When it rains...

It pours!!

Aaron calls me on Friday to tell me that because of snow his plane is going to be delayed 2 hours. I just about died because I thought that he was going to be home that night to help me with the kids and we had planned to pick him up and eat dinner, I was just bummed. Then he called back and the flight was only delayed about 30 mins. Okay so some good news. We go and pick him up and we are so excited and happy and on our way to grab dinner when we exit the airport and BAM! we got in an accident. Everyone is okay but the car was banged up pretty bad and had to be towed away. Carson was pretty upset about it and scared. Luckily my parents came and picked me and the kids up and we went and waited for Aaron to be done. The kids quickly calmed down with hamburgers and french fries. We finally got everything finished and headed home where we all fell asleep very quickly. Then on Monday Aaron headed to work with the car, we decided that I could live without a car for a week while everything got figured out with the insurance, and disaster struck later that night. Aaron called me around 10:30 PM when he was on his way out of work to let me know that he couldn't find his keys. Someone had borrowed them to get something out of his car earlier that day and they got lost in transit. No one could find them, he had searched the office and he was stuck there all alone because the rest of his staff had gone home. So its about 11, Aaron is stuck in downtown and I don't even have a car to go and pick him up. Oh by the way, we have no spare key! Finally Aaron called his brother who was a saint to come and pick him up and they got home late that night. Today we started making calls to find out pricing on making a new key and we were so upset. Then miracle of all miracles we got a phone call that the security at Aaron's office found his keys. We were so happy we screamed! So you won't hear me complaining about living without a car this week because at least we have one car. :)

Aaron comes home tomorrow...

Aaron has been traveling this month and has been out of town for two weeks straight. Two weeks is a long time for me. We have missed him greatly. Not only has he been gone, he has been too busy to ever talk on the phone. I have tried to keep a positive attitude. I openly admit that this has been much harder on Aaron than me. He has been working crazy hours and going home to a lonely hotel while I get to have fun with my babies. The weather has been nice and we have had a lot of fun but let me confess... I am so tired. I have slept through the night 2 times since he's been gone. Do you ever feel like the powers combine against you when your husband is out of town? I do! Just a few of the things that happened while he was gone. I just feel like I haven't gotten to tell Aaron anything that went on while he was gone. Just a recap.

Carson got sick. Very sick. His fever went over 102 and I finally took him a children's clinic by my house. It was at night and I had to load up both the kids and it was not a pretty picture. Carson does not do well with other adults and a sick boy..the doctor just put him over the edge. He wouldn't let me put him down and I was carrying Camilla and it was rough. But he turned out to just have an infection and got better the next day.

My niece came and stayed with us for a few days, which Carson and Camilla both loved. While she was here we had a lot of errands to run, did our visiting teaching, and a lot of playing. Mia doesn't like to sleep alone so she slept with me at night. Oh man, I cannot sleep with a child. It kept me up all night. One morning Carson woke up very early, very grumpy. I was trying to feed Camilla and Carson just wanted me to hold him. I finally sent Mia off to get some popsicles to occupy Carson. Never too early right? :)

Then on Friday I hosted play group at my house and by the end of the week with having so many kids playing at our house, it was a mess! 

I decided to stay at my parent's house for a couple of nights over the weekend, which was a lifesaver. The kids has so much fun and it rained the whole time and so we would have been house bound and I would have gone crazy! But I slept in the same room as Camilla and I just don't sleep well. Her noises and she's congested and when she moves or rolls over it just wakes me up. Carson loved being at his grandparent's house and I loved having people to talk to. You probably haven't noticed but while Aaron was gone Carson finally wore something besides his red shirt! Victory. But he did have a relapse when he saw my red t-shirt in my bag.

One Sunday he was gone was my first Sunday in my new calling as the Primary secretary. I was feeling overwhelmed because Carson isn't leaving sacrament meeting happily because he wants to stay up at the pulpit and talk there and Camilla and Carson are both so tired. Plus I was singing in the choir. I didn't know how I was going to figure everything out and take care of Camilla. Then my parents came to the rescue again and called me on my way to church and told me they were going to meet me there and took care of Camilla and helped with Carson. Then they left church early and met me at my house and made dinner. Do I have the best parents or what!

Monday morning I woke up to this:

So not our best night. And by 5 PM I was ready to sell my non-napping toddler to the highest bidder. I wanted to buy Aaron a ticket to come home. I was tired of everything and just wanted to be able to go for a run which I have missed so much. (Not as much as Aaron but a close second. :) But I pulled it together by Tuesday and we figured out how to Skype with Aaron on my phone. Carson just kept going up the screen and telling his Daddy that he loved him the most. I got ambitious and even ran 2 errands in one morning.

Yesterday I hosted play group at my house, changed 8 dirty diapers, and spent a lot of time outside with my kids at the park. Right when Carson wakes up from his nap he asks to go on a walk to the swings. "Come on Josie, lets go." The kids are just the cutest and Carson is giving his sister lots of hugs. 

And today I took my kids to the zoo and had Mia along with us as well. I was worn out by the end of the trip from carrying one child at all times but the kids had so much fun and I just kept telling myself that I just had to make it through one more day before Aaron would be home again. We went to my Mom's house for dinner and playing outside and the kids fell right asleep on the way home.

Phew I made it..well just one more day to go. And Aaron doesn't go out of town again until May. I kept thinking it wouldn't be that different since Aaron works so much anyways but February has been a long month! 

7 Months

Camilla you have completely skipped being a baby! With four teeth, not wanting to ever cuddle with us, and crawling all over the house you are just growing up too fast. You didn't have a 7 month check up but we went to the doctor for a flu booster and you weigh 17 lbs. 4 oz. Which means you have gained a whole pound since your 6 month check up. You are still our little chunk. 

You love to eat Camilla. Everything we give you, you finish. Your favorites are probably sweet potatoes and bananas. We can't get you to drink any water but you are still enjoying nursing. 

Speaking of nursing, you are biting your Mom. It hurts! Mom tried to harshly tell "no" when you did it and you immediately laughed and thought is was so funny. Not sure how to convince you its not funny. 

You are starting to enjoy books, especially when your big brother reads them to you.

You are consistently sleeping through the night. (Although teething has given us a few wake ups)

You stopped taking your pacifier again so Mom started dipping it in a little bit of honey and you take it before you go to sleep.

You are crawling all over the place getting faster every day. You are crawling in the tub, in your crib, everywhere we go. Although you still aren't sitting up all that great. 

You took your first ride in the bike trailer and you did great and you went on your first run in the double jogging stroller and you loved sitting up and watching everything. You would not lie back for a second. 

You continue to be as sweet as can be and laugh all the time. I love going to get you out of your crib in the morning and watch you light up. You love to smile when your Daddy sings your Camilla song. 

You have the cutest 6 month wardrobe ever. Perfect for the cutest baby girl ever! 

Valentine's Day

 Well Aaron was in Detroit working this year for Valentine's Day - no fun! So we went out to dinner the weekend before (thank you Groupon) while he was home. We had discussed trying to save money this month so I assumed that meant no gifts this year, except for the kids of course. :) Well before Aaron left town on Sunday night he surprised me with not one but 2 Odwalla smoothies. (my absolute favorite smoothies but I never buy them because they are so expensive - except when I'm pregnant. :) And a gift card for new running clothes. I was so surprised and felt bad because I didn't get him anything. (Story of our marriage, Aaron is so much more romantic and thoughtful than me) I sure love this man who works so hard for us. We have missed him this month while he has been in Detroit.

Here is what the kids got:

Finally a high chair for Camilla, which she loves. And a potty for Carson, which he loved for a few days. This kid is going to be difficult to potty train, I can tell. I need to find one of those potty training boot camps. Or maybe a company that potty trains your children for you. 

Mommy say the prayer

Carson is learning to read and it has been so much fun to hear him sound out words and try so hard to figure out what things say. Carson has always been a book child and loves being able to read books to himself these days. Well a few weeks ago we were out on a walk in our neighborhood. We were almost home and I was anxious to get inside and make the kids dinner and such. About a hundred feet from our house Carson stopped at our neighbor's house to try and read the sign in their yard. He then turned to me and said, "mommy say the prayer?" I tried to explain to him that we didn't really need to say prayers on walks, in broad daylight. He then asked me again. I felt a little guilty and didn't want to be that Mom who discourages her child from praying, so I said a quick prayer. Then he said, "now Carson say the prayer." I was really ready to get home and told Carson that he could say a prayer at home. That seemed to work and I began working toward the house when he started to pull the sign out of our neighbor's yard and bring it with him. I asked him why we needed the sign and he pointed to it and said, "it say Jesus Christ." What? I went over to look and it actually says:

Close, so close.  

Peanut Butter

We LOVE peanut butter around this house. We go through it so fast, I can hardly keep up buying it. Even when I buy it at Costco. All members of our home like to eat it straight out of the jar. Carson can often be found coming up to me asking for, "peanut butter and spoon please." Well one afternoon while Camilla was napping and Carson was not I brought Carson upstairs and told him he needed to play for a little bit while Mommy closed her eyes on the couch. While I was laying down I could hear him playing and coloring at the desk. Then it got quiet, uh oh. A few minutes later I started to feel little hands making their way inside my mouth. I opened up my eyes to find Carson scooping up peanut butter with his hands and sticking it into my mouth. I guess I had left my jar out from earlier that morning. I learned a valuable lesson that day in picking up after myself. :)

When you watch too much Little Einsteins

Your child may start to have conversations like this one:

Carson singing "Row, row, row your boat" to Camilla. She is laughing and loving it while he moves her arms.

Carson: "faster"

So he sings faster and really gets her arms moving.

Carson: "faster!"

Even faster he sings and moves Camilla's arms. She is laughing this whole time.

Carson:"now sing in the key of D."

What? Ha, ha. I was laughing so hard. I said, "great Carson I would love to hear you sing in the key of D."

The Pulpit

We are going through a strange phase with Carson and the pulpit at church. It began in January when we went to Arkansas for our nephew Cole's baptism. At the service, I lead the music and Aaron said a prayer. Well ever since then Carson has wanted to get up to the pulpit to lead the music and say the prayer. He spends all of church trying to get up there and as soon as its over he races for the top. A few times he has made it up there and throws the worst fits I have ever seen when I carry him down. Well this has been going on for 2 months now, we keep thinking it will pass but it has not! It is making church very difficult because this means he is throwing a fit and doesn't want to go to nursery, he just screams to go back to church and say prayers. Well Aaron called me a few weeks ago the night before he left town and told me he was coming home to take Carson out on a date. He didn't tell me where they were going but took off in Carson's pajamas and without shoes. Soon after they left I got a text message with these pictures. 

For one and a half hours!! Carson led the music and said prayers. He still wasn't ready to leave when it was time to go. Aaron promised ice cream, Popsicle, anything he wanted if they could leave but all he wanted was to stay. I think we have a future public speaker on our hands. :)

Chicago!

So  I was lucky enough to go on a trip last week to Chicago to visit my dear friend Rebecca. I left Carson with my Mom and took sweet Camilla and we headed out. Aaron is in busy season so I try to plan fun stuff to do while he is gone and I am so glad that I decided to go on this trip. I had such a great time! We had so much fun just talking and eating, and eating and talking. We also went downtown to check out the shops and walk around, shopped, talked to some homeless people and wore ourselves out. Her husband was nice enough to keep all four kids one night so that we could go out and eat this:

 

But the real stars of this show were these cutie pies right here:

I'm telling you these two girls were so adorable I could hardly stand it. I decided that if I could have had Delaney and Camilla I could have twins because they would have been so much fun.

And the above picture pretty much sums up these girls. They loved them some dominoes. These girls were just crazy about playing with them. 

And I couldn't leave out "my friend" who I just fell in love with as well. I had so much fun with Rebecca's kids, they are so sweet. 

I was lucky enough to have mild weather and pretty much fell in love with Chicago and Naperville. I am so lucky to have such great friends and a wonderful mother who was willing to keep Carson for me. It was just what I needed!