CHANGES

Well it seems like we always have something going on. Lately we have experienced a lot of changes. All good of course, but for me I don't like change. I always have a bit of a hard time adjusting to change. Our first big change is of course our move into our new house. Which was a little tough on Carter, before we moved, when we were packing he would cry and tell us he didn't want to go to the new house......now today he tells me "mommy, I like this house, it's boo-tiful" so he has come to approve and really like it. I have too, I just hate the packing and re-arranging, and feeling so cluttered. But it is much better now and starting to feel more like our home. We are so happy and thankful that we could move into a bigger house to accommodate our growing family and "stuff"....now I better not be moving for a long time!
The next change is well, CARTER is fully and completely potty-trained. He is even going on a long streak of "keeping his undies dry" through the night. We are super proud of him and amazed at how "BIG" he now seems. I'm so thrilled that he goes in the potty but it also brings on a whole new thinking process for me. When I travel long distances, I have to make sure he's gone before and I try not to give him lots to drink on the road. But this last weekend I went to Twin and on the way back Carter kept telling me "my pee hurts" so I'm in the middle of no where and starting to look to see where the next stop is, I ask him if he wanted to pee in his empty cup or if I could pull over and he could pee outside on the side of the road....to which his reply was "MOM I NEED A TOILET!!!" So I "went fast like a race car" and we made it to the TOILET!
Our next big change is weaning Brooklyn from breast feeding! While I love breast feeding....it can be such a pain too. Carter was super easy to wean and it was right before he turned 1 and it was all done within 1 weekend and he never screamed, begged or whined......total complete opposite of Brook. She is quite obsessed with nursing and loves it. Last night we were up for a couple of hours with her screaming at the top of her lungs.....she has a very LOUD MAD cry! It broke my heart and I always usually give in but Brent and I worked together and got her to sleep without nursing. (thanks Brent for staying up with me even though you really need sleep...I'm still in my pj's because the night was so rough) This is probably the hardest change for me. I don't know why but it just seems like Brook didn't stay a baby long enough! When I'm holding her and I pass by a mirror and see her in my arms, the tears start to well up....she has grown so fast and just a year ago she was an itty bitty baby, I thought my life was crazy, trying to get a handle on a newborn and an almost 2 year old little boy, now it has mellowed from that stress to many others.
So all the changes have left me to think and ponder lots on everything. Change is such a bittersweet thing for me. I love a new house but sad to see the old one go. Love potty trained Carter, but sad that he is actually old enough to be potty trained and understands so much... (that means the years are starting to add up for me), so happy to have my body back and now can lose some extra pounds that keep haunting me, but sad to know that my little baby is now a walking talking little toddler. Love the new but the old is so hard to let go. SO I try to just enjoy the tough days, because I know one day I'll look back and think they weren't that bad and I'll wish I had those days of young young kiddos in my house. I love each new stage in my kids' lives....it's so fun to see them grow into such cute little people, who teach me to enjoy the moment.
I better get going, love to all.

DREAMS

Carter has been dreaming lots and talking in his sleep. He always makes us laugh at the things he says. A few nights ago he woke up crying a real sad cry. Brent went into his room to try to soothe him and then brought him into our room with Carter still crying. I tried to ask him questions and finally I got him to answer telling me that he dropped his treats in the dirt and they are "dwerty". He says, "I really want my treats" and then continues to cry. Then a couple nights ago, Carter starts screaming.....Brent runs in (Brent is so good to get Carter in the night) when Brent gets to him he is still asleep but very upset. He tells Brent "my bed is too LOUD... I need to sleep in your QUIET bed!!!" So of course at 5 in the morning Carter ended up in our bed with lots of snuggles and kisses from Mom and Dad and Brooklyn. This morning, Carter was telling me that he dreams about "another car" I asked him what the car looked like.....His reply, "It is Red and it crashed into me, I had to go to the hospital, I was sick"  Ok so that freaked me out!!!! I asked him if he got better and he said he did. Dreams can be so real and good but yet so scary too. I am so glad that Carter can actually talk and tell us what he is experiencing. I love the communication with him as he gets older. In the mornings he usually is in our bed or will come get in our bed to wake us up. He wraps his little arms around me or Brent and gives us kisses and tells us he loves us. I've been waiting FOREVER to hear those words come out all on his own when he feels that lovey feeling. I've always known he loves us but to hear him recognize that he feels that for us is so AWESOME! Carter is so busy and at times we think oh I think 2 is the worst stage....then Carter says or does something and quickly change our minds to thinking awe, this is the BEST stage. I love you CARTER JAMES and am so thankful that you make my day busy and exciting and keep me laughing! 

A weekend to REMEMBER

This past weekend we were able to go to Twin for the temple dedication. Brent's parents were in Utah and were going to be heading back so we thought we'd all meet in Twin and celebrate Brook's birthday again. It was great to see them and spend some time with them. Thanks Jim and Helen for meeting us in Twin! Brooklyn was so excited to get more presents and loved them all! She really is such a girly girl! She gets so excited when she sees clothes, babies, shoes or anything really cute! She is obsessed with shoes and always wants me to put them on her. She even raids Carter's closet and brings me his shoes to put on her and then gets mad when they come off or when Carter needs to wear them. 

On Sunday morning we went to the dedication and it was so amazing! My dad and brother Terry have been doing the security for the temple open house. My dad had the opportunity to be the driver for President Monson's daughter and husband and Terry got to drive Elder Costa and his wife. They got to be really close with the Presidents Security crew and got to be right close to President Monson all weekend. After the dedication we went to the temple to take my dad some lunch and he told us to make sure to come back at 5:30. We were able to be right up front and watch as the prophet came out of the temple and got into his car. When he came out he immediately went to to opposite side as we were on and my dad was talking to Brother Dibbs (President Monson's son-in-law) and let him know where his family was, he went right up to President Monson and made sure he came right to us. So he did, he immediately came right over to us and gave Steven a high five and shook Tiana and Ana's  hands. He tried to give Carter and Brook both fives, but they decided they were going to be shy and just looked at him. He told me that it was better for them to be shy. He kept talking to everyone and would go to get in and then turn and come back to talk more. It was great! He really is such a great man! Such a funny down to earth man! I felt the spirit so strong and I know that he is a Prophet of God and I am so thankful for him and his family! 

 I'm so grateful for my parents' example and their testimony. They never cease to learn and to teach. Although their teaching is not the same as I was growing up its more of a friendship and through lots of conversations and late night visits I learn so much from my parents. I'm so thankful for the way they raised our family. The way they love each and every one of their children and how they trust in their children to do what is right. I hope so much that as my children grow I can let each one of them know how much they are loved and teach them theprinciples of the gospel so they can make righteous choices.  

Here are some videos and pics of our weekend! 

President Monson's car from Utah!

Elder Eyring

President Monson...my dad standing in the back

Waiting for the prophet to come out. 

My kids were so hungry and tired and HOT!!!

Brooklyn giving Carter her wide open mouth kisses!

Carter giving us his "cheese" smile

My dad next to President Monson's car.

He was in the temple for the first session 

and then watched the cars for the other sessions.

At the cornerstone

Now this is at Brook's party............

Mommy and Brook at the canyon!

Both kids with both grandma's!

She decided to sit and do the splits.

Finally a shot of our Carter James 

(He is so hard to catch and get a picture of)

A love/HATE relationship with her new baby that's going back to the store

A glimpse of my weekend

So this isn't going to be a long post as I don't have much time but I wanted to so badly just put a few pics of our AMAZING weekend. We had the opportunity to get right next to the prophet....the story will come in the next post. We went to Twin for the temple dedication and to celebrate Brook's birthday with family. We enjoyed ourselves so much and I am so thankful that amongst all the craziness with moving, we made sure we went this weekend. STAY TUNED FOR A LONGER POST AND A GREAT VIDEO!!!! LOVE  TO ALL!

Happy Birthday Brook!!!

Brooklyn was so concerned that stuff got in her bellybutton





HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR PRINCESS! Brook's birthday was on the 19 and we had a little birthday party for her. I made a ducky cake and I think I had more fun making the cake than Brook had eating it. I still can't believe she is 1!!! I know with Carter that first year just went so fast but it seems like it went even faster with Brook. I still want to baby her and when I look at her I realize just how much of a toddler she is. I remember looking at Carter at this age and thinking he was so big and so independent and here is brook that I still consider my baby! It is all how you look at it. We love and adore our little Brook and don't know what we'd do with out her. On her birthday Carter and I were awake and Brook was still sleeping, Carter kept begging me to go get Brooklyn, to wake her up.....they are becoming the greatest little buddies! I will post more tomorrow, it is late and I need sleep. Love to all.

It's been TOO LONG!!!

Carter and his "trimmer" He loves trimming the trees.

Brook so tired ready for a nap

Carter found the Nesquik bunny milk.

He loves that stuff and was eating handfuls of it. YUMMY!



So happy swinging at Grandma's

Well it has been way too long since my last miserable post. So much has gone on and we are staying so busy but I need to blog blog blog about all of it. Since our computer crashed and they couldn't recover any data from it I realized just how important this blog is to me. It has so many pictures of Brook and Carter that I treasure them all now and I am taking them from the blog and uploading them to get developed. I had quite a few already uploaded into Costco and tons of Carter on our other computer so although it's not all my pictures it is better than NONE. I also am becoming a big fan of getting my blog made into a book just for our family, then brook and Carter can read about their crazy little daily life with mom wanting to some days pull her hair out!!!

We finally bought a house. YAY!!! WE close August 27th and are moving labor day weekend. So we are packing like crazy and of course de-junking! I think we will need to continue to move every 2 years just so that I can go through all of our stuff and de-junk ourselves. It's amazing how I save everything for my kids thinking one day they will want to see this or I might need this again sometime and so why get rid of it. We are all super excited to move into our new house and I can't wait to not be living out of a box.

We also enjoyed some great company. Sonia and Ryan (brent's sister and brother-in-law's family) came to visit and Brent's parents came too. We all met in Twin and went to the temple open house. It was so much fun to be able to all be together and go through. I know I am biased but I think the Twin Falls Temple is absolutely PERFECT! I love it! It is still so crazy to go and see the temple when we are driving in. My dad does the security for the temple and so were able to go the first night that the temple was turned over to the church and walk around the temple grounds, the spirit was so strong and I am so happy to know that I truly do belong to the one and only true church.

After we went through the temple we headed to the falls and ate lunch then went back to Boise. We enjoyed the water park and had a great time going down the slides. I was so happy that I could actually go on the slides this year because last year I was pregnant and it totally ruined my fun sitting in the kiddie pool the whole time. Even Grandpa Jim and Grandma Helen went on the slides. We all had fun and no one got sun burned.

Then my sister April and her two kids were able to make a trip out to see everyone. I finally got to see Collin for the first time. He is such a cute little guy that is a dang good sleeper. I wish the distance wasn't so far....but I am so glad that she was able to make a visit.

Then the next week Brent went on a business trip to Boston. I went back to Twin for the weekend to hang out and to break up my time of being alone. I am also trying to pack and trying to get finished with the last book (breaking dawn). It's taking me so long to read this one because I can't just sit and read during a quiet time....I have to pack and make phone calls, and do so many other things. So I am hoping to finish the book this week. Everyone is talking about it and I hate not being able to listen.

Brent got back from Boston on Wednesday and then had a seminar that his work was hosting. He was gone for long days on Thursday, Friday and some of Saturday. It made for some long nights of staying up late watching the olympics together and early mornings for him. I'm so glad that Brent is such a great worker and I truly am grateful that he has such a great job! (who wouldn't love to go to Boston and go to work everyday to hang out with your friends.... just kidding) Thanks for working so hard Brenty!

Since Brent has been working a lot lately he managed to let me have a few 'girls night out' nights....thanks for staying with the kids. On one of the nights we went to Mama Mia......ok I don't know if any of you have seen it but I LOVE IT! It's my new favorite. Completely over the top and fantastic. So if any of you need a good laugh and some good music go see it. I haven't been able to drag Brent to it to go see it again, I really do think he would like it too!?!?

And now I am getting ready for Brook to turn ONE on Tuesday. I can't believe that she is almost one. I seriously don't know where the time went. I keep thinking she's my baby but she's walking and going like crazy....where did that little baby go????? I guess I need another one!?!? HAHAH I'm totally kidding, right BRENT?

OK well that is all for now. I will be more faithful to this blog and not neglect it! Love to all.