Guys' Trip

Right after I got back from my girls' trip, Matt and I high-fived as he left early the next morning for some hiking in Escalante, Utah in the Narrows and Coyote Gulch. Here are some of the pictures he took on his trip--all scenery, none with him in them! No injuries this time, and he had a fun time.

Carter's 9th Birthday

Carter opened presents first thing in the morning. We've really enjoyed the game Splendor!

With his birthday on a Saturday, we had baseball to fill the day. Unfortunately Carter's team lost their game, but the team sang 'Happy Birthday' and enjoyed cupcakes.

Birthday buddies

Matt had a brisket competition that night for an Elder's Quorum activity, so we were able to snag a few pieces of brisket for dinner, which Carter and I love. It was yummy!

I felt loved and appreciated by the friends/family who stopped by or wished me a happy birthday!

Grandma and Grandpa came over for a steak dinner on Sunday (official birthday dinner for Carter/me/Matt) and to wish Carter a happy birthday. We had the leftover cupcakes I made for the baseball team--cookie dough-filled cupcakes.

Carter is a hard worker in everything he does: school, piano, and baseball. So far Carter is a straight-A student with excellent conduct marks. At baseball practices, Carter is out there hustling the whole time. Piano is not a favorite activity, however, and Carter and I butt heads quite a bit. It takes both of us consciously being patient with each other for a piano practice to go well when I sit down with him. Piano doesn't come as easily and naturally to him as Caleb, which I think is hard for him to see his older brother so celebrated for this talent. He asks to quit often, but he knows that if he wants us paying for baseball, then he needs to keep pushing on in piano.

Carter is our best worker in the yard and cleaning bathrooms. He is not afraid to get dirty and do the "gross" jobs. If his dad is out working in the yard, Carter likes to be out there helping. We love that so much about him! Occasionally, just to be nice, Carter will come home from school and sweep the leaves in the driveway. He's not afraid to clean toilets and has also been a big help in the past if Austin had a poopy accident in his underwear.

Matt and I also love that Carter is our most adventurous eater! He will try everything and likes most everything he tries. He is starting to have a humongous appetite which gives me a glimpse of what teenage years might be like trying to keep the house stocked with 4 boys! 

In our Family Home Evenings and home church, Carter is the best listener and is always quick to give thoughtful answers to the questions we ask.

Matt's birthday was on Tuesday, April 2nd. I sneakily got up early and made one of Matt's favorite cookies--snickerdoodles--and showed up at the end of seminary so that the class and I could sing 'Happy Birthday' to him. Some students wrote notes as well, which Matt appreciated. It was a good start to his day.

Birthday Week!

Carter and I had a birthday on March 30th. We celebrated with my family the weekend before. Carter and I were discussing what kind of cake to make him this year. He wanted a Spider Man cake. I suggested that maybe we should come up with a cake together since it was both of our birthdays. We compromised with this:

 A cheesecake with a spider web on top. Okay, so it favored my preferences, but Carter was still happy. And the no-bake cheesecake was delish! (Whipping cream and cream cheese--you can't go wrong)

Blowing out his 5 candles

On Monday, Carter's day started out by opening one present in the morning so he could use it on the way to drop Caleb off at school. He was so excited about his new helmet!

 I also made his breakfast-of-choice of waffles and his favorite lunch, a BLT.

We let Carter choose between a birthday party and Chuck E. Cheese. He picked the latter, and we went that night. My parents joined us.

Bryson had a fun time on all the rides.

Caleb was all about earning the most tickets.

Carter's focus was enjoying the experience.

Opening presents:

A book and movie from my mom

Besides the helmet, we gave him a new soccer ball (starting soccer league), bullets for his nerf gun, and some candy.

Enjoying cake (leftover from my dad's retirement party*--I didn't make another one)

I took a picture of both of us the day after our birthday when I wasn't wearing any make-up. Should have done it the day before.

I had many phone calls, texts and Facebook messages on my birthday, which made me feel special. My Visiting Teacher brought over some beautiful tulips and my favorite candy bar (Symphony toffee and almonds). She had no idea it was my favorite. The focus was on Carter though. I'm excited about my birthday present from my parents--Matt and I will go see the broadway musical Cinderella. Matt bought me a new ipod as there were several issues with my old one--I use it almost daily when I run, and so it was so annoying that it hadn't worked as well for the last 6 months.

Matt's birthday was on April 2nd. He took the day off work so that he could do one of my birthday presents I asked for--go to the dentist! His orthodontia work was on hold because he had a cavity that needed to be filled. This is Matt's first cavity (33 years old), and it wasn't completely his fault (orthodontist didn't put a bracket on tight enough which led to the cavity). All I asked for my birthday was for him to get the dentist visit done so he could continue with his orthodontia work, which will in turn lead to him getting his braces off! He sacrificed and did it on his birthday--not the most exciting thing to get a cavity on your birthday!

I made one of his favorite cookies (snickerdoodles) and one of his favorite dinners (beef stroganoff). He wanted a nice Nerf gun for his birthday, so he picked out which one he wanted. He wants to host a Nerf gun war at our house and invite people over. He is still a kid!

Another year older, and wiser too!

*My dad retired! Now my parents are looking forward to leaving on a mission at the end of this year.

Father & Son Outing

One thing I didn't anticipate with a new baby was just how strong the feelings of guilt would be about not giving Caleb the attention he used to have. When I finally do get a chance to spend some one-on-one time with Caleb in the day, it seems like the time is always cut short because of Carter's needs. Caleb has been such a trooper though about being patient when I have to attend to Carter, and he always wants to be a helper. There has been some acting out on his part to get attention, but not too bad. I find myself losing patience a lot more quickly though with Caleb when he is "naughty" on purpose.

I was worried that Caleb would regress in terms of potty-training, because that's what I have heard from so many people. I'm thankful that this isn't the case. He has regressed in terms of sleeping, however. When we transferred him to the "big boy bed" in Decemeber, it took forever (months) for Caleb to be able to sleep through the night again. Now we're back to square one it seems with Caleb's sleeping habits where naptime and bedtime are very difficult, and Caleb will wake up at least once a night (most of the time we are guaranteed twice a night). The funny thing is that Caleb will sleep through Carter screaming at night, and then wake up at some other random time, so the two events are completely unrelated. Unfortunately for Matt, my body is not physically capable of waking up for Caleb's needs in addition to Carter's needs, so Matt has been on "Caleb duty" at night. Nights are rough. :o)

Matt has been very good about giving Caleb 100% of his attention when he gets home from work. They will play outside together until dark when it's time to start getting ready for bed. Caleb LOVES this time with Daddy. If Carter happens to be napping during this time, it allows me some "me" time to be able to get some things done on my to-do list.

Last Saturday, Caleb and Matt went to an Astros game together in order to give Caleb some extra attention. I don't know how much of the game they actually watched, because they spent most of the night playing in the children's area.

Here is Caleb racing the baseball player.
Caleb posing next to Craig Biggio.
Daddy and Caleb
Caleb sitting on a ball outside the stadium.

When the workers announced that it was time to close the children's area for the night, Caleb decided to pull a "naughty" act and refused to come out of the play gym area. Parents aren't allowed inside, so Matt wasn't able to aide in capturing Caleb. Apparently it took all 4 of the workers to climb through the play gym to try to catch Caleb, and they were at it for some time. If I had been there, I would have been thoroughly embarrassed, but one of the workers told Matt afterwards that he's the fastest kid they've ever had in there. Matt wasn't embarrassed, but instead proud that his little boy was so fast. :o)

Lucky Day

The other week Matt called in on a radio show and won some football tickets. It was his first time to win anything off the radio! Last Thursday, he was driving into work at 6:30 in the morning and came across some other opportunities to win on the radio. The first was a country station that was giving away a Carrie Underwood CD as well as having your name entered into a drawing to win a trip to see Carrie Underwood live--all expenses paid for. He thought, why not give it a try? So he calls and wins this CD. (I've really enjoyed listening to it!)

He flips over to another station, classic country, and they are giving away 4 tickets to a nutcracker festival to the 10th caller. Thinking he has the calling strategy figured out, he calls again, and is caller number 10.

The last win on an oldies station was the best win...a $50 gift card! He claims that he's figured out the perfect strategy of when to call after the radio announces to start calling. It could also be that not as many people are driving to work/listening to the radio at 6:30 am, but either way, I'd say he had a pretty lucky morning :o). 3 for 3 in one hour!