1 year of life, and it's been pretty great!

“Little boys should never go to bed. They always wake up 1 day older.”—anonymous

Happy Birthday to mommy and Carter!

I put my little boy to bed, and he woke up 1 year older. This past week has been a bitter sweet kind of time for our little family. Monday marked the day I turned a quarter of a century! That was a big shocker to me, seeing as I still feel like I’m 16. It was wonderful however, because we actually had visitors who came to the middle of nowhere! My sweet sister and mother both showed up to celebrate my special day. It was wonderful to have them here and show up on my birthday, it made the day that much more special!

Once they arrived, we gave hugs, they got a tour, Jason shortly arrived home from work, and we got the party started! Homemade pizza (with delicious homemade bread), a Cold Stone cake, and a cute little helper to help me open my presents. We had so much fun!

Thanks for spoiling me!

My sweet little helper!

Happy Birthday to me!

Tuesday was the day we wore ourselves out walking. It was beautiful outside, so after a scrumptious breakfast, we decided a walk was muchly needed! An hour and a half later we arrived back at my house exhausted but with smiles on our faces. My poor little monkey was so exhausted, he fell asleep for most of the 3.7 mile walk. Needless to say, we took it easy the rest of the day and worked on decorations for another birthday party, and an exciting baby shower.

Wednesday we decided we couldn't get enough of the walking around, so off we drove to The California Trail Interpretative Center in Hunter Nevada (even more in the middle of nowhere!). We were able to learn lots about the pioneers that went through this area. There was tons to look at, and we even got to dress Carter up in some pioneer clothes. He was a good sport to let us take some pictures.

Carter at the California Trail Museum

He is the most adorable pioneer EVER!!

Our little group in front of a wagon.

After that little adventure, we decided we’d eat the lunch we packed at the park! Who knew eating in the car would be so fun! The wind and picked up and all the picnic tables had been taken. I was happy to just be warm while I ate J

Of course after lunch I had to show my mom and sister how exciting the Elko Walmart was. They had to experience the unique awesomeness that came with going to a Walmart in Nevada ha ha NOT! We did stop there for a few supplies and headed home for some R&R.

Thursday was the day my little baby woke up and suddenly was a little boy. It was his birthday and we had a little party for him. He had some of his little friends show up, and was so confused as to why we were all watching him with a weird ball thing in front of him. Once he plunged in, he decided he rather liked the delicious stuff and cried once it was broken (poor kid). We spoiled him rotten though, and bought him his very own first car. All of the kids loved the big fun gift Carter was given (don’t worry, no fancy power wheels kind of thing, just a super awesome cozy coupe). Every moment was bitter sweet for me, because I wanted my little boy to still be my little baby (he still is and will always be).

Birthday boy in his new CAR!

Blowing out the candle

Birthday BOY!

It took him a while to dig in

Once he started eating it....

he LOVED it!

so much so, when he smashed it he cried :(

He had so much fun at his ball party!

After his awesome birthday party, we went for yet another walk around the Marina in town (yes in Nevada we call nasty ponds with no boats in a park Marina’s in this part of the state). We enjoyed our walk around the small puddle and loved looking at the beautiful scenery. Carter entertained us all when he started making a popping sound with his finger and laughing at himself. What a joy he is to have!

We took lots of pictures

Silly little boy <3

The background looks pretty amazing!

It was so fun having them with us!

Friday was spent saying goodbyes to meet up later in Utah at my sister’s house. We all had different destinations we needed to go first. For us, it was a doctor’s office in Salt Lake. I felt really bad when I walked out to the waiting room to a little man walking all over the place and his daddy trying to keep him entertained. I felt even worse when I told them, we can almost leave… I just have to get a ton of blood taken. Carter was actually relieved to be in his car seat once everything was finally taken care of. He was a tiered little boy. I guess driving your dad crazy is a lot of work.

   

That night my sister and mom offered to let us go on a date while they watched sweet little Carter. We all laughed to think that we traveled all this way to be together and that night it would be my mom, sister and Carter all by themselves. It was my brother-in-law’s and sister’s anniversary, (HAPPY 5 years) and they went on a date too!!!

Saturday was the anticipated baby shower for my sister who is having the first girl in our family!!! I had worked so hard to get everything put together, and with a few bumps along the way, it actually turned out quite nice. Let’s just say I’m glad I didn't plan for the number of RSVPs that I received J It was more than 5 times that amount lol.

My beautiful sister, she was sure spoiled :)

Sunday we all said our goodbyes, as my mom and little sis headed home to Washington State, and our little family headed to Fruit Heights for a mission homecoming. A senior couple that has kept in touch with Jason since his mission, returned from their 5 mission serving together. Their talk was wonderful and we were left with visions of hopefully following their example someday.

Now that we are home, things have slowed down quite a bit. We’re back to the daily grind. I have just been waiting on the results from the doctor and trying to keep myself busy. I’m getting excited for Carter’s first Easter of actually being able to move and enjoy the festivities. Hopefully I will be on the mend soon, and will get back to blogging… Until then, Happy Reading!

In between all of the exciting stuff, Carter got to see his cousin!!!

And loved tickling him :)