Thanksgiving 2010

We spent Thanksgiving with my parents in their new house. They just moved in last week and all the bedrooms were already set up for us. Thanks for all your hard work Mom. My sister Becky, her hubby Ryan and their two kids were there as well as my sister Chelsea and her roommate from BYU. My Grandpa Coats flew in from Tucson for a few days too.The house looks great and is practically done. The yard still needs some work. I think Carson had more fun it the empty, unfinished pool then if it had water in it. =) I didn't get any pictures of the house, but here are a few from the backyard and the view of Pasadena and La Canada.

Carson had so much fun playing with his cool 3 1/2 year old cousin Oliver and chasing after Ami. He insists on holding the poor girl whenever he sees her. We took Carson and Ollie to Kidspace kids museum and they loved it.

 Thanksgiving day we spent an hour at Descanso Gardens enjoying the grounds and letting the kids run around. (Check out Oliver's face in the picture of him and Carson by the water. Carson was close to pushing him in.

 On Saturday we headed to Griffith Park and spent some time at Train Town. It is full of all these cool old trains that you aren't supposed to climb on, but who can stop a little boy from climbing on a train? I think Dad's let them so they have an excuse themselves to explore the trains! We found an old Shell Oil fire truck. Had to get a picture of that.

 After Train Town we went into the pony ride/train ride section of Griffith Park. Carson had NO INTEREST in riding the ponys, so Amelie took his turn and she loved it. What a brave little one-year-old.

Other than Ami being sick, and Carson getting sick from Amelie we had a great visit. Ollie and Carson played as well as a 2 and 3 year old can be expected to play. Ollie likes to play rough and is very good with Carson. Carson is going through a very clingy, wants Mom and Dad's full attention all the time stage. Maybe he senses that his whole world is going to be turned upside down soon! It was nice to spend some time with a few of my family members this week. My whole family is going to be together this Christmas at my parent's house, but we will be here at home (too close to my due date.) It will be weird to be all alone without family this year! Even though I am very pregnant I am going to deck the house out. Good thing we have great friends here, I know we won't be lonely. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

**On a separate note, you might be asking yourself, "why is Leah's picture quality look so amazing?" Well, I got a late Birthday present/early Christmas present and I LOVE IT!

Happy Birthday Carson!!!

My little guy turned two today! So crazy. He is taller than most three year olds so I guess it was about time =). He had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party. All you moms out there that do the homemade pom-poms, glass jars with beautiful food and darling food labels, and fresh flower birthday parties you put me to shame and I welcome it! (Leesee you would be proud!) We kicked it old school with Mickey Mouse plates, napkins, blowers, my not so attractive cupcakes, streamers… I just don’t have the energy to do much more than that right now. I did make cute cups with silly straws and put each guests’ name in vinyl on them. That turned out cute. 

It was more of a play group party. There were 8 kids with their moms. We set up our bounce house and my friend Carrie brought her slightly cooler bounce house, so between the two the kids were set! It rained last night and just started to rain once the party ended, so the weather timing couldn’t have been more perfect. All the kids had a lot of fun. For many of them it was their first “real party” with invitations and everything. Carson got some great presents and is loving playing with them. Thanks everyone!!

All the excitement hasn’t stopped there. My friend Jennie and her hubby went away for a much needed anniversary trip and we are watching her three kids this weekend. Luckily they are sweet, easy kids who are really good with Carson. They were here ready to play when Carson woke up from his nap. He has had a very fun and exciting day. He is going to be in heaven tomorrow morning when he wakes up and realizes that his friends are still here.

Nordstrom Rack $50 gift card for $25

How cool is this. Spend $25 and get $50 credit to Nordstrom Rack. Check out the link below. Must be used between now and December 31st. Thought you'd all like to know!

http://www.groupon.com/deals/nordstrom-miami?post_purchase=true

Little Drama King...

We have now gotten to the point of tears during sacrament meeting because nursery is coming next. Today Carson was happy as can be to be at church until the opening song...His bottom lip came out and he burst into tears. It's because he knows that right before sacrament meeting is over we sing a song and then it is time for the dreaded nursery. The rest of the meeting consisted of him running out of the chapel to either of our cars wanting to go home, or tears during the many songs.

We had a friend take him in instead of us, which usually helps. She felt so bad for him she ended up staying for the 2 hours! The nursery leader did say that he eventually warmed up and played.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Before your suggestions just a quick recap: Steve and I spend the first 8 months in there with him because he hated it, then we finally cut the cord. It's been 4 weeks of going by himself. On average he hysterically cries for half of it and is okay for the other half. My big concern now is that he is going to start throwing tantrums about going to church period. I don't want to take any steps back though. That and Steve and I might possibly loose our minds if we have to be in there with him... Then there is baby #2 in 7 weeks... Why do we have kids again?

Carson's Two-Year Pictures

Six Flags

We haven't been to Six Flags in weeks. We went for a few hours on Saturday and I thought I'd share some pictures. ( The last one is at the park later that afternoon.)

First "real" haircut

Before the cutting began...

After the cut, a shower & a clean shirt!

Carson has had a few trims here and there, but yesterday he had his first real haircut! My friend Shae cuts hair and was nice enough to come over. It is so much easier for them when they are in their own house watching TV! First she cut Steve's hair and Carson got to watch, then Carson sat on Steve's lap and got his own hair cut. He did really well. He watched Sesame Street and ate tortilla chips and was pretty content. She cut A TON of hair off and now he looks like such a big kid. I can't believe he is going to be 2 in just a few more weeks.

Toy Story 3, more then a little guy can handle!

I borrowed Toy Story 3 from a friend yesterday and Carson and I snuggled up on the couch to watch it. He loved it at first. All the action and fun characters. It was all very exciting. The part came where there was a flashback about the bear who's owner replaced him. There was very sad music and sad looking toy faces...Anyway, all the sudden Carson turns to me with tears spilling out of his eyes saying, "No no Mama" and bursts into tears! It was too much emotion for him! I comforted him and told him that it was okay and that the bear is happy now, but he was still distraught. So we had to turn it off. I guess he isn't old enough for Toy Story yet. All of his little shows don't have much contention or sadness in them, he didn't know how to handle it. He really is such a sensitive little boy. So cute!

Halloween 2010

We had a fun Halloween. Carson is just barely old enough to start understanding the concept. We had a trunk or treat at church on Friday. On Halloween we went trick or treating with our friends the Addingtons and the Genters. The Addingtons have a little Boy Ty who is a few months younger than Carson. Carson was very good about going to the doors and ringing the door bell. He tried on several occasions to run into the people's houses. He liked to grab the bowl of candy and take handfuls. By the end of the night he was very good at saying "trick or treat" and "thank you!" He loved all the scary Halloween decorations.

We only did a few houses and ended up at a Baptist Bible Church in the neighborhood we were at. It was great. They had hot dogs, bounce houses and TONS of candy. We are going to go there every year! As you can see from the first few pictures Carson DID NOT want to put on his Mickey Mouse ears or gloves. I forced him for a few pictures though, little rascal. Note to self... Don't expect too much costume cooperation with the 23 month old...