As of lately...where has the time gone??

Looking back I realized that I forgot to blog about a lot of events!! I guess I was just so excited for Carter's 3 month pictures, that I forgot to post anything else BUT those! Ha! Or maybe it's because I don't want to admit that one BIG thing happened.....me turning the big THREE-OH! Ewww!!! No it really isn't that bad. I don't mind saying that I'm 30. I had a great birthday. David and my friends and family made it very special for me.

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Last year I ran a half marathon (London's Run) for the first time on my 29th birthday. Well this year, I thought I'd make it a yearly tradition and run it every year for every year that I turn "older"! I guess to prove that age ain't nothin but a number! :) I signed up for the half marathon really late but was still determined to get my training in quick and be ready for it come January 28th. Well, I didn't train enough so I bumped it down to the 10k. Christina ran the half marathon this year. It was fun to see her there!

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For my actual birthday, David surprised me with family and friends and we all had cake and icecream. It was great to have everyone there! Love my family and friends so much!

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For my birthday "date", David took me to the top of the new casino where there is a yummy fancy restaurant called Orange Sky. It overlooks the valley. It was beautiful!

And SUPER delicious!!!

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Out of order but these were my friends who came to my surprise birthday get together!

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Now onto other things....starting with our princess Kylee Alexa!

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She lost both her front teeth last month! One came out in January and the other came out at the end of February. She was so excited to be just like her other friends and to sing..."All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". She cracks me up!

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Our sweet girl is also excelling in school! She makes us so proud. Top of her class for reading and most all other subjects. This was "Ticky the Robot" that she made for an at-home project. She was very proud of him!

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Kylee is also excelling in her gymnastics group. She got moved up a level last month. She is now doing more stuff on the balance beam, uneven bars, and doing more floor exercises like front and back walk-overs. She loves it!

We are so proud of our Kylee girl. She is so smart, funny, athletic, beautiful and the best big sister ever! She starts soccer this week so we are excited to see how she does with that. She can't wait!

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Onto our handsome prince....Carter Aaron!

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He turned 4 months old this month....on the 7th. He is such a ray of light and makes our days brighter and happier. He is discovering new things every day and loves exploring his surroundings. We just love him so much and can't get enough of our little man!

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Now for Daddy.....

He is such a hard worker. He is excelling at his job and great new things are happening for him at work. Currently, during the month of March, he is working EVERYDAY! The days he isn't working his regular shift, he is picking up spring training baseball games. It's great and easy money, but we miss our Daddy! The time we get to spend with him lately is valued and precious!

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He still finds time to spend quality time with his babes! Melts my heart!!

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And of course he finds some time for himself....playing video games! Or should I say..."spending quality time with his son"! Haha!

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Now for me...all I can say is that I have recommitted myself to my workouts again. I was a gym hog before Carter came but once we got him, I didn't want to do anything but hold and kiss him all day long. I got comfortable and ate anything and everything! But I don't regret one second of it. But last month I was ready to get back into gear. With Carter on a pretty good napping schedule, I decided to take advantage and workout again. I feel great! David took me to Road Runner in Tempe for my birthday present, where they did some tests on me and fit me for the perfect insoles and shoes. I love them! Great way to get me started and back on track to a healthier lifestyle!

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Kylee even likes running on the treadmill! She thinks it's a game. One day she will realize it's torture!! Haha! Jk...I actually really love it! But I prefer the fresh outside air when I can.

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And of course, my life always revolves around these two amazing little angels. They are truly best friends and love each other more than anyone. Sad to say...but I'm pretty sure they love each other more than me and David. But that's ok! As long as they know that we love them more than anyone....they can love each other the same.

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I love my boos!

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As always....life is PEWFECT!

3 months old!

This beautiful little man is 3 months old today and I can't believe it! Everyday we have with him makes for the best day ever. We love him so much and he absolutely is the light of our little family. He is growing so much everyday and learning new things daily. Here are some of the things that our Carter does now at 3 months:

*Smiles and coo's all the time! His personality is really shining through!

*Loves to be around people....always happinest and most calm when he is around people (such a social butterfly)

*Just started drooling like CRAZY! Thinking he might be starting the early stages of teething

*Drinks 6 ounces every 4-5 hours

*Sleep through the night (9pm - 9am)

*Loves to play pat-a-cake

*Loves to eat his hands!! He is chewing on them non-stop, which makes him drool even more. And also makes us believe that he is definitely teething!

*Losing more hair, which makes Momma sad! But he still has a good amount of curls on top of his head and I refuse to shave it!

*Loves cuddle time with his blankie and binkie.

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Oh sweet boy....there are no words to describe just how much your family loves you. We are so thankful everyday for you and thank our Father in Heaven everyday that we get to be blessed with you in our lives forever. We love you so much!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Santa definitely came to our house and treated us very well. Our best present of all was of course this little angel right here....

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My Grandma Montez and Aunt Queenie came over from California, so it was fun to celebrate Christmas morning with them. We opened our presents at home and then drove to Natalie's house to celebrate the rest of our day with our entire family. Carter had so much fun "opening" his presents...

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Of course Kylee did too!

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This is a little out of order but Kylee had her Christmas party at school last week too. Thank you Olivia for watching Carter boy so I could help celebrate with my girly girl! We had so much fun!

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We took Kylee and Carter to see Santa and to look at some crazy lights around a couple different neighborhoods. Daddy and Carter stayed in the car while Kylee and I walked around. It was a tad bit cold and Carter was sleeping. But we still had so much fun as a family!

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This should be a picture with Kylee and Carter sitting on Santa's lap, but we didn't feel like paying $30 for ONE picture!!! When did Santa become so expensive? Geez! We waited in line for 40 minutes just so they could sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Good enough I guess!

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After celebrating Christmas day at Natalie's house with all our family, we drove to El Centro to spend some time with David's family....and to make one more VERY special visit with Carter's birth Mom.

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We went on a hike to the Salton Sea. Definitely a Grandma Deede tradition when we are all there! Carter was super excited to go on his first "hike"....

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And the highlight of our trip.....visiting with our amazing birth Mother! It was such a great visit and made us so happy to see her and Carter together again! We love her dearly and are forever so thankful for her and for her strength, courage, and willingness to follow the spirit and share sweet Carter baby with us. We love her and her family and are so thankful for the amazing relationship and bond that we have with them! We never knew adoption could be this wonderful!We truly are all brothers and sisters and are guided and directed by our Father in Heaven. He loves us all and I know that we will all be together, happy, as one big family in paradise!

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We are looking forward to the new year and for all the exciting new things that we will experience together as a family of four! We can't wait to move back to our house in Queen Creek and to pick up where we left off with our ward family, dear friends, neighbors, and family. Life is amazingly sweet and I'm so thankful to be on this journey of life with the ones I love the most! Happy holidays everyone!

Carter update

Our sweet angel has changed so much! He is 6 weeks old today and is getting so big and changing everyday. He is smiling like crazy now and is really starting to show his personality. He coo's from time to time and just loves to be held! Here are some of the milestones he is making at 6 weeks old:

*Sleeping almost through the night (a solid 6-7 hours, and then another 3 after his middle of the night feeding)

*Loves his swing!

*Eating anywhere from 4-6 ounces each bottle

*LOVES to be on his tummy

*Starting to coo and smile!

*Knows voices and turns to find them

*LOVES his sissy! He lights up everytime she holds him and talks to him

Here are some pictures of just Carter boy!

Pictures with Carter and Mommy

Pictures with Carter and Daddy

Pictures of Kylee and Carter (best friends)!

Life is so amazing! I had two showers...one in Queen Creek and one in Peoria. I had so much fun seeing everyone I love and miss so much. Carter is such a loved little boy!! We absolutely can't get enough of him and he makes us smile daily. Sweet Kylee girl is in heaven with her new baby. If she had it her way, she would never put him down. Seeing them together lights up my life and brings me more joy than I ever could have imagined. I just love my sweet little family!!!