Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you had a great holiday season. Karl, Carson, and I just got back from Utah - spending Christmas with my family. We had a great time. I was getting over a cold/cough so that wasn't fun. But everything else was great. We were able to relax, hang out, see family, and catch up. Karl enjoyed playing Halo 2 and we all had a great time playing X Box Karaoke (even Mom and Dad got in on it). The drive up and back really wasn't bad - just long with the breaks we had to take for Carson. Here's a pic of one of our breaks. Carson was helping Karl drive (parked in St George).

Carson's first Christmas was fun. He obviously didn't get excited over the gifts but he liked playing with the ribbon on his wrapped presents. Half way through presents he got tired though and took a nap while we all finished up. Next year's Christmas will probably be a lot more eventful for Carson. We took a few pics but there were too many distractions to get a great one. We also celebrated Christmas with Karl's parents the Thursday before. Overall - Carson got a lot of cute books (which is great), clothes, a Fisher Price nativity set, music, BYU football jersey (picture to come soon), and toys. He is a very excited young man.

While we were in Utah, Karl and I took a morning to go roam around BYU. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. We just walked around and talked about old memories. It was also fun to see the new changes that have happened on campus. We took a lot of pictures and got one of the three of us by the Brigham Young statue. The only downer was that it was Christmas Eve so all the buildings were locked, but we still had fun. We also drove by all the places we lived. It was nice and chilly. But later that day it got real cold and dumped quite a bit of snow on us. It was fun to have a real white Christmas and the mountains were beautiful.

Carson is doing much better with the foods. It isn't completely frustrating now. Oh - he had his 6 month appointment. He weighs 20 lbs 6 oz and is 29 inches long. His old car seat is for up to 29 inches so we've switched to the new one Karl's parents bought him for Christmas. He is one big boy. He has also started scooting. He'll do one crawl motion (a leg or an arm) and then drops to his belly and does an army crawl. He sits up now too. I'll have to upload some video. My Dad also got us a web cam for Christmas - so we'll have to play with that and see what we can do.

Love Kasey

Pre-Christmas Update

Hey all -

Well we are getting excited for Christmas. We'll be driving up to Utah to stay with my sister and see most of the family. Vickie and Josh will be coming to Arizona - but we'll overlap a little bit. If you'd like to see us as elves - follow this link http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1381015856
We haven't really even had a chance to think about Christmas yet. We've had finals this past week and Karl's been sick...not a good combo. So we're just now catching up on everything else we need to do and I'm starting to think about Christmas shopping.

Carson never took to cereal so we've skipped it and moved to veggies. So far he's tried carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash. He's pretty much liked all three. Tonight I mixed some cereal in with his squash and he wouldn't eat it. I tested it and it tasted like squash to me so this kid is just too smart. He's sleeping longer through the night now but he still hasn't gotten back to sleeping all the way through. Once he likes to eat, it will be so much nicer. He's sitting up on his own now (as long as there isn't a really interesting toy just out of arms reach). He has an appointment next week so I'll let you know how big he's gotten.

Here's some more cute pics.
Here's Carson practicing to play Playstation with Dad.And this is first thing in the morning. He sits in his crib and plays after he wakes up. He's such a cutie!

Love you all - Merry Christmas!!
Kasey

Halloween Pics (A little delayed)

Hey - I just got the pics of Carson on Halloween so I thought I'd throw a few on here. He's scrunched into the chicken costume and then he's in his perfect ghost costume. Hope you enjoy.

Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving was great. We spent it in California with my Dad's family. It was

nice to see everyone again and just hang out and catch up. We spent an afternoon going through some of my Grandma's old letters and pictures. It was fun to read letters she wrote about her husband and the fashion during the times. And it was great to reminisce while looking and old family pictures. The food was great and Carson got passed around so much it was a little bit of a break. My Grandma got to meet Carson for the first time and hold him for bit. Carson was a great little traveler (again). He just doesn't even seem to notice a difference when we're on a plane. He slept most of the flight and never cried. It was also fun to get Carson and Cordell together again. They look nothing alike but are both so cute.

He's still growing like crazy. Lately I've had to scramble to get some new clothes because he just outgrew the last of the baby shower gift clothes. In fact, that's where I'm headed once he wakes up. We've had to purchase 12 month sleepers because his torso is so long, but the ones we got (and already washed) are too skinny for our little chubbo. So I'm off to find looser sleepers. Carson also got his first hair cut while we were in California. My aunt's neighbor does hair so she invited her over to cut Carson's hair. Everyone had been joking all weekend about the hair cut Carson needed. So the neighbor brought her scissors and went to work. Carson was dead asleep in his car seat and slept while she cut the front, top, and sides. We then lifted him up so she could get the back. He woke up at this point and it took a three man team to hold him still. He looks so cute and it doesn't go as crazy as before. Here is a during picture. The one with Karl is right after.

Cereal

We aren't doing so great on the cereal. We tried it again about a week ago and Carson loved it. He ate the tiny bit I prepared (I didn't make a lot because I thought it would be thrown away). Anyway, he scarfed it and wanted more. So I made a little more for him. He was happy as a lark. He went to bed and about two hours later I hear him sputtering. I went into his room and sat him up just in time for him to throw up all over. It was projectile too - all the way across his crib onto the wall. So I picked him up and got him out of his jammies. The little guy was still asleep as I did this. So then I laid him on a towel on our bed while I cleaned up his bed. I heard him throw up again. I went in and picked him up and then he threw up all over me. So we showered and then I held him basically all night long. I was just so worried. Eventually he got frustrated that he didn't have any wiggle room so I laid him down at about 5 am. He didn't throw up again but since then he's hated cereal (I don't blame him). There are several theories floating about but who knows. We are trying cereal again tonight. He is watching us eat like crazy and opening his mouth when we do. Hopefully it goes well. I'll send an update.

Update

We are getting excited for Thanksgiving. It seems to have come so fast this year. Honestly, I feel like it was yesterday that I was pregnant and feeling sick at Thanksgiving last year. So crazy that this year I've got my little 5 month old fella'. We are going to California for Thanksgiving to be with my dad's side of the family. My Grandma just got her first two great grandchildren with Cordell and Carson so it should be fun. Plus everyone on my dad's side will be there. While we are there, my sisters and I are attending the So You Think You Can Dance showcase. Karl and I went last year and loved, loved it. We probably enjoy that show a little too much but we all love dancing and some of the dances/choreography I would call art. So there will be more to come on that once we go.

Karl and I went on our first real date since the baby was born last night. We went to dinner with his parents and then they watched Carson and we went to a movie. They've watched him for us before but we took the time to run errands. I know, not romantic and definitely boring...but we had stuff we had to do. So anyway, we saw Dan in Real Life and loved it. It's one I'd like to buy. But it was nice to get out just the two of us. Even as we were just walking through the theater we realized we haven't been able to walk fast in such a long time we had to laugh. We never thought we'd miss speed walking to get somewhere.

Carson has become a lot more mobile. He scootches and rolls all over till he gets to the toy he's eyeing or to the one thing I don't want him to play with. There's no more setting him on a blanket. He's off it in ten seconds. He loves the new saucer we bought him. His favorite toy is the yellow one sticking up because it's long enough for him to put in his mouth. He'll suck on it and then let it go and it bounces onto the top of his head. One day I came to get him out and his hair was soaked. It took me a while to figure out that the drool on the toy had transfered to his hair and made it all wet. We've taken a break from cereal for a bit. He was doing okay for a few days, but then it took a turn for the worse. He just spits it out and gags and pulls funny faces now. We tried different temps and consistencies but he wanted nothing to do with it. So I gave him five days off and I'll try again tomorrow. We'll get it eventually.

Hope you all had a great Halloween and are looking forward to Thanksgiving too.

Kasey

Halloween!

Halloween has come and gone...crazy that it's November. We went to our ward's Halloween party (seeing that we helped plan it). Carson had a little chicken outfit but the party was outside and it was just too warm for him to wear. I know, too warm? It is still in the 90's here. So I realized we all had camo from paintball. So we were just a little camo family. It was cute. I was going to get pictures but I was running around crazy making sure the chili was full and there were napkins, etc. So sorry...no pics. And there's no way I could Karl to dress up again just to take a picture and pretend it's Halloween. But the party was on Saturday. On Wednesday, real Halloween, Karl and I both had class. Carson goes to Karl's mom's house on Wednesdays. So Karl's mom, Kari (Karl's sister), her husband Garrett, and their daughter Kenzie all went trick-or-treating. I brought Carson's little chicken outfit, but since 2 weeks prior when I tried it on him he outgrew it. So Grandma was resourceful and cut a whole in a piece of white fabric. They wrote "Boo" on the front and Carson was a little ghost. I wasn't there to take pictures, but Kari took some cute ones I'll have to get and then add them.

We had Carson's 4 month appointment a little over a week ago. He weighs 19 lbs 3 oz and is 27 1/2 inches long. He's off the charts on both measures. The doctor said he was chunky but it's proportionate to his height so he's great. Everything else looks perfect - his development is right on. And the doctor seemed impressed with Carson's muscle development. He's ripped. Just kidding - but he's able to sit up with a little less help than a regular 4 month old...I guess. I'm not sure what other 4 month old babies do, but the doctor was impressed. He got his shots. This picture shows the band-aids. He looked at me confused on the 1st one, the next 2 made him whimper, and the 4th really made him cry. But he calmed right down and was happy 5 minutes later. He didn't get a fever which was nice for us all. With him being such a large baby, we are going to have to get a new car seat in the next month or so. The one we have is only good to 22 lbs and 29 inches.

Carson started cereal yesterday. He was starting to wake up after only 6 or 7 hours of sleep. One night he woke up at 3 am to eat and then of course thought it was play time. So we started last night. We made it pretty soupy so he can slowly get used to the consistency. Although I'm not going to do it as slowly as the little handout I have. Feeding a baby soup with a spoon is impossible. Most of it ended up on his bib. He did really good. He would open his mouth when he saw the spoon coming and then suck the food off. He's still hasn't quite figured out that he needs to close his mouth as he swallows. But tonight we'll do it thicker (more like food than soup). He also slept 9 hours last night which was wonderful for me.

Not much going on with Karl and I...Carson is pretty much what we do. I'll add the Halloween pics later (and to Smugmug).

Thanks for reading,
Kasey

Hum Drum Life

Well - our life seems pretty boring when I try to put it on paper (screen, you know what I mean). I just got back from Erica's wedding in Salt Lake. She was a college friend, we met at the dorms freshman year. It was beautiful and she looked so happy. It was a lot of fun to get together with some girlfriends. Marguerite and Julia both came too and we stayed up way too late each night talking. It was as if we had been hanging out everyday, we didn't miss a beat. I brought Carson with me so Karl had a week to himself. He always enjoys it the first few days (freedom) but then he gets lonely. It's nice to know I'm missed. Oh...and he terribly missed Carson. I think Carson missed him too. After the wedding I went
down to Provo/Orem and stayed with my sister Jackie for a few days. It was fun to hang out and put our babies together. Jessie came over and hung out too. The trip seemed too short but I was also really missing Karl by the end. Carson was a good little traveler. He slept the plane ride there and was awake but happy and entertaining everyone on the plane ride home. I did notice that he seemed to get quiet and just observant with all the action going on. It's amazing how sensitive they are to their surroundings. The minute we were back home I could see him more relaxed and vocal than he had been the whole week.

Carson updates: He found his toes last week. Now they are his favorite thing in the world. He grabs at them constantly. While in Utah I had socks on his feet and he would grab them and stretch them to his mouth. So the ends of his socks were constantly wet. He still isn't rolling back over from stomach to back but he is getting close. He's also a lot more aware. When I put a toy in front of him he doesn't just stare at it anymore. He reaches for it. These are such small things but it is fun to watch the development and they seem huge to me. He is still a little chunker. He has his 4 month appointment on Thursday so I'll update on his stats when I know.

Other than that, Karl's worked has slowed down with the slump (or crash) in the housing market here. There's been some layoffs at his work. Karl feels pretty safe since he's not entry level anymore - but he's still been sending out resumes just in case. (Hope his boss doesn't stumble across this). He has some great connections in the business so were pretty optimistic something will turn up. His work has been really good though and it will be a little sad if he has to leave. Hopefully the next place will even better. But this is all hypothetical - right now he's got a job and there isn't anything scary in the near future. Karl's school is going well, he only has a few more semesters and then we will be out of Arizona!! Who knows where to though. Karl wants to live in Australia - I gave him a 5 year time limit on that expedition. It would be fun but also hard to be away from family.

I'm doing good. I've been reading some really good books lately. I get so sucked in that I stay up way to late. I started and finished a 500 page book yesterday (it was large print). I was up till...well...I'm embarrassed to say. Let's just say Carson woke up two hours later and he sleeps through the night. So needless to say, I'm dragging. I've been taking a nap with him each time he sleeps. I've got to start reading boring books so I can get some rest. My classes are going well (that's another thing...shouldn't I be studying). I just took my 2nd adv. tax test and I'm feeling pretty good. I only have two more classes to take and then I'm done and can focus on the CPA exam and getting my work experience.

Karl and I are on the activities committee now. I'm looking forward to the Halloween party. I'll post some pictures later.

Well Carson is telling me my blog time is up.

Kasey

Major Development

Well - Carson rolled over last week. I was at Vickie's (my sister who also has a place here in Phoenix). We were swimming and Carson was laying on a towel in the shade. I was taking my things inside and when I came back out he had rolled over. I wanted to take a picture to document - but he had rolled off the towel and was laying face down on cement. I decided I didn't want to document bad parenting. Although, now I've blogged it so all will know...perfect. But he does it constantly now. Everytime I lay him down it's the first thing he does. He's starting to work on getting back over but that is still a ways away.

Karl and I lead pretty boring lives...not much new. I'm flying to Utah in a week for Erica's wedding (friend from college). Then I'll stay at my sister Jackie's house in Orem for a few days. The baby cousins can bond.

Well - I'll talk to you next week hopefully.

Kasey

Hello again!

Well - I think I'll shoot for once a week, but the baby thinks it's awake time so I might as well do something. We were at Karl's parents' house and Carson slept on the way home (10:30 pm). He thought that it was just a nap - not night time. So now he is up and smiling in his little swing.

So - most importantly...the Office Season 4 premiere. I give it a good ol' way to go. I enjoyed Meredith getting run over. I'm very happy about Jim and Pam (in my fantasy land their characters are real people and they are the happily ever after). I laughed at Dwight killing Angela's cat - Sprinkles. Oh - and I loved Andy's bloody nipples. So funny. So, all in all, the best show ever (not necessarily that episode just in general). Best Office ever....hmmm...that's a real tough one. I'll get back to you on that one.

Well - not much else exciting. I'll talk to you soon.

Love Kase

First Time For Everything

Hello All -

I've been inspired to start a blog. This way I can keep everybody up on our oh so exciting lives. I'm sitting with the computer on my lap and Carson passed out on my arm. He doesn't even mind that his head jostles as I type.

What have we been up to...Well, Karl is working away on his master's in Planning. At this point a lot of his classes are just readings/projects and then meeting with a professor. So he's the only student in the class in a way. They meet and design the course themselves. Pretty cool I think. I'm taking two classes right now - working toward my CPA and will probably start taking the CPA exam come January/February. Karl's work has slowed a bit with the housing market slump - but we're hoping it will pick up again soon.

Carson is amazing, of course. He's a little over 3 months now and already walking. Just kidding. But he is talking (not real words) making all sorts of sounds. He does a real cute ooo sound where he puckers out his lips and furrows his brow. It's my favorite. He is almost rolling over. He tries so hard until he exhausts himself. That darn arm is just always in the way. He's growing like crazy. Everytime I buy him a new outfit he out grows it in a week. He is already bigger than babies in the ward that are a month or two older. He is also real chunky! I love the Michelin Man legs! He is real sweet and easy going. Here he is with his dad - we went camping in Flagstaff.

Oh - the camping trip. I played paintball for the first time. Karl has recently gotten into it so he made sure I got a gun too and we played with some family in the forest. I got shot in the helmut first and didn't even realize. The next time I got hit was in the side of my thigh and it killed. I had a huge welt and bruise that lasted for days. But the third and final time, I got shot in the front of the thigh and it wasn't so bad. I also shot a few people so that was fun.

It is finally starting to cool down - and by that I mean a high of 98. It actually gets enjoyable around 8 pm though. I'm not being sarcastic either. It's just nice to be able to go outside at least at some point in the day. I can see the 80's coming around the corner. It will be nice when it cools down a bit so that I can play with Carson outside.

Well - I think I'll end it there for now. We'll see how this goes. Thanks for reading.

Love Kasey (and Karl)