I can't believe it's been a year!

Carter was born a year ago today, and in some ways it seems as though we've had him with us forever, but in other ways it's amazing to me that we've had him this long.  Time has just flown by, and he has grown up so fast! 

I still remember how small he was when he first came home with us, although he was bigger than his older brother was when he was born.  He was such a sweet baby, and it's a good thing he was after all the trouble he gave me while I was pregnant. :)

Just a year later he is a big, very spunky troublemaker with quite the personality.  He has eight teeth (four more than Preston had) and is walking all over the place.  Some of his favorite things to do are chewing on spoons, climbing stairs, splashing in water (including the dog bowl and toilets), eating the dogs food, playing with Bentley, eating my hair, eating yogurt and cheese, playing with cars, following his big brother around, and wrestling with him, finding microscopic things on the floor to put in his mouth, and being outside.  You'll often find him sleeping with his bear's ear and his left thumb in his mouth, he is a lefty you know... or with my hair and his thumb in his mouth.  I much prefer the first. :)  Although he likes to get into trouble he is still as sweet as can be and loves to snuggle, we're so lucky to have him!  More to come on his adorable (if I say so myself) birthday party, but here is just a sample of his sweet face in the birthday boy hat.

I can't forget to mention that today is also my (big) little brother Kyle's birthday as well.  I was actually talking to him on the phone about ten minutes before Carter was born on his birthday, he was very excited to share his day.  Kyle turned 19 today and will soon be serving an LDS mission in Managua, Nicaragua.  We all know he will be an amazing missionary because of his social skills and love of the gospel!  But we'll miss him!  More to come of him too... eventually. :)

Happy Happy Birthday to both of these spunky boys!

Preston and Dalia

This past Wednesday at storytime Preston and Dalia decided they were best friends and held each other's hands while we walked out to the car.  It was so cute I was glad I had my new camera phone there to capture it all since I didn't have my big camera with me. :)

Don't worry, he wasn't giving her a ring although it does look like that doesn't it?

This one is my FAVORITE!  I kind of wish I had my nice camera there just for this shot.  I love it.

Doesn't Preston look so grown up in this?

He should, he's always going for the older girls.

They have so much fun together dancing...

and jumping.

I love storytime, good friends, and moments like these.  :)

The Runaway - Middle of September 2009

I decided to be brave and take both boys for a walk on my own one afternoon.  Preston wanted to ride his bike instead of riding inthe stroller with his brother.

He even let me take a few pictures of him.

But as I stopped to take a few pictures of the flowers...

He ran... fast!

Luckily I caught up to him again right as he was going around the corner, but that was the last  time I let him ride his bike on a walk. :)

Playing at Home with Grandma and Grandpa - September 2009

We loved just hanging out at home when Grandma and Grandpa came to visit last fall.  Even Bentley loved having someone new to play with.

Preston wanted to show them all of his trains.

And he showed Grandpa his tent

While Grandma cuddled with little Carter drool and all.

We also found some time to go for a walk as a family and Grandma was nice enough to take a picture of all of us together.

It was such a pretty evening.

Preston tried riding his bike for a little while too, but then ended up pushing it.

While Carter hung out half asleep in the stroller. :)

January 4th - Carter Get's Up On His Knees

Of course I had to get my camera out to document this stepping stone in Carter's life.  It's weird looking back now because he's so much bigger, leaner, and of course mischevious than he was then. 

Just Look at that sweet face. :) 

When I first got my camera out he stopped getting up on his knees and decided to just lay there on his tummy...

then he rolled over...

played with his hands...

and sucked his thumb...

until he finally decided to give it a try again. ;)

I think he was kind of suprised he was doing it,

but got the hang of it right away, and never stopped moving after that!

Of course his big brother was causing trouble while I was busy taking pictures...

I had given him a sucker.  He finished it off then thought it was pretty funny to put the stick up his nose.  Boys! :) 

Thinking Green

I know that I promised to update this blog more regularly and haven't been doing a very good job. :(  We've been making a lot of changes around our house which includes a lot of sewing and painting for me which has been taking a lot of time.  On top of that we've been potty-training Preston, dealing with a teething baby, had Gabe's parents to visit for a few weeks, and working around lots of annoying computer problems.  All good things, except for the computer problems... and the teething baby I guess. :)  Anyway, Preston's been doing well with potty-training for the most part, and Gabe just reformatted the hard drive to my computer and it seems to be helping.  Plus, both of my boys are asleep at 9:30 in the morning, I think the potty training has been a little bit tiring for Preston... 

Anyway, I now would be as good a time as ever to try to get at least a few pictures out there.  Here are a few of the boys on St. Patricks Day.  I posted the one of them together on my photography blog, but I didn't want anyone who may not check that blog to miss out on their cuteness!  I bought these bow ties way before valentine's day at the dollar section of Target just for their St. Patrick's Day pictures.  Then of course, I forgot it was St. Patrick's Day until I got on my computer that morning and saw the google banner.  So I of course hurried and got my "studio" and my boys ready and we got a few keepers.  These boys sure do love each other, it seriously only took one try to get this!

These next two pictures have not been edited which is why they don't look as nice as the first one, but the boys sure are cute.  Preston is reaching for a rainbow in this one.

Carter's 6 Month Pictures

I posted Carter's 6 month pictures on my photography blog earlier today, and yes, I'm too lazy to post them again here.  They'll look better there anyway. ;)  So if you would like to see his smushy cuteness head on over here!

New Things

We've got all kinds of new things going on around here, and I figured it was about time I updated a few things.  We've been making a lot of changes around our house that I'm really excited about and will post pictures as soon as I feel it's ready... I promise. ;)

Preston is turning into such a big boy!  He amazes me everyday by how much he knows at just 2 1/2.  When did he get to be so big?  He absolutely LOVES singing, and memorizes almost every song he hears.  He also likes to make up songs which is very entertaining.  He, as always, LOVES building everything in sight and has recently discovered his love of puzzles.  Gabe took one out once when he was tired of playing (and losing) Candyland over and over again and Preston has been hooked ever since.  Gabe brought home a couple of 25 piece puzzles from the dollar store a few weeks ago and ever since Preston has talked about what a nice guy he is for bringing puzzles home.  Preston now has memorized where all the pieces go and can do both by himself easily. 

I remember when Preston was born I couldn't wait until I could have a conversation with him, and now sometimes I take for granted that he talks to me all the time!  Here are some of his cute quotes from the last couple of weeks.

Gabe was changing his diaper and said that Preston had a big log in his pants.  So Preston yelled out "It's a FROGGY LOGGY, I have a frog in my pants!"  I have no idea where he got that from, other than the fact that we sing a song that talks about a bullfrog sitting on a log.  Isn't he creative?

Gabe told me that while I was out shopping when day Preston asked where I was and so Gabe told him I was getting food for us.  He replied saying "Yea, Mommy won't let us down."  I think he's been watching too much of Thomas, the useful tank engine.

Last but not least, my favorite.  One day out of nowhere Preston started saying he wanted to go on a airplane to see Heavenly Father.  It's so hard to explain that Heaven isn't a place where we can visit, and that's why we have to say our prayers to Heavenly Father.  The next day as we were driving in the car he said "Mommy, I want to see the Jesus angel."  I had no idea what he was talking about so I asked him where he thought he could see that and he said "I want to see the Jesus angel like Joseph Smith, and Heavenly Father too."  I think he was hoping that they would come down to visit him.  That's when I had to explain to him that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that's why Heavenly Father came down to visit him.  He said he wanted to be a prophet too.  We'll see...  By the way, he wanted to visit Jesus and Joseph Smith in Heaven too.  I told him that one day he could see them in Heaven, but I hope not for a long time.  Maybe that's selfish of me... 

Anyway, Here's a recent picture of our cute, smartypants!

Now for Carter.  He is adored by his big brother, and he adores the dog!  It works out great!  He is a happy, easy going baby which makes things easier for me!  He is very social and hates being in a room by himself.  He's content playing with the dog, and dog toys, and dog food... unfortunately.  It his adorable how he and Bentley play together.  Bentley his more gentle with Carter than Carter is with him.  Carter has an obsession with hair just like his brother... I don't know how that happened.... so of course he loves petting Bentley.  He loves sucking his thumb, and absolutely loves his bear that he can't go to sleep without, and hasn't been able to since he was only a few months old.  He's crawling everywhere and loves getting into anything he's not supposed to have, especially paper.  He will bite chunks out of anything he can get his hands on with the help of his 8 teeth that he's had since he was barely seven months old.  He's a crazy baby, and we love him!

Okay, now for the last change going on around here.  I have officially set up my new photography WEBSITE and BLOG.  So if you're reading my old photography blog it will no longer be updated.  Check out my new photography blog for a chance to win a free photo session if you live near me, or in Utah!  I'm also posting a few more pictures of my boys there.  Let me know what you think. :)