Dickens' Family Christmas Party 2012

I know the post says Christmas 2012, and yes the pictures do in fact say 2013, but we wanted to make sure we could get everyone there that could be there, and in fact we were only missing Callie and Brett, so not bad at all for the turnout with having such a big extended family as we do. It is sure fun to get together with a large family, and for the most part it does not take that much preparation  with so many hands pitching in to help make the party a success. First we started off the party with Sandwiches and salads, these hit the spot, for some reason when I am pregnant I grave sandwiches, it could be worse I guess.

Some of the bunch, chowing down on some delicious food. 

As you can imagine with 34 grandchildren there is a lot of energy waiting to be let go, and that is what we did next, let some of that energy go! To help this energy go we had an indoor snowball fight, a penny relay race, and what we call musical dress up. All 3 games were very fun, the men and older nephews got to have a round of snowball fights, but we ladies thought there would be more testosterone thrown around, but we were wrong. 

The kids had lots of fun with this game, I will have to remember this as my kids get older. 

Carson and Mom making a snowball, it was fun to watch him dance around as all the older kids through the snowball, he didn't quite know what to make of all the noise and commotion.

The men and boys having their indoor snowball fight. 

 Here are some of the funniest of the combinations that came through musical dress up

Preston 

Benjamin

Jacob and Seth

Love being part of this wonderful family, I could not have asked for a better family to be married into, love each and everyone one of you! 

Teresa, Jaime, & Ella

Me, Mama, Teresa, & Mason

Cynthia, Robert, & Cathy

Claire, & Carson

Me and my Honey!

Baby Burrito

Last night Robert and I rolled Carson up in his blanket like a burrito, he loved getting all rolled up and then when we let go and the blanket unrolled, he laughed in his most adorable laugh, enjoy the little burrito. 

Many of Robert's sister's remember Robert always curling up in a blanket, wait a minute he still does. But it is more of a Moses type wrap than a burrito wrap. 

15 Week Appointment

15 weeks today, and so excited for the what is to come in the next few weeks. First of all on the side of my blog for those who care, I have posted an audio file of our new little one's heart beat from today, I recorded it so Robert could hear as he was unable to come to my OB appointment today. The heart beat is sitting right about 140 which is perfectly normal, it took a few tries to get this little one's heart beat, kept moving around. In addition a 20 week ultrasound has been set up for Feb. 5th at 4pm, wish that date was today, but still can't wait to find out if we are adding another little prince to our lives or if we are adding a princess, either way we are happy to be expanding our vineyard. 

18 Months!

Where has the time gone, I always heard that the baby stage went very quickly so enjoy every moment, but I never imagined it would go this quickly. But here we are 18 months since our precious little boy joined our family, and it has been the most wonderful time of our lives. Carson has just begun nursery and it was hard not to let a tear drop, realizing my baby is no longer a baby. He loved nursery, it made church easier for sure, and he was much happier at the end of church when I picked him up. It was cute, to watch him run over to me and give me the biggest hug after church, once again a tear was shed. His leaders said he was a very good boy, he even managed to dump his water cup on himself. :) He will always be our baby  even when we are old and gray, we love you Carson. 

Carson's 18 month Stats
Weight: 28 lbs 15 oz (95%)
Height: 34 inches (93%)
Head: 48.5 cm (79%)

AT 18 months:

• He is so in love and has such a fascination with trains or "Choo Choos" as he calls them. He loves his Thomas and James, and anything that has smoke coming out is a Choo Choo. He loves to watch train shows as well as watch clips about trains on YouTube, he is 100% glued on them, and you better not turn them off unless you want World War 3.
• He is beginning to attempt to copy words, and his vocabulary is increasing on a daily basis, some of his favorite words are "Choo Choo, Daddy, hi, bye, wader (water), eat,  ready, up poo (for up)." He even said his first sentence " I did it!" To be honest not sure how many words he knows, but I would say at least 15 to 20 words, or maybe even more. 
• Lately he loves putting puzzles, and putting things inside of things. 
• Carson is the of the happiest kids I know, he almost always has a smile on his face or is laughing. 
• Loves his "B", blanket. Mom can't fool him and try to get him to take another blanket, only his green one will do. 
• He is great with stairs and loves to go down them now like a big person, this makes mom nervous sometimes, but he is great at it. 
• He is also starting to interact more with other kids as well as some of his favorite TV shows such as Mickey's Clubhouse, and Chuggington. 
• The tantrums have started, and who says terrible 2's, but a good thing is I can still distract him most of the time, with other things. 
• Carson loves to help mom, he is a great help when it comes to cleaning  and bringing things to mom and dad. 
• He loves to wave and say "Hi" to anyone he sees, such a friendly boy.
• He loves taking baths, and loves to splash and blow bubbles in the water. 
• He is now a climber, and will climb up anything he can, thus why our table chairs are upside down on the floor. 
• He recently learned how to close the door when leaving a room, such a tall boy, and now all doors are closed, and he will close them if asked to do so. 
• He will pull up mommy's shirt and say baby, he is going to be such a great big brother. 
• Loves to "read" and look at books, his books are never on the bookshelf!
• Loves anything electronic, and if you leave it in his reach he will grab it, and push all the buttons. 
• He recognizes pictures of Jesus, and it is getting fun to teach him more about the gospel.
• Loves the snow, and can say "snow", he freaks out when we have to come inside. 
• Many animals still say "roar", however, he has added kitty, lamb, cow, and dinosaur to the list of animal sounds he does know. He is still trying to get a few more, and sometimes can get them and sometimes he forgets. 
• He is a fast little one, can't let him out of my site for a second, otherwise he will be gone. 
• He understands that he needs to fold his arms when a prayer is said, and he sometimes bows his head as well. 
• He loves his Daddy, and is sad to see him leave for work, but he is still a mama's boy when it is time for bed.
• He now can put himself to sleep in his own crib for nap-time as well has bedtime, but I still cuddle with him, I just can't seem to give that up. 
• He has turned into a picky eater, but that is normal at this stage I have been told. It is hard to realize sometimes he will not starve himself. Some of his favorites, is toast, strawberries, and oatmeal, and cheese.
• He still takes 3 hour naps, and I hope this keeps going, lets me either get a nap or get things done. 
• Loves watching movies, with Daddy on the computer. 
• Loves to help get the groceries out of the cart, and loves and knows how to swipe a card ( are we in trouble?)
• Will only sit in the basket in the cart and not the seat in the cart. In fact he cries pretty loud when he is put in the seat and buckled. 
• Many people have said they just couldn't think Carson could get any cuter, and then I post more pictures and then he does it again, gets cuter! ( I could not agree more)

I could go on and on with this list, because Carson is the center of our lives, and we would have it no other way. It is hard to look back and not feel like Carson has been with us longer than just 18 months. He is such a sweet boy, who melts your heart when you get to know him, I can tell he is directly from our Heavenly Father. I think sometimes, why was I so lucky to be this little boy's mom, but I must have something that he needs and of course I do, just hope and pray that I can help him become all he can become. I look forward to seeing him grow and learn as the years go by. We love you Carson! 

Our Sweet and lovable Carson

Hospital Bill Paid!

This might sound trivial to write about on the blog, but hey it was a load off of our minds. Today we finally got Carson's hospital bill resolved, they have removed a double charge as well as 8 hours of nursing charges, for keeping us there when we truly could have been discharged earlier, too bad it took almost 8 months to get this resolved. But the greatest part of it all is that we are paying almost a 1,000 dollars less because we kept pursuing the issue and not letting it drop. The whole reason we didn't feel like we should pay for all the time spent in the hospital was because we kept asking them about being discharged because they told us we could be discharged in the morning of May 14th, but didn't get discharged until almost 10 at night, per our insistence that the doctor come and discharge him because he was noticeably different from Saturday night when he was admitted, maybe not 100% better, but better enough to go home for sure! However, lesson learned look over all medical bills, it makes me wonder how much extra I may have paid for delivery of Carson, but can't go back on that now, but for sure in the future I will be closely looking at all my medical bills. 

This is how I felt the first time the bill was calculated, I still feel like it is a lot, but more reasonable.