Happy Birthday to Me!

The Saturday before Easter was my birthday. It was a great day even though it didn't start off so well. For starters, Chase did NOT sleep well the night before. So, we were pretty crabby parents in the morning. Then, Chris' parents told us that his aunt and uncle were coming to town so we spent the whole morning cleaning...or attempting to clean...our house. Kate was crying because she had a bit of a fever and was teething and Chase was darn right fussy. So, I strapped him in the carrier and tried to clean that way with Kate following me around crying. Eventually I gave up and rocked both kids until they were happy. We had to bribe Kate with a sucker, but she eventually cheered up. So this is me enjoying my fussy kiddos. Notice the whirlwind mess in the background.


Grandma and Grandpa Carson came over at lunchtime to watch the kids while Chris and I went out to eat. We went to the Olive Garden and had an enjoyable time. It was a much needed break after the morning. :)

When we got home we waited for our guests to arrive and hid the Easter eggs for Kate. We also opened presents. I got a Wii Fit, which I am totally excited about. I got my Mii all set up with a goal weight and deadline and everything. I think I'm going in the wrong direction though because I've gained a pound since then... sigh. I also got Twilight the movie which I've watched a total of 3 times already. Once normal, once with the director's and actor's commentary (which, by the way, Edward is very vain if I do say so myself), and once just the scenes I wanted. Hey! Don't judge! What else am I supposed to do while I'm nursing??? I can only watch so much Sesame Street!

I actually got a couple of copies of the movie but returned one of them and bought the first two books instead. So, that started me in on reading the whole blasted series again. Can I just say how addicting they are? I read the first two books in about three days. I didn't have the third book so I forced myself to wait a few days until I went and bought it so I could catch up on housework and such. Then, Monday morning I went to the store and bought Eclipse to finish off my collection and spent the next 3 1/2 days reading the last two books. Chris was definitely excited when I finally finished. He now has his wife back and my kids have their mother back. It was a nice little distraction for a while. Can't wait for New Moon to come out on video!

Anyways, the rest of my birthday was spent on Kate's Easter egg hunt and spending time with family. We did go out to dinner and had some amazing spinach and artichoke dip at Charleston's. All in all it was a wonderful day.

Easter 2009

Happy Easter!! I know, I know, I'm a bit late. What can I say? I've been distracted by a few good books lately (see birthday post) and I've been slacking....not just about blogging, but I've been slacking on dishes, laundry, watching the kiddos....You get the picture. But, my books are done and now I'm slowly working on getting caught up on life.

We had a wonderful Easter. These pictures are in reverse order, but we had Chris' great Aunt Marge and Uncle Doug, stop by for the weekend. They are on their way to Palmyra, NY for a church mission and stopped by to visit us. We had a wonderful breakfast with them and Chris' parents and then went to Church. Chris can make some mean french toast. It was AMAZING.



Pennie got the kids their Easter outfits. Kate's didn't make it on time for Easter so she wore it the next Sunday. It's a beautiful dress. It's cream with pink embroidery all over it and it has a big pink bow on the back....And it's poofy. Kate looked just a little too cute in it. This bunny that she's holding is one my mom gave her when she was visiting. Kate was scared of it at first because it moves and makes some noises but now she won't put it down. It makes for a good Easter picture.

Here's our little man in his Easter duds. Isn't he handsome? The booties were made by Chris' Aunt Marge. They're pretty cute!

On Saturday we did an Easter egg hunt for Kate in our backyard. She did awesome and loved finding all her eggs. When I called my family on Easter they had just finished the egg hunt. They had tons of eggs and kids running around. I thought about poor little Kate looking for her eggs all alone...sigh...someday Chase will join her. She didn't seem to mind though. She got all the eggs to herself. :)

So, before we hunted for the Easter eggs, we died them! (fancy that!) :) Isn't she a little pro? We had to strip her down to her diaper just in case she decided to get messy.

So, that about sums up our Easter weekend. We had a wonderful time! We are so grateful for our Savior and his sacrifice for us and for the opportunity we had to celebrate his resurrection. Happy Easter!!

"I love you"

Maiden voyage

I have officially decided that when it comes to carseats and strollers it is worth splurging. (You use them every day, so why not?) I researched double strollers for what seems like forever and I finally decided on the Bob Duallie Revolution stroller. It was way expensive but I found a 20% off sale online. I didn't have an account, but a friend of my sister-in-law's had one that they let me use. Even with the discount it was still expensive. I had to use it as my baby shower and birthday gift from both grandmas and Chris but it was way worth it. I LOVE it. Hurray for grandmas and a nice husband for letting me get it!

Why is this picture sideways?? I've tried uploading it over and over and it keeps flipping it this way. Whatever. Just tilt your head for this one, k?

Visit from Grandma Bakker

Isn't this the cutest picture?? I wonder what he's thinking...


Here's another one. Chris propped him up on the pillows to keep him out of Kate's reach. (She's a very determined little girl). Chase is doing well. He's quite the eater and he's super cuddly. He loves to be held and swaddled. He's not a terrible sleeper either. He usually wakes up twice a night to eat and goes right back to sleep. (Knock on wood. Now that I said something he won't do it anymore.)

This post is really random so sorry.

OK, so my mom came to visit last week. It was sooo nice to have her here. She cooked, cleaned and babysat for me while I showered and took naps. It was very nice. Kate loved having her here too. She's loved having all of her grandparents and aunt around the past few weeks. It's really been a blessing to have so much help. Thanks everyone!

Last week Kate had her 18 month check up. She weighs somewhere around 24 pounds and I forget how tall she is....31 inches maybe? She's perfectly normal and healthy, which we are so grateful for. She's started repeating words that we say and she now says "I love you." It's waaayy cute. I'll try to post a video for you. She also sees the camera laying around and she says "cheese" and then signs please. She's a ham for the camera. We have so many pictures of her from the past few weeks because she's always asking to have her picture taken. Chase must feel so left out.

Oh yeah, Kate's been chewing on her fingers a ton lately because she's cutting in some teeth. The other night she must have gotten sick of her fingers and resorted to her toes. Go figure.

My friend Courtni let me borrow some summer clothes for Kate and this swimsuit was in the pile. I think it's incredibly adorable and Kate must have agreed because she wanted to put it on. So I put in on over her clothes and she went crazy wild walking around the house. She's such a goof.

Here's some pictures of my mom with the kiddos. You know how pictures with children go...can't get them to sit still, to smile, to even look at the camera...you get the picture! (get it??? I'm punny!) Ha ha! This is the best we could do.

Ohhh, so sweet!