Funny Conversation

Last night, Carson and I had a conversation that I thought was funny. I was getting him ready for bed. He had his jammie shorts on and no shirt. He was standing in front of the closet mirror doors. As I went to put his jammie shirt on...

Carson: "No, mom. I want to look at my body."

Me: "Oh, OK. Where's your belly button?"

Carson: "Right here" (pointing to his belly button). He then pointed to his nipples and said "What are these?"

Me: "Those are your nipples. They are part of your body."

Carson: "Oh my...middles...my...dimples?" (Carson attempting to say nipples)

Me: "Yep"

Carson:...long pause..."Santa brought them?"

Me: (laughter) "No, Santa didn't bring them."

Carson:...another long pause..."Jesus brought them?"

Me: "Yes, Jesus brought them."

Carson: (big smile on his face) "Oooohhhh. Look Mom, my body's happy. It's perfect."

Me: (smiling so big it hurts) "Yes, your body's perfect."

Carson: "Look Mom, my back...it's got shoulders. Just like Daddy."

Me: "Yep, just like Daddy."

Carson then gave me a big hug and kiss and said "I love you too Mommy." (even though he said it first).

How can you have a kid this sweet and not love your life. Oh, and I can't help but laugh at how a three year old puts Santa and Jesus in the same boat. In his mind they are both unseen figures who love him. I'm sure the difference will begin to clear up as he grows.

When I was teaching dance, I had one five year old student who was just precious. She had a Velma haircut and big thick glasses and I loved her to death. Five year olds love to spout off random facts about themselves during a dance class. One day she said "Sometimes, my mom loves me so much she cries." It was so sweet. Being a mother now I can totally relate. Sometimes I just love my little guy so much, it makes me quite teary. It's sweet moments like last night that help me build up patience for the next not so sweet night. There are a billion funny conversations lately, but I have a feeling my blogging wouldn't do them justice.

Carson is 3!

How did this happen? How is my little baby 3 and walking and talking (and sometimes talking back)? I'll look at his little baby pictures and I can't believe how big he is. I know most moms say this - but it's true.

He got donuts in the morning, as tradition. Then we threw Carson a pirate themed party. We had it up at Karl's parents house and invited a bunch of family. I made an awesome pirate cake. We got bandanas, eye patches, and mustaches and made everyone look the part for the scavenger hunt (that picture will be coming later). It was a pretty dang good bash. I also thoroughly enjoyed talking like a pirate all night long - scallywag, scurvy dog, land lubber, etc.

Oh - and I also made awesome invitations. I can't find it at the moment - but they were full of pirate lingo. I burnt the edges and crinkled them up to make them look old.

Carson is becoming quite the bed time procrastinator. He comes up with all sorts of excuses and knows how to butter me up with his little grin and saying "I love you mommy" and "Stay with me...just a little bit". Last night he came to find me and told me there was a monster ghost lion in his room.

He is also extremely sweet. The day after his birthday I woke up to him scratching my head and rubbing my hair gently. When I looked up at him he just said "You're welcome." Oh, I was thinking - my son is so sweet. Then I looked at the clock...5:30 am on a Saturday. No, you're welcome was not the appropriate thing to say.

Jessie's Wedding

So I think I'm starting to lose my blog juice...mojo...motivation. I just don't ever really feel like doing it. But - I feel it important since I keep no other kind of journal.

We went up to Utah to see my little sister Jessie get married. I had planned on going up and tying bows or something till 2 am - but she pretty much had it all under control. I think the day before my wedding I was running around town in crazy mode trying to get everything done. I don't think I even remembered the tables would need centerpieces till the day before my wedding. So us girls got to relax a bit (pedicure, shopping) while the boys went to play paintball.

The wedding went great and the reception was beautiful. Jessie had her three sisters and a friend as bridesmaids. Both my older sisters are pregnant right now (obviously pregnant). It was a little depressing when people would say "Now, which two of you are pregnant." C'mon...really? I know people were probably trying to not offend by guessing, but each time I'd have to suck it in a little bit more. In my defense, the dress was an empire waist and pretty loose around the stomach...so maybe they couldn't quite tell at first glance. My poor sisters had the unfortunate event of having their bellies rubbed by the majority of people that came through the line.


My friend Erica came down to the reception so we could catch up for a few minutes. She brought her new little chunky baby boy - so cute. She also got to see Carson being a crazy (he was a little stir crazy after sitting through wedding events). Erica - I know you are reading this. I promise he is a very sweet boy and not always out of control.


Anyway, the wedding was great and we all had a lot of fun. It was beautiful weather in Utah - hot to some but to us AZ'ers it was a nice reprieve. I am glad Jessie is so happy and we are excited to have Tyson in our family! Here are a few pictures.

It's Getting Hot in Here

Usually the blog title is one of the hardest things for me to write. I always want it to be clever...usually I fail (just go back and read some titles...wait, don't). Anyway, as i approached this post, this blog title came to me way too quickly. Perhaps I should be worried that a song such as this is so near my cognitive surface. And if you are now humming the tune...perhaps you should be worried too.

ANYWAY...

It is warming up in Phoenix - the hellish part of the year has begun. Our church building is old and the AC is awful. As I've been serving in primary the last two years (just released...tear) I've come to learn that the Primary room is one of the worst rooms - temp wise. It's like a torture chamber/hot box. And trying to do sharing time while being self conscious about the sweat dripping off your brow and trying to never lift your arms too high isn't fun. They are supposed to be working on our AC so hopefully it cools down soon.

On Sunday, it was really hot at church. During sacrament meeting, I was fanning myself with the program (which always makes me envision myself as a southern bell and I begin to talk with a thick Georgian accent - "Pass me that hymnal won't ya darlin' "). Carson was being a bit of a pill and as I took him out, the lobby was even hotter. I felt like I was walking into a sauna. At the end of sacrament meeting, the Bishop got up and said that the chapel was the coolest in the building and it was still uncomfortably hot. So they canceled the rest of our meetings and sent us all home. My first response was gratitude. I was so glad I didn't have to sweat it out for two more hours...in my new cute dress I might add.

As we were driving away, blasting the AC, I started to feel like a pansy. I am sure there are hundreds of church buildings all over the world that just don't have AC. So I guess I'll be grateful I was saved the suffering...but also remember that I'm blessed to have a church building at all.

To come - my little sister's wedding and Carson's birthday. Karl is taking some computer software classes and is basically on our computer all night every night. So it will be a little bit before I find a second to transfer pictures.

Stomach Surprise!

I am singing the puppy surprise jingle in my head as I type that...anyone else remember that creepy toy where you would buy the puppy and then the surprise was how many baby puppies were in her belly...hey, I said creepy. When these came out I was young enough to know about them, but also old enough to know that a pregnant stuffed puppy was a little creepy. Anyway, the jingle has stayed in my head for probably over 15 years now.

Anyway, back to stomach surprise. And...OH...I just realized how a reader could interpret that to mean something about me. Wrong...it was the stomach surprise for Karl. Meaning, what's wrong with his stomach. Now that we have cleared that up...

On Sunday Karl started to complain about intestinal pain. Now remember, Sunday was Mother's Day. So when Karl started complaining in the morning, I thought "Hey, it's Mother's Day. Let's not try to change the focus." I know, what caring and loving thoughts. But by Sunday night, he was still complaining and then I didn't mind shifting the focus a little.

So this went on for a few more days. Wednesday, I forced him to go into the doctor's. They made him get a cat scan and then we were waiting for the results. I went out to WebMD and looked up the symptoms of appendicitis. The only one he had was pain. But by Thursday night, he had half of the symptoms, so I diagnosed him with appendicitis. My vast studying of the problem made me qualified.

Friday morning, the doctor told Karl it was appendicitis (Thank you very much) and scheduled an immediate removal surgery. So then I spent the day running around crazy and trying to be in twelve places at once. Thanks to some very helpful people, we made it through. Karl's appendix removal went as great as it can and he was home hours later.

We have spent the weekend basically quarantined in our house. The doctor told me not to leave him alone for at least 24 hours. That means that Carson has had some major cabin fever, which actually happens to be contagious. I caught a major case as well. Carson and I have found a temporary solution though. Mass amounts of time spent in our two foot backyard. I think I've watered the plants more in the last two days than the whole time we've lived in this house.

Karl's doing great on his recovery. He thought his belly button wound was pretty cool. I made the mistake of letting him show it to me (gag). He actually wanted to go to work tomorrow...which I vetoed. It wasn't too hard to convince him since now he'll get to spend a day playing XBox and eating ice cream.

So that has been our weekend. And "Stomach surprise, stomach surprise". Warning: if you click play, the jingle could be stuck in your head for the next 15 years.

Picnic!

We had my work picnic last Saturday. It was a lot of fun. Carson basically played in the bouncy castle for three hours straight. He emerged long enough to eat a hot dog, squirt my boss with a water gun, play tug of war, and eat two sno cones. Sounds like a perfect day. *My boss was instigating the water fights, so don't worry, I won't get fired.

And this is how you know you've been to a good picnic.

A Hodge Podge Post

I feel like I'm in the fight of my life for some free time right now. Here I am though - finally having enough free time to finish the other higher priority items and then blog. And yes, blogging is not my highest priority...I know you're sad.

Where to begin. Chronologically of course. EASTER! Carson had a wonderful Easter. He got some new church books and way too much candy for a 2 year old. His Great Grandma (GG MA as we all like to call her) gave him these bunny ears. He not only loved them (much to my surprise) but wanted to wear them all the time.

In April, we all headed up to Sedona for my sister's wedding. The boys (Carson and his cousin that is a month older) ran the rings up when it came time. I was very impressed at Carson's execution. I thought for sure he would refuse to give up the ring or just decide to stay up there with the bride and groom. But he ran right up, handed off the ring, and then came back and sat down. Success! The wedding was beautiful, as was Sedona. The boys were adorable in their matching outfits. I love the model pose below.

From there, we headed to Utah to celebrate my other sister's graduation from BYU. While we were up there I also threw her a bridal shower because she is getting married next month. Here is a pic of our beautiful feast. Jackie (another sister) did amazing on the mini cupcakes (I lost count on how many I ate) and no party is complete without spice comantors (new readers - that's chex mix).

While in Utah, we did get to do some liesure activities too. Karl, Carson and I hiked the Y (it was just as hard as I remembered........that's what she....never mind). With Karl carrying Carson in a backpack, we were pretty even hikers. I went to a few dance classes with my sisters. We also did a lot of late night talking. Then it was time to drive home. I was a grouch the whole way...leaving family, the thought of a 10 - 11 hour drive, coming back "home" to Arizona, etc, etc. Luckily, I had a book and Karl was willing to do most of the driving.

I can't believe I summed up all that. I could have told the long version...but you're welcome.