2nd Birthdays!!

The celebrations of his birthday were a blast.

We had friends over on Saturday for the bounce house, cake & ice cream. The bounce house

Look at the air he got!!!

He had some help from Daddy blowing out those candles!

Do you see that look, "Really? Do I have to?"After all the gifts were open.

Friends who celebrated with us:

Maria, Emily & Maddie Sackett

Carlee & Kaylee Hansen

Sean, Genie, Liz & Matt Brooks

Todd, Andrea, Avery & Kayden Garyson

Thank you all for coming and sharing this special day with us!!!

Then we had our (in-town) families over for cake & ice cream on Sunday.

Family in attendance:

Grandma & Papa Perkins

Aunt Belinda, Jessica, Stephanie, Kayden & Izaak

Uncle James, Aunt Renna, Michael & Sam, Kayla, Tim & Wesley

Papa & Tutu (Hawaiin for Grandma) De La Rosa & Danny

Aunt Nikki, Uncle John, Karli & Baby LeilaCarson got so close to the candles as he blew them out (ALL BY HIMSELF) that he ALMOST burnt his little nose.Bowling ball from Papa & TutuHe seemed to enojy this ribbon on his head a little more than the bow!! Super cute Elmo PJs from Aunt Belinda, Uncle Mark & Family

He got a LOT of cute outfits from friends & family along with a bowling ball game, books, and a puzzle. He was getting SO excited as he opened each of the gifts on Sunday. He would squeel as he pulled each item out of the bag or wrap it. I enjoyed it almost as much as he did.

Carson, we love you so much and are so proud of you and all you have accomplished. You are a great boy and bring so much joy and love into our life!!!

2 Year Check Up

Carson had his 2 year well baby check up today. I am happy to announce that CONTRARY to popular belief, Carson IS gaining weight. He weight in at 25 lbs, 13 oz!! That is just over a pound more than he was 6 months ago, but he has been bumped up into the 20^th percentile (instead of 5% where he’s been for the rest of his life). He also was measured at 32 ½ inches (back down to 10%) with 48 ½ cm head circumference (25-50% - his normal).

Our baby really is growing. I am so excited. As I keep saying, good thing I am having another one soon enough!!!

Happy Birthday Carson!!!

Well, it has officially been 2 years since Carson was born. I cannot believe how time flies. For as little as he actually is, he has gotten so big. When he was born we decided we would track his growing by taking pictures of him in Daddy's Carson Palmer jersey. Of course when he was first born, we just bought his own outfit.

1 Day Old

1 Year Old

2 Year Old

Some of the things Carson has done this past year to show how big he is:

- He is sleeping in a "BIG BOY" bed now. We have a 4-in-1 convertible crib where the front comes off and you can add a toddler rail. But we did not have the toddler rail and he just wasn't adjusting very well to it. Luckily, my mom had a toddler bed she gave us to use. Carson loved helping mommy put it together and loves going to bed in it. We've got the nighttime routine down pat: Bath (when needed), family prayers, book, juice/milk, music and then he rolls over and snuggles himself to sleep. I LOVE IT!!!- He just got a Little Tikes jungle gym with slide for his birthday from Grandma & Papa Perkins and Mommy & Daddy. He loves climbing on it and going down the slide.- His vocabulary is growing, a LOT. His favorite things to say: "I want that", "I want t'eat" (to eat, especially first thing in the morning). He asks for almost anything he wants to eat. He says "pease" and is still signing thank you. And he has been playing copycat with almost everything we say!!! Time to watch our mouths!! HAHAFirst Birthday CakeSecond Birthday Cake

- His favorite TV shows: Hi-5, Pat-Pat (Little Einsteins), Tooo ('Toodles' from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), Ooh-Ooh (which could be Curious George or Tarzan) and Choo-choo (Thomas the Train)

He loves wearing everybody's shoes. If they are lying around, he gets them on.

- His favorite foods: "Sausj", "Ezz", "Cheese" (all for breakfast), "(r)ice", "Chi'n", "H'dog", beans, and milk (with or without chocolate) - which for some reason he calls "balk" while doing the sign for milk.

He just started climbing the rope ladder at the park this week. He loves being in the kitchen while we are cooking. He loves dancing and singing and his new favorite song is Book of Mormon Stories since we did it for FHE last week. He loves watching football and baseball on TV with all of us.

The past two years have been so fun, while challenging at times as well, but we could NOT imagine it or the rest of our lives without Carson. He was such a blessing to us when he joined our family and has continued to be one!!!

Carson we are so proud of you and the big boy you have turned into. I know you are excited to have your new little sister in 4 more months and you will be a GREAT big brother!! You are a great help to me and Daddy and a joy to all those who know you. We all LOVE you VERY much!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!!

Ultrasound results

We went to the Doctor last Tuesday and had a great ultrasound. As some (or many) of you may know we are having our baby at home, as we did with Carson. We had such a great experience that we plan to have ALL our kids at home, unless there are medical necessities requiring a hospital birth. So this was only our second trip to a Doctor's office. We have been seeing our midwife, April Kermani on a regular basis and she is FABULOUS!! Dr Roberts is the obstetrician April works with (in Summerlin) and we were able to meet with him after the ultrasound. The tech did a great job. The baby was VERY uncooperative for quite a while. The baby stayed curled up in a ball/fetal position for most of the appointment. There were only a couple times when the baby would stretch out. At one point, the baby stretched out one leg and had the other bent like the baby was modeling or something. Very cute.
All in all the results showed that the baby is well and healthy!! The baby is growing just as the baby should. The baby has a great heartbeat and good organs. The tech did a VERY comprehensive exam to be sure that EVERYTHING looked good. Granted, since the baby was curled up for so long, the tech had to spend some extra time to get the baby into a position so that we could see what the gender was. As soon as the tech got the picture of the baby's legs on the screen, I saw it immediately. Or should I say, the lack of IT!!!
That's right, we are having a GIRL!!!! Little Brooklynn Nic(h)ole is going to be joining our family in March. We are so excited to have our little baby girl. Unfortunately, I can't get the scanner to work on our laptop, so I can't get the ultrasound pictures on here yet. But I am working on it. If nothing else, I will take them up to my mom's and get them scanned there.

Surprise Pictures...

I know you have all been SUPER curious to find out what the surprise pictures were going to be. Well, without any further adieu, here they are (self-explanatory):

Before After

As you can see, Carson FINALLY got his first haircut. He will be 2 next Sunday (11/15) and he JUST got his FIRST haircut last week!! He was so good when it was being done. Our friend Marlo did it at her house. She did a GREAT job. Thanks Marlo. Carson loves it!!!

Ultrasound alert!!!

No, it hasn't happened yet. We have our appoitment Tuesday at 1:40. Just wanted you all to be on alert. We should find out if she is a girl or boy. I am HOPING for a girl, Eric wants another boy. However, we will both be happy either way.

Also, new pictures will be posted Tuesday after the ultrasound. It should include ultrasound pictures as well as other surprise pictures.

Stay Tuned!!!

Halloween Fun

My mom made Carson's Halloween costume. The monkey outfit was SO CUTE! But as you can see he was not so keen on the idea of wearing it. He made it through Trunk or Treat (Friday) and Trick-or-Treating with the body suit alone (after much bribery). He was still cute. Thanks mom for the ADORABLE costume.

My mom also made Karli's costume. Here they are together, Carson without his head and Karli without her wig. Aren't they adorable?!?!?

After Trunk-or-Treat Carson, Karli & Mom played on the floor, laughing hysterically!! It was so cute!!

We were a little late in carving our pumpkins (Friday and Saturday afternoons). I did this one for Carson and myself. He picked out the pattern.

So proud of our pumpkin!!! This is the one Eric chose to do. He did a GREAT job. I only wish the candle would have burned brighter inside.

We had chili for dinner one night and the next day for lunch, Carson had leftovers. This is his chili & "say-cheese" smile!!

Preparing for Halloween

We went to Gilcrease Orchard on Saturday. We had never been, but wanted to buy our pumpkins there, and maybe some other FARM FRESH produce (no luck). It was pretty cool. You can walk (or drive) through the orchard and pick out your own pumpkins. Since we had not been there before, we did not know you could drive through (and they even had free car admission - usually $3 per car). Had we known we definitely would have taken the car, it was a long walk to the pumpkin patch. It was quite dirty, but enjoyable nonetheless. Luckily as soon as we started heading back to the entrance with our 2 pumpkins, we ran into my mom and sister who were just getting there. And they were smart enough to bring their van in. So we helped them find their pumpkins and hitched a ride back to the front.

Then my mom joined our car and we went across the street to check out another little farm/produce stand. It was really cool and Carson got a kick out of. They had animals (chickens, goats, rabbits, even pony rides). Unfortunately the Ponies were on break when we were there. Still, the other animals were Carson's favorite. They had farm fresh eggs, squash, honey, preserves, etc. However, it was QUITE expensive.

One dozen jumbo eggs = $7.50; SMALL jar of honey = $8.00

We did end up buying a butternut squash for $1.50/lb and a spaghetti squash for $1/lb. Eric's mom LOVES squash, so we decided this could be our way of supporting the local farm.

These are just a couple of the cool pictures my mom took. She is LOVING her photograohy hobby. And I get to reap the rewards of great pictures!!
The night before we went to the Springs Preserve with Mom, Dad, Danny, Nikki & her family. Carson wasn't too excited about getting all the candy, but when we went to play games, he LOVED throwing the balls. He even did a GREAT job at the Tic-Tac-Toe Toss. He bounced the first 2 balls in a row into the bottom row, but missed the third one. The booth operator was so amazed that a 2 year old was able to get 2 in a row. We had not yet gotten a costume for Carson, so he wasn't dressed up. My mom did have a full body (including hood) costume of a dalmatioon Danny had worn when he was younger, but Carson did not care for it. TOO HOT!! Instead we went to Wal-Mart afterward and got a monkey pattern for my mom to make the costume. She made Karli's costume as well. She loves being able to do stuff like that for her grandbabies. As soon as the costume gets done, I will post pictures. Probably won't be until after Trunk-or-treat and Halloween.

Family Update

The last post was an update on whats been happening in our life, but now for our family updates!!

Eric: Still working for Cintas, The Uniform Company. He works late night/early mornings into the early afternoon sometimes. He recently found out that he is the ONLY Sanis Rep in his dept. So he has been working some longer hours (sometimes). He is tired a lot because of the hours. However, on the bright side: Cincinnati Bengals are 3-1!! We should be 4-0 but the Denver Broncos got a lucky break and won the game in the final seconds. Boo Broncos!!! The bad thing about our winning record, Eric is starting to believe that Bengals win when he stays home from church. When I was in Arizona he stayed home, and Bengals won. The week before he went to church and Broncos won, by a miracle. Then this weekend we were at home (General Conference - church on TV) and we won again!! Sports fans and their crazy superstitions! :D He celebrated his 30th birthday in July and claims he is "feeling his age," can't stay up late anymore (of course I blame this on his work schedule), tired/sore all the time... He's jumped back on the wagon doing his Jillian Micheal's work out video again. He has a goal and I fully intend to push him to reach it. Besides, I know he will help me reach mine after baby is born.

Amber: Working at the dentist office and loving it. The last couple weeks have been Wednesday only. Not too much money coming in, but I LOVE being home with Carson. Plus, it makes it easier on me when i am still tired from the pregnancy. We are now 16 weeks along. I am excited to start feeling the baby move sometime soon. Nausea is COMPLETELY gone, although it did help me eat as often as I should. Now I have to remember to snack on something during meals. Heartburn is mostly on the back burner, making life much easier. Eric's mom and I went to Kohl's and I got a couple CUTE maternity tops. Baby bump is not that big, but since I did not lose all the baby weight after Carson, it is all getting pushed upward, so I LOOK more pregnant than I am. Oh well. This baby does make me a bit more uncomfortable than I was with Carson, but not too bad. I still LOVE being pregnant! We will be finding out what we are having on Nov 3rd. I think I would be okay being surprised but Eric says we need one of each before we can be surprised. I will post the ultrasound (from 8 weeks) when I get it scanned.

I will be celebrating my 29th birthday this year. My last year of 20s. I have no issues with getting older, none that have presented themselves yet anyway. I do wish I had more kids by now, but life never quite works out the way you intend.

Carson: 2 years old on Nov 15. If I had to describe him in ONE phrase: Monkey See, Monkey Do!!! He is such a copycat. a) Last night we were getting ready to bless dinner and he saw Eric's mom sitting in her chair with her head in her hand. He put his hand on his head just like her. b) I was talking on the phone to my girlfriend and laughing hysterically. He runs out, grabs his phone and comes running back into his bedroom hand on forehand pretending to laugh as I was.
He is such a Money too. He climbs up on EVERYTHING!! He gets on the stools at the bar and now wants to eat his meals there. He climbs into Papa's seat whenever he sees him walking back and Papa sits on him and Carson gets a kick out of! He loves jumping on the couch, although he's not supposed to. He still loves his bath and food and music. He's got some of the dances from Hi-5 down and is TRYING to sing the songs. He doesn't have a HUGE vocabulary yet, but it continues to grow. He knows so many of the animal sounds. I recently went through his closet/drawers and FINALLY got rid of the 12/12-18 month size clothes. Yes, he still technically fit into them, but they were getting snug. If I want them to be able to be worn by other kids, I had to put them away.

We watched my niece's baby Izaak one day and Carson loved playing with him. He is bigger than most of the babies he has been holding lately, but loved it none the less.

I love when he puts himself too sleep, usually after a long day at church. Whether he falls asleep during/after lunch in his high chair, or falls asleep watching his video in the front room.

Well, I think this has been a long enough blog. Hope you finished reading and were not too bored. I would say I will try to be better at this, but I usually do and then I slack off again. So I will make no promises.

Busy 2 months

Once again, it has been FOREVER!! The last 2 months have been PACKED full of fun and exciting things.

- First off, 2 days after my last post Nikki and her family welcomed little Leila Naomi Hansen into the world. She was born on my dad's birthday, 8/13/09, which was Nikki's due date. Leila may not have been ready to come out (a LOT of help and intervention brought her into the world) but Nikki was sure ready to have her. She was born 8/13/09 at 4:14pm. She weighed 7lbs. 1oz. and was 19.5in.

Hansen Family

Karli excited to see her baby sister out of Mommy's belly

Leila, Carson & Karli

- Sept 1st I was offered a part time job at a dentist's office. Dr Miner retired the end of June, and the office had been closed for July & August. Then the Dr's nephew, Dr Cherrington (recently graduated from school in Ohio), took over the practice. Before Dr Miner retired the office had only been open 2 days a week so we are trying to fill up the schedule once again. Until then my girlfriend works Tuesdays, I work full day Wednesday and if we have appts Mon and Thurs mornings. I play asst office manager, for lack of another title. The office is great. My co-workers are wonderful and my boss is super cool/laid back. Of course I am hoping for some more hours as the work picks up, but until then I enjoy being home with Carson as much as I am.

- Then, the day after my FIRST day of work, my grandfather, Gilbert De La Rosa, passed away. It was hard having to call my boss after only my first day of work, but he was VERY understanding and told me to take my time. Luckily, Mom, Danny, Nikki, her girls, Carson and I were able to drive out to say goodbye before he left us. Unfortunately, Alicia had already been having complications with her pregnancy and going in and out of labor, so she was not able to make it. It was WONDERFUL being with all of my family and friends for an entire week even under the circumstances. Most of my trips home are so short I do not get much time with them. The funeral however ended up being on my "Sister-in-law's" (Richie's girlfriend, Christina) birthday so I was sad we were not able to celebrate that. :( Sorry Auntie 'Stina.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

- Exactly ONE short week after Grandpa's funeral, Mom & Dad headed down to Arizona to help Alicia & Chris welcome Austin Lewis Summers into the world. Austin was born September 16 @ 10:31 PM. He weighed 7lbs 4oz (funny because the Drs said he was going to be big!) and 20.5 inches. Alicia was thankful has was 2 weeks and 3 days early! They had some struggles with him coming out and ended up having to be vacuumed a bit. But he made it healthy and happy. Nikki, the kids and I all drove down that weekend to meet our new nephew/cousin.

Summers Family

We stayed at the Arizona Grand Resort (where Alicia & Chris got married the year before) and had a blast at the water park!! Carson even fell asleep on one of our trips around the lazy river.

I know Mom & Dad thought it was great to be there with all the grandbabies!!