That's It!

We had a scorpion in our house last night. We moved here in 2005 and this is the first I've had to deal with INSIDE my house. It could have gone a lot worse, but here is one more reason I don't love Arizona. When will it end! Grrrrrr. If I see another one in the house, I'm outta here. (Obviously not for real...we have jobs and responsibilities to consider...but you know what I mean).

My Mother's Day was very nice (much better than last year when Karl got appendicitis). Karl let me sleep in (as much as possible since we still have church at 9 am.) Carson woke me up with a sweet bouquet of roses (I was actually awoken by him shoving them in my face, but still sweet). Then I spent the day doing whatever I wanted. Karl made a nice dinner and dessert. I had no responsibilities. It was very nice. In Primary, Carson wrote a letter about me. In it he says I'm 18 and also 18 feet tall (it's his favorite number). He says my favorite thing to do is play with him, that I love to cook him pasta, and that my favorite word is "love." He actually "read" the letter to me and it was so much better coming from his mouth. He got pretty close to the real thing as he was reciting it from memory. I love my sweet little boy so much I can't stand it sometimes. I just want to gobble him up...or have a perfect memory. It kills me to know that I'll forget half the cute things he does.

Back to Life

So now that my work "busy season" is over - it's time to get back to life (back to reality). I let myself go off grid for a bit and then there is the recoup time. I'm starting to feel normal again as far as my work schedule goes. Unfortunately, I am now in my last trimester and thus not sleeping very well at all and feeling uncomfortable almost all the time.

I can't quite remember everything that has gone on in our lives recently, so I'm just going off the pictures I have on my camera.

I tried my hand at canning for the first time. I think it actually went pretty well. The jam is a little sweet for my taste, but as that is my only complaint, I say it was a success. I imagined it going so much worse. Here's a pic of my stove during the process - jam and sanitation.

We did a trial camp out in Karl's parent's back yard Easter weekend. Our last few camping trips with Carson were not great, so we avoided it for awhile. The problem was that he would always refuse to go to bed and then wake up at 5 am. Then we had to deal with a cranky kid/cranky us all day. He went to bed ok this time. Unfortunately, I got uncomfy in the middle of the night and moved inside to a bed. Carson woke around 4:30 am and wanted me. So Karl brought him inside and he fell back asleep in the bed with me, but now we're not sure what time he would have woken up if outside. I think if I had been out there he would have gone back to sleep. We'll find out for real in a few months. We've got a camping trip planned at the end of June.

The rest of Easter was good. Carson enjoyed his Easter basket and dying Easter eggs. We got him his first tie too. He looked so handsome for church. See the pics below (his dad doesn't look too bad either). Karl's dad is in the last one as well.

Upcoming: We've got Carson all signed up for preschool. He is super excited to start and talks about it all the time. Hopefully he'll love it as much as he thinks he will.

FBI!

So Tuesday at work we had an extra exciting day. The company located in the office space right next to us got raided by the FBI!! The FBI busted in, questioned employees one by one in an empty office space, confiscated computers and documents, and looked totally awesome while they did it. I kept trying to find the Jack Bauer of the team. They were all wearing bullet proof vests with FBI on the back. We have to walk through the lobby (and past their office) to get to the bathrooms...I'm pretty sure everyone in our office went to the bathroom 15 times that day. The news showed up eventually and were taking pictures from the outside. After much Googling by the CPA's in our office (yes, we know it's busy season...sometimes we need a break too), we learned that they are an investment company and have had several complaints against them for taking peoples' money but then never investing it...and never returning it. Apparently they've been under investigation for awhile. So if any one out there is thinking of investing with Remington Financial Group...I'd think twice. Of course they are innocent till proven guilty, but I think I'd go with a firm that's not been raided by the FBI...just saying.

Anyway - most exciting thing I've witnessed this week. Anyone able to top an FBI raid?

Announcement!

I just posted this on Facebook so I guess it is national news by now, but I am four months pregnant! We had our ultrasound yesterday. Everything looks healthy and we found out it is a baby girl. Karl and I are excited but we both kind of went "Are you sure?" I was in shock yesterday and just kept thinking about all the girl things we are going to need to get. I realized I'm going to have to start buying dresses and accessories...headbands and clips! Looks like Carson's Rubbermaid bins of clothes can go back into storage...I got some shopping to do!

Oh - I am due July 31st (the most wonderful time of the year to be 9 months pregnant in Arizona).

Bed Time

There is a vicious circle regarding bedtime. The later he stays up, the more tired he gets, the more drama bedtime becomes. Last night was one of these nights. I admit that as a working mom, sometimes I let Carson stay up a "little" later than normal just so I can spend some time with him. His normal bedtime is 7:30...and when I tried to get him to go to bed last night, it was 8:30. Anyway, it resulted in a total meltdown. I was trying to talk to him about going to bed and he would just yell "NO!" after everything I said. I couldn't resist...I began just saying random words and he still followed each thing I said with a "NO!". Karl joined in a little too. It went something like this...

Me: We need to get your jammies on. It is really late. (There were several things I said like this that were followed with a...see below).

Carson: NO!

Me: I love you (I was trying to switch it up to see if he'd still yell no).

Carson: NO!

Karl: Penguins.

Carson: NO! I'm not a penguin!

Me: Peanut Butter sandwich.

Carson: NO!

Karl: Shellfish.

Carson: NO!

At this point I was laughing so hard I had to leave the room. Kids can be so determined.

Fruits & Veggies

I asked Carson what his favorite vegetable was. His response? Chicken Nuggets. Apparently we need to go over the food groups a little better. It made me laugh though.

I picked up my bountiful basket on Saturday. In it was a large bag of...ginger? Nope, they are Jerusalem Artichokes. Also known as sunchokes. As we were getting our basket, I said "What are we going to do with this much ginger?" A lady nearby told me it wasn't ginger and that it was a type of artichoke. I hid my skepticism and thanked her. After a quick sniff though it was obviously not ginger. So after a few Google searches, I confirmed that the lady was correct and my skepticism was uncalled for. They are artichokes...now what to do with them? I found a few recipes. We'll see how this goes.

I also got the extra of 8 lbs of strawberries. I've already got some in the freezer. Some ready to be dehydrated. And some going into jam tonight. Oh, and two pounds we've already eaten...is that gross? We had them for breakfast and dessert on Saturday and as snacks in our lunches today. This will be my first time canning anything though...should be interesting.

I would also like to add that Karl and I visited the Yogurtland that opened up by our house. I ALWAYS get my yogurt topped with strawberries. It's the best ever. So when they just had an empty container labeled "Strawberries", I felt a little disappointed. Upon further inquiry, they told me they don't have any strawberries because they are "out of season." Oh - because pineapple and all the other crazy fruits you have there are in season? Also, I just bought 8 beautiful pounds of strawberries. C'mon! Needless to say, we left without purchasing.

Big Boy Bed

So Karl and I finally got around to switching Carson from a toddler bed to a regular twin. It's quite an expensive endeavor so we were dragging our feet. Luckily, we had a bed frame lying around, but we did not have a twin mattress, box, sheets, quilt, etc. So, after spending a couple hundred (yeah!) Carson got his "Big Boy Bed." He was very excited while we were setting it up. As I was putting him to bed that night, he got this excited look on his face and said "Now you can sleep with me Mommy!" When I told him I would probably still sleep in my own bed, he just looked confused. Pointing to the bed he said "But there's room." Oh so sweet. Carson also has a habit of coming into our bed in the early morning (around 5 or 6). He'll crawl under the sheets in the middle and fall back asleep. We usually just let it slide because we are all going to get up half an hour later. But as I was putting him to bed in his new big boy bed, he asked "Does this mean I can't come into your bed anymore?" I quickly replied yes, hoping that it would magically put an end to his morning visits. He thought for a minute and then said "I want my little bed back." He makes me smile. To be honest, I kind of like his morning visits. I get 20 minutes of cuddle time before I have to get up and face the day.

One more sweet thought - the other day it was time for his "quiet time". Sometimes he doesn't mind, sometimes he throws a fit about it. He started to object to quiet time - then he stopped and sweetly looked up at me and asked "Do you want to have quiet time with me Mommy?" I just smiled as I tried to come up with a reason as to why that wouldn't work. He sweetly rubbed my leg, looked up at me with his big blue, hopeful eyes, and said "Do ya?" I came up with something about how quiet time is a time to be alone and blah blah - but it was pretty hard to not crumble when faced with his sweetness powers.