Carter loves trains right now so we got him Thomas the Train PJs for Christmas, now it is hard to keep them off of him because he loves them so much! He was so much fun this year opening presents. He did a great job doing one at a time and he kept telling us his toys were stuck in the boxes! We have had a great 2009 and can't wait for the adventure of 2010!
I found the camera cord! We went to the Tempe Splash park with some friends, and the others are just Carter posing! He loves to take pictures now, it is so cute!
One year ago today Carter stopped breathing and we found out about his breathing and swallowing problems. The year has been full of long nights sitting over his crib to make sure he was breathing, lots of doctors visits, lots of prayers, and even more blessings! A year ago when all of this happened I was a wreck. I thought that our life could never be normal again. But it is, and today life is great. Carter has gotten so big and strong. He loves to run and laugh and watch Barney. We love him so much and we are grateful to Heavenly Father for all of the blessings he has given Carter.
Life changes so fast sometimes it's crazy! Carter is walking, well running is probably a better way to say it. He is quick and seems to know every exit to a room. But we love it and he is so cute running around in is tennis shoes, he doesn't like the sandals as much. We also have exciting news we just bought a town house! Not the one we live in but the new one is much bigger, 3 bed rooms, walk in closets and lots of storage! So we are excited and nervous and can't wait to move in.
All though it has not been much of a Spring Break for Brad, because he has worked overtime all week, Carter and I have loved hanging out with Grandma and all the other family that is in town. We planned this family night picnic at the Park of the Canals in Mesa. It was really nice and Carter loved the swings! He was laughing so hard we had to stop him so he could breath!
This is a very old picture (I think Carter was three weeks old in this one) but we have been crazy busy and this is all I had time for. But to fill in everyone on our life, we had an adventurous Thanksgiving with a water pipe breaking at my Mom's house so we moved in two days earlier than we planned. We love our new place it has great space and Carter loves it too. We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was so nice to get to talk to Jas, or Elder Watson, in Russia. He will be home August 17! Brad's job is going well but we are excited for him to start his Masters program in May. He is getting his Masters in Higher Education, so he can teach high school. I am loving being home, and I have been getting creative on ways to keep busy. Thanks go out to everyone we know for making this a great year! Happy 2009 to all!
Today is a monumental day, Carter is officially crawling! Not his little worm scoot, but actually one hand one leg at a time. Oh man life is so fun watching little babies figure things out! So that is our exciting news, and of coarse he has figured all of this out just two weeks before we move into the town house that has stairs, good thing someone invented baby gates! We are so excited to move, and exited that Carter is doing great! Brad and I are doing great too!
Carter was a skeleton during the day and a tiger at night. Both costumes were very cute, so thank you to both Grandmas who bought them! I think the cutest part was Carter attacking the candy bowl. He loved all the colorful candy wrappers, just wait till he can actually eat them!
Grandpa Parkin has started Carter early on cheering for the Rams! He picked out this jersey for Carter last Christmas when I was just five months pregnant! But Brad loves it too, he can't wait to have his little linebacker in Pop Warner Football.
This is a picture of Carter, two days old. It was just too cute not to use. But lots of people have been asking questions about Carter and what he has, because I have been so bad at keeping in touch with everyone and keeping people updated. So I thought I would write a little bit about him and what has been going on since he was born.
Carter has been doing so well lately that we have slowly been trying going out more, like to church on Sunday and little things like that. But this past Sunday after a busy weekend Carter had another horrible reflux seizure like episode that lasted about an hour. The doctor stayed on the phone with us until Carter fell asleep around 10 that night, but it really shook us up again. I know that we have been so blessed that he is doing so well, it is just hard to remember how sick he really is until he has another episode. Brad and I stayed up a lot of the night to watch his breathing. He is doing better this week but we are back to staying in the house 24/7. This gets hard, but our little buddie is worth it!
So I thought I would write a little Jason update for everyone. He has been in serving in Novosibirsk, Russia now for thirteen months! The time has flown by so quickly all ready. He is doing great, and he is currently serving as the Russian traveling secretary. I had no idea what that meant so you probably don't either, but basically he is in charge of getting the travel documents ready for all the missionaries in Russia. Pretty cool if you ask me! We miss him tons and I can't wait for him to come home next year and meet Carter!
Today is the dreaded second series of Carter's shots. You would think after holding him through CAT Scans, EEG, Brain Ultra Sounds, IVs in the Head, and many other horrible things that should never happen to babies, that I would be strong about these dumb shots. But no, we have exactly two hours before we have to leave for the doctor and I just don't want to go. There is just something awful about holding your sweet little baby down so someone else can inflict pain on them. Oh well, hopefully Carter will be stronger than me today!
