Trip to Utah

Carter and I just got back yesterday from our trip to Utah. We had a great time! Unfortunately Tyler had to stay home and work, and we missed him a lot. Carter's first vacation went really well, though. I was really nervous to fly with him but he did great on the plane, sleeping the whole time both ways! I was grateful for that. My mom met us out there to help out with Carter, and my grandma even came, too. I was so glad my grandma could meet Carter! We were pretty busy the entire time we were out there. I got to spend some time with a bunch of my old roommates...Noelle, Colleen, Kirsten, and Heidi. It's weird that we're all married now, 2 of us with kids and 2 with kids on the way! It was so great to reminisce and catch up. I also got to hang out with my friends Kyle and Mark. The main purpose of the trip was to see my friend Lindsay, who I have been best friends with since I was 7, get married. It was a great wedding and I was so glad to see her get sealed in the temple to a guy that is just perfect for her. Other than that we visited all the Provo food places that I have been craving since I left, and enjoyed staying in the basement of our old house. It brought back some good memories! We were so glad to come back to Utah and see Tyler again. It was the first time he's been away from Carter, and he was so glad to see his little boy again.
Carter is continuing to grow. I can hardly believe it, but he will be 8 weeks tomorrow! Where has the time gone?! He had a rough time sleeping in Utah and unfortunately has not gotten back into his habit of sleeping through the night yet, meaning he's got a very tired mommy. But he is getting more and more playful, which is fun. He loves to kick and coo and is smiling so much more now! It's fun to see him grow and get to more entertaining stages of his life. He is really starting to interact with us a lot!
Other than that we are just trying to survive the insane heat wave that has hit Washington. It is supposed to be 105 today, and we have no AC! Even though it was almost this hot in Utah, it was much easier to deal with because there was no humidity...this Washington heat is killer!

Here are some pictures from July 3rd when Jamie, Patrick, and Connor came to visit us. Carter is 1 month old here:

Connor can roll over...all Carter can do is sleep!

Aunt Jamie & Cousin Connor

Connor is about to attempt to grab Carter's face...

Cousins Connor (5 1/2 mos) & Carter (1 mo)

Brother & Sister and 1st sons

These next pictures are from our trip to Utah. I didn't take too many but here they are. Carter is 7 weeks in them.

Carter doesn't particularly like riding in the car in his carseat, but in Utah we did a LOT of driving. This is driving up to the reception after Lindsay's sealing.

Me & Lindsay. She looked so beautiful!!!

Lindsay & Max

Carter always gets into positions like this when he's sleeping! It's like he's posing.

Carter's playtime

Trying to talk

Waving his arms around like a wild man!

He always has this wide-eyed/stunned look on his face when he's concentrating on something

When we got home to Washington it was HOT and our apartment was deathly. We did our best to not move a muscle and keep poor little Carter as cool as possible. If we weren't so scared of being peed on (or worse!) we'd have completely stripped him down!

Daddy & Carter trying to keep cool

I'm still waiting on all those pictures my mom took when she was up here, but once I get them I will do a mega-picture post.

Just the 3 of Us Again

Sorry for the long delay in blog posts. My only excuse is that we've been bombarded with family being in town lately! It's been fantastic!!! We've been so excited to show off our amazing little boy to everyone who will pay any attention. After my sister-in-law Kim left, my dad came into town, shortly thereafter followed by my brother James and his wife Alie. It was so much fun having them here. Unfortunately Carter and I weren't up to going along on a lot of their sightseeing, but we had fun at home with them playing games and enjoying a cute baby. We also recently found out that Alie is having a little girl in December and are so excited for the 1st girl in the family to come along! We also got to see Tyler's sister Jamie, her husband Patrick, and our nephew Connor for a day. It was so great to see them and meet our nephew for the first time! We loved getting Carter together with his cousin...he looked so tiny next to him!

The next day was the 4th of July, and Tyler and I celebrated by leaving Carter with his grandparents and going out to eat and to a movie. It was great because everyone else was watching the fireworks! The food ended up being bad, and the movie was bad too, but it was so nice being able to get out on our own. I don't know when we'll be able to have another date! Next to arrive was Tyler's parents. We had a blast with them and they had a great time getting to know their new grandson.

On July 12th Carter got blessed. Tyler did a great job and so did Carter! Carter didn't cry at all but just sat there awake through it all. After the blessing we had a big luncheon and got to visit with all the family that came. There were around 40 people there for the occasion! On my side, we had my parents, James & Alie, my Aunt Shirley, my Aunt Millie & Uncle Terry, my Aunt Sherie & Uncle Dave, and my cousin Jenny and her entire family. Then on Tyler's side we had his parents, his Grandma and Grandpa Andrus, his Uncle Mark and his entire family, his Uncle John and most of his family, and his Uncle Mike and his entire family. So many people to celebrate and see one tiny baby. It was amazing! We had such a great time visiting with everyone, and they had a great time passing the baby around. What an incredible day! A few days after the blessing Tyler's parents left and we became just the 3 of us again. I admit, I miss all the help!!! It was great to get a little extra sleep and have extra hands to hold the baby.
Hopefully we'll continue to get visitors more often since we have a cute baby for everyone to see.

Carter is doing fantastic otherwise! He is now weighing in at around 9 pounds!! We can hardly believe how quickly he has grown. He looks like a completely different person now than when he was born! He has started to outgrow most of his newborn sized clothes although most of the 0-3 mos still look big on him. He is also starting to sleep through the night. Last night he slept for 7 straight hours! I don't know how we got so lucky to get such a perfect child that will sleep through the night before he's even 7 weeks old! We hope it lasts! He's also so happy all the time. He has started to smile and coo and interact a lot more. Here is a video of him playing in his bouncer. It would have been longer but my memory card filled up and there was no more room!



Unfortunately since my memory card was full I also don't currently have any of the pictures from everyone being here and from the blessing! But rest assured, my mom, sister-in-law, and Tyler's step-mom took lots so I will get them all from them and post them soon. Be prepared for a post filled with TONS of pictures...my mom alone took hundreds! And no, that's not an exaggeration.