New Starts

We went home to Michigan for Christmas this year and had such a great time. Everyone's blogs are talking about their holidays so I thought we should probably post about ours too. We got to spend 2 wonderful weeks with our families, and had such a great time. It was a really nice vacation-the perfect amount of time too. Here are a few photos of things we did. While we were there we got to see our friends Jon and Becca.  We were so excited to get to spend a day with them, and had a blast-just like old times! We also got to hang out with my sister Aubry, and her fiance Michael, as well as his family. I'm glad Aubry's in-laws live in Michigan too so we'll probably see her more often.

Carson on Christmas morning

Erin-Ryan's sister-Christmas morning

Carson as a hotdog at the Henry Ford Museum

Other new news...Carson is finally potty training. People kept telling me he would do it when he was ready, but I finally realized that he's been ready for a while...it was me that wasn't ready. I thought it would be this really hard, long, drawn-out process, but it has been fairly easy, so far. The first day was rough, but Sunday he had 2 accidents, yesterday 1, and today none! So we are working on having only one child in diapers-hooray!

Halli is 7 months old-as of Saturday and is doing pretty good. She welcomed in the New Year with a tooth, and her second one looks like it is about to poke through any minute. She is sitting on her own really well, army crawling, and trying to prop herself up to sitting. We took her to the doctor last week and she is a whopping 19 pounds 3 ounces already....and she makes me carry her around all day. I'm not quite sure why I'm not super buff by now. Maybe I should try arm curls while I walk around-that might help get rid of the extra pounds I'm still carrying around from her!

We are all doing well and happy for the coming year, and the exciting things ahead. Hope you are all well and happy too! I wanted to load some more photos, but my computer is refusing to do so-three is all you get for now!

Too Fast

Time flies by way too fast. The days are so long sometimes, but the weeks, months, and years just go so fast. It amazes me almost every day that I have 2 children, and one of them is 3 years old! How can I have a three year old...I swear I JUST graduated high school! Not the case though-it has been almost 7 years since I graduated. I officially just realized how old I really am! Three years ago though we brought this little guy home from the hospital.He made us smile then, and he's still doing it today. He fills each day with laughter and DANCE. He brings a smile to my face when the day has been a hard one, and it seems like Halli hasn't stopped fussing. He makes me giggle when I should be disciplining him. I love how he snuggles with me after he wakes up in the morning, and afternoon naps. I love the way he can cheer Halli up-even when she is crying. I love how friendly and outgoing he is, and how he calls everyone a friend. He teaches me things each day like how to enjoy the little things like ladybugs and ducks. He shows me how to shake my thang and not care what dad thinks of us cause we're having fun. I love that he tells me his best friends are mom, dad, and Halli. I LOVE how much he loves me.I could go on and on about how much I love him. I just wanted to say enjoy each moment. The good, and the bad. The happy, and sad. The hard, and the easy. I am trying to appreciate each day with Halli (even through the fussiness and crying) because I know that in a moment she will be 3 then 5 then 10. Live in the moment...live for today!

Carson's Birthday

Carson turned 3 years old yesterday, and Halli will be 6 months old tomorrow. These kids just grow like weeds! It is amazing how much they both have grown in the past few months. I was able to get home early from work yesterday so we could spend some time playing some games that Carson got for his birthday. He was so excited about presents and we just love seeing him get all excited about stuff. Besides games, Carson got new shoes and PJ's that he definitely needed. He also got a couple movies and a some toys. I think all the gifts got him ready for Christmas.



In other news, Halli started eating baby food and we discovered that she really likes squash. I even had a little (Its not bad). But i guess anything tastes better than that nasty formula. Halli has been rolling around like crazy and is attempting to crawl. She hasn't figured out what to do when she gets up on her hands and knees. I'm just surprised that she can lift those chubby legs up to get on her knees in the first place. She needs to give some of that chub to Carson... he's turning in to a little stick.

What I'm grateful for most

Naturally this time of year my thoughts turn to all the things I am blessed with. Like many of you, my family is what I am most thankful for. This Thanksgiving we expected to spend it here in Kansas alone-trying things on our own for the first time. Sunday night I got off the phone with my parents and Ryan and I decided to leave right away and drive to Utah. It was totally a last second, spontaneous decision, and we had such a great time. We didn't tell my family we were coming so it was a total surprise when we showed up Monday morning on the door step. We surprised my mom, and then my dad and brother when they came home from school-theirs was by far the best reaction! We then surprised my sisters and soon to be brother-in-law Tuesday evening. They kind of expected something, but were still surprised to see us.We had a wonderful week together with them! Carson and Halli loved all the attention and the fun games we got to play. They learned how to play duck-duck-goose, and both loved it. Halli loved bonking heads and running with me. Aubry also took some family photos for us the day we left. We went out later at night than we planned too, but they turned out really good for almost being dark! Thanks to her for getting us all together in a photo, and some of the kiddies together!We drove back to Kansas Saturday night/Sunday morning and have enjoyed the week back here at home. We sure are looking forward to being in Michigan for 2 weeks during Christmas break! We'll get to see our family, and some of our best friends Jon and Becca. We are really excited to sleep in for a couple weeks too! Hope you all have an enjoyable season!

The beginning of the end

So tonight is the first night of letting Halli cry/scream herself to sleep. She fell asleep on her own without a peep, but then woke up an hour later and has been screaming for an hour so I'm trying hard to ignore it and focus on something else. So tonight is the beginning of the end of no sleep. I'm hoping we can start getting a good night sleep in the next couple of days. We have moved Halli's crib into Carson's room and Carson into our room for a couple days while we "transition". Hopefully she will learn in a few days and Ryan and I can have our room back to ourselves!
Yesterday was Halli's five month mark, and I was just looking back at the photos we have of her. It is amazing how much she has changed in such a short time. This photo was taken when she was 10 days old.And this is a photo of her from Saturday. Her hair is a completely different color. Most of it has fallen out and regrown, but I miss that really dark hair. She still has that crazy curly afro thing going on with it though so that is pretty sweet.She has learned to do so much in such a short time too-things like rolling both ways-back to stomach, and stomach to back. I put her down in one spot on the floor and find her in a completely different place turned the opposite way somehow. Sitting on her own is another thing she is trying to accomplish. She is also working on getting up on all fours-I think she'll be crawling in the next month. Even though she is a high maintenance baby we sure have enjoyed having her in our lives!
Good news...at the moment she has stopped crying. Maybe I can sneak off to bed now and try to get some sleep before she wakes up again in a couple hours looking for someone to come comfort her and stick her binki in. Poor girl just doesn't know what she is in for the next couple of days...I guess it will be a rough week for all of us here. Just pray I can keep my sanity for a bit longer!

New Favs

I just wanted to post my new favorite photos and videos of my little kiddies! Here they are...Carson is doing what he always does-DANCING!

Panda, Poop, and Pumpkins

So it has been a long couple weeks. We all happened to get sick a couple weeks ago, so we have gotten even less sleep than usual. We did manage to make it through Halloween. We carved pumpkins and made fun treats. Carson was a lion and Halli was a panda. Unfortunately most people mistook her for a cow. I had to correct them and say, "Yes, she is a cow... in a panda costume." So yeah, besides being sick and tired, the weather was great and we had fun trick-or-treating. Carson loaded up on candy...we are going to have to help him out with getting rid of all those goodies.















In other good news, Carson went poo poo in the big potty for the first time. Our previous bribe was that we would take him to see Wall-e, but since he took so stinkin long to git er done, we are going to take him to see Madagascar 2. He is pretty excited. Also, Carson has a new favorite song. Its "Love Lock Down" by Kanye West. Yeah, i guess he saw him perform on the Ellen show a couple weeks ago and started asking for it. Now every time i turn music on he asks for "luv luv down". I guess i will post yet another video or Carson dancing. I really dont know where he learned to shake it like that.
Halli is pretty much the same except fatter and louder. She has been talking a lot more too. She is a cutie.