Conference Weekend

We had a busy weekend but it was packed with lots of fun!

I had early morning ICU rotation last week in clinicals starting at 5am and my week actually started on Sunday (Sept. 25).  I usually do every Saturday but since my rotation that week had Sunday as my weekend I was finished by Wednesday and had the whole conference weekend to spend with my family!  It was so nice being able to spend a Saturday with Carson and James.

Saturday morning Carson and I enjoyed breakfast at Kneaders....french toast....yum!  Then we made it home just in time for conference.  It was so nice being able to catch all of conference this time.  For the past 4 years I have either worked or had clinicals on one or both of the days.  Though I still had my distractions...having a baby makes it hard to concentrate and not get pulled away.

After the first session we hopped in the car and made our way up to Cottonwood Heights area where Carson's family lives.  We had to stop by Fashion Place mall first to go to the Apple store to see what they could do about my phone....yes, I dropped it (not the first time) and the screen shattered.  We did not expect that they would replace it.  Even though we have Apple Care, it does not cover screens.  But to our surprise we got it replaced for FREE!  So I have a brand new iPhone with a nice, clear screen (I was having trouble playing "hanging with friends"...my I's looked like T's etc...major problem)!

Later that evening the boys attended Priesthood session (with the exception of James and my 2 year old nephew, Will).  And the women stayed home to do our traditional "craft night".  This time we made wreaths to go on the front door.  They are super cute!  They are reversible so on the other side of mine it is painted purple and says, "Welcome" to display year round and the ribbon will be changed out.  Fun Idea!  The boys came back and we had a yummy meal.  By the time we were finished with everything it was 10pm WAY past James' bed time so we hustled home to put him to bed.

it turned out really cute!

Sunday morning it was nice to sleep in and we watched the morning session together then in between sessions, went up to the Cullimore's again for their traditional "omelettes on conference Sunday".  We watched the last session of conference there and then went down to my parents in Orem for dinner with the whole family.  We also had an intense game or two of steal the flag (a favorite) after dinner.  By 8pm we were pooped from the fun-filled weekend so we came home early, bathed James, and put him to bed ON TIME (poor little guy).

watching conference Sunday evening

We had a very enjoyable weekend.  I love being able to spend time with my family and to be able to hear the words of our Prophet and other church leaders.  I can not wait for the Ensign to come out next month so I can read them over again.  I am thrilled they are restoring the Provo Tabernacle as a temple!  So didn't see that one coming.  What a wonderful blessing to come out of something so terrible.

Just a Little Update

Well, Carson and I have started up school again (last year for both of us, yay!).  This is a first for us with both of us going to school and having a baby.  I was a tad nervous about it but it has actually worked out pretty well.

We are so grateful for the help of loving family and friends!  Everyone is so willing...but how could you not be with this kid?  :)

Most of the time for classes for the two of us, it has worked out perfectly where one of us can be home with James.  It's great!  Our schedules couldn't have worked out more perfectly together.  It's a little challenging finding time to do homework and studying for tests.  Most of the time I can get a lot of it done while at clinicals so that's nice.

James is growing so fast and is busy doing lots of new things!

He is standing on his own!

 Haha not really, he was kind of leaning on my legs but he looks like a little boy!

Now this is all on his own

He is also now getting on his hands and knees and is rocking!....I guess this means he'll be crawling soon, ah!

We are enjoying life!  I LOVE this weather right now...love Fall (not looking forward to Winter but I guess it has to come).

July

 K, this post is a little out of order but I wrote it and then had to compile my pictures so better late than never!  We had A LOT to update on from July:

Wow July was VERY eventful!

I finished up my jam packed, 7 week, super stressful summer semester at the end of June and was given a Summer vacation (only to start back up with clinicals Aug. 1).

For only having a month of true Summer, boy did we make it a GREAT one!

We went to the annual Oakley Rodeo to celebrate the 4th of July with Carson's family.

We attended the Cook Family Reunion on the 2nd with our usual hit, the huge slip n' slide.

We blessed James and since we had 8:30 church (yes 8:30 IN THE MORNING), we had a yummy breakfast afterward in our backyard with close family.

Our oldest nephew, Zach, got baptized! Way to go Zach!...I'm a horrible aunt and didn't bring my camera, so no pic :(

We said Goodbye to some good friends:

Jeff and Holli Chambers. They will be moving to Missouri where Jeff will attend Med. school. and our other good friends, Josh and Amy (and Ally) Johnson. They moved to Pennsylvania where Josh will attend Physical Therapy school. We are very sad to see these good friends go but are super excited for their new adventures! (sorry, Jeff and Holli.  We couldn't find a pic where we were all together :(

 our friends Amy and Josh (old pic)

AND....

We went on a family vacation with Carson's family to Oceanside, California! Carson's grandparents have a condo on the beach. It was SO much fun! It was James' first time seeing the ocean!

Whew! What an exciting month!

Getting so big!

James is now 4 months old! At his checkup he weighed 15lb. 6oz. He is 26 in. long.

The 4 month stage is a very active one! I can't believe how much he has changed even in a month! He now rolls over (just from back-to-tummy....he's having a hard time with the tummy-to-back. He's done it before but hasn't mastered it quite yet).

And he is eating solids! He likes the cereals and sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots so far. He does NOT like peas and green beans. We'll work on those ones :)

He is getting pretty talkative and we LOVE it! We're starting to see his cute little personality.

This might be hard to hear, but it was super cute. Carson was making a noise and we noticed James was copying him so we got it on video!

Haircut!!

I decided since I am now a mom, it was time to cut my hair. But I didn't want a typical mommyhaircut so.....here's my new "sassy" mommy haircut!

before

2 months old!

We went in on Tuesday for James' 2 month check up. He weighs 11lb. 13 oz. and is 24 in. long! He's a growing boy!

He is smiling a ton and even laughs now! I LOVE it! He kicks a lot and coos and blows spit bubbles :) I love watching him grow and learn something new every day.

At a little after a month old we had to kick him into his own room. This has been the best thing! He is such a noisy sleeper! At first I worried about the transition to a crib but right away he took to it and actually sleeps a ton better than he did in his bassinet so we're all loving the change.

He is a really great sleeper even from day one (ok, I should say day 2 because, as most parents will attest, we did not sleep at all the first night). At about 6 weeks he started sleeping 6-7 hour stretches and continues to do that to this day (WONDERFUL!). Last night he slept 8 (crossing our fingers for the formation of a habit).

Like I said he has always slept great but we struggled with the self soothing part. We've pretty much got that down now. He used to only be able to fall asleep in our arms and we'd have to wait until he was in a deep sleep to put him down in his bed but now we can pretty much put him down when he's drowsy and he'll fall asleep on his own.

We just love this kid and all that he brings to our family already.

I saw this on the door in the pumping room at work and had to laugh cause it's so true :)

Newborn Pics

We were able to get some professional newborn pictures taken and thought we'd share a few of our favorites. They turned out really well! These were taken when he was 3 weeks old.