Marsh Madness

Under Construction

2016-12-08T07:59:00.002-07:00

Hello Hello!

I realize it's a bit of a disappointment seeing this thing has not been updated in a year! So embarrassing! But I have been trying to do a good job of keeping things documented and remembered - just haven't published anything yet. I'm hoping to focus more on this as we get through the holidays and accomplish a few other goals. We are all happy, healthy and feeling very blessed!

White Christmas

2016-02-18T16:11:00.001-07:00

I was SO excited to have a white Christmas this year! We had the perfect snowfall Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to make me completely content hanging out inside, in pajamas most of the day.
I know everyone says this, but Christmas just continues to get more magical having a little guy to share it with. It's so fun to discover these things for the first time and learn about the magic of the season. He clearly didn't grasp the concept, but loved all of the sparkly lights, the fun music, and cool decorations, especially Mor Mor and Grandpa's village display.
Christmas Eve we spent the early afternoon prepping our Christmas Eve dinner and cleaning up the house and ourselves. Everything turned out super yummy and right on schedule so everything was hot! I have to give a little bit of the timing credit to myself - I made a conscious effort to time it right and it actually worked!
While we were finishing up we had White Christmas (one of my favorite movies) playing in the background. I was so proud of my boys for enjoying it! haha

cheesy Christmas outfits - I couldn't resist. Carter's sweater was Brad's when he was little!

Carter opening a gift from Mor Mor and Grandpa - he LOVES to help Mor Mor clean

It was so fun setting up Christmas this year - especially with the tool set!

Christmas morning was a blast and Carter enjoyed helping everyone open their presents. He was spoiled this year with tools, balls, books, and puzzles. He's really grasping the idea of puzzles and loving it! I feel so proud as I watch him do his puzzles and browse through his books!

Carter helping the men shovel

Christmas was so much fun, sharing and celebrating with the family. We had some unfortunate drama that threw off the night and caused a bit of heartache, but through prayer and focusing on the positive, we were able to enjoy the company of those that were there and pray for those that weren't. We are hoping our family will start growing some more sooner than later so Carter can have some siblings and cousins to share these memories with on this side!

I am so grateful for this time of year and the special effort we make to spend time together, give, and serve one another. I pray every year that I will be able to continue to improve every year as I try to help our family focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

A few days later we had the chance to get together with my high school friends and their little families. It was so fun to see everyone! It's so great to see how much our crew has grown over the years!

Early Christmas in AZ

2016-02-18T15:40:00.002-07:00

We went down to AZ for a few days before Christmas. Even when it's my family's year for Christmas we still like to make a trip down to AZ sometime during the holiday to spend time with AZ family and friends. Since Brad's family was going to be in NY after Christmas we went before to celebrate and have an early Christmas with them.
First things first, on our way down to Arizona Brad received an email from BYU letting him know he had been accepted to their full time MBA program!!!!!!! We were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to get this news! Brad and I both REALLY wanted him to get into BYU. We are so grateful and humbled by the opportunity we will have this next fall to be a part of the BYUMBA community. We will be moving down to Provo in the Summer to fully embrace the life and culture of the grad student families. This will be such an exciting change for us!

this is Brad's excited face - so full of expression ha

Carter and Lizzie had a lot of fun waking up to each other every day and actually played really well together throughout the week. They are like brother and sister: best friends and worst enemies. But they had minimal fighting that week - I'm guess because the toys were in a neutral location - no "mine" going on.

We had fun hanging out around the house with family, visiting with friends, and carrying on our traditions of the season.

matching jammies getting ready to meet Santa

for some reason I really love this one...

Lizzie clearly has stranger danger - Carter seemed quite comfortable up there

in front of the tree with Grammy & Papa

it's exhausting be so cute - roaming around Bass Pro Shop

Christmas Sunday snap shots:

cannot get these two to hold still haha

Mesa Temple Lights:

Early Christmas Eve:

ninja turtle pajamas - Brad's childhood favorite

the boys all got Nerf guns for Christmas - a war definitely broke out that night

We had a great week, filled with more laughter than my cheeks or abs could handle. It was fun getting to know Clara's future fiance better and have everyone be together. We enjoyed weather where I could go out to the car barefoot and not freeze - it was perfect weather! Of course we made a trip to Last Chance and got some steals there as well. I enjoyed spending some time with my girl friends, unfortunately I didn't snap any pics.

We were spoiled for Christmas and ate really well all week long.

The best Christmas gift I received from my Marsh family is this beautiful piece of art:

I literally started bawling when I opened it. I have been eyeing this piece for years! My mother in law and I share a great appreciation for this artist and her insights. This one is called "A woman waiting for her house to grow" This clearly has a lot of sentimental meaning to me, as we continue to wait for the opportunity to be selected for adoption. It proudly sits on my mantle and will stay there for as long as we are here. It makes my heart so happy and I feel like it depicts my feelings so well!

December

2016-02-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

The month of December was filled with classic traditions and new memories too! December is always such a fun month and always seems to fly by way too fast. I always try to make the goal to have Christmas shopping done before December so I can do a better job of focusing on making memories as a family and focusing on the true reason for the season.
We started off with our tradition of dinner and Festival of Trees with the Foxes. It's so fun! Carter slept through most of it last year so it was fun to see his reaction to so much more of it this year.

Some Favorites:

This year we went to Temple Square with Ron, Hannah, and Lizzie. Apparently we had the same idea as everyone else - I have NEVER seen it as packed as it was that night! So we didn't really walk around too much, but we enjoyed a yummy Kneaders dinner and window shopping at City Creek.

Also, clearly we shop together, and have a lot of the same taste haha we are matching almost from head to toe, stroller and bag. And I was so close to wearing my Hunter boots too.

Carter is getting more and more entertaining every day. Here are some fun snap shots of his latest favorites and funny moments:

his territory when mom & dad are making the bed

his favorite place to snuggle his "baby"

so proud he climbed from the couch to the window seat

getting a kick out of his own chocolate covered Oreo face

his own light to turn "non"

helping daddy polish his shoes

not so sure about the snow

aftermath of a painting project for birthmom, Courtney

he discovered "selfie mode"

And some of my favorites of our Christmas decorations this year. We got a new, bigger tree this year. Unfortunately the budget didn't allow me to "fill" my tree, so we improvised and made more of my childhood tree with our childhood ornaments gifted and homemade. It was fun to have a whimsical, more sentimental tree. Although it may seem pathetic, I'm proud of myself for letting go of my Martha Stewart blood and embracing the magic of childhood Christmas decor.

Also, I got to throw a little baby brunch for a dear friend to celebrate her little boy on the way. I went with the mustache theme and ran with it! It was so fun and turned out pretty cute!

I also got to meet up with my BYU sisters again, always a treat this holiday season!!!

November

2016-01-05T17:42:00.002-07:00

Wowza! I think I've been overly productive in every area of my life to keep myself from working on the blog - I've always got something else to work on... or so I tell myself. I have no real reason to avoid the blog - maybe it's that another month has passed and in some ways I feel like nothing has changed. But then I look back and think about everything that has gone on since November and I have missed out on documenting so much. Sometimes documenting is the hardest part of this whole journaling thing. I find myself worrying too much about a picture turning out the way I want and just avoid it all together. Then I find myself regretting not having captured those moments. Oh the whoas of the social media world! I just need to focus more and why I really want to capture moments.
I pretty much failed in the capturing department for the month of November - like I think completely. Luckily I have family that captured some great moments over Thanksgiving.
Anyway, enough of that - on to November!
My grandpa was recently put into a home that could better meet his needs and assist him when/where needed. It was a hard thing for our family to do - I think mostly because it was the reality that he was getting old enough that he needed to be somewhere like that. But it has been a good thing! We have found opportunities to visit him, spruce up his room to make it feel like home, and share some stories of our visits and the laughs that come with it.
We had the opportunity to visit him the beginning of the month with (almost) my whole family. It was good to be there and to visit with grandma for a bit as well.

We found plenty of opportunities this month to spend time with cousin Lizzie. We went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, did some Christmas shopping at a boutique, and had some play dates at home while Hannah and I worked on Christmas decor ideas, etc.

We also had the chance to celebrate a family friend's birthday at Provo Beach Resort. It was fun to get together with childhood friends and catch up a little. We had some $ to spend in the arcade and we were trying to use up the last of it so we could cash in the tickets. Welp we won the grand prize! We never win anything! And guess what it was?!? A little boys tool bench! Guess what was number 1 on our Christmas list for Carter?!? A little boys tool bench! It seriously was perfect! All I had to do was find a matching drill and it was perfect! Found a matching one at TJ Maxx and we were done! Best day!

Thanksgiving with our Marsh family was fabulous! We met in the "middle" - St. George. It was decent weather and so fun to see some cousins, aunts & uncles, and see the fam.
Carter was actually able to enjoy his Thanksgiving dinner this year and we had fun watching him. We also played a round of golf and I realized I need to play more - I'm losing the small bit of skill I had!

literally - we did this every night - a constant source of entertainment

kissin cousins

aka best buddies

And of course, we continue to be mildly obsessed with little Carter man, so here's a few moments from the month of November:

Carter is still obsessed with lights and now determined to turn them "non" and off all by himself. When he enters a room, the first thing he does is look around for lights and the switches. Then makes sure we help him turn all of them on. His nickname in nursery is brute - my oh my. He walks like one and acts like one and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. He has started this thing where he falls asleep just about anywhere and it's been kind of fun to see where he ends up sometimes.

October

2015-11-12T20:02:00.002-07:00

October is a special month for us now - it was this month last year that our adoption with Carter was finalized and he was sealed to us in the temple! I have always loved October, in Utah - it's so fun to watch the colors and the weather change into the refreshing, crisp, Fall air. We live in a seriously breath-taking place and it's sad to think this may be our last Fall in Alpine. :(
Let's relive that special day for a second:

Of course we had to do Cornbelly's! We went with Carter's cousin, Lizzie and Aunt Hannah. It was fun to watch them run around by themselves and explore. When we went last year, Carter wasn't even crawling so it was a whole new experience. The tractor ride was definitely their favorite part - we had to ride it twice in a row!

Brad also ran another half marathon - this time it was a trail. It was up in Midway and it was absolutely beautiful, but he said the difference in trail vs. road races kinda rocked him, but he's glad he did it. :)

We also celebrated my dad's birthday that weekend. The last time he went to California, he inherited some of his dad's sweaters. He let us each pick one to keep - we LOVE them!

Shaun was MIA this day

Our ward had a trunk or treat party and the theme was to dress up as your favorite Book of Mormon character. Hannah and I had spent the day working on our Halloween costumes and I had some extra fabric to work with so I just kind of whipped something up for him. It turned out so cute and he was a hit. It took bribing him with a sword and piece of candy to get him to keep it on.

Then, of course, Halloween! This holiday just gets better every year. I LOVE Halloween and seeing everyone's creative costumes. I was struggling with deciding what I wanted us to be and I came across the best idea, but the Ryan's had to be game. I suggested it to Hannah and they were in! How could we resist? It could be the only year we get to do something like this!

Say hello to Barney, Betty, and Bam Bam Rubble & Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles Flintstone!

We had so much fun celebrating with Rob, Hannah, & Lizzie (Zac & Karlie came over for dinner before they headed to another party - no pic tho...) We had a yummy chili dinner with bread sticks. Then we took the little ones trick or treating around the block. They surprisingly got the hang of it and were loving getting all of the candy. Carter hated letting go of it and putting it in his trick or treating bag. We came back, ate "worms in dirt" then made some caramel apples while the kiddos watch Room on the Broom - a total hit in our house!
Halloween just gets more and more fun and exciting as families grow - I can only imagine how much better it will be next year!

Here are some classic Carter moments and other October highlights for your entertainment:

it wasn't me

my little helper - dusting the floors??

and the furniture :)

vacuuming alongside mom

they are seriously best buds

dinner up the canyon with good friends for the last time of the season

his favorite place to sit while we read books

finally hiked the Y with my beautiful cousins

he's got serious moves and serious bedhead

daddy's little helper

lickin it clean

September

2015-10-19T18:00:00.000-06:00

September was a month spent getting back into the groove of things. I started back up with preschool. As much as we loved every minute of the summer - it has been nice to get back into more of a schedule/routine. My little preschool class is darling. The fun part is I went to high school with most of the parents of the kiddos. It's fun to be able to teach my friends' kids.
We also found ourselves spending a lot of Saturdays up in Park City at Promontory - taking advantage of the perks of a family membership.
Nothing too exciting or monumental for the month of September. Enjoy a few snapshots of our month!

bad.day. see Insta for an explanation

loves trying to figure out how things work

my baby sis went off to college

still sleeps like a champ in the car!

really into reading books by himself lately

we celebrated uncle Shaun's birthday

his favorite place to play in my favorite jammies

celebrated the mama-to-be's (Nielle) birthday

cousin time is the best time

gold glitter. everywhere.

Kiawah Island

2015-10-19T16:55:00.002-06:00

Get ready for a picture overload! We had so much fun spending a week on the East Coast. We lived in North Carolina for a few years when I was younger and I hadn't been back for years. I was so excited to go again, see old friends, and share it with Brad. We started our visit with a couple days in Charlotte - tasting yummy foods and visiting with friends. We stayed with our "framily" (bestest family friends) the Draughons. We became instant friends with their family when we moved there back in '97 and every time we get together it's like we've never been apart. It's the best kind of friends!
We started off our first morning with breakfast at a place called, Toast. Our goal was to not eat at any chain places the whole trip. Trying new places is fun and, I believe, a huge part of the vacation experience. Then we did some window shopping in Birkdale and headed home for lunch. For dinner we went to a yummy fried chicken place called Tenders. They had a bunch of different, original dipping sauces. SO fatty, but SO good!

We left the next morning for Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Some may say this is a random destination, but if you know the South, or my parents, you know this is a coveted, fabulous vacation spot. My parents have been going for years, and they finally decided they wanted to share it with us.
We stopped in Charleston for lunch on the way down and killed some time at a splash pad while waiting for our reservation at Magnolia's.

the sibs eating at Magnolia's

We also walked all around Charleston looking at the BEAUTIFUL colonial homes and learning about the history behind all of them. I'm obsessed with these style of homes and dream of having one some day - smaller, of course.

We got to Kiawah later that afternoon, picked up our bikes for the week, and got settled in our condo. Later, for dinner we headed into town to have pizza at La Tela Pizzeria and did some grocery shopping for our meals at home and snacks for the beach. I got a really yummy pizza, but I tried my dad's butternut squash salad and it was AMAZING! I wish I could go back and get it!
The next day we spent the day at the beach and riding our bikes. It was seriously a dream come true for me - I was riding a beach cruiser - ON THE BEACH. We all loved it. We rode our bikes pretty much anywhere we wanted to go and it was so great!

On one of the nights there we went to a really awesome dinner at The Sanctuary in The Ocean Room It was SO cool! They had a server for every couple of people and it was super gourmet cooking. The presentation of the food was unbelievable and it was SO good. The steak LITERALLY melted in my mouth - they explained their technique of how they cook it and how it was the same color throughout and the history behind the chefs, servers, etc. It was a pretty posh place and it was a lot of fun to pretend to be a part of that life for a night.

We spent the next morning riding our bikes over to Osprey to see the alligators. There weren't very many out and usually they just literally hang out on the golf courses, but it was pretty hot so they were mostly in the shade or in the water. We spotted a couple and had fun watching them. It was a LONG ride but a great workout - especially after eating as much as we had!

Pit stops on the bike ride

Later that day we got cleaned up and headed over to a beautiful course on the ocean called The Ocean Course. ha! We had fun walking around, then ate lunch there on the course. It was Beautiful! They had the BEST bread pudding I've ever had!

Our last night in Kiawah we window shopped for souvenirs and enjoyed the pouring rain downtown. Carter LOVED the rain and came home soaking wet. We ate dinner at home - trying to get rid of our left over food and played games with everyone. Kiawah was so good to us!

We left Sunday morning and stopped to see an amazing, beautiful tree called the Angel Tree. It is so amazing the way it has grown. Unfortunately it was closed, so we had to snap our pictures from outside the fence.

We got back to Charlotte, NC later that evening and had banana pancakes for dinner. That is what we had with our friends, the Draughons the first night we met them. It was so fun to do!
We had one more day in North Carolina before we headed home to Utah. We took a walk down memory lane and drove past our old house, schools, and parks. We also went to lunch with some other life-long friends of ours, Olay and Banda - unfortunately we didn't snap a picture with them. That night we went to dinner with more of our friends at Cabo Fish Tacos in "No Da" an artsy, fun part of town. Then had dessert at Amalie's - they had really yummy Macaroons and a huge variety. The way it was decorated was really fun too.

our old home - the yard looks a little "tired"

Art at Amalie's

This was such a fun trip with the whole family. It was fun to be together and share our childhood memories with Brad and Karlie. Thanks to mom and dad for making this trip happen!!!
Carter actually did surprisingly well on the flights. We were a nervous wreck. It helped a TON that neither of our flights were full and there were six other family members that we could pass him around to if he got bored with us.

poor little guy had pink eye on the way home :(

August

2015-10-19T13:58:00.002-06:00

We kicked off August with our tradition of soaking up Alpine Days! Carter really liked the parade - especially the tractors and the motorcycles.

The highlight of August - and one of the best for the summer was our trip to Kiawah Island with my family! But that gets a whole blog post of its own :)

We finished up August hanging out with friends and family at home, up the canyon, and a work party.

best buddies

this kid loves dirt

daddy teaching him cool tricks

playing with auntie Karlie at the work party

again, he LOVES dirt

no comment ;)

tinfoil dinners up the canyon

Also, Happy 5 Years (a month late) to me! Brad got me an anniversary band! I wanted it as a wedding band when we first got married and it just wasn't in the budget. haha. But he got it for me for our 5 year. It's fun to have a little extra sparkle :)

Unfortunately my sweet Grandpa Baxter passed away in August after being diagnosed with cancer just a month or two earlier. The family, except for spouses, flew down to California to be a part of the memorial service they had for him. My dad was kind of in charge and did a wonderful job! There was a great variety of religious backgrounds there and I think he did a great job of reaching and touching them with his thoughts/testimony. It was also fun to hear some of the wonderful things my grandpa taught my dad growing up - I love him even more and can't wait to see him again, someday.

visiting where they will be placing grandpa, with Grandma Jeanne

visiting my dad's mom's grave

Carter's favorite travel spot

July

2015-08-07T23:58:00.003-06:00

The month of July was much busier with family things here and there and plenty of great things to celebrate. It went by WAY too fast and the middle of summer has completely disappeared!
We started off the month with a family date night to the aquarium. Brad was able to get off work early afternoon on the third, so we spent the afternoon together before he had to come home and hit the books to study for the GMAT again. (We are all very excited for the day that we aren't studying anymore). The aquarium was pretty neat and Carter absolutely loved all of it!

The next day we celebrated the 4th with our neighborhood breakfast, spent the afternoon playing/watching slip n slide kickball at the park across the street, the had a BBQ with the family and enjoyed watching fireworks from our front yard while eating homemade cobbler and ice cream! Carter wasn't so sure about the fireworks - he liked the look of them, but didn't like the sound too much.

The about a week later we loaded up our car and drove down to Oceanside, California for the Marsh beach trip! We've been looking forward to it for a long time since we haven't been to the beach since our honeymoon - 5 years ago! We LOVED it and so did Carter! He was hesitant at first, every morning, but got used to it and then loved it.

We kept busy with a family baby blessing, missionary homecoming, and little family gatherings here and there. Our 24th was pretty simple - just had new family pictures done and watched fireworks in our front yard with our great friends (and amazing photographer) the Foxes.

Here's a sample of some of the pictures - we are SO thrilled about them and ALWAYS love taking pictures with Ash - she is so fun to work with and her stuff is amazing! Check her out HERE

We finished off the month celebrating our 5 year anniversary! I can't believe it's been five years. In some ways I feel like we've accomplished so much and in other ways, I feel like nothing has changed - I guess that's life. We kept it simple (since Brad got me something sparkly to accompany my wedding ring - Frost yourself ;)) We did dinner at Cheesecake Factory; unfortunately we didn't know it was National Cheesecake Day and there was quite a crowd. It was still yummy as ever and it was good to get out, just the two of us.

Here's to 5 years!

Also, here's some snap shots from July that make me smile

right after he climbed up all by himself - he's so proud

obsessed with shoes - especially daddy's

and obsessed with daddy

also - pants are overrated in our house

June

2015-08-07T22:57:00.000-06:00

We started the month celebrating my birthday. 25 - woot woot! That seems so much older and adult-like. It's kind of freaking me out. But I am learning to embrace it. My birthday was on a Sunday so we celebrated Saturday by doing some shopping and having sushi at Koi. Then we brought Carter home and put him to bed and headed out to finally go see Cinderella while my parents babysat. We thought it was a really cute, feel-good movie. Then on Sunday we had a family dinner of my choice with a yummy strawberry dessert to celebrate.

Lucky for us June started out just the way we wanted it to - slow, enjoying the best simple things of summer. Things like, the splash pad, hanging out in our $5.00 pool, swinging in our hammock, and hanging out with dad.

One of the highlights of the month of June was having Rob, Hannah, and Lizzie move to Utah! Carter is so excited to have his ONLY cousin here in Utah! We have enjoyed having numerous play dates, helping them get settled and watching Carter and Lizzie play so well together. Lizzie is so sweet to Carter and is always making sure she shares her snacks with him - she is so good to him.

We finished off the month of June with our Roundy Rumble up in Howell. It's fun to be in the middle of no where sometimes. It's beautiful out there and we had a lot of fun camping on my cousin's property. We spent a day boating - thank heavens - because it was a REALLY hot weekend and we didn't have a lot of ways to escape it aside from endless otter pops.

May

2015-07-28T16:16:00.004-06:00

We started off the month of May with one of my very dear friends, Katie, getting married. It's always so fun when friends get married - we love celebrating together and having the chance to all be together again!

I also had the chance to take Carter to the Tulip Festival with my cousins and their kids. It was pretty hot, but SO beautiful! I was amazed and was entertained the whole time. I hoped to make it again before it ended, but it just didn't happen.

Mother's Day and Brad's birthday landed on the same day this year. That was a little tricky. We decided to celebrate his birthday on Saturday and then have Mother's Day for me. It felt a little different and I felt guilty not making Sunday all about Brad, but we tried. Brad wanted to just spend time with our little family. We started off the day with yummy waffles and opening presents. And we made sure we didn't do any housework that day and then went out to a low-key dinner to Mountain West Burrito because that's what he felt like eating.
I get a little nutso for birthdays and probably had a little too much fun wrapping presents...

our little family on Mother's Day/Brad's bday

May also means preschool is ending. I am always so sad to see my students go. They were so much fun to have and the kids were so good to me. I got spoiled by the parents and felt very appreciated - which always means a lot to me.

We also had Brad's sister, Mindy get married! I headed down a week before the wedding to help with prep and Brad came later in the week. Hannah and I got to make Mindy's veil from scratch and it turned out beautiful! We were pretty proud! We had a lot of fun spending the week with the family and celebrating such a special day.

cheesin it on the long car ride to AZ

Carter and Lizzie playing together

playing in the dirt - as always

Wedding pictures done by Ashley Morgan Photography

this little man was in his element on the dance floor!

We finished off the month with my baby sister Megan graduating from high school. Woot! Woot! She's the last of us. It's so crazy my parents are almost empty nesters!

April

2015-06-05T14:53:00.001-06:00

I'm a little behind and life has been busy, so April is a little bit of a blur so I will do my best to recap. We started off the month with Easter/Conference weekend - the best combination! I always love it when they fall on the same weekend; it helps me to keep things into perspective.
On Friday, we attempted to have Carter participate in an egg hunt. It worked out better than expected because he loves to play with balls and are pretty close and there's candy inside - BONUS!

We enjoyed a pleasant weekend, watching conference with our family and enjoying yummy treats and dinners. It's so crazy that this time, last year, we were snuggling a newborn little Carter and look how much he's grown! Can't wait until he has little buddies to celebrate holidays with!
I am so grateful for the messages of General Conference and the spirit of hope it provides.
Brad had his first business trip this month. He was excited for the opportunity to get to know more people in the company and spend some more time with his team. He had an enjoyable time, but when all was said and done, he missed being home with his little man. Nothing makes me happier than knowing Brad's favorite place to be is home with his family. We are so lucky to have him!
Carter also got his first real hair cut by mom this month. It wasn't my best work, but man, he's a handsome boy! He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it though.

Carter man got to play with some friends - my friends' babies. It's so fun to share our friendship through our kiddos and make even more great memories!

We finished off the month of April with a family trip to California with my whole family. My parents rented a 12 passenger van and we all loaded up together for the 12 hour drive to Long Beach. Some were less thrilled than others about the long drive, but some of us were excited to re-live our childhood memories.

Our first day in California we went to an Angels game. It was perfect weather and it was fun to get all geared up for the game. Carter was a little bit of a busy body but seemed to like it.

little brother decided to go paparazzi style on us

I love that we have matching shoes

We tried to go to the beach so Carter could go to the beach for the first time. It wasn't really great weather, so we just made it to the edge of the sand and called it good.

Then, of course, to grandmother's house we went!

And a few bathtub snap shots just to make you smile - his facial expressions kill me!

Carter turns ONE

2015-04-28T20:51:00.002-06:00

It's so hard to believe it's been over a year since little Carter man joined our family. We feel so blessed to be at this point in our journey of building a family and can't wait to have brothers and sisters for Carter, to join in on the fun!
We started the celebration a couple of days early when Miss Courtney Jo (Mama Courtney) came to town to visit Carter for the day! She spoiled Carter with some of his favorite toys and a sweet letter for him that made me cry - darn you, Courtney ;)

I LOVE birthdays and love doing things to make them special. We started out the morning, letting Carter play with balloons in his crib. He could have stayed in there all day! He loves his balloons. We made him pancakes for breakfast and sang Happy Birthday.

Then we spent the morning with our little family, opening presents and enjoying watching him play with them.

After his morning nap, we opened Mor Mor and Grandpa's presents and headed over to the park for the birthday party!

Because I love to plan parties, and love themes, it took everything in me not to go all out on everything. I tried to find a happy medium with his birthday party and ended up being pretty pleased with the outcome.
We had a baseball themed birthday party and invited family and friends to join in on the fun.

-PREPARE FOR A PICTURE OVERLOAD-

I know - cheesy - matching, I couldn't help myself!

We had so much fun celebrating little Carter and sharing the fun with family and friends! I think everyone had a good time and we loved watching Carter take it all in. Now we'll see if I can keep up this standard for the rest of forever haha!

Carter really is our sweet angel boy that brings so much happiness to our lives. We do not know what we would do without him! We feel so blessed to have him and can't wait for the opportunity to share him with his future brothers and sisters!

Carter loves to crawl - FAST but will do anything and everything to avoid walking (I think he thinks it slows him down). He loves all kinds of food - especially eggs and anything mom and dad are trying to eat. He loves waving "bye-bye" and singing Popcorn Popping. He loves anything that looks even a little bit like a ball and loves to throw and chase it. He is loving cars and pushing them around and still loves building/stacking blocks. He is always down for a dance party and asks grandpa to turn on his music by pointing to his ipad anytime he's with them.

Here are just a few of my favorites from his one year pics, done by AshleyMorganPhotographyUtah

March

2015-04-23T10:15:00.000-06:00

The month of March was filled with family and fun memories, starting to soak up the warmer weather.

We took a Sunday drive up American Fork Canyon and had fun showing Carter one of our favorite spots.

One of the highlights of March was having Grammy, Aunt Hannah, and cousin Lizzie come out to visit around the middle of the month. We spent time hanging out, window shopping, and spending a lot of time with extended family.

We also had a little "pre-birthday" celebration for Carter since they weren't going to be here for his actual birthday. The poor little guy started getting the flu that day and wasn't quite as chipper or into the celebrating as we'd hoped.

Carter also had his first birthday, but I will do a whole separate post for his birthday celebration :)

Here are a few more of my favorite snapshots from the month of March:

February

2015-03-30T13:57:00.002-06:00

February flew by! We kept busy with the day to day stuff and a few fun things in between.
Some highlights of February was completing our home study for the second time! We are officially adoption ready and really focusing on doing our part to get the word out. It's always so stressful - anticipating and prep for all the home study work and documentation, but well worth it :)
I had a Norwex party at the beginning of the month and I am a BIG fan! I love their cleaning products! I love that they aren't filled with all those toxic chemicals, but still gets things just as clean! I'm slowly transforming all of the cleaning supplies over to Norwex and I am thrilled!

We had Brad's sister, Mindy and her now Fiance, Nathan aka Nug come up and visit for Valentines weekend. We enjoyed doing some shopping with them and hanging out at home. We had fun with our first Valentine's with Carter and celebrated as a family at home.

Carter LOVED his new toy - he loves anything that even looks like a ball!

a yummy home-cooked meal

Valentine's Jammies

I also had the chance to reconnect with my BYU pals. It was the first time we've all four been together since graduation day. I can't believe it's almost been 3 years! Our lives have obviously taken us all down different paths, but I've said this before - I don't know how I would have gotten through school without these guys! We endured the pains a stresses of lesson plans and observations and complemented each other well with our strengths and weaknesses :) It's also really fun that 3 of the 4 of us had babies within a couple months of each other.

Carter's 11 Month update:
Bedtime is still between 7:00 & 7:30. No matter what time he goes to bed, he is up between 6:30 & 7:00. He takes 2 naps a day, usually about two hours each. He is a pretty good sleeper for us. He loves eating real food and eats pretty much anything. His new favorite food is my sweet potato quinoa soup. I love that he loves it because it is SO yummy and SO good for you! He also loves string cheese and the fruit and veggie pouches. Carter loves to crawl around and hit a ball as he goes, chasing it all around the house. He's got pretty impressive coordination and also loves to push toy cars across the floor as he crawls. He stands alone really well, for long periods of time, but still has no interest in walking. However, he does love walking around furniture. He still says "mama" and "da". He loves to say "Oh" with wide eyes and a big open mouth whenever he is amused by anything. He does so well playing with his toys on his own - I could seriously watch him all day.

late night teething

his favorite, peek a boo between the legs

he did everything in his power to not let his hands touch the grass

sleepy shopping buddy

he loves this monkey and gets so excited - giving it kisses every time he sees it

his favorite way to drink a bottle

Carter and Daddy

hanging out at a family party

he loves his books!

January

2015-02-16T11:34:00.001-07:00

January is usually a month that drags on after the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. This year, for some reason, it flew by! Maybe being in denial of how big Carter is getting is what made it go by so fast.
Brad started a new position with the same company: Ancestry. He has moved over to the finance department and is really enjoying it. Brad was nervous about changing positions because he loved the team he was working with and was comfortable with what he was doing. But we knew this was a great opportunity to gain more diverse experience. Brad is learning great things and has developed great relationships with his new team. It means a lot to me to know that he enjoys his work and the people he works with - it makes for a happy hubby - and a happy wife :)
Little Carter man has fallen in love with T-Swift's new CD and has recently learned to dance. Anytime he hears any type of beat you can see him start to groove. It's so fun to watch him get into it!

- you can see those clips on our Instagram accounts -

Anytime he starts throwing a fit or having a bit of a meltdown, we turn on T-Swift and he is a happy camper - dancing away - just a little bit hilarious.
We also celebrated my mom's birthday this month and Carter did a great job making her day with lots of smiles and a birthday dance for her. Zac and Karlie made a yummy dinner for all of us to enjoy, we chatted and ate a fabulous dessert that Meggy made. It has been 8 years since our whole family has been able to be together to celebrate mom's birthday. So crazy!

Brad didn't have work on MLKjr Day so we took advantage of the opportunity to go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. The water station was Carter's favorite by far. Unfortunately we didn't bring a change of dry clothes, so he wondered around in a diaper for the rest of the exploring. It's always fun to have Brad home from work because he always looks forward to spending time with Carter and is always extra helpful around the house - always a bonus!

My little sister also had Preference in the month of January. It was so much fun helping her get all dolled up for her date. She looked beautiful and had a blast!

Carter's 10 month update:
Little man is still sleeping through the night, going to bed at 7:00, but still wakes up at 6:00 - not mom and dad's favorite time of day. But we are learning to make the best of it. Sometimes it's nice because it's a chance for us to snuggle in the rocking chair with blankets while I sing songs to him. He dances to anything with a beat - including the beeping buttons on the safe in grandma's closet. He loves to say mama when he needs anything - which I love! He is eating pretty much everything we eat and is not okay with being left out when we eat. He loves to try new foods and will eat just about anything! He has decided naps are no fun and only gives me MAYBE one nap a day these days, but he's pretty easy and still pretty pleasant so I can't really complain. We love our little man!

Little Beau Diddley

2015-01-29T23:42:00.001-07:00

On December 29th we had to put down my family's dog, Beau. Man oh man - that was truly one of the worst days of my life. Our poor pup was declining fast and his quality of life had dwindled to almost nothing. Our once spry, energetic dog slept most of the day, could no longer see or really hear. He also only had a couple of teeth left (he had a mouth infection and lost a bunch), and the poor thing was having to wear diapers because he really didn't know what the heck was going on. It was obvious that he was in pain and no longer happy. As much as it broke our hearts to think of life without him, it gave us relief to know he would no longer be in pain and would be much happier.

I am not much of a dog person, but I saw Beau bring so much happiness to our family and comfort to my little brother and sister when they were younger. Beau always knew when someone was sad or sick and would sit close to them, quietly keeping them company. He was so much fun and loved being outside. Beau was a part of our family for 13.5 years! I was in 5th grade when we got him. My little sister was 3 years old - she basically didn't know life without him!

We all went together to say our goodbyes to him and be with him as he died, peacefully in the vet's office. Afterwards we brought him home and buried him in a special spot in our backyard. After that, we read a couple books about "animal heaven" - which by the way, I totally believe in it! Then my dad put together a little slide show of pictures and videos we had of Beau. I love that my dad took the time to put it together: click here to watch it. If not - here are just a few pics of our pup.

This may all seem a little over the top and cheesy, but I really am grateful for Beau and the happiness that man's best friend brought to our family. He was truly a blessing and will be greatly missed. We love our little Beau dog!

Christmas in AZ

2015-01-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this Christmas was my first one in AZ. It was delightful to say the least. The weather was so perfect! I had family in Utah ask me how the weather was and I didn't even know how to describe it because it wasn't hot or cold. It was just so perfect. We did a lot of fun things and it was great just to spend time with our all of our Marsh family.
Carter had lots of fun people watching and chasing the dogs around the house. He also loved following his one and only cousin, Elizabeth.

like I said, loving the exploring

Carter had an obvious preference for Papa
- even to his mom -
I had to learn to be okay with it for the week

if we ever make buko buck one day... we WILL have one of these
SO MUCH FUN!!!

hottie alert - dad with a diaper bag, shopping for knives

Christmas Sunday

Tubby Time!

Our annual Gingerbread house project. We totally rocked it this year! You are lucky enough to get five of the hundred pictures we took of our work - we were so proud.

Carter and Elizabeth also had the HILARIOUS opportunity to meet Santa for the first time. It was quite comical. Carter was quite content and curious once he was put on Santa's lap. He was quietly checking out his beard and listening to him talk. Then sweet Lizzie was placed next to Carter on Santa's lap and immediately her Stranger Danger kicked in. Carter was alarmed and possibly thought, this must be a time to cry... so he did :)

waiting in line for santa!

the candy cane made everything better

Christmas Eve we made a delicious dinner and ate as a family, with Aunt Julie and cousins Max and Reece. After dinner we headed out to see the Christmas lights off Cherry Street. It was fun to see all the fun lights and go outside without freezing our buns off!

Aunt Mindy

he loves his aunties

We ended our Christmas Eve with opening our Christmas Jammies and having our own kind of pajama parade. These were the BEST Christmas jammies I think we have ever received. We were so shocked, we could not stop laughing.

I think Brad's won... and he played the part well :)

Truly the BEST!!!

And we can't forget about these cuties in their truly adorable jammies:

Christmas Day was great. We started it earlier and differently than we usually do. We had the opportunity to join an amazing group of people and helped serve breakfast to the homeless under an overpass in Phoenix. There were a lot of friendly people there and it was humbling to be able to talk to them and work with such great people. As we left to head home that morning, I felt guilty just thinking about our Christmas presents. It was a fun experience and we hope to be able to do it again. Rob was nice enough to stay home and take care of the babies for us. We were so ready to see them when we got home.

Christmas morning was fun, opening stockings and exchanging gifts. Carter was ready for his first nap right when we got home, so we had to wait to watch him open his presents.

look how fun all of our stockings are hung up together

nap time snuggles in our jammies

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of orange french toast then snacked on all of our yummy left over foods all day. We lounged, enjoyed some of our new gifts and watching movies.

That night we went to see the Mesa temple lights. It was another beautiful night and we ran into quite a few people we knew.

We ended our week with family pictures - always a doozy, but we had fun with them #downtonmarsh

Some of them are official ones, some snap shots. Enjoy!

#downtonmarsh ;)
apparently Carter didn't get the memo

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Baxter Christmas

2015-01-18T17:00:00.001-07:00

Because we all went our separate ways for Christmas this year, we had an early Christmas with my family. It was a fun night with yummy food, a Christmas movie, and exchanging gifts. It was fun to watch Carter with his first experience getting presents.

Fun Fact: The sweater Carter is wearing is a sweater Brad's grandma made for him when he was little. I seriously love it!

he is seriously such a ham!

December

2015-01-18T16:54:00.003-07:00

December is one of the best months of the year! It was fun watching Carter discover all of the Christmas decorations and which ones he liked to pull down the most. His favorite was playing with all the fun ornaments on our little tree and pulling it down to the ground so he could reach all the other ones. He also liked to try opening presents under the tree.

Carter has been seeming so grown up lately and it has been fun to see more of his personality develop. I'm starting to think this might be my favorite baby stage. We've snapped so many pictures of him lately, I might have a bit of a picture overload.

he LOVES bath time

especially with daddy

he also loves eating his socks???

he loves this whole crawling thing

he loves wrestling with daddy

carter for the win - his deadly weapon ;)

he hasn't quite mastered moving from sitting up to laying down,
so he kind of just does both

his new face that I LOVE so much!

he is so proud that he has mastered the child-proof plugs :/

Surprisingly this December was one of our less busy ones. We spent a lot of evenings at home - Carter and I watched Christmas movies while Brad studied for the GMAT. NEVER have your hubs take the GMAT around Christmas time, his need to study took away from some of the more simple moments of Christmas season. That was my bad - curse being an anxious woman sometimes :/

We did manage to do a few fun things out with friends. We continued our new tradition of going to the Festival of Trees with some of our good friends, Ash and TJ. Carter was so entertained at first, but totally crashed before the end.

the crew

Ash loves snuggling our sleeping baby boy

totally out

We also attended a couple of Christmas parties and had a blast playing some of the games, exchanging white elephant gifts and getting "creative" with our ugly sweaters.

I also had the chance to do dinner with some of my best girl friends that got me through college. Of course we didn't take a picture of us together, but we did get a picture of these two love birds:

Carter's 9 month update:
Carter has finally gotten on a pretty regular sleeping routine and it is the BEST!!! I may or may not have cursed myself by saying that :/ He goes to bed around 7:00 and wakes up around 7:00 in the morning. He takes 2, 2-2.5 hour naps and sometimes an evening cat nap. He LOVES to eat! We have been slowly introducing him to more foods and he loves his puffs, yogurt melts, graham crackers, and mashed potatoes. He has learned the concept of clapping and likes to clap for himself, only when he's in the mood. He also gives the sweetest, wet, open-mouth kisses, but will only give them to mama :)
He has two little teeth on the bottom now, thank heavens! All those sleepless nights are paying off for him. He is babbling more new sounds and seems to be enjoying discovering new noises.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Hoping to Adopt AGAIN!!!

2015-01-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

Hello family, friends, and followers!
As many of you know, we are beginning the adoption process again. We are excited and feel so blessed that adoption even exists and provides the opportunity for us to have a family here on Earth. We feel so blessed to have Carter as our little boy and can only imagine what it will be like when he has a sweet baby brother or sister.
Please be patient as we try to get our blog updated and revamped to help us share our adoption journey. Thank you so much for all of your continued love and support - we couldn't be where we are without you!

November

2015-01-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

I love/hate to admit it, but most of my free time during the month of November was spent watching a wonderfully addicting show. It's called, Call the Midwife, on Netflix. It's one of those BBC ones - If you like Downton Abbey, you will like it - they aren't the same time period or anything, just similar style in development. However, if you are pregnant, or have a new little baby, maybe wait a little bit - it can be a doozie. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I did, I literally watched all three seasons in a week. **please note it was during nap time and laundry - trying to be somewhat productive*

Our dear friend, Paige came in town for a little over a week to visit friends and family before her baby tummy got too big to travel. It was so great having her come! We threw together an intimate, casual baby shower and had so much fun hanging out for the night.

Something that is always new and exciting is a new car! We've talked and talked about wanting a new car, AWD, bigger, first family car - something that will last. We wanted to try to get something before Brad heads back for grad school. That way we wouldn't have to worry about having to try to afford a new car if one dies in the middle of grad school. Anyway, we decided on a Kia Sorento and LOVE it! We feel so blessed/spoiled to be able to have a car like it and hope it lasts us a long time :)

still working on a name for this one...

We ended up selling Wilma, our white Camry. We've only had it for two years, so I didn't think it would be hard for me to let go, but I was surprisingly sad when the new owners drove away. There's something about older cars that have more "personality" and quirks. It was also the first car we bought together and the car that we drove Carter home in, and accompanied us on a lot of road trips.

so long, Wilma!

Thanksgiving this year was with my side of the family. It was a great day filled with LOADS of food, our own Turkey Bowl, a lot of great conversation, a lot of card games, and one of our cousin's proposing to his sweet girlfriend! I am so grateful for the family we are blessed to be a part of - I am grateful for the relationships we share and the unconditional love we have for each other. I am grateful we can depend on each other and look forward to being together. It was so fun, I forgot to take pictures :( But I'm working on rounding some up from some other family members!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed spending time with those you love!

Carter's 8 month update:

First off, I've discovered why Daylight Savings is no bueno. Little Carter man doesn't understand he gets to sleep in for an extra hour, so we get to wake up an hour early. :/ Lets ban it all together! His naps are getting longer, which is nice. He has also decided he doesn't like to go to sleep on his own anymore, which I'm okay with, because that is extra snuggle time for me :). Because he's a little chubster he isn't on an eating schedule anymore, we just feed him when he is acting hungry - he is pretty good at letting us know when he is hungry. He still loves his morning oatmeal and his baby food for dinner. He isn't picky at all and will eat anything we feed him. He has discovered how to hit his hands together, but doesn't seem to have connected that it is the same thing as mommy's clapping. He also knows how to pull him self up to sitting up position - however he gets easily frustrated when he can't figure out how to drink his bottle that way. He had his first Thanksgiving and was passed around by the cousins all day! They all love to play with him - I rarely even see him when we are at family events. He is also in a big boy carseat now and is loving being able to actually see out the window. He says a lot of mamamama & dadadadada and we are convinced, again, he knows what he's saying :)

big boy in the grocery cart

Peter and Carter

love my rollie pollie

Adoption Finalization, Sealing, & Blessing

2015-01-04T18:12:00.001-07:00

I'm having a hard time figuring out how I want to write this post, so I'm just sticking with chronological to help make sure I don't miss anything. Carter's adoption was finalized at the Provo Justice Court on Monday, October 6th. It was super brief and pretty to the point. Brad had to work in the morning, so he just met up with Carter and I in Provo. There isn't a whole lot to the hearing, they ask our lawyer a few questions and ask us a few questions read off the rights and agreement and call it good. We have a sound recording of it - which is actually kind of cool. Anyway, the process didn't really make us feel any different, because we had more of the focus on the sealing, later that week. However, there was one point where I got surprisingly emotional - The judge was reading the conclusion of everything and a part of it stated something along the lines of: "Adequate information has been provided, that Brad and Emily Marsh are nurturing parents, perfectly fit for the role of parents for Carter Bradley Marsh..." It was at that point that I realized how blessed we were to be the ones Heavenly Father trusted with sweet, little Carter. We are so grateful things went so smoothly and that he is legally ours.

These pics aren't the best, but they document some of the important people that were there

with Judge McVey

with our family lawyer, Jim

our legal family

Later that week, family began trickling into town and we finished up last minute to-dos with food prep, cleaning, and organization. Saturday morning, we had a doughnut brunch with Courtney and some of her family members. My mom, Megan, and Mindy were the only ones int he family that had met Courtney, so we wanted to have the opportunity for them to meet before Courtney was bombarded with all of our extended family. It was low key and perfect - it was nice for her to be able to FINALLY meet our families and hang out in a pretty casual setting. We were all together up until it was time for Brad, Carter, and I to head to the temple. We were running a few minutes late, so we all gathered in the garage with our families together and my dad offered a prayer before we left. It was the perfect start to maintain the right feeling.

We got there and snapped a few pictures with our AMAZING photographer - Ashley Fox - she is a dear friend and does great work! Then we changed into our church clothes and headed into the temple. They immediately led us to the children's room to drop Carter off. Call it what you want, I'll call it a tender mercy - but one of my very best friends, Danielle happened to be working in the temple that day, in the children's center and was the one that was able to dress Carter into his white clothes and bring him up to our sealing room (the same room we were married in).

It was such a sweet experience, to walk into the the sealing room and see so many of our family members there. We felt it was most important to have family there and we are so grateful for all of those that were able to attend. It was a full house, but we wouldn't have had it any other way.

It took them a while to bring Carter into the room, but when they did - I absolutely lost it. Our sweet baby boy was dressed all in white, sleeping so peacefully. He looked so pure and precious and I couldn't believe he was finally going to be ours, forever. The rest of the ceremony was so sweet and simple and just perfect.

I remember laying in bed that night, after a few people had asked if we felt any different. In the hustle and bustle of things - I didn't seem to notice anything. However, laying there, reflecting on that day and allowing myself to just feel the spirit around me, I instantly knew things were different. There was a greater sense of peace and completeness - a feeling that what we had done was pleasing to our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for this confirmation we received and the power that can come from eternal families.

We, again, are so grateful for all of the love and support we have had throughout this journey.

Afterward we got changed and picked up Carter and headed out to greet all of our family that had come. Below are a few, false, LOADS of the pics that captured the special day.

After we finished up at the temple, we all headed over to our house to bless baby Carter (we had to wait until he was "legally" ours before we could give him his baby blessing). It was a sweet blessing and perfect for our little man. I cannot wait to see the man he becomes and hope and pray I always have the strength to help him reach his potential every day.

This was such a special day! We feel so lucky to have an opportunity like this that we can share with our little ones. This is one of those things that make us feel privileged and blessed to have the opportunity for our family to come to us through the miracle of adoption - not everyone gets to have this experience. W are truly blessed.

October

2014-12-16T13:47:00.005-07:00

October was seriously one of the best months EVER. We have so many great things that went on and I am so excited to share it all.
We started out the month with General Conference and enjoyed Carter as entertainment and loved watching him play with his "cousin" (my cousin's little guy).

The best part of October was having so much of our family in town for our special day with Carter. Brad's family came into town earlier that week and we did some fun things together.

first time on the swing!

Grammy, Hannah, Lizzie, Carter, and I went to Cornbelly's and had so much fun! A lot of it was a bit above the little ones, but they still liked being out and about.

of course we matched - super cheesy, but perfect

We also got to celebrate Lizzie's 1st birthday together. It was fun watching her with the cake smash and playing with her new presents. I can't believe it's been a year since we became and aunt and uncle!

October was the best month ever, because we had the opportunity to have Carter sealed to us, in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. It was such an amazing day, I've decided to tell the story of that day and the adoption finalization in its own blog post :)

After the fabulous weekend filled with family and such a special day, we moved forward to our Halloween festivities. We had our annual Halloween party at Aunt Jill's house where we eat yummy soups and carve pumpkins. We didn't bring pumpkins up to carve this year, but we did bring a baby pumpkin up for Carter to "paint". It was so much fun to watch what he did with the paint - it ended up turning out pretty cute.

I also had one of my very dear friends, return from her mission. We were SO excited to see her and thrilled that her and Carter finally had the chance to meet.

old roomies all together again

he loves her already!

Halloween this year was a lot of fun! I'm one of those crazy ones that likes to have a "theme" to our costumes. After seeing the idea on Pinterest, I knew I couldn't resist, for the sake of my bald baby. Carter and I took advantage of the opportunity to go visit Brad at work to complete our costume look

Then, that night we handed out candy to a few trick or treaters before heading off to a party!

Carter's 7 month update - and more fun pictures from the month:

Still sleeping really well at night, and still having inconsistent naps. But again, we can't complain because he is still so happy. He doesn't sleep just anywhere as well as he used to because he is too afraid of missing something. He is eating oatmeal every morning and baby food around dinner time every evening and taking a bottle for his other feedings throughout the day. He still loves all foods, but we had discovered prunes make him poop lots and bananas the complete opposite. He had his first graham cracker and was in heaven, sucking on it. He now rolls consistently to get from point A to point B. He often gets frustrated when he can't roll any further because something is in the way. He is making a lot of new sounds and loves to do this funny intense breathing thing when he gets excited. He also screams and growls out of excitement.

on a morning walk with mom

celebrating Grandpa's birthday the right way

Carter and his buddy

champions, once again

ready for church

multi-tasking

cutest little preschooler

painting a picture for Sister Stapp