Kick off to Christmas

On the Polar Express!! Kids in their matching jammies courtesy of one of the clients that goes to the animal hospital I work at.

Getting ready to leave!! We are all so excited!!!

I have the cutest stinking baby EVER!!!

Cookies & Hot Chocolate.

Or should I say COLD chocolate! The drink wasn't hot at all, it was quite disappointing :(

My parents with their grandkids!

Thanks to them this trip is made possible!!

Jhett was hilarious to watch. When he is unsure & excited all at the same time he gets very serious. This was the exact look he had last year!

Tredd was so good on the Train ride, he didn't cry at all. He did however make this face when he got his picture taken. Silly Boy.

As we approached the North Pole, Jhett looked out the window to see if he could spot Santa & the Elves.

We made it to the North Pole! Look! Santa!! Jhett immediately got super excited and started saying "oh I want out!"

Jhett spots SANTA on the train!!

Is he excited or scared??

I am just glad this year he is awake!!

Tredd getting a bell from Santa.

Santa asking Jhett for a high five. The little stinker wouldn't give him one.

Family picture in front of the train.

The Polar Express was successful! Jhett's reaction to the whole thing made all the hard work to get there worth it. This is another tradition I am loving & can't wait for next year!

Day AFTER Thanksgiving

For the last 2 years I have gone out shopping on Black Friday. This year was insane! Stores were opening earlier & they had some pretty sweet deals. The insanity actually started Thanksgiving Day or should I say night at 11:30 PM. My MIL, FIL, & SIL all went to Walmart where they were having deals starting at midnight. It is so nice having the Walmart literally less then 5 min away. I couldn't believe how packed the parking lot was. We had to park so far away! It was freezing outside too! So we get in the doors & start heading towards the back of the store. The main things I wanted were movies & to check out the toys. So I walked back to the toy section. On the intercom a walmart employee says "go ahead & grab what you want!" It was amazing how fast people were grabbing things. It took me a while to figure out that all of the "deals" were in piles up & down random aisles throughout the store. I actually feel quite dumb for not recognizing that in the beginning. But I lucked out & got the few movies I was going for & a toy. I am proud to say I only spent $20. Then we headed back to my house where my FIL & MIL decided they were done & wanted to go back to bed, however my SIL & I wanted to head to Target. They opened their doors at 4 AM. I told Emily to come pick me up @ 3:30AM. We got to the Target parking lot about 3:45AM, once again I could not believe how packed the parking lot was. She parked her car & we started walking towards Target where I saw this HUGE line formed outside. I didn't realize how huge until we got up to the doors where there were 3 security guards and a barricade made of carts blocking the entrance. So we walked to the end of the building where we looked down & noticed the line was all the way down the side of Target & probably wrapped behind. We looked at each other & decided to go back to her car & wait until it was actually 4:00 AM. Now let me just tell you we were not there to get any big door busters like tvs, fireplace pits, etc. All we were wanting were a few toys. So when 4:00 AM approached we ran up to the huge line & as it was moving there came a gap & we weaseled our ways in. We almost got pulled out by a security guard because there were tons of people screaming behind us "THEY CUT!! THEY CUT!!" but some lady said to the guard it wasn't us but someone in front of us. I probably should feel bad for cutting, but like I said I wasn't there for the big things so I didn't feel I cheated anyone. Especially because I was the only one grabbing this particular toy when there were mobs of people around me. I also got a few more movies. Emily got some sweet deals. It would have been nice to have more money but I had a budget & I am just proud of myself for sticking to it.

That day turned out to be pretty fun. We went & saw Tangled. CUTEST MOVIE!! Jhett & Tredd did great! Jhett & I went goofing golfing with my mom's family, & that night all the adults went out to dinner then came back to our house & played games, ate dessert, & watched Grown-Ups. I absolutely LOVE Austin's family. I have so much fun when we all get together. As long as Fred & Lisa are in Utah I hope they can continue to come to Arizona for Thanksgiving. I just wished it wasn't such a long drive & cost so much to fly there. I would love to see them more often. The important thing is memories were made & I will forever cherish them.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving morning since I was a teenager my family would go out to breakfast then to a movie. My parents decided to do this so as we got older and married we would still be able to go to a lunch thing with our spouses family. I have really liked this tradition. But the last 2 years Austin & I haven't been able to enjoy the movie since Jhett is not one to sit still. So this year my parents decided to bag the movie & going out to breakfast. They said as family changes so do traditions. Instead we all met up at my parents house and ate breakfast then headed off to the zoo. The weather was great & we were able to see the lions just finishing up breakfast & the rhinos coming out for their breakfast. We were all really able to interact with one another and it was nice.

Jhett posing with a lion.

We thought we would dress Tredd up for the occasion.

My little Tiger & Grandma.

The baboons were really the only animals we saw that were doing much of anything. This one was hilarious. He walked right up to the window & just sat and stared at us.

Jhett is spoiled rotten. Being that he is the first grandchild & first boy in my family means double trouble. Well this little fellow got to ride the camel! Aunt Scotlyn volunteered to be his chaperon.

Aunt Scotlyn & Jhett riding the camel. Jhett had a death grip on the bar & would not look at the camera. You wouldn't know it watching him that he had fun but as soon as Jhett got off the camel & we were walking away he says "Mom, that was fun!"

Of course when we saw the tractor Jhett needed to get on it. He is completely obsessed!

Jhett is at a really fun stage. He gets a lot of things but is still quite unsure on other things. He wouldn't go inside the turtle shell so Aunt Shalae came to the rescue and went inside with him. His face really cracks me up.

I told Jhett to watch out for the alligator, that it was going to get him. Hehe. I am so mean :) Jhett was really unsure & got scared. Thank goodness Jhett has a grandpa who is a super hero because my dad jumped on him and quickly grabbed his mouth so Jhett could touch him. I really did scare him because he wouldn't touch the alligator.

After the zoo we headed back to Emily & Kell's house for a Thanksgiving feast. The food was yummy as usual. We all stuffed our faces, watched movies, & took naps to prepare ourselves for BLACK FRIDAY. I am so thankful for this time of year and the time we get to spend with our families. I am thankful for the traditions we have and the fact that they bring us closer together.

Home Blessing

For Tredd's blessing, we decided to wait until Thanksgiving to bless him. That way everyone could be here for it. We got special permission to do the blessing in our home the night before Thanksgiving. We had quite a turn out. Tredd is one lucky boy to have so many people who love and support him. I feel so blessed to have him for a son. He brings such joy and has such a sweet spirit.

I knew the night of his blessing would be difficult to get a good picture of him in his whites. So I did a mini shoot of him a couple weeks before. This was the picture I put on the invitations.

I thought this picture was cute.

It was like he was pondering about something.

Here were the Men in the circleFrom Left to Right top row...

Great Gpa Carpenter, Great Uncle Scott, Great Gpa Wood, Great Gpa Udall, Uncle Kell, Poppy Sandor, Great Bompa Porter.

From Left to Right bottom row...

Uncle Dallyn, Gpa Udall, Dad, Gpa Carpenter.

Grandmas.

Top Row... Great Gma Udall, Great Gma Carpenter, Great Gma Wood
Bottom Row...Gma Carpenter, Mom, Gma Udall, Gma Sandor


Our Family.

It was a great night. I didn't get a picture of the everybody that was there. But there were about 40+. I had prepared home made soups and had french bread for dinner & my mom made pumpkin bars for dessert. Thank you to all who made the drive out to our home to share that special night with us.

Family Pictures

I absolutely LOVE this time of year and taking pictures. I enjoy looking at other people's pictures too. This year I thought it would be fun to get my boys in Camo and for me to be dolled up since I am the only girl. Taking pictures with a baby and toddler is not an easy task, so therefore we took pictures 3 different days. Thank goodness my parents have a nice camera they let me borrow and my sister takes our pictures so we are able to take pictures as often as we like.

This picture is one of my favorites of the boys. Tredd is totally giggling now and its so easy to get a smile out of him. Jhett on the other hand has no interest in cooperating and in this picture he is being his goofy self. It really captures both of their personalites :)

I LOVE this picture of Jhett! I was literally snapping away at him in hopes to getting a great picture. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

I love Tredd's puckering lips in this one. For whatever reason I couldn't get a good close up picture of him smiling but I must admit I love this one!

For our family pictures I made Tredd this onsie. Once again I am in Love!

(The pictures of the boys were done on day 3 in my backyard taken by me.)

So I was dead set on getting pictures in front of a graffiti wall. There happens to be a couple of abandoned buildings by our house that is covered in it and worked out perfectly.

These pictures are from day 1.

You will notice my hair is curly and Austin and Jhett are in white.

Day 2 pictures were taken right before we headed to my mom's house for her pictures. My hair is straight & Austin and Jhett were in brown shirts. The only good picture is the one I have for our header. After taking those pictures we went home, changed our clothes then headed off to my moms.

Sisters.

This is the picture my mom is sending for Christmas Cards. It has always been a joke in our family that our family wasn't capable of having boys. Well after 26 years of my parents being married, there are now more boys then girls!!!

Carpenter Family 2010.

PS. For all you people that have nice cameras that can take pictures like a professional, make sure you bring your camera with you to Walmart if you are going to print there. I got such crap from their employees and they almost didn't let me take my prints because they didn't believe me when I told them I took the pictures with our camera!!!

It was a 3 pumpkin kind of day

I have been dieting since Monday. Stopped drinking juice and pop and decided to eat mostly salads for the next week and NO sugar. I am happy to report I have lost 5 LBS so far. However, yesterday was one of those days where I totally blew my diet on 3 mellow creme pumpkins. It all started at 2 AM. Jhett came in my room crying saying he bumped his head. (I took off the rail that is supposed to keep him from falling off his bed a couple of days ago because he kept climbing on top of it and nearly split the thing in half.) So he must have fallen off. So I get out of bed and march that little boy right back to his bed. As I'm half asleep walking back to be Tredd decides to start crying. I go in his room to find him with one arm out of his swaddle and the other trying to make its way out and into his mouth. So I re-swaddle him, give him his pacifier then go back to bed. 3 AM Tredd cries again, get out bed, give him his pacifier. 4 AM Tredd cries yet again, now it's been 10 hours so I know he is hungry. I get up, change his diaper, then we walk downstairs to feed him. After feeding we go back to bed. 7:30 we all get up, Jhett's pj bottoms are soaked with pee. Lovely. As the morning goes on, the boys are actually happy watching channel 8 while I finish a project for our family pictures. Then we get ready to go to the park. It was actually a beautiful morning and I have gotten in the habit to walk to the park in our neighborhood. PS Jhett walks too, it is one of the ways I can really burn some energy out of him so he naps well when we get home. It's been working out great! Anyway, we get to the park and the wind decides to pick up. Now normally I love the wind, however it caused Jhett drinking snot from his nose. Yummy. Then as I am sitting there I can feel myself leaking through my tampon and into my pants. So I decide it is time to leave. We get home I take care of that mess, make lunch, which Jhett takes only ONE bite of. As I am feeding Tredd, Jhett comes over to me chewing on something with this look like "this is nasty" all over his face. I ask him what he is eating and he opens his mouth. I can't tell what it is, so I again ask him what he is eating and tell him to go get it and show me. He walks in the kitchen and comes back with a huge bottle of Ibuprofen!!! I freaked out, and quickly put the baby down. Which by the way he was livid about, and run to the kitchen frantically trying to figure out how many pills my child could have consumed. I couldn't find anything. So I call up my dad asking him what I should do. He said that one pill wouldn't kill him and he highly doubts Jhett really ate any because they are so bitter. When I got off the phone with him I walked back to get Tredd who was still screaming his head off and stumbled across one Ibuprofen pill that was split in half and missing very little. I was then completely relieved because I knew Jhett did not actually eat any of the medicine. I finished feeding Tredd, cleaned up lunch, then put both boys down for a nap. Finally some quiet time. I decided to catch up on Glee & Dancing with the Stars even though I probably should have cleaned the house, or folded laundry. When the boys woke up from their naps the rest of the afternoon was filled with Jhett standing on a kitchen chair leaning forward where he then fell off onto his face. That chair is broken. I was thrown up on 3 times by Tredd. Jhett had the most horrific diarrhea that caused me to throw him in the bath and the throw the pants away. Needless to say at the end of the day all I wanted was a little sugar and so I sat and ate those pumpkins and they were delish!

Costume Photos

Why have I not known about Picnik.com???

Seriously, such a fun site!!!

STATS

Weight: 12LBS 5.5 OZ 50-75%

Length: 23 3/4 IN 75%

Head: 15 1/4 IN 10-25%

Poor boy had to get 4 shots today. He was a trooper though, just cried when they were being given but stopped immediately after. Dr. is amazed by all the things he can do.

• He can roll from his tummy to back either direction.

Sept 20th he officially rolled over! He was just 5 weeks then. At first I thought it was just a fluke but he constantly rolls over every time we put him on his tummy.

• He lifts his head nearly 90 degrees
• He can pretty much hold his head up when sitting upright
• He smiles when you smile & is SO close to giggling
• He coos all the time
• He can follow an object

In fact whenever I am in the room and not in his view he turns his head to try and find me and when I am leaving him he moves his head to follow

• He can stand on his feet for a good period of time. With the help of someone of course
• And he is sleeping through the night

The last couple of nights it has been 10 hours!!!

He is such a happy, easy-going baby who likes to cuddle and loves his mommy. What can I say? He is perfect in every way!

Anniversary Trip

A couple of years ago Austin and I decided that we would go on a trip every 5 years for our anniversary since we poor foke. We started putting money aside a couple of years ago but it seemed like some disaster would happen and we would need money so we ended up spending our savings. So the whole month of September I was trying to figure out what we could do. It wasn't looking like much. As I was planning my mom mentioned they were going to Disneyland the weekend of our anniversary and would not be available to watch the kids. Then my sister and her husband decided to go with them too. Now I was feeling kind of left out of this "family trip" So with a few strings pulled we were able to go along too. I was super excited! I thought I had taken more pictures, but the majority of the ones I did take were super crappy.
**NOTE TO SELF: WE NEED A NEW CAMERA**
We had so much fun being there without the kids. We were able to just be kids. It was a nice change. Unfortunately, there were no romantic nights. Like I said we are poor, so we actually stayed in the hotel suite with my parents and drove over with my sister and brother-in-law.


It was fun being there while it was decorated for Halloween. So many cute things all around the park. I think the most memorable thing that happened was when we decided to go on Splash Mountain. It was my mom & dad, Shalae & Erik, and Austin & I. We got COMPLETELY SOAKED! I could not stop laughing. Erik's reactions were the best on that ride.

Picture of a Picture

After

Good Times :)

The only descent picture I got of me & Austin and of course it is not in front of anything Disneyland. Oh Well, I am wearing a Mickey Shirt.

PS, I did not realize how fat I still look. I know it has only been 2 months since having Tredd, but seriously! I have some working out to do STAT!

I was glad we were able to get away for the short time we did. I had a blast!

5 years ago I gave you my heart

and promised to love you no matter what.

We were married 4 time and all eternity

and that began our life journey.

I cherish the time when it was just you and me

but a baby we wanted and had by year 3

Our home is filled with love, excitement, and noise

now that we have 2 little boys

How blessed I am to have you in my life

and to be your 1 and only wife

1 Month

I can't believe it has been 5 weeks since we welcomed baby Tredd to our family. He has been such a good baby so far. I hav been trying to establish a routine with 2 kids & making sure that everyone, including Austin, is getting enough attention. I didn't realize how exhausting that can be. I have managed to get both Jhett & Tredd to nap at the same time so that I can get some shut eye as well. That nap has helped me keep my sanity but has also taken my time away from blogging & projects. So I am a bit behind. Jhett is doing so much better with Tredd but still has a jealousy tantrum a couple times a week. Each day brings a new challenge & adventure. I just have to try to tell myself I may not accomplish all that is on my list of things to do & that is ok.

Here is the picture I chose to send as an announcement of birth.

Tredd Darin Udall

August 12th, 2010

7LBs 3OZ

We took that picture as well as these when Tredd was 10 days old.

Tredd had his 1 month check up 9/16. He did great! Didn't cry at all during the examination & didn't cry much when he got his shot. I also can't believe how fast he is growing. I must admit I am not a huge fan of this newborn stage. I know I will regret wishing he would grow just a little faster. But I can't wait for him to be at the stage where he smiles & giggles. He is trying so hard to hold his head up on his own & does great at tummy time. He is currently eating 4 oz every 3 hours during the day & will go 4-5 hours at night.

Stats:

Weight 10.4 50%

Length 22.75 90%

Head 14.75 25%

1 Month Picture

I also took a few pictures with Tredd. I realized I only had 2 pictures of me & him together & it was when he was first born.

Like I said earlier, tantrums are slowing down & jealousy isn't happening every second of the day anymore. Jhett is showing more interest in Tredd & wants to play & help with him. These are days I cherish!

I LOVE being a mom to these two!!

Are they not just the cutest things ever?!?! I am so lucky & so blessed!