Love the Moment

The other night we were putting Carter down for bed, and were doing our nightly family ritual of reading a book and saying prayers together when he fell asleep in my arms before we were finished. As I sat there holding my sweet little boy I got a little teary thinking about how much I love my little family. Carter is the happiest baby, and brightens up our lives. He is going to be five months next week, and I can't believe how fast it is going. I wish that the days could be just a little longer because I can't seem to get enough of him. Life is so exciting when you get to see him experience things for the first time. We love taking him places! We watched that movie Ben Button (stupid!) the other day, and there is a part where the people are talking about how nothing lasts. I started to think about that and realized that before I know it Carter is going to be all grown up. I am really careful not to wish away anything like "oh I can't wait until he sleeps through the night....etc" because I know when that day comes I might regret not appreciating the moment we are in. This is such a fun phase of life, and Regan and I are loving every minute of it! We probably make total fools of ourselves when we are out and about because we are constantly running around, jumpin up and down, making faces! It is amazing how stupid we look but totally don't care if it results in a little laugh from Carter. Heck... Carter even makes Laundry fun again!

I have to be the luckiest person alive to get to look at this face all day everyday! Tough isn't it!

Vegas Vacation Visitors!

There is so much to do here in Vegas it seems we are constantly out having fun somewhere new. Once I start to get memories in a place it finally starts to feel more like home and I am really starting to love it here! We were so lucky to have our great friends Mike, Chelsey and thier little Tate come down and visit us last weekend. We LOVED having them come, and we had such a blast with them! Chelsey and I were prego with our babies at the same time, I was just three months behind her. It has been so fun to have our little boys together, I'm sure one day they will be great friends, but right now they are a little scared of eachother! We played on the strip, saw all the sights, swam, didn't lose any $, Played lots of games once the kids went to bed, and just had lots of fun!

Carter falls asleep in his new floaty, it is so flippin cute!

Lil' Camper

Carter experienced his first camping trip! We tagged along with my parents and headed off to Goblin Valley for some fun in the Sun....It rained almost the whole time! We spent alot of time in the hot rod (our awsome turquoise motorhome) playing games. The rain may have taken away the chance to have campfires, but it did produce one thing...MUD! We had so much fun driving the Rhino in feet and rivers of mud! The weather finally cleared up and we had a blast hiking around the goblins, and spending some fun time with my family. Carter LOVED camping, I can't wait to take him again!

SLC, Love it!

The last few days have been really fun because I am up in Salt Lake enjoying the nice cool break from hot Las Vegas! Regan had to go back to work on Monday, but I am up here hangin out with the fam for a few more days. Our weekend consisted of meeting my new little nephew Boston, who is so adorable and TINY! I think my baby was that big when I was like seven months pregnant!! Carter and Boston are so close in age, I'm sure they are going to be best buds! On Saturday we spent the entire day outside, the weather was so awsome. Salt Lake is just about the most beautiful place in the world this time of year, oh I love it, and miss it! Monday was not such a fabulous day....one word to sum it up.....SHOTS. I HATE them, I would rather be poked a million times than to have to see Carter get poked once. I'm sure all the moms understand how sad it makes you to see your baby get hurt, it really is the worst thing in the world. Little Carter is doing much better now though, smiling and laughing as much as ever! Today I was able to go to the Aquarium with all of my cousins and thier kids! It is so fun to finally be part of the "Mommy club". I love it! Oh yeah, and I have a little piece of advice for my future self... never take Carter with me when I get my hair done ever again. Especially not when He goes to bed at 8:00 and I'm there until 10:00. Lets just say I came home with wet, unstyled hair and a very unhappy baby.

Here is the cousing crew. I love that we are a huge heard of stollers! My baby as you can see from the pics just loved the aquarium...he slept pretty much the entire time! We'll try again in a few months when he can keep his eyes open for more than an hour at a time :)

First Mothers Day

Well I have officially had my first mothers day, and what a fun day it was! Just let me tell you how lucky I am to have the sweetest hubby that did everything he could to make the day so special. He is always so thoughtful. We spent the day hangin out with our family in St. George and then mine in Las Vegas. Luckily my parents spent the night at our house so I got to see my mom on mothers day! She is such an amazing woman and I love her so much. She is such a sweet mom and grandma! I don't know what I would do without her! It was great to have my mom and dad in town, We always have so much fun together. They really are some of our best friends in the world!

I thought alot yesterday about how blessed I feel to be a Mom, and to have such a great family. It has always been my dream job. I love little Carter, who by the way, has started to laugh! We were sitting on the couch the other day while Regan was telling me a story. He did an action with his hands which apparentlly Carter thought was hilarious. We heard this bubbly laugh, which honestly is the cutest thing I have every heard. He just kept going with it over and over again. Regan and I had tears in our eyes we were laughing so hard, and because it was such a sweet moment.

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[Regan]

A few more thoughts...

Since I only have a few minutes, I figured I just add an appendange to Teri's post, in order to quickly jot down a few of my thoughts and expressions of appreciation for the new Mother of our little family. Mother's day certainly had a new feel this year, as we celebrated Teri's first day of "official" recognition as a Mom. For those of you who know Teri well, you know that when it comes to holidays, she's still very much a child at heart (she still has me sleeping by the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, carving pumkins on Halloween, and decorating cookies on Easter), which, by the way, has rejuvenated my own excitement for these things. However, on Mother's Day this year, Teri had a different demeanor, a different glow. I could see in her eyes the true respect and humility that she held for this special day this year, as she was obviously captured in the surreal reality and joy of Motherhood. While I would typically use the word Destiny light, since I believe that we're largely a product of what we desire to become, I have no doubt that Teri was destined to by a Mom. In the countless hours I've spent over these past few months observing Teri interact with little Carter, I've often been overcome by a sense of reverence, for lack of a better word, as I see the light in both their eyes, and feel the sweet joy their special bond brings into our home. I thank the Lord for the blessing of my job that affords Teri the opportunity to focus solely on, and to do what she has undoubtedly been preparing to do for far more than her 23 years...to be a Mom. Teri, your perfect patience, concern, and love for Carter is truly humbling, and I thank you for all you do to raise both of us. I love you.

Late night ramble

It's late, but I'm still up dawdling around on the computer, waisting imporatant sleep time. Both Regan and Carter are sound asleep, so this is a great time to write down a few thoughts about our wonderful day. I absolutely love waking up in the mornings. I miss my baby throughout the night, and am anxious to hold him again so I bring him in bed with us at about five thirty. Trust me once you see this kid smile you would be hooked too! This afternoon we met Reg and had a fun lunch outside at the district which is just one of the amazing outdoor malls around here. Then Carter and I did a little shopping for my little nephew that is coming soon (can't wait!). This evening we went out to Lake Las Vegas and roamed around. We love it out there, it is so beautiful! We just hung out on this beautiful grass area right by the lake, and laughed at the cute faces and noises Carter was making. There was the strongest sent of flowers in the air, the birds were chirping, the weather was warm, it was so fun! I love springtime! We wandered on home, put Cart-dawg to bed, made a tasty dinner together, then crashed on the couch for American Idol. It was such a fun day, and one I want to remember. Life couldn't get any better :)

Three Months

Little Carter is three months old today! How fast time is flying. Carter has become such a huge part of our lives now that it is hard to imagine what it was like without him. I love everything about him, his smile, his cry, the way he yells at me when he's mad, the look on his face when he wakes up from a nap, his cute voice that he is discovering more and more everyday, the way he throws his fists together when he sneezes, his cute little bum, his sweetness, his stuborness, All of it!!! I feel so lucky to raise such an amazing little boy, and so happy that he is mine. Watching him grow and learn has been the funnest thing. He loves to talk and we love to listen! Every night before bed he just goes nuts telling us all about his day in his jibberish. He is just starting to grab things with his hands, and he is almost laughing! Today he rolled over all by himself, we both were kind of stunned, but really excited! He is so cute because he gets really proud of himself and smiles the hugest smile like "look what I did Mom!" I am learning to treasure every moment with him because every day is different and it all changes so fast. The last three months have been so fun and special to us, and I can't wait to see what else little Carter has in store for us.

Too Much playing wore him out!

We still get the chance to steal a night away just me and my hubby every so often. Reg took me to see Phantom of the Opera this week. It was spectacular!!!! and so beautiful!!!!! I loved it, and I had such a good time. Thank you so much Reg.