Halloween Fun

The Loot!
Stake Trunk or Treat

The Cardinals just beat Texas in the World Series, Brad got a lot of grief for his "costume"

The handsome pirate

The cutest lady bug ever!!

Carter

Carter is loving pre-school. He is so cute when he wakes up and remembers it is Tuesday or Thursday he loves to get ready. Some of his favorite things to do at preschool are music time, dress up time, and he loves to play outside. One of his best friends broke his leg this week, so Carter loves to help push him around on the office chair (the kid is too little for crutches and wont sit in a wheel chair so they use an office chair :) He is learning how to use scissors, and paint, and tell time, and what letters sound like. Overall, I love him so much and I love to watch him learn! He gets so excited and into everything new. He is wonderful!!!

My Babies

I love these two so much!! I have had a sad and happy at the same time look at them this week as I realize how fast they are getting big. Carter is one of the sweetest most caring kids I have ever known. He loves Livy so much and tries to make her laugh all day long. And Livy's smile lights up the room when Carter is around her. They make everyday an adventure. They make me want to be a better person in everything I do, and I love them with all my heart! So glad they are mine!!

MIssouri Trip

Brad needed some dental work done before school started so we took an unplanned trip out to Missouri. It was so much fun for the kids to see Grandma and Grandpa Parkin's house, we haven't been there since I was pregnant with Carter because Carter wasn't able to travel with his health problems as a baby. This is Carter at the St. Luis Zoo, he got his face painted like a giraffe and loved it.
Ron took Carter and Brad fishing. They caught a couple of fish put Carter's favorite part was the worms. He loved being the worm guy and get the worms ready for the hooks.

Grandpa Parkin let Carter have a dental "check up" too. Carter loves reading the Critter books and he wanted everything that the Critter gets to do at the dentist.

Ron and Margaret have a beautiful back yard and we loved having a fire out side almost every night. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, This picture was a Carter two showers-and-a-bath day. He loved working hard and getting dirty.

Livy is our water baby! She loved playing in the pool and being outside so much. It was a great trip and hard to come back to reality but school started today so hopefully it will be a good year!

Summer Adventures

This summer we were busy and had a lot of fun! Carter turned three in May! Just a few days later Brad fiished his first year of law school. We then drove out to Arizona to spend some time with my family. Brad stayed for a week and then had to come back to start summer classes and work at the Texas Innocense Project. The kids and I stayed for a whole month!
We discovered Joy Land! A small, sort of creepy carnival type, but lots of fun place in Lubbock. Carter loved all the rides and was tall enough to ride every roller coaster. He is such a cute boy and loves to do stuff with his Dad!

While we were in Arizona Carter took swim lessons! He did so great and it was cute to watch. He now loves to practice in the tub!

Livy was such a tropper this summer. Just two weeks after we got back from Arizona we moved into a house, closer to Texas Tech. Hopefully being closer to the school will help us see Brad a little bit more this coming year. Just two days after we moved Livy and I flew out to Utah and Brad and Carter drove out there. We had a wonderfully family reunion with my family, and Brad's sister and brother-in-law finally got to meet the kids! I decided I love Utah! The weather was so nice and it was green and there is family there and lots of things to do!

This picture is of Carter at the Phoenix Zoo. He is such a good helper and loves to make Livy Smile! Just ten days after we got back to Texas, Brad's parents came out for a visit! We had so much fun with them!

We have just two weeks left before Brad starts his second year of law school. I am hoping that not being sickly pregnant and super tired with a new born will make for a better year. I am nervous for the year to start back up but we had a perfect summer to hopefully help get us through!

Family Pictures

We got family pictures done last week and I love how they turned out! Here are some of my favorites. This is my blog so I can say that I have the most beautiful children in the world! but really I do!! I love my little family!

Carter's Birthday!!

Carter and Averie meeting Chuckie! He did some silly dances with them and they were so cute, dancing and laughing the whole time!

Carter had been affraid of tunnels and slides and such in the past but Averie tells him to be brave! He likes them much better now!

Carter turned 3 on friday!!! I can't believe how fast time has gone! He is the sweetest most loving, caring boy in the world! For his birthday we went to Chuckie Cheese with his friend Averie, who he loves. They play so well together I love it. When Brad was done with his final on friday we did cake and presents at home. Carter got a bean bag chair, which he LOVES!

The past three years have been a huge challenge with Carter's health problems. From the time he was born till now he has been to hundreds of doctors appointments, had every test imaginable run on him. It is a little sad to me when he plays doctor and tells me he is checking my blood pressure and wants to know how my reflux is feeling, seriously a 3 year old should not know what that means!! But he is so brave and had gotten so big and strong! We don't know why he can't sleep, but we have a lot of theories about some of the steroids he was on as a baby that are now being discovered to lead to serious sleep disorders. Even when we are up all night with him, he is so cute and loves to cuddle. He is such a great helper and big brother too! I can't imagine my life without him, there where times when he was first having health problems that I prepared myself for the worse, and everytime Heavenly Father blessed us and has let us keep him here with us! I love my little guy!!!!

Random Fun

Fun Dino tails Grandma Parkin made!

Loves her picture taken

Carter helped dog sit his best friends two dogs and they gave him this kitchen when they got back!

They always look so cute before we go to church, but something on the car ride there turns them into monsters:)

Loving the smiles!

Love these Kids!!

Olivia is such a good sleeper she sleeps about eight hours a night! It is so nice! Carter is reading more and more books, he memorizes books and then reads them to me- it was really cool to watch him learn. Brad is super busy with the last few weeks of law school, which law school really sucks so if you are ever considering going don't do it when you have kids! That is my little I hate law school plug for the week! But otherwise life is going pretty good, I can't wait to go to Arizona in May. The kids and I are going to stay for a few weeks since Brad will be busy with his internship and school. Carter is really excited because he gets to take swim lessons so he has been practicing in the tub! We have our five year anniversary in a few weeks!! I can't believe how fast five years went. Life is good!

Spring is Finally Here!

My Mom came and it was wonderful!

Livy is such a happy baby now that she is finally better from two weeks with RSV!

Carter is the best kid ever, really he is such a good helper and cute happy little boy!

Olivia's Baby Blessing

upside down but so cute! this was my dress when I was blessed!

So these pictures loaded weird and I don't have time to fix them but you can still see how cute my kids are! Olivia's blessing was wonderful, we had so many great friends come and support us! We wish our family could have come but we will see them again soon. I can't believe how fast Livy is already getting big. I feel like we have so many first time milestones to go through with her because by the time Carter was eight weeks old he was in the hospital and on his heart monitors, so we are learning how to deal with a healthy baby who can go outside! We love them both so much!