something very specific he wanted to ask Santa for. He said, "A blue choo-choo train and a green choo-choo train." We were hoping his excitment would stick through sitting on his lap and it did! He was so excited and gave Santa a big hug! He was so happy with his big grin and excitedly raising his shoulders every few seconds. Santa understood exactly what he asked for and Carter was very sad when his turn was over. He was very mopy when we had to leave Santa and kept saying, "Again?" We were excited he loved it so much! Here's his cute picture.

UNofficial announcement

I went for a little doctor's visit yesterday and Carter asked to come so he could see the baby. So, my mom and Carter came and I asked my wonderful doctor if he could do a quick little ultrasound so we could see that little one! He agreed (yay!) and took a peek for us! Carter liked seeing the baby on the "TV" and my doctor even looked between those tiny little legs for us! It looks like we're having a GIRL folks! I knew it! I had been feeling like it was a girl, but Justin is still in denial (secretly he really has a soft spot for little girls, though).

I love the little ultrasound pictures, but Justin and I still think the freaky alien picture is kinda scary! Don't you think so?!

Fun post

Carter is 11-months-old here! Look at those cute chunky legs...after he started walking, his one roll he had disappeared! Oh, and he'd stolen my toothbrush...always a popular chewing item. He's always been such a climber, thus we had to put him in a toddler bed 2 short months after this since he climbed out of his crib all the time.

I got this post from Danielle, and it was fun...you should do it! Here's what you do:

1. Go into "My Pictures"
2. Go to your 4th folder
3. Upload your 4th picture (or if you're like me, crazy with the folders, I had to go to yet another 4th folder before I could get a 4th picture)

Tada!!! So, I tag Whitney, Amber, Melody, and Megen, but really, everybody should just do it.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

I couldn't resist! Now I just need to find time to go see the movie again, hopefully minus the screaming teenage girls this time!

My funny boy

I'm creating a post, one because I finally have my camera back from being repaired, and two because Carter is talking so much, we have some fun conversations throughout the day! I always make a joke, though, that we have the same conversation multiple times a day because the "Why" question is never-ending, especially in the car. Even after I tell him why, he keeps asking why over and over about the same thing...I eventually just have to say "I don't remember, do you remember what I said?" and that's a pretty good shot at having him repeat it to me instead =) His new question in the car, though, is "What are you guys talking about?" This is when Justin and I are both in the car, even if we're not saying anything he'll ask this...hmmmm.

The other day, he wanted to cut with scissors because he woke up and Danielle was cutting strips of paper, so of course he had to also. So, I showed him how to fold the paper to make a snowflake and then he was going to draw on it to give to his Grandma Gill. He's been VERY into drawing lately, which looks like round scribbles afterwards, but he's actually very intricately concentrating the whole time. He draws "guys" (a circle with hair on top) and when he was drawing on the snowflake, he showed me one of these guys. After I told him, "Great job!" he said, "Now I draw a naked guy." I swear, we don't teach him to draw naked people, but he sure loves being naked, so maybe that's why he thought he should draw a naked person. After all, what's wrong with being naked when you're two?! Ha ha I'm just glad his "naked" guy looked the same as his other guy.

As I've mentioned before, Carter will tell me he hears the baby crying because it's hungry or thirsty. Well, the other night, he told me the baby needed a snack. He said, "Mommy, what the baby eat?" I said, "The baby eats whatever mommy eats right now. What do you think the baby would like to eat?" And after much thinking and "Hmmmm"-ing he responded, "Two jellybeans."

And lastly on my list of stuff to write down, he has been repeating a lot of stuff I stay often. For instance, now before we head downstairs, he almost always puts his hand out and says, "Wait, I forgot to get something." Or this morning, the DVD started skipping on the computer and he said, "I wonder what's wrong with that thing?"

Updating!

So, our blog is in need of some serious updating. There is a reason why I've been absent from the blogging world a lot lately...we're expecting baby #2!!! Yay! We are so excited, and have been anticipating reaching the 12 week milestone to share our awesome news! That day is today! So between feeling nauseous, tired, and trying to keep quiet about our news, I guess I've just kinda shied away from posting anything. But we are looking good with this pregnancy...my doctor is the greatest and has done 3 ultrasounds for me already. (He knows I'm super paranoid from our history with miscarriages). Here's the latest picture I got today:

It was so awesome to see this little one opening and closing his/her fist and stretching about and kicking. Even though I try not to, I find myself always thinking pretty negatively before my appointments, so I was overjoyed to see him/her alive and kicking around =) Carter is very excited to have a brother or sister and always comes up and pats my belly and asks, "A baby in there?" He also asks me frequently to "open" my belly so he can see the baby. I also think it's really cute because he will cup his ear and tells me he hears something. When I ask him what it was, he says, "The baby's crying!" So I ask him, "Why do you think the baby's crying?" and he tells me it needs water and oocasionally, fruit snacks =) Or, if he wants some extra Yogo's or something, he'll tell me there's a hungry baby in his belly. I love it...so funny, and sneaky for a 2-year-old!

Another new thing is we've opened escrow on our new house we're purchasing. (New for us anyway). It needs new flooring and some paint before we move in, but we are very excited to have our own place again (we love you Mom Wagasky and Danielle, though). It has a lot more space than our other house and we have awesome renters in our other place. The only next step is being patient and waiting for it to close quickly....hopefully! Here's a picture of the outside:

Yep, the grass is dead in the front and the back, so if anyone has any tips on bringing it back to life after we've bought it, please fill us in! So, check back soon for more great updates...lots of new stuff going on with us =)

Potty Training

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time, because it is hilarious....Carter is the funniest kid to potty train. It's kind of annoying sometimes because he jokes around too much on the potty when we're in a hurry to get somewhere. But after I got back from my trip, he suddenly decided his was gonna go #2 in the potty, which he was pretty resistant to before. He decided his reward should be getting a video taken of himself, and this video is the product of that. He loves watching these and thinks he's so hilarious. So, sorry for the repeat of the phrase, "I pooped!" over and over, but hey, that's what happens when you live in potty training land, right? Here's a funny little conversation from this morning when Carter flushed the toilet:

Carter: "Bye bye, poop!"

Mommy: "Bye bye, poop!"

Carter: "Huh?" (PS: sometimes if I repeat something he said, he asks me "what" like, "Why are you saying that too?"

Mommy: "Yep, your poop went bye bye down the toilet."

Carter: "To Grandma's house?"

Thought that was kinda funny he thought his poop was being flushed away to Grandma's house.

Modeling Gig

A few weeks ago, I got an awesome opportunity while I was at church! One of my friends I've known since we moved out here over ten years ago, Alina, approached me at church. She knew I used to do some modeling and asked if I would be interested getting back into it. Well, I am certainly interested because the jobs really don't last long and it pays well =) So, she called me later that night to give me all the details because they needed one more model last minute for a 20's photo shoot in LA. It was to be shot at the Magic Castle and sounded way fun! So, I decided to go, even though I was scared out of my mind to leave Carter a couple nights (I've never left him before!). But my mom was willing to take him during the day and then Justin would get him at night, of course. So, I am so thankful for my awesome family and supporting this little adventure because it was quite fun for me! Once I get the actual pictures back from the photographer, I can post those, but for now, these were just taken with my little camera!
Cute Amber getting her hair done by Tony...he was awesome!
Little adjustments going on
All of us out to dinner after our day of shooting
Yep, they cut my hair...and this is what happens when I have a huge hotel room all to myself...

Balloonapalooza

A few weeks ago, we all went to a fun annual activity called "Balloonapalooza." They started it at a big park here the year Carter was born and we went on our first family outing when he was 2 weeks old =) Here's a picture of us back then:

Carter's so small, you can't even see him! Well, he's obviously a lot bigger this time, being a whole two years old and got to go on some of the rides this year! It has become a fun family tradition for us and our group grows bigger every year it seems like! This year, we were watching our friend's little boy, Talan, and Carter loved having him around too. Keagan was super brave going on all the big rides...he even picked one that was a little scary for him, but he was a champ!

Carter is Two!

Finally I am getting Carter's pictures up from his birthday! His birthday was actually September 8 and we had fun with our immediate family over to make individual pizzas and play! It was a great time for everybody, I think! Carter especially enjoyed all of his cousins, of course! Here are a few things that Carter enjoys doing at his fun age of two:

1. Dancing his "Mexican Salsa" dance as we call it. He puts a hand bent up and the other fist at his elbow like a salsa dancer and hops around in a circle. OR dances a little chicken wing dance with one arm.
2. Counting, which usually goes as follows, "one, free, five, eight, nine, eight, nine."
3. Saying, "What are you doing Mommy/Daddy?"
4. Asking "Why" over and over about EVERYTHING (i.e. "What's that?" "A car." "Why?")
5. He's started singing a lot of songs and loves it. Usually just sings the last word of each phrase
6. "Who's knock-knocking on my door?"
7. Carries a gun or sword around non-stop, especially when bad guys are on TV
8. Loves his "Car shoes" that light up with Lightning McQueen
9. Farts his armpit by flapping his arm and making a noise with his mouth.

Camping in Pioche

Okay, I'm feeling good that I'm at least in the same month now. For Labor Day every year, Justin's family camps out in Pioche, NV. We haven't been for the last 2 years because I was 9 months pregnant with Carter and then he was still kinda little to try and keep him warm and stuff last year. So, anyway, we were very excited to go again this year because it's super fun! And even more fun was Carter would have all his little cousins there to play with! Danielle had never really been camping before and she was such a trooper! I think we've got them excited about camping now (ha ha). The kids of course loved being outside 24/7, but man, were they dirty! Caked with dirt from head to toe! But that's all a part of camping with a little one, as we learned earlier this summer. I didn't really bother trying to keep Carter clean unless we were going into town so we didn't look like total hobos! Poor Makenze, his buddy, was having a rough time camping. This girl just cracks us up...she is the clumsiest girl so she already scratched up her face as soon as they arrived. Bless her little heart, she just doesn't want help or anything, so Shane and Andrea had a time keeping her from injuring herself in the great outdoors and she was so tired...but hopefully they still had a great time, I think! We sure had fun having them there. Here's some fun pictures from our fun adventure!

Temple Sealing

This is still more stuff from last month...I swear we've had so much stuff going on lately it's just insane. Anyway, while Justin's twin brother, Jason, was still here, we had a super special event happen...the sealing of Justin's mom and his brothers to their dad, Damian, who passed away last year. It was an amazing experience for all of us. Justin's dad was very active in the church before he passed away, but his parents had never been sealed, so it was very special. Since it hadn't been quite a year, we had to get special permissions from the First Presidency of the church and while I was on the phone with the temple president arranging things, it was one of those testimony moments that the prophet and all the "big" leaders of the church care about and give special attention to each and every member of the church across the world. Although Justin and I were talking afterwards, and we were both a bit disappointed that we didn't see a visual of Justin's dad (kinda silly, maybe that we had both wished for that), we both knew he was there and knew what had been done was important to his dad. Here's some nice pictures from the special day:

Date Night

Danielle and I had been planning a fun date for months before they got here that we could surprise the boys with before Jason left. We had decided indoor skydiving would be something fun they've talked about doing together! It was a blast. The boys had so much fun together and looked as excited as little kids in a candy store once they were in the wind tunnel. Us wives had a fun time watching them from the observation area!

We went to Osaka's afterwards also, but my dang camera battery died before we got there...how sad! I hate it when that happens. Dang me for not charging it before hand. Shelly and Troy met up with us there and we all had a really fun time together. Jason drove their rental car for them to the hotel while Danielle rode with us. We had a little singing party in our car taking turns singing "All I wanna Do" by Sugarland...ha ha. Always fun times when Justin's in the mood for loud singing!

Recent happenings...

While Jason was still here (before he had to go back to Washington for his deployment) we had lots of fun activities going on! We went swimming a lot at the recreation centers and at family members' pools...thanks guys! Here's some pictures from our swimming trips:

We also went bowling at Texas Station one night while Damian was here...the kids had a lot of fun, not only bowling, but running around the locker room chasing each other and getting chased! Keagan was chasing Justin and Justin climbed on top of the lockers. It was pretty funny! Keagan had a hard time finding him that time. (I wonder where Carter gets his urge to climb from?)

Danielle looked up a fun place before they got here, also, called Bounce You. It's a place with all those air jumper/slide thing-a-ma-bobbers. I don't know what they're called at all, but the pictures will explain it =) The kids had a lot of fun and once Carter conquered the obstacle course, he just wanted to keep going through it over and over. He sat out for a while to eat some gold fish, but got too active right after and kinda threw up a little at the end of the obstacle course. Kinda gross, but hey, the kid was excited!

Spills, Spills, and more spills!

Just as a little side note, I have now finished the Twilight Saga and loved it! Now I'm back to my usual blogging world...I need to catch up! So I'm starting with a story of my poor car ride back home from Target. So, I spent FOREVER in Target, first of all. I love that store, but I really was not intending to be there for over an hour! At the checkout, Carter really wanted these little Spree's candies in a little plastic container. I told him since he did so good in the store (didn't run away from me once!) that he could get them but he could only have one of each color after lunch. So, we went to the food court afterwards, which I also love since it's so cheap, and got a hot dog/icee combo. On the way home, he was trying desperately to take the lid off his icee and handed it to me saying, "Open, Mommy!" But I said we would wait to get home and he could eat it with a spoon. So, he reminded me of his treat and I was trying to open the dumb thing while I was driving and it exploded EVERYWHERE! So, I pulled over so I could at least get them off my lap and stuff. When we got home, I unbuckled his car seat and let him climb in front with me while I finished my conversation with Justin. All of a sudden I hear, "Uh-oh" and feel warm liquid seeping into my pants! He had peed all over the seat, already covered with Sprees...yuck! So, I said, "Let's go inside and get something to clean this up and change your clothes." As I was getting out, I grabbed my purse, which the Icee was leaning against and the Icee spilled all over the middle console!!! I couldn't believe my luck...thank goodness I have a little one who enjoys helping me clean!

Why I haven't posted

I am so addicted to the Twilight series I literally have done nothing else in my free time! I love it so much and I'm almost halfway done with the 4th one...yay me! So, that's the reason why my blog needs serious updating, but I'll probably end up still waiting until I'm done to do all my pictures and everything. I'm hoping I like the ending of this book. So far, Eclipse (the third one) was my favorite. The first one I was loving Edward and then the second one I started loving Jacob and the third one was such a good combo of loving both of them (and being slightly ticked off at Jacob sometimes). Breaking Dawn I, of course, love it also, but it's kinda sad so far! So, hopefully everything turns out well. It's been interesting to have Jacob's perspective, but I kinda miss seeing certain things from Bella's perspective. Anywho...just had to fill you in on why I suck at posting lately!

Jason and Danielle are finally here!

It's true...and they've been here for 2 weeks now! We've had so much fun already doing lots of activities and getting the kids used to living together. Mostly Carter since Keagan and Libby are used to having each other around constantly already! Carter has definately had some adjusting, but I think he's done really well and hasn't really backtracked on his potty training at all, which I'm really excited about! Sharing is of course the biggest issue, but they're all getting along quite nicely! Yay! Here's some cute pictures of their first day or so here...I'll post more as I explain our different events =)

The Keagan-ator

Carter and I

Sweet little Libbycakes!

Pioneer Days

I REALLY need to get caught up on my blog before it overwhelms me too much and I give up...ha ha. Who am I kidding...I would never give it up! Sooo much has happened since I last posted, so I will start with our first "activity" which was Pioneer Days2 weeks ago. Our stake has this fun weekend activity every year that starts with a dinner on Friday and then continues with a carnival type thing on Saturday to celebrate the Pioneers. We only went on Friday night this year because Justin had to work and I was watching a friend's little boy and I wasn't brave enough to tote around two 2-year-olds at a busy place like that! But we had fun on Friday, other than the INSANE amount of flies that were trying to devour our food!

Thankful for Spiderman

Carter has been very interested in saying prayers lately and always repeats us as we're saying prayers. So, of course we have him say his good night prayers every night and try to keep them simple with "Thank you for Mommy and Daddy" etc. While we were going through the Thank you's, he said one of his own. Thank you for Spiderman! I kind of chuckled and then it was over from there. We were trying to get him to say "In the name of Jesus Christ" and he kept adding in "Spiderman" instead of "Jesus Christ." Hmmm... we'll have to work on that one. He was laughing hysterically at himself every time he would say it, though. He's getting into what I call the "clown stage" of boyhood where they make crazy faces and say silly things to make people laugh. It's really cute...most of the time!

My new hair

Here's some pictures of my newest hair do! I've always wanted an A-line short cut, but never been brave enough to do it. So, I guess with everything going on, I got crazy enough to just go do it =) Ha ha...I'm so glad I did, though because I LOVE it and so does Justin. I was very happy that Justin liked it so much because he usually likes my hair to stay long. But He told me last night it looks really good on me and it's "really cool in the back." So, that made me feel good! What a cute hubby I have!

Carter's Talents

One of Carter's favorite things to do during the day is to sing songs, especially ones that have actions. His 2 favorites are Popcorn Popping and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Both of which he does all the actions to! I got it on video the other day, but it took a couple takes to get all the moves in there because he would get distracted, so I combined the best songs from 2 videos together. He totally cracks me up during the "wash the spider out" part...he gets so excited to do that move and does it with lots more energy than the other moves!

Challenges we're faced with...

Well, some of you knew about this and some didn't, so since this is also kind of a journal/documentary place for me too, I thought I'd share the recent happenings in our family, unpleasant as they may seem! About a month ago, I discovered we were expecting again! Yay...first try after the D&C. So, my doctor is super wonderful and scheduled me for early blood testing and an early ultrasound at 6 weeks. That was last Wednesday and I was very pleased to see a heartbeat of 125bpm! But I noticed the picture looked a bit strange and questioned the technician about it. She said I had a subchorionic bleed. So, of course anything with the word "bleed" in it with pregnancy scares the crap out of me, so she went and talked with my doctor and they chose to do some progesterone testing. I found out my progesterone had dropped and starting taking supplements, but when I went in for another test on Monday, my doctor offered to squeeze me in for a quick ultrasound. Unfortuately, the baby had not grown any since last time and the heartbeat was no longer present. So, needless to say, we were very sad. I'm just waiting for my body to do it's thing because I'm worried this might have been caused by getting pregnant too soon after the D&C and don't want to get another one so soon. But I know the Lord has a plan for us, even though I might not understand what that is sometimes. I really feel like we have more children waiting in the wings to join our family, but either timing or things with my body were off! So, better luck next time, I guess! I've been reading a very good book my mother-in-law picked up for me from Deseret Book called "Fertile in our Faith." That has given me a very positive outlook! Anyone going through this or infertility should read it...it's awesome!

Memories

This tag is pretty unique, so I thought I would give it a shot.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Nicole's Birthday

It was Nicole's birthday on the 10th and we celebrated by going to a place called "Color Me Mine." It's a place where you pick out your own pottery and paint it yourself. Then you have it put in the kiln and pick it up in a few days! I forgot to put my dang memory card back in the camera, though, so I took 3 pictures while we were there! And selfish me, they're only of Carter and I...but Nicole painted an awesome tea plate with Cherry blossoms on it. And anyone who knows Nicole, knows she loved this place! We all did, actually, and Carter loved painting his star-shaped piggy bank he picked out (okay, I helped him pick it out). And I found a cowboy boot...how perfect is that? I still have yet to go back and finish it, though because I picked something complicated while chasing a potty-training 1-year-old around...that was smart.

Afterwards we went back to my parents for cake and presents. Carter was way tired and he kept whining that he wanted "pie" (which is what he calls all cake, pie, brownies, etc.) We told him he had to wait, and he started crying, so I tried to tell him something more specific

he had to wait for since that seems to help the patience sometimes. I said, "After Nicole blows out the candles, we can eat the pie." Well, he decided to go blow them out himself so he could eat it...too bad they weren't lit yet, and he's not Nicole =) Ha ha

America the Beautiful

Finally I'm getting our 4th of July pictures up! We had an awesome day going over to Shane and Andrea's for a BBQ and fireworks! We had awesome food and I made my first chocolate covered (well, drizzled) strawberries for a Red, White and Blue dish! Poor Makenze didn't care for the fireworks too much and ended up going to bed shortly after we started. Carter loved those little Pop-its you can step on to pop! He also had a great time when his Grandma Gill helped him hold sparklers. And of course the day wouldn't be complete without a good ol' water balloon fight. Andrea's brother, Daniel, popped one right over Andrea and my head while we were taking a picture! It was pretty much on after that =) I got hit by one of the fireworks too that flies into the air! It hurt and I scared the ba-jeebies out of poor Carter who was sitting on my lap! It was a great time celebrating our great country with family. Thanks to Shane and Andrea for hosting!