Christmas 2008

Well, Nick FINALLY got back on Christmas Eve. I really wasn't sure if he was even going to make it. Those who tried to fly from out west were still sitting in the airport. I really did hate it that he had to drive, though. Luckily Carson's Dada has a nice big truck! Speaking of Carson...he was SO EXCITED to see Nick. Carson woke up from his nap to his Daddy and just had a fit! :) He hasn't let him out of his site since.

Nick did get to spend time with his family in Idaho and his Grandparents in Wyoming before he came home. I was happy he got to do that. It wasn't possible for Carson and I to get out there, but maybe next year. And his family sent the nicest gifts home. I received a sewing machine from his mom and dad that I really needed. Colleen taught me how to sew a couple years ago, and I have been wanting to get my own for a long time. So family should be expecting homemade gifts next year. :) And they got Nick an Xbox 360!!! Wow! Nick's parents and brothers (Josh & Joel) and sister (Miriah) are so gracious. They always send the nicest stuff. We really appreciate everything.

The day after Christmas my brother and sister and their families came to my mom and dad's for Christmas. We had such a good time!! By the time we opened gifts the little one's had about had it. They were so tired! We had to hurry Carson's along just a bit so he could go to bed. Fun is hard on the boy!! I'm actually surprised he wasn't hyper from all the chocolate his Aunts and Uncles were sneaking him.

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful holiday. Santa unfortunately didn't bring me the snow I asked for. Instead it was delivered to the Conner's out West. But, my prayers were answered and I got my Nick home for Christmas safe and sound. And after all the gifts are opened, and our bellies are full, what really matters most is the loved ones we have beside us.

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Potty Time

I forgot to mention in my last blog that Carson had started full blown potty training. He even pooped in the potty for the first time the other day. I hope that isn't too much information, but we are just so darn proud! I'm also loving the fact the we won't have 2 in diapers.

I had a lot of pictures to share so I decided to follow the rest of the bloggers out there and do a slide show. This actually works out a lot better. Who knew? :)

The first couple of pictures were taken while Nick was still in town for Thanksgiving. We miss him tremendously and hope that he makes it back before Christmas Eve. It's been hard without him. It hardly feels like Christmas, but we have been trying to keep ourselves busy. This past weekend Carson and I headed up to Indy to spend the weekend with my brother and sister. On Saturday Monica and I got a room at the Downtown Hilton and took the kids to Circle Centre to finish up some shopping. Along the way we got to see some of Santa's Reindeer before they make their big trip next week. Carson loved it! Abby did too....kind of. She was fine until it was time to to touch them and she didn't want any part of that!

Later that night we met up with my brother and his family at the Zoo for the Festival of Lights. It was really great! We even stopped by a bonfire and listen to carolers singing. It was nice to get in front because it was a cold one!

The next day we went back to Michael's house because my niece, Regan was having her 8th Birthday Party. It's amazing how the time has flown. She had some friends over and they were all running around, singing, screaming, and having a good time. Took me back to when all my friends would come over to my house. Those were some great times!

I wanted to thank our friend's Joe, Amanda, and Connor for sending Carson that AWESOME tool belt he is wearing in some of the pictures. It is too cute! We got in in the mail last night. It is for him to help out with his baby sister. Too too cute! Joe and Amanda are always so thoughtful and kind. The even sent a savings bond for his birthday and some outfits for his little sister. Carson got a couple of other gifts in the mail I should mention....His Grandma and Grandpa Conner got him a SkiDoo Game that he actually has a SkiDoo he can ride. He loves pretending he's actually riding it. I wish I had a picture, but I promise to get one on here. And my very best friend, Alyson sent a Tonka Remote control car that flips once it hits the wall. It really is neat!!!! Nick and I appreciate everyone thinking of Carson on his 2nd birthday. He really is one special and loved boy!

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This last picture is for Carson's Dada...He was saying "Goodnight" to you on the phone last night. We can't WAIT to see you!!! XOXO

Play Time & Baby Grant

Well, since the weather has been so cold and we can't go to the park, I take Carson to the mall play land alot. It's nice because he gets to run off some energy. Which anyone with toddlers knows that is a MUST! A couple days ago my cousin, Casie was there with her beau Brian and Baby G. Grant is a year younger, but almost as big. :)

We have big plans for this weekend. We are heading up to Indy on Saturday morning to meet Abby and Monica at Circle Centre. We got a room there at the Hilton, which is connected to the mall. Later that night we are going with my brother and his family to the Zoo to see the light display. And the next day is Miss Regan's birthday. So, a nice fun filled family weekend. I can't wait!

Plain Tuckered Out!

I guess Carson had a busy today. :) He woke up early and then had KDO (Kids Day Out) at the church. When he got home I fixed his lunch. He didn't even eat much, just played with it. Then I looked over and saw this. This would be the first time he has EVER just fallen asleep, especially at his high chair! He really must of worn himself out today!!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!

Carson and Abby unwrapped his gift from his Aunt Anya (Monica) early. We walked in my moms room and there was paper EVERYWHERE! Carson had the deer in the headlight look and when my dad asked who did it, Abby said "Abby did". :) Those two are too cute together. So...I let him open it up and play with it. We tried to make his birthday special all day long.


After his birthday pancakes Carson got his gift from his Mama & Dada. He loved it!! The kids played on it all day long!!!! It's a big hit!



We had a Wiggly Party. For those of you who don't know...my son is a Wiggles Fanatic! He sings "Toot Chug Chug Big Red Car" all of the time!!!!! So of course we had to make his party theme the Wiggles. Unfortunately, Pretty much everyone had to cancel that we invited to the party. We understood, the day after Thanksgiving is a bad time for alot of people. But, we had a lot of fun just the same!! He loved everything!!! I just can't believe our sweet boy is now 2. Time really does fly!

Alot to be thankful for

I was so thankful that Nick got to come home for Thanksgiving. Carson & I have missed him so much! We picked him up at the airport on Tuesday. That was a LONG drive! 3 hours up....3 hours back. Next time I think we should try a different airport. But, going up to Indy gave me a chance to see my brother, Michael, who just returned home from Iraq. We are so grateful that he is home now...safe and sound.




Nick got a chance to finally use his birthday present from Carson and I. We got him a Canon Xsi SLR camera. He loves it! I love it, too. Finally I'm not the one taking all the pictures. The only downfall...now I'm in some of them. :)

Ms. Abigail got some new glasses!!! Sweet, aren't they?

We spent Thanksgiving at my moms. The food was awesome! Unfortunately, no deep fried turkey. While Nick and my Dad were fryin' it the wind knocked it off the table. 2 more things to be thankful...no one was hurt & mom had a 17lb turkey that she had already roasted.

SOUND ASLEEP AFTER ONE GREAT MEAL. GOD IS GREAT. GOD IS GOOD.

Our Weekend

My Best Friend, Alyson came up this weekend with her little boy, Dominick. He and Carson get along very well. They are so cute to watch! Although Dominick does speak a lot better than Carson (he's 9 months older), they really do communicate great! I can't get over how much Carson is talking lately. He repeats almost everything. Though, somethings are still hard to figure out unless you speak Carsoniese. I asked him today what he did with this sucker and he said "Trash Mama, Trash". Sure enough he thrown it in the trash.

Back to our weekend with Alyson...I don't know what I would have done without her here! I had to have her follow me to the dealer to pick up my car because they were supposed to service it and rotate my tires, though my tires were so bad that I had to replace them. So, first we had to take back the rental, pick up my car, go to 3 different tire places till I found the tires that my car needed. They last place STILL didn't have them but they went and picked them up in Princeton. Whew! They were expensive, but at least we got a free turkey. ;P

Then we took the boys to the mall. Carson unfortunately had to get a haircut at the mall. This would be the first time his Papa didn't cut it. But I was desperate and didn't want to have to drive an hour and half. I hope my dad understands. And dad, if you are reading this....you do a much better job!!

After the haircut we took the boys to the playground area at the mall. I really love to take Carson there when its cold outside. He really gets to run of some energy. And speaking of that...you should see that Dominick go!! It was really fun for them.

Carson really gives Jones a run for his money. LOL

Funny story....I was trying to get Carson to lay down after Dominick and Alyson left this morning. I could hear him in his room crying for me, so after awhile I looked out in the hall to check on him. There he was hanging on the gate to his room (it is much needed when he sleeps) with his cowboy hat on saying "E Haw, Mamma, E Haw". How could I be mad??? :)

BTW, for those of you who didn't know, Carson is now in a big boy bed. It works out great! I just transformed his baby bed to a day bed and added the railing, so he doesn't fall off. And then while he sleeps I put a baby gate at his door. When he is ready to go to bed he will get in bed all by himself now. He is such a big boy!!!

Prayers

I wanted to thank everyone who had Carson in their prayers while he was sick. And BOY was he sick! His fever got as high as 103.7 and he had one for 4 days. He went back to the doctor on Monday. Dr. Rogers said his tonsils were red and there were patches on them, which were common for that type of viral infection. He still has a bit of a cough and an occasional runny nose. He lost some weight, but he's getting back to normal. It is just taking longer than I would have hoped. But everyday is better for him.
POOR SICK BABY

Poor Sick Baby

I know I haven't blogged yet this week. I just got my camera back last night from my mom. So, I will try later today to post some pics.

Carson is feeling awful today. He woke up with a 102 temp. So far this morning I brought it back down to 100. Poor baby. We are supposed to go to a friends house on Sat and go to the Children's Museum, but it doesn't look good today. :( Keep Carson in your thoughts in Prayers.

Missing Camera

I just wanted to let everyone know I will be posting something soon.

It's a Girl!

Well, as most of you know we found out a couple weeks that we were having a girl while we were in Idaho. I wanted Nick to be there when we found out, so Colleen (Nick's mom) made us an apt with a friend she works with at the hospital. But, today I had my apt with my doctor here in Newburgh. And they give you a disc, so it's easy for me to put pics on my blog. They said she looks really great. Everything is as it should be. And she was wonderful for her photo shoot. She let them see everything they needed. They can even tell by pics how much she weighs (13.4 oz). I absolutely can not wait to meet her!!

Trick or Treating

Here's the Halloween pics that I promised to put on here. Unfortunely I don't have any of Grant (My cousin Casie's son). We had such a good time, but it was hard work. Luckily when we got to Beth's (we go to church with her) she let us borrow some wagons. That was a life saver! We actually walked around for 2 1/2 hours! Carson ate 4 suckers while we were out. He loved them!!!! Oh, and the other little fairy princess is Ms. Hallie Ann (My cousin Nicole's daughter). They were all so very sweet together. After we were done getting Candy we went up town and joined the costume contest. This year Grant won the contest. He was a lion. So cute! Then we had some chili at the Lions Club. All and All it was an awesome night!!!!

CHUCK E CHEESE

Just a couple pics from the other night at what Carson calls "CH Cheese". They had so much fun!! Seriously though, they should make the food there better because no kid can eat in that place. There is so much going on. They did play lots of games and won 220 tickets. Which got them some suckers, stickers, lizards, rings, and a game. Too Cute!

Happy Halloween!

I will have more pictures tomorrow, but for now I thought I'd post some from my phone. Carson was the cutest bull rider I've ever seen. His grandpa Conner taught him to say Ye-Haw, so we said that ALL night. He was also very sweet about saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You". He has been talking up a storm lately! He can repeat alot of things you ask him to. Nick and I are so proud of our little cowboy. :)

Carson and I have been down at my parents home for a couple days now. My sister Monica and Ms. Abby came down, too. I absolutely love to see Carson and Abby together. They are the sweetest things. The play so well with each other.
















Yesterday Monica and I took them to town and had lunch, went to Walmart (they got new Elmo balloons), played at the park, and then went to the Barber Shop to see Papa. They had such a great time! Especially at the park. When we used to take Carson we would have to watch his every move, now he just goes off and climbs and slides all by himself. He is such a big boy! I have to admit, the fact that he has NO fear scares me. But, he is so determined to do things on his own.


















Tonight we are going down to Evansville and taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese. This should be fun. :) I will have to take some pictures and share with you all. I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween! I'm so excited to dress Carson up as a bull rider! I hope he wins again this year!! :)

Happy 30th Birthday, Nikali!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Well, this has been a busy week. Whew! Carson and I arrived home early from Idaho to be able to attend the viewing and funeral for Rachael. It was a long day on Wednesday, but we made it back here to Indiana safe and sound. Oh, and Carson learned a new favorite word...Airplane! Now he runs around acting like an airplane while he says it. Cute!!

Saturday we went to Baby Grant's 1st Birthday party. I wish I had some pics but unfortunately my battery is dead on my camera and I don't have my charger. Argh! But, we had a great time! Grant REALLY loved his cake!!! And Carson ran around with Hallie Ann and just laughed, screamed and giggled the whole time. Then we went over to Casie's to give him a little bit more playing time with his cousins. But, at that time he was pretty wore out so he mostly just laid on the floor. :)

I'm going to take him to Linton with me today to get another haircut. He always looks so nice after a haircut. He usually acts really well. But, lately it's hard to keep him in one place for too long. Toddlers! Always on the go!

Our Sweet Rachael

Rachael's family made the decision today to pull her life support and let God's will be done. It was and she was called home. But the power of prayer is still needed. She leaves behind 3 sons (Sergei 15, Josiah 2, & Stephen 2 months), her husband Jon, and a enormous amount of friends and family that adore her. Anyone who even knew her for a short second is hurting. She was that wonderful of a person. I can see why God needed her in Heaven by his side. But, she will be extremely missed. So please pray for her family.

Prayer Request

I would like all of you who read this to please pray for my good friend, Rachael Crow. She is currently unresponsive at Methodist in Indianapolis. I don't know much at this time. Only that she has been suffering from severe headaches for over a week, and when her husband arrived home yesterday with their oldest son she was laying unresponsive of the floor of their home. She was air lifted to Indy where they discovered she had bleeding on the brain. Things aren't looking bright, but God has been known to grant miracles. Rachael is truly one of God's Warriors. I wish there were more angels here on earth like her.

Traveling to Idaho

We have decided to drive out to Idaho to visit with Nick's family before he starts his Washington job on the 27th (it will only be 8 hours for his parents home). The plan is for us to drive out there with him and fly back on the 24th. But, before the big advedture we stayed the weekend at my mom and dad's. We all three love to be able to get out there and enjoy the country. Nick (& Carson) helped my dad out by fixing his mule. I don't know what my dad would have done if he couldn't take little Carson for any more rides. That boy LOVES the vroom vroom!







Let me just tell anyone out there who is reading this....DONT EVER DRIVE 1800 MILES WITH A TODDLER AND NOT HAVE A DVD PLAYER!!! You'll never make it with your sanity in tact. :) Carson would sit back there and just giggle watching his Wiggles and Cartoons. Definatley worth every penny!

It was a long long LONG trip!!! We started out at 10pm from Newburgh and drove straight through until we made it to his grandparents home in Wyoming at 8:30 their time (9:30 our time). Then when we left there the next day we still had another 4 hours till we were at Nick's parents home. I can't tell you how much we spent in gas, but it was ALOT! We have a 2500 diesel, but luckily diesel has dropped to an average of $3.60. Mind you that is an average, we saw it less and we saw it more. We saw Unleaded in Kansas as low as $3.17! Keep in mind that is still more than it was a year ago!! They are programming us!!! They spike it up and then bring down a little so we all say "Wow, that's cheap!".

I want to brag on my wondeful husband for just a minute. :) Here we were stopped at a gas station and Nick saw this old man trying to fix his mud flap on his RV and Nick got right out and helped him. This is one of the reasons I love this man so very much...he is incredibly helpful and caring!!

Alot has happened in a week!

Well....This has been a trying and busy week. We found out that Nick would no longer be working at the job site near Evansville. :( It was so wonderful having him home with us every night since May. So, now he is going to be working in Washington (state) for a couple of months. Carson and I will not see our FAVORITE guy for 5 weeks. Then, he will be back for 10 days (Thanksgiving & Carson's Birthday), then he will go back to work until Christmas. But, if all these families can get through the days with their loved ones in Iraq, we can surely make it through this. I used to be used to him leaving like this...SORT OF. You NEVER actually get used to it. But, Nick is my everything I loved seeing him as much as I could. And lets not forget about Carson. Wow, is he ever a daddy's boy!!! So, please keep our family in your prayers.




Nick, Carson, My mom, & I all went to the Covered Bridge Festival in Mansfield this past weekend. He got a few items, but mostly our money was spent on food!!! It's amazing how fast it goes! We would take a few bites of something and then have to try something else. But honestly, folks, isn't that the best part of the festival?!




As you can see I'm getting bigger by the day. I would say I'm bigger at 4 1/2 months than I was with Carson. But they say that happens your second time. But, I am feeling really well, except for the occasional headaches. Yes, I am STILL getting them. Arrr.....




Carson got a special item at the festival....a "TIME OUT" chair. Although we have the sweetest boy in the world he still occasionally gets in time out. But, he does sit there until his time is up. If you are wondering what he could possibly do...he has started screaming this horrible scream at the top of his lungs!!!! It is awful! The terrible two's is starting to show it's ugly face.

Can you believe this last picture?? Here it is getting into the middle of October and this little boy is running playing in the sand with just his diaper on!! On Sunday is was 84 in Indiana and snowing in Idaho!!! It is just amazing!!! But, I am so ready for fall weather!!!

Corn Maize Craze

Nick and I took Carson the The Corn Maize Craze in Henderson yesterday. There was lots to do. We painted pumpkins, Carson went through the toddler maize and played in corn, saw farm animals, went on a hayride, and went through a 7 acre corn maize. But, let me just tell you....Nick is such a stinker!!! We got through the maize in a minute because Nick just kept turning right and before you knew it we found the exit! We never did see the group ahead of us come out!!! You would have thought they would have taken you to the middle before it had paths to take you out. Still we had a REALLY great time. I just love fall!!!






I PROMISE they did have a good time. I just couldn't seem to capture any shots where Carson was smiling!! :)

This was so fun!! Much better than carving!! Daddy helped Carson a little, but for the most part he did it himself. And with hardly any paint on his body or shirt. I have taught him well!

This video is of Carson feeding the horse. Daddy didn't realize that the horse would grab a hold of his little hand. But our Carson was a big boy and didn't cry. Though, you can tell by his face his feelings were hurt. :(