Sorry I haven't updated with pictures from the birthday party. We have been busy with lots of fun birthday parties, park visits and fun times down at Gran Gran and Daddy Steve. Most recently we have been busy getting ready for our trip to Louisiana. We leave on Tuesday (we are flying this time) and will get to stay for a little over a week. Yay! I am so excited to meet Boyd and get to spend some time with Abbey, Baxter and Warren. We will also be there for Baxter's 2nd birthday which is just icing on the cake. The picture below is what Emma Kate looked like when I told her we were flying on the airplane without Daddy (yup...me and both kids on the plane, please pray for my sanity and the patience of the people around us!)

I have been trying to pack and get organized so that I can feel like I have control over what is going to happen. Yeah right. We all know that God is the only one who can keep my kids still, sweet and quiet on the planes (Prayer to God: Please let my kids become perfect or please let me not care!)

On a more fun note I am going to post a few pictures from Emma Kate's party. With a three year old they actually care about things like party themes, colors, etc. So, when it came to birthday ideas it was ALL pink and ALL princess. Which turned out great for us (except we had to throw in a little knight/medieval theme for all the boy party attendants)! We had the party at lunch and it worked perfectly that it was during LeAnn and Ela's spring break and so they were able to come to the party! We had lunch, sang happy birthday (which Emma Kate sang to herself, check the videos on the eachday account on the right), and opened presents. She had a BLAST! For days after she kept asking "are we going to have another princess party today?" My response "Not today...it is going to take me another 365 days to work on your next princess cake!" Which leads me to the cake. I made a princess cake which in actuality is not that difficult. It probably wouldn't have taken me so long if Sleeping Beauty Barbie wasn't so tall! I had to make three cakes in order for her skirt to be tall enough (and she was still bent at the waist!) I ended up using a homemade marshmallow fondant recipe and it turned out pretty well. I will plan on using it again. I did learn from some of my mistakes. 1. Unless you keep your house at 62 degrees (impossible in Yuma) you have to decorate your cakes in the fridge...with the door open. I wish I had a picture of this and the incessant beeping of the refrigerator telling me to "SHUT THE DOOR!!!!!" 2. Make way more than you think you will need because you will need it. always. 3. Don't put too much fondant down the disposal...it will clog! (1:00 am night before party, sink backup, yay!) These are just a few lessons that I hope I am able to put to use on the next cake I attempt (it is a good thing that my kids birthdays are far enough apart that I will forget all the negatives and want to do it all over again!)

Sorry I don't have more pictures. I was too busy enjoying the fun! I will hopefully post pictures of ME HOLDING BOYD! Yay!!!!! Almost midnight....goodnight!

Pictures

I wanted to write a little post to tell you all what we have been doing. We have had some lovely weather here and so we have been outside as much as possible. We have been staying busy with playgroup and lunchgroup, as well as getting some great playtime with Gran Gran and Daddy Steve. We all love being down at their house and letting the kids play in the backyard. Recently the kids have been allowed to "help" pick the tomatoes. While Emma Kate does great and understands the difference between a green tomato and a red tomato, Mason does not. He thinks they are balls grown for his throwing enjoyment! A lot of Daddy Steve's vegetables will be coming up soon and so the kids will really enjoy getting to help him with his garden.

Our recent family activities have been taking professional family pictures (our friend Chris, brother to good friend Ali, is a professional photographer and was in town from Washington) and going to the Yuma Airshow. I have posted most of the pictures from the photo shoot on our eachday site (the box is on the right hand side of the blog) as there were too many good ones to pick just a few. I am so excited to have these pictures since this is our first time to have professional pictures since our wedding! The Yuma airshow was a lot of fun although Mason enjoyed it 100 times more than Emma Kate and I. He took in every ounce of the planes and the experience and didn't blink. Emma Kate preferred to ride in the stroller and eat her snack. I plan to get some pictures up here or on the eachday site soon of our future aviator and princess. Speaking of princess, mine is turning THREE on Tuesday! Can you believe it! I can't! She is beyond excited and has not stopped asking me "is it my birthday?", as if her birthday comes and goes every 5 minutes! We are having a princess party and if I can pull
it off, a princess cake. I will be sure to post pictures.

I think I will go for now as I have typed this whole post on my phone since matt is on the computer. Sorry for the typos! Pictures soon... I promise (although I want to keep Henry Boyd at the top of my blog forever!)

Henry Boyd Carroll

I am so excited to write a post about my new nephew! He is preciously perfect in every way (I haven't seen him in person yet, but I just know he is perfect). God blessed Abbey and Warren on Wednesday night with Boyd and they are adjusting well. I am SO EXCITED about getting to meet him sometime soon (hopefully April) and give big hugs to big brother Baxter! Hope your weekend is as joyful as mine!

BEDREST

In my last post I stated that we had not been doing too much. Well, times have changed. I am currently in Shreveport, LA on Abbey's sofa and the above picture is what is happening currently! About a week and a half ago she started having come contractions in her 32nd week of pregnancy. Her doctor sent her home to be on bed rest and so I decided that now would be a good time to be in LA. So, Matt and the kids and I packed up the car last Wednesday and drove the 25 hours from Arizona to Louisiana (in an ice/snow storm) through the night. It was a memorable trip and we are not ready to turn around and go home tomorrow, but life calls. I have loved being here and serving Abbey in a way that she needs right now. She is doing well as long as she takes it easy and allows everyone around her to serve her and meet her needs (she has found that is not very easy to do). I hope that I get to come back once the baby gets here (several weeks from now...I pray). Please pray that Abbey continues to take it easy so the baby will grow healthy and strong. I do want to mention that the Lord has already been answering prayers as Warren was allowed to come home 2 weeks early (last Friday) from his 5 month deployment. I will try and keep you informed with all their happenings! I will also make sure I post pictures once baby Carroll arrives (I am sure she would prefer for you to see a picture of baby carroll rather than the one above!)

Nothing New

As the title implies, we haven't been up to anything new recently. We have had our playgroups, lunch dates, and library time. The kids have been enjoying the routine and the BEAUTIFUL weather. We have been seeing Gran Gran and Daddy Steve often and loving their backyard. We frequent their kitchen table and then sit around the fire after dinner. Can I say again...we love having family down the street!

Last week we started our "mommy time" co-op. There are 8 mommies participating and 15 children. Every Thursday 2 mommies watch all the kids for 2 hours and the mommies get to do anything they want...BY THEMSELVES! Today was my first day of watching kids. It wasn't as bad as you would think. The kids range in age from 3 months to 3 years. The best part is having guilt free mommy time and I am happily awaiting next Thursday!

We are also still doing our produce co-op. Every other Saturday morning we have a delivery of a produce basket which includes half vegetables and half fruit. It costs $15 and then we buy 5 loaves of homemade DELICIOUS 9 grain bread for $10. It is a great deal. Every week we come home with a cooler FULL of food. The way it works is it bypasses the grocery store and it is based on volunteers and so there is no overhead. You can buy completely organic (offered in the larger cities) and the produce is always really nice looking. I love the Saturdays when we get the basket. The kids do too, as they always "help" me unload the cooler and wash the goodies. You should check and see if there are in your area.

I will try and post some pictures soon. I haven't really taken any since we have not been up to much. Emma Kate is a typical 2 year old and is doing EVERYTHING by herself (putting shoes on the wrong feet, pants on backwards, etc.) and will not let me help. Mason is getting his 1 yr molars and wishes he was a big as his older sister. He thinks he can do everything she can but obviously he can't just yet. I hope everyone is having a good start to February!

The whole truth

I was looking on our blog and noticed I had all the pictures of everyone smiling and looking pretty and I didn't want everyone to think that our Christmas was "perfect". So I decided to include some pictures of the reality of having children at Christmas!

Playgroup Christmas party (this was the best one...seriously!)

Mason didn't really cry while sledding but this is how he was every time we went out to play in the snow. We had to take this extra sled just to put him in while the rest of us were sledding.

WARNING..... PICTURE OF VOMIT BELOW!!!

Emma Kate has a record of getting car sick and the trip home from Flagstaff was no different. At least she held it until Matt got her out the car (Matt probably feels different but I was happy that we could just change clothes and not have to ride home with the "smell" in the car!) She also got sick two days before while driving from Sedona to Flagstaff. It is becoming a sad realization that this car sickness will be with us for a while :(

uploaded videos

I wanted to let you know that I have put some new videos on the toolbar on the right. I pray blessings on all of you for the year 2010!