Thanksgiving 2011

Matt and I were lucky enough to each have a 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving. We divided up our time between both families and managed to have a pretty relaxing weekend (well, the 2 huge dinners helped quite a bit too!)Carter got dressed up for the occasion.
He LOVED spending time with both sets of grandparents.
And after being a little scared of the rocking horse, he finally jumped on and never wanted to get off! So fun to watch him ride it.
We spent some time reading too.
Saturday we had some extra time to visit the Tacoma Children's Museum. It was fun to get out as a family and wasn't too crowded since everyone was at the mall shopping. Carter loved the Farmer's Market section....he just had a hard time understanding that all the fruit was "pretend."
Scooping up the pebbles.
Me looking ridiculous.
And Carter wanting to be just like his mama!
This magnetic wall was awesome. You could move these tubes around to make a maze for the ball to follow. It was so fun to watch him push the ball up the tube and follow it all the way to the bottom. Of course, he got to practice about 50 times!
Time for dress-up!
And a little reading too. Somehow the only book he wanted to read was this super creepy book about 10 little mice who almost get eaten by a snake. Needless to say, we will not be buying this book for at home!
Saturday night we spent the evening at my parents house and had another wonderful dinner. And, Carter loved his "Boppy" time (what he calls his grandpas).
My parents are leaving for an extended vacation after I have the baby. So, we celebrated Christmas a little early. Carter "helped" open up everyone's present. I think he's now ready for his birthday this weekend.
Love this picture. Such a mischievous little boy!
And...just for fun! I only have 2 weeks to go (or less....or more) before this little girl arrives. We are almost done with her room...here are a few updated shots.
It's hard to see, but the collage of pictures will have family shots of us throughout the years, plus a few of my favorite quotes. Still a work in progress :)

Read more...

Celebrating baby girl Vance.

My 2 sweet friends, Caity and Carrie threw me the most wonderful baby shower last Sunday. I felt so spoiled and loved and will always remember that special day. Caity thought of every little detail to coordinate the decorations with the "theme" of her room....pink and gray. She even made this beautiful ribbon wreath to give me afterwards so I could hang it up in her room (pictures of the nursery coming soon!). The food was delicious, games were fun and it meant so much to have so many of my favorite people in one room. Thanks girls!

Yummy food - the cream puffs were my favorite!
Pretty decorations.
Cute teacups.
Sweet baby Noah (and Emily!)
So much pink!
Ellie was my little helper for the day. She helped with each gift, showed me how to properly play with each doll and loved being at a big girls party!

How cute is she?
Caity and I. Thank you so much Caity!!!!
Ellie and I.
My friend Kaatri is due just 3 days before me with her first little girl. We even have the same maternity leave! It'll be so fun to get our baby girls together and share mom advice. So excited for her!
One of my best friends Katy is also due with a little girl in February. She drove all the way up to Bellingham to spend the afternoon with me. Thank you Katy....you're the best!
The whole group. It was such a fun day!

Read more...

Carter & Daddy.

I never realized the term, "Like Father, like Son" would be so relevant in our house until a few weeks ago. Lately, Carter wants to do everything like his Daddy. When Matt gets home from work it's non-stop chaos until bedtime. They wrestle, play football, have tickle fights, laugh and just act like goofy boys for 2 straight hours until both are finally exhausted and we put the little one to bed. I just love watching them interact. Carter has a great Daddy and Matt has an adorable little shadow.

The other night Matt was vacuuming up dinner (that somehow ended up all over the floor by a certain someone). So, then it was Carter's turn.

Then, Matt (okay Matt and I) wanted brownies. So, naturally Carter had to help.

Matt then turned on Christmas music and started dancing and drumming. So, Carter did the same. Let me just clarify...Matt kept his clothes on during the dancing unlike Carter!
The next night it was time to make spaghetti. Carter, once again, was ready to help. Somehow all the noodles ended up on the floor.
And, my 3 boys....they couldn't be more alike. All are fun, crazy, goofy, a little ADD, loving, sweet and just plain wonderful.

Read more...

We're Famous!

Matt has been hard at work the last year creating a "Family Pass" campaign at his job. Basically it's like a credit union version of groupon where you can flash your debit card and get great monthly deals around town (anyone who lives or works in Whatcom County can and should become a member!)
Anyways, to help with the promotion he recently shot a few tv commercials and Carter and I were lucky enough to make the cut! Watch closely and don't blink....it's only for about 2 seconds (at the beginning of both ads). We're pretty darn excited about it. And, look for them on real TV too, starting 11/18/11 (especially on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Top Chef, Mythbusters, Project Runways AllStars and Paula Dean's Cookie Swap)!

Read more...

34 weeks.

Seriously, where has the time gone? 34 weeks already! This has been the fastest 34 weeks of my life. I can't believe in 6 weeks (+ or - 2 weeks!) we'll be holding our new daughter! I'm still feeling great, loving every little kick and getting more excited to meet her. The nursery is coming along and I think I've started the nesting phase (Matt would tell you I'm always in a nesting phase though!).
He's getting very excited to be a big brother!!!

Read more...

cutest.pirate.ever.

Thanks Evantide Photography!

Read more...

pumpkins and christmas cookies.

Our poor child. If he needs serious counseling when he is older, he can blame it all on me. Because we are trying to get everything ready for the baby, things have been a little "out of order" this year. For example, 2 weeks ago we were out buying Christmas presents for family. Last weekend we went to a Halloween party, then came home and made a big Thanksgiving dinner (just because I had been craving turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes!). And today, we made Christmas sugar cookies, then carved pumpkins and Carter watched me wrap more Christmas presents.

He must be so confused. Oh well, at least he keeps a smile on his face!
We went to the pumpkin patch 3 weeks ago but the pumpkins have sat out on our back patio patiently waiting to be carved. So, today was the day! Carter was very excited to get his hands into the pumpkin and help. And, for the most part, he was actually a big helper!

Then it was time to decide what the pumpkin should look like. He spent a long time thinking about it before drawing a face he wanted Matt to carve.
This is what he came up with. Not sure if Matt can match that exact image...
Matt did a good job of multi-tasking. Keeping an eye on Carter, cleaning out the pumpkin and watching the Seahawks game.
Once the pumpkins were cleaned out, Carter got bored and went off to play. So, I roasted seeds, Matt and I sampled the seeds and the pumpkins remain untouched on our kitchen counter. Not sure if we'll get around to actually "carving" the pumpkins this year. Oh well.

With all of the baking Carter and I have done together, today was Matt's turn. While I was out of the house for a few hours, Carter helped Matt make sugar cookies. But, of course, Matt used Christmas cookie cutters resulting in Christmas tree, snowman and star shaped cookies. Carter was very excited to help frost them.
This was perfect timing because I had just vacuumed and polished the hardwood floors about 1 hour before we used these sprinkles. Needless to say, I got to spend the following hour doing it all over again.

Always fun to sample!

I'd say they turned out pretty good!

Read more...