Carson's 2nd Birthday - a little late.

Birthday boy!

Riding the rides...
Ready to go swimming
Carson with Chuck-E-Cheese
Daddy and Carson Jeepin'
Yummy cake!

Blowing out the candles
Happy family
Carson's 2nd Birthday
Birthday cakes
Carson and Lindsey Jeepin'

Our camera has been in the shop for a couple weeks, so we had to use a disposable camera for Carson's birthday. I didn't realize how much I love our camera till we had to use this one...the pictures just aren't as good...but at least we have some pictures!

So, for Carson's 2nd birthday we decided not to worry about getting him gifts, since he has plenty of toys, and just do something fun! We decided to go to Chuck-E-Cheese and it was tons of fun! We brought along our good friends, the Christensens, mostly because Carson loves their daughter Lindsey. We had pizza and pop and some birthday cake too! We also got lots of tokens to play games and ride little rides. There was a jeep that was big enough for an adult to go in too...can you guess who went in it? Carson also got to meet the real live Chuck-E-Cheese himself. He was excited to see him and not scared at all. He got a little gift from him too and a hug. At the end of the evening we were able to get a giant plastic bug with the tickets we had won...yippeee! Carson also got to unwrap a few gifts from the grandparents...thanks! Carson really seamed to like it and has mentioned Chuck-E-Cheese many times since his birthday....Good Times!

Flashback Friday

Here's a picture of my beautiful mother...I don't know which kid she was pregnant with at the time. Do I look anything like her when I'm pregnant? I would post a picture of myself now, but our camera is being repaired as we speak...maybe soon I'll have some pics.

Babies...babies...

Congratulations to Dan's brother, Craig, and his wife Sharla!! They just found out that they are expecting a little girl! She is due around Halloween. This is their first and they are super excited...congrats!!

Now we just need to wait another month or so to find out what my brother, Ken and his wife, Roxie are having. This is their first also. Will there be more pink in the world...or blue? So far everyone I know that is pregnant is having a girl...I can think of 5 total! It's the year of the girl! When Carson was born, almost everyone was having boys...weird how that works.

Since we're on the subject of babies, I had a doctor appointment yesterday and everything is looking great. I'm 25 weeks now and feeling great. I'm really lucky to have such nice pregnancies. I don't know if it's b/c I'm chasing a two year old around, but I don't even really feel all that pregnant. I haven't even gained any weight yet! Although I'm sure that will change very soon. But, I am definitely looking pregnant. I've been wearing maternity clothes for months now (mostly b/c their comfy), but now I definitely need them and my belly is definitely getting bigger. Hopefully everything continues to go smoothly. I have a trip planned to visit my sister in Wisconsin in July and I definitely don't want to miss that!!

On a different note, Carson has been saying the funniest things lately. He is just so cute! Here are some of the new things he likes to say....

-"Tools, tools, tools, I like tools" -from a book called "I like Tools".

-"Bless you Elephant" -from a book where an elephant sneezes

-"Mmmmm....Delicious!" -I don't know where he learned this one, but he just started saying it yesterday and it's one of the cutest things I've heard him say.

Carson sure is fun! He can still be pretty whiny at times (if anyone knows how to fix that one, please let me know), but overall he is a fun little boy. He especially loves to go swimming now and asks to go everyday. He is doing really well in the pool and will even "swim" around with his little water wings on. He also especially loves his daddy lately....he's always asking "I see daddy? Daddy working." I don't know how he's going to do when Dan is in Egypt next month...wish us luck!

Flashback Friday

Since yesterday was Carson's birthday, I thought I would flashback to his last two birthdays...his REAL birth-day and his first birthday.

Happy 2nd Birthday Little Man!

Happy Birthday Carson! I can't believe it's already been two years! It seams like just yesterday that you were born. My favorite memories of that day were:

-Just being so excited to finally get to see you and hold you.
-When you were born your dad said "He looks like me....he looks like an alien!"
-Seeing daddy holding you in the rocking chair and you were both falling asleep. I remember thinking that you both looked so similar with the same nose...you two were soo cute.
-Having Grandma and Grandpa Simmons there to see you just a little after you were born....they were your first visitors.

You have truly been a joy to have in our family. I can't imagine life without you. You are so fun and full of energy....we love you Carson! Happy Birthday!!!

ps. We have all sorts of fun things planned for your birthday, we'll have to post the pictures later.

So sad!

Dan is in a class at work right now that doesn't start till 9am. He still teaches seminary this week, so he still has to wake up at 4:30am, but he comes home for a couple hours after seminary before he has to go to work. Carson usually sleeps in till about 8:30-9am. This morning he woke up around 8:35am and yelled "Daddy!". It's so funny because he sounds so demanding when he yells for us...it's really cute. Dan usually leaves before Carson wakes up, but today he went up to get Carson before he left for work. Carson was very happy to see him, like usual. After just a few minutes of playing, Dan told Carson that he had to go to work. When he told him, Carson got the saddest frowning face we had EVER seen. The corners of his mouth turned down and he looked like he was trying soooo hard to hold in the tears. It was SOOOO sad!!! We have never seen him do this before. He just grabbed on to Dan and would not let go. Finally he burst into tears and just started bawling. Dan felt terrible, but he had to go to work. After he left it took quite a few minutes to calm Carson down. I just felt so bad for him, he kept saying "I see daddy?". Poor little guy. It just broke our hearts. He is soo sweet.

I LOVE NY!

My hair

canoeing

fun times!

the happy couple
another very happy couple

Sue and Lynette

Lynette and Jill

We got back yesterday from a fun-filled trip to Rochester, NY! I love visiting my hometown and hanging out with family and friends. Here's what we did...

Saturday, May 26th: We left bright and early a little before 7 am. Carson did awesome in the car ride up there (about 8 hours) and we didn't even need to use the DVD player. We stopped a couple times and then made it to my parents house around 3pm. Later that night we went to my brother Mike's house for a little birthday celebration for his son Seth, who turned 5 the day before. Seth loves batman and so his mom, Crystal, made an awesome Bat cake...complete with chocolate wings...yum!! It was fun hanging out with them and Carson especially loved their swingset in the backyard.

Sunday, May 27th: Today we visited my home ward and it was so fun! It's fun to go back to church where you grew up and see everyone. I always know I'm getting old when I see all the kids I use to babysit. One family that I use to babysit a lot for has 6 kids and now one is married, one is engaged, and one is going on a mission....crazy!!! I really am getting old!! It was a lot of fun. Later that night, Mike and Crystal and family came over to have a birthday dinner for my mom who's birthday was a few days later. It was nice again to visit and let the kids play together.

Monday, May 28th: Today is Memorial Day! We went to a ward picnic at a fun park with a big playground and a pond. It was a lot of fun. My friend from growing up, Alison, met us at the park and we hung out with her and her husband and dog and then went to their house. It is always fun catching up with friends. Carson loved their dog, Mia, and sometimes would confuse Alison's name with Mia's. Mia was a very kind doggie with Carson. Later that night my mom, Crystal, and I watched the Miss Universe pageant. It has become tradition to watch it together and pick out who we like and....didn't like. It was a lot of fun with a little bit of excitement when Miss USA fell...yikes!

Tuesday, May 29th: Today we had fun shopping with my mom. We went to the mall and other stores. I use to love going to the mall with my mom. Even though we rarely bought stuff, we just liked to walk around, talk, and look at stuff. My mom's the best! Tuesday night we went over to Jill's house for a BBQ. She invited Sue and Jon and Dan, Carson and me over since we came from out of town. Jill, Sue, and I go back to middle school as friends. It was great spending time with them. Jill cooked us up some awesome steak and corn on the cob. Carson surprising loved the corn on the cob.

Wednesday, May 30th: Today is my mom's birthday! We had a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and french toast sticks...yum! We pretty much hung out all day with random errands to do here and there. For dinner we cooked up some BBQ beef sandwiches and more corn on the cob. We even ate outside on the picnic table and had some yummy lemon jell-o cake for dessert. Happy, Happy birthday mom!!

Thursday, May 31st: In the morning/afternoon my mom, Dan, Carson and I went to Lollypop Farm. This little humane society and petting farm brings back lots of memories from my childhood. Carson loved the animals...especially the dogs. After we had a nice picnic lunch and played at a playground near by. After that we went to the Sacred Grove and walked around a bit. Dan wanted to see it a little more since he didn't have much time when we got married in Palmyra almost 4 years ago. It was nice to see it again. Later that night all the wedding festivities began. I went with the bride and other bridesmaids to get pedicures. This was my very first pedicure. It was very nice sitting in the massage chair with my feet in warm water and getting pampered. I picked out a bright red b/c i figured i should be daring if I'm going to get it done. it was a lot of fun, but honestly, I'm sure it won't happen all that often. I'm just not much of a girly girl and am too frugal to pay for that kind of thing too often. But it was nice to "have" to do it with the girls. Afterwards we went out to dinner and had fun chatting the night away. it was a nice girls night out.

Friday, June 1st: After Carson's nap, my dad took us canoeing. My dad made a canoe when he was a teenager for boyscouts. Believe it or not...it still works! He would take us out in it a lot when we were younger...ahh, the memories. So, he took us out on a little creek near our house. Carson seamed to like it, even with his extra large life jacket. Later in the evening my mom watched Carson so we could go to the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. My mom said Carson was a peach and they went on a walk, played, and he even went to bed good for her. We had a fun time at the rehearsal and dinner. The dinner was at a fancy restaurant and we both ordered filet mignon...yum! Jill also got all of the bridesmaids jewelry for the wedding and a super soft bathrobe as a gift...thanks Jill!

Saturday, June 2nd: The wedding day!! What a day! I left the house at 8am to be to the hair salon to get my hair done. This was another first for me, I've never had my hair "done" before. it was pretty fun....and crazy to see how much hairspray and pins they put in my hair...we counted 45 bobby pins later when we were taking them out. After that we went back to Jill's parents house to get dressed and take some pictures. Then we were off to the chapel...in a stretch SUV limo....yet, another first for me! it was a lot of fun with just us girls jamming out in the limo. The wedding was beautiful and very nice. Jill and Carlos were very happy and everything worked out perfectly. After the wedding, the wedding party was off in the limo for more pictures. After hours of pictures, we made it to the Crown Plaza for the reception. Since the wedding was at 1pm and the reception wasn't until 5:30pm, Dan was able to pick Carson up from my brothers house for a nap and then take him back later. Carson was a trooper and was great with Uncle Mike and his kids...although he protested a little the second time going. The reception was beautiful! The open bar at the beginning was awesome too...i think i had about 5 Shirly Temples...yum!! My parents were at the reception too and we all had fun eating and dancing the night away. Yep, we all danced...even my parents...they were getting crazy! Dan and my parents left around 10pm to go home and get Carson and I stayed a little longer. It was a really nice reception and a perfect wedding day for Jill and Carlos.

Sunday, June 3rd: We left early sunday morning so we could make it back to MD in time for the seminary graduation. Carson was great again in the car. I was super tired, so I wasn't up for entertaining Carson the whole way back. So, we busted out the DVD player. When we showed Carson what it was, his eyes got real big and he said "show?". He was amazed that we had a show in the car. He watched it for about an hour, then he fell asleep. He did great! We were very thankful to make it home safely.

Overall, our trip was great! Carson did really well with sleeping and had a great time with his family. He learned names of family and friends really quick, it was soo cute. I was also worried about my bridesmaid dress being made for my belly and adding sleeves to a completely sleeveless dress, but it came out wonderfully! Jill's neighbor, Helga, did an awesome job...she was amazing! The dress was super comfortable and worked out great! Now i just need somewhere else to where it. I guess I'll always have to be pregnant when i wear that dress. Anyway, I'm rambling on. It was a great trip!! Thanks mom and dad for letting us stay with you again and thanks to everyone for a fabulous trip!!