Life... Karter @ 14mos

Being behind on a blog is sooooo overwhelming. Being behind on what your baby is doing (and don't forget what milestones he is reaching) is even more overwhelming.
I have them all ready to go in draft form, just need a few more stats and pictures. for good record keeping of course.
where do all you mom's find time to keep such good journals?

anyway,
Karter is almost 14 months! Every month it seems to go faster and faster.
He is such a little explorer and sometimes a total stinker! He is not 100% walking yet... he is a stubborn little guy! He knows how to walk, can totally walk across a room, but remembers how fast he is at crawling and drops right to his hands and knees. (in his defense, he is really really fast!) we are encouraging him to walk 100%, but we will see.. no one seems to concerned about it, so I won't worry. He still is a wild sleeper... sleeps through the night but covers every inch of his crib flipping and flopping. He loves Balls and anything that looks like a ball - it's his favorite word right now too (Ball! Ball! Ball!) He likes to put things together and take things apart. He is a great eater and loves to try new things. He is a big boy at a whopping 24lbs! truly, this is why i need him to walk... he is HEAVY! He is cutting two molars right now, which ensures a nightly meltdown, poor kid, it probably hurts like crazy! He comes to me like he wants to cuddle, but i think he just likes to be near one of us, because he won't hold still long enough to cuddle.
Some funny things he does right now.... he will randomly walk (or crawl) over to you, lift up your shirt and poke your belly button - ha! Not sure where he learned that from, but it's way funny, we just have to make sure we don't let him do it to strangers! He also likes to do this deep voice laugh, he knows when he does it and tries to make it deeper and deeper! He also will raise his eyebrows at you (like, hey baby! ;-) ) follow my on Insta, I put lots of videos of it on there because it's way funny. He is growing so fast and it is so much fun! I love how active he is and how we can wrestle and play. every age is so fun, but this is my favorite!

as far as Scott and I go, we are great! I left my job at Spillman in October... just a few days shy of being back a whole year after Karter was born. (no one thought i would stay that long). Leaving Spillman was hard - those boys are my brothers. I had such a great job with such a great company, but we needed a change. Spillman was so good to me - they paid me well, they were flexible, fabulous benefits, i mean, everything!! But we knew I needed to be home with Karter more. So i started the job search in like August... it was hard finding a perfect fit. I don't have my degree, my CNA is expired, and I need to have health insurance.... exactly, what crappy factors right?
I put in applications all over, interviewed a few places and was surprisingly offered 3 different jobs.
the first one was at The Container Store (why not, right?) Surprisingly, they pay astonishingly well for a retail store, they wanted to start me at like 13.00/hr with benefits. Well, much like Goldilocks, it was not quite right. We didn't dig the insurance and the hours were all over the place (i needed like a consistent schedule), so we looked at the second offer - IHC, aww, back to my roots. I was offered a job as a Patient Service Rep at an Instacare in Holladay, they were 3 12's, which was perfect (i really like 12's) and we know the insurance, but they pay was crap. plus my 3 days were Tu, Th, Sa (who wants to work 9-9 on a Saturday? We realized beggers can't be choosers and we were ready to accept the job and the massive pay cut. I was back and forth with the manager when he kinda went quiet for a week or two on me... so while I waited, I saw a posting for a receptionist at Karter's Pediatrician's office... It just sounded like a good idea, so I applied, I interviewed with them and loved it! The 2 girls that interviewed me were so fun! I left there thinking "I wanna hang out with them... they are fun people!" then I heard nothing for a few weeks from either them or IHC, so I finally called both of them back and got solid offers from both. After lots of praying and pros/cons lists... we decided to accept the job at Families First Pediatrics. They pay was reasonable and they offered health insurance, they were close to home, it was back in medicine, i liked the people... everything just aligned.
I started the last week of October as a receptionist, it went well and I really liked it. A few weeks after being there, Karter had his 12month check, there, Dallen (his pediatrician) mentioned he is going to use me for some assignments and other things... This was huge to me. I appreciated the fact that they looked at my background and saw that I had more potential (this is starting to sound reeeeeally self absorbed) and could do more clinical things. I have the knowledge to do it, just no certification to back it up.
anyway, long story short (if you stuck with me this long, congrats!) I was pulled from Reception to work with an individual Doctor. I started with Dr. Zak Zarbock, helped him with charting and other things for the office, like the Christmas party, but was then pulled to help Dallen (he is a NP) to do his charting full time. It works out great, I only work 3 (sometimes 3 1/2) days a week and they take such good care of me here. Prayers are answered guys! This has been the biggest blessing to Scott and I! I am so thankful that the transition between jobs was easy and I am in a stable place that is a good place for me to learn and grow (hopefully will be transitioning into a MA and charting) it's so great!

really, life is great. Karter is healthy, Scott and I are healthy and we are just enjoying every minute! :)

Manti Pageant

The night before we left to Manti, this is how I found our little guy sleeping, haha his poor face is all red from laying on his hands, but it sure was cute!

For one of my Personal Progress Projects I decided to learn how to make curtains for our new trailer
(i still need to post about that beauty... I promise i will!)

Picking out fabric was a challenge for Scott and I - He wanted manly, plain and boring. I wanted bright, pretty, and fun!

so this is what we settled on

It was pretty convenient that our Ward was having Youth Conference down there at the same time! I was so glad I got to spend some time with them and finally see the inside of the Manti Temple!

It is beautiful inside, so quaint and historic. I loved it.
I can't wait to hopefully take my whole family there one day!

We have such a good group of youth!

Sweet Judy, I love this girl so much! We only served in YW together for a few short months (as she moved) but this girl moves mountains guys - she is an amazing person!

Our YW and YM got the hook ups too from here, as Manti is her hometown!

I can't get enough of the beauty of this temple

Back at Camp...

We stayed at Palisades, which is our favorite place to stay for the pageant - always a lot to do there!!

But let's just look how cute our trailer is... don't worry, we are recovering the cushions (I know those aren't cute) but the curtains look good, right?

Scott fishing and pondering life... and squatting so well.

let this little guy enjoy some of the great outdoors

This little guy truly enjoyed his carrots!

We had some pizza at a local pizza shop and then enjoyed the pageant, which was inspiring as always

The next morning (after a very long, not wanting to sleep mr. karter night)

we took him swimming

it was short lived as i think he just wanted to go home...

So we packed up, enjoyed a few more moments with this place that is so special to both of us

snapped some more beautiful pictures

and bid sweet Manti farewell...

...Until next Summer Manti!

Cali Pool Day

We scheduled a couple breather days in between all the disney maddness, and this is how Karter enjoyed his days (let's be honest, Scott loved it too!)

Once he woke up though, it was game on

Check out his adorable flip flops. Mom was a much bigger fan of them than he was though.

We took him swimming for the "first" time and he loved it!

He really like the chew on the toy attached to his boat

Swimming totally wore him out, but we loved it!

This is how the little stinker slept every night, haha - doesn't look comfy, but he didn't seem to mind. This kid knows how to sleep that's for sure

Disneyland - Part 3

This was the most fun day we had at Disney. We talked my parents into coming with us for a day, and it was a blast. This was also Karter's first time at Disneyland... a moment I waited my whole life for!

This picture was probably the funniest from the whole trip... my parents look like they are in Disneyland jail. we basically park hopped too fast and they were having issues with their tickets.

Karter, taking it all in...

This is honestly one of my most favorite views in all of Disneyland! I just love Frontierland!

I tried to do a panorama shot, but i ended up just creating a bunch of multiples of the same people

Here is Scott giving Karter a Pep Talk about his first ride!

In line for Winnie the Pooh!!

I don't think Karter knew what to think about all the bright lights and music!

This kid was all smiles all day!  

This melted my heart into a puddle... my happy place was now complete with my two boys!

Soaking up the Jungle Cruise

Finally sacked out... there was a lot to take in, but he slept like a champ (in 100* weather no less, hence his rosy red cheeks)

While Karter napped we tried on mouse ears... yes there are ears behind that TuTu - My mom was totally obsessed with that hat.

Later we headed back over to Paradise Pier... this is where we do our picture every time!

May 2009

(somehow we missed one on our Honeymoon - May 2010) 

October 2010

May 2014

(four years is way too long in between trips)

(this is my.. Why not? face) my Mom perfectly captured Scott telling me that I didn't need more Mouse Ears

as you will see later.. i eventually ended up with a pair - Scott on the other hand wouldn't buy the Goofy ones

we loved the Pixar parade! It was so cute, and totally brings all the pixar movies to life! Karter was totally mesmerized by it!

We were so excited when we found out we could take Karter on Toy Story Mania... so we braved the 45 minute line....

and Karter fell asleep right as we got to the front of the line. Thank heaven for rider swap :)

My Parents rode the ride first... and for some reason had my phone.

These were the pictures I found on it

Scott and My Scores... and then my parents up above. lol

We were prepared for a long night... we brought Karter's pajamas, some snuggly blankets and set him up for "bed" in his stroller so we could stay out as long as we wanted.

we are so lucky to have such an easy going baby, he was a gem and fell asleep later than night no problem

aren't they so cute? we were so glad they came with us!

Daddy & Daughter

My Mom took this picture... I love the Castle at night!

My Mom loves to make Picture Collages... these were some of my favorites!

The many mouse ears of Karter

Documenting his very first ride