Edwards Family

What goes on in his little head?

2012-02-12T15:13:00.000-05:00

This "sweet" little boy has helped me learn so much about motherhood. Has stretched me more than I have wanted to be stretched. Has tried my patience to the utmost. Has made me feel more love than I ever dreamed. Has melted my heart into pudding. And just plain amazes me every day.

He says the darndest things. Even his Pre-school teacher says, "He is a conversationalist" And don't I know it! He is constantly talking and has something to say about everything. I don't want to forget these moments...so her are a few.

C: "Mom, I said something nice to Maddison today"
Me: "Oh, what did you say?"
C: "I told her she did a great job coloring!"
Me: "Oh, that is so nice. Didn't it feel good to say something nice to someone else?"
C: "Yeah!"
Me: "What did she say?"
C: (whispering very quietly) "Mom...I saw her smile!!!!"

Picture the scene now...Here I am 6 Months pregnant with baby #3 and going into Motherhood Maternity Clothing store. The changing room is in the middle of the store separated from the rest of the store only by a mere curtain. I have the boys...Eli who is trying everything in his power to get out of his stroller, and Carter who just wants to get out of the store so he can get the promised surprise for good behavior. I just wanted to try something on quick and this is what Carter had to say,

C: "Mom, What are you wearing?"
Me: "Carter it is a dress!"
C: "Mom...YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS!!!!"

(yes I packed up the boys and we got out of there before anyone else heard any other embaressing comments from this boy!"

Next day:

C: "Mom, did you see that guys teeth?"
Me: (noticing the "guy" he was referring to was right in front of us) "Carter, we should not talk about others like that!"
C: (whispering as if that made his comment any better) "Mom, did you see that guys teeth? They look like Beaver teeth!"

In the last few months:
My mom bought me 3 treatments for Microderm abrasion for my face. I get terrible acne (sorry if that is TMI) when I am expecting so this was a much appreciated gift. When I went for the first time I told Carter that I was going to the Dr. so he could help me with some "sores" on my face. He asked no questions and went about playing. Then a few days later we had another conversation.

C: "Mom, I don't think the Dr. did a very good job. It looks like he missed a few!"
Me: "What?!"
C: (is ALL seriousness) "Mom, let me show you!"
and he proceeded to point and touch my face. Thanks for your brutal honesty.

I am hoping that this is a "boy-thing" but Carter doesn't like to always wash his hands. So he tries to sneak out of washing or hopes that you forget to ask. During the holidays he attempted to do this one evening at dinner-time. He came strolling out of the bathroom and was asked by everyone at the table(Nana and Pepa were visiting)..."Did you wash your hands? We didn't hear the water?"

Carter replied whispering but with complete assurance,
"I didn't need to, I held my pee pee with my t-shirt!"
Makes sense right? In his 4-1/2 year old mind his hands were still clean! I tried so hard not to giggle!

Now as I am typing this...Eli is taking his afternoon nap and Dad is napping on the beanbag. While Carter plays on the iPad. Dad is snoring...rather loudly when Carter leans over to me...

C: "I love when Dad snores!!!"

He is so sweet and I love how his wheels process and understand things. He NEVER ceases to amaze me and his father. I am one proud Mom! He gave his first talk in Primary on January 29th on "Choices". He was terrified when it came time to actually present. But with his dad's help he did a great job. I am proud to call him mine for now and for always!

Winter Cabin Fever

2012-02-12T14:45:00.000-05:00

Though this winter has been extremely mild we still seem to have caught a bit of the "Cabin Fever" bug. It's too cold to play outside and there is no snow to play in...so here we sit...stuck inside with toys the boys are tired of playing with and our own creativity to entertain us.

So here is what we have been up to...

It was "Animal Week" at PAT (Parents As Teachers) which is a local playgroup we attend. So the boys had spent the morning playing with all the animals in water at playgroup. It continued at home when the boys had not gotten their fill of being "WET" for the day.

So I filled up a few LARGE mixing bowls and put all of their rubber/plastic animals in the bowls for them to play in.

As you can see...that is where is started, but by the end they had stripped down and put on their swim trunks and were "swimming" in the kitchen WITH the animals.

They had a ball and must have been entertained for over an hour. Nothing a few (10 towels) couldn't clean up!

Eli got a whole Playdough kit from Santa this year for Christmas! It has been so fun to play with during these last few months. It has reminded me of my Playdough days when I was young. This is ONE of the few things that entertains the boys for more than a few short minutes. I can at least get about 20-30 minutes out of this activity.

They love SQUEEZING the dough through this contraption...if only they could figure out how to share it and take turns!

"Mom...look at my mustache!"

Eli insisted we turn his "snake" into a necklace!

We have fun with it, but the aftermath and crumbly mess of dried playdough is not always "fun" to clean up.

Anyone who know our boys also knows how much they love when Daddy comes home! Chris usually gets home a little before 6pm and sometimes around 7pm (depending on his schedule). And the boys can hardly wait to see their dad!

Then the "rough-housing", tickling, bear rides begin.

Here is the backside of this bear:) We are all so glad when Daddy comes home!

We cannot complain to loudly this winter, it has been very nice! But coming up with new activities for these two busy boys is always tricky. But worth it!

Sewing is the Best Therapy...

2012-01-17T13:41:00.000-05:00

I know that sewing is not for everyone...I am learning that from working with other women at church! But I have come to truly love it over the years! I love designing and creating new things that can be used by my kiddos. It's not only one of my many jobs, it is also my THERAPY! I have been wanting to make a pair of pants and vest for my boys for some time now. So I finally made some time this last weekend.

Sure the time was at 9:30pm until 1am but I finished and Eli wore his outfit on Sunday! I was quite proud of this outfit because despite Eli being fast asleep and no measurements were made, this outfit fit him perfectly---like a glove!!! I am drooling over nautical themes right now so I added that accent for fun. The vest is actually reversible (forgot to take that picture). I used a snap press for the buttons which are so easy to snap quickly for one "on the move" toddler.

The pattern for the vest came from a sweater vest that he wears right now with some added adjustments. It has some small issues (which I am NOT pointing out), but with Carter's I know where to adjust the pattern.

He was quite "dashing" in his "Daper Dan" outfit with his bow tie from Easter last year that matched perfectly. Eli must have felt fancy too becaus he had an added "bounce" in his strut that day! Carter liked Eli's outfit so well he said to me, "Mom...I want a bow tie too." so I asked, "What color would you like?" and he replied, "I want ORANGE!" So I guess that is on the list of things to make this week. Hopefully I can find some more time!

As many know I chose to do cloth diapers (CD) with Eli. Which turned out to be a wonderful experience and we just loved it! Mister "sensitive skin" had not a one diaper rash. So of course we are going to continue with CD with Baby girl.

However, all we have are boy colored CD. But buying MORE when I have about 30+ already is not really an option. But I wanted some "girlie" colors. So I am hoping to make some to supplement my stash. Here was my first attempt.

It is a AIO (all-in-one) diaper with the softest fleece on the inside, PUL in the middle, and a cute Heather Bailey cotton fabric on the outside.

The insert lays right inside of the diaper and stays in place with Velcro. This diaper is made to fit babies 9 lbs -15 lbs. I was quite happy with my first try and I am now addicted and want to make more. I have already adjusted the pattern in my head to make these more like my Bum Genius dipes from Eli. Plus bought some better Velcro that should last through the millions of washes that these cute things go through!

Can't you just picture a cute bummie in this dipe?! I am so excited for her to arrive! Sometimes I try and picture what she may look like. Then I think back to the arrival of Eli and how much he looked JUST like his brother!!! And still sometimes does. So...here is my prediction...a bald, light-haired baby girl...blue eyes...fair skin...that looks just like her hooligan brothers! I guess that is what happens when Mom and Dad were both bald, fair haired and skinned babies themselves!!! We LOVE bald babies!

More projects to come...and maybe someday I will get with my business Blog! I need to keep up to date on that one...Where can I buy more time?!

It's a....

2012-01-15T23:24:00.000-05:00

GIRL!!!!

On December 21st we found out that we are having a baby girl! I am now 24 weeks pregnant and the belly is growing ever so rapidly! I am starting to feel her move more and more and with each movement I get more and more excited!

I have loved looking at girlie things. Here are just a few from my Pinterest Board...

Yes...these are for Toddlers...they are not adult shoes! OK so I love buying shoes anyway, just look at my boys collection of shoes. But now that a girl will be arriving, I will love shoes shopping for those tiny tootsies!

And these bloomers! I have wanted to do ruffles and lace for so long, but that just doesn't work for boys. But now we can dive in, right?!

And this romper...is this ever cute! I just love this picture and outfit!

I have not bought much and I have been given a few things! But just being able to look at girlie colors has gotten me excited and I haven't boughts much at all. We could be in trouble.

I did make my first girl cloth diaper! (Pics) to come this week! Sewing with girl colors is exciting too! We just can't wait for her to join the chaos...I hope she is ready for this! We love her already!

Day in the Life...

2012-01-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

Does the scab on this lip tell you what goes on at the Edwards's household? Lots and lots of boy craziness including rough housing, messes (and lots of them), shooting with anything that can be imagined to be a gun and of course fabric sorting! I just wanted to fill you in on the happenings of this week which included some of each of these! (Since I am trying to do better at blogging).

We have been on an organizing/goals kick around here. This usually happens every january, but it has been very successful this year! We have gotten much done including in the fabric room. I sorted all of my patterns and put them in an organized binder where I can find them. I organized my thread and notions including way too much piping and bias tape. We even sorted and listed many fabrics this week. Chris and I spent an evening just him and I on a date night between MANY bolts of fabric. We were checking and double checking our inventory to make sure it was all up for sale on our site and available for purchase. It was a long night but very successful! The fabric business is going very well and keeping us busy.

Between me being ill for months at a time, my busy season for HBC orders, the holidays and family in town for a few months the boys have watched way too much TV. Carter especially! No one is to blame, but me as it was easy when I was puking my guts out and feeling so sick to just turn on the TV to entertain the boys. Or for me to just finish this one last order. Well, with my sweet Carter's imagination I have found that he turns into whatever character he is watching on TV. He becomes a dinosaur, super hero, peter pan, or whomever it may be and he gets very excited and starts acting out when he has spent too much time there. So...this week we are back into the groove (finally) and we have limited TV to 30-60 min per day and NOT the first thing of the day. Plus No iPad all week. What an improvement in everything! He has found other things to do and things that he has come to love!

Playing Playdough has become one of our favorite things to do. We have made snakes, fish, and even a few necklaces and Mustaches! The boys love it!

Oh and the messes that we can make with it!

I don't know how many times I have swept up playdough crumbs that have dried on the floor this week! It was funny, just yesterday Carter sat down on the floor and said, "Ouch...I just hurt my foot!" I said, on what" as there was no object capable to hurting his foot from what I could tell! Then he pointed to a dried up, crist and now sharp piece of blue playdough I had somehow missed on the floor..."Mom I steped on the playdough and it cut me!" It didn't cut but yes it was sharp and hurt.

Eli has been asking his brother to take him to the potty this week. Which I am just fine with! I love the extra hands. However, Eli was gone and quiet a little too long Friday afternoon. I walked into the bathroom only to find this...

Hard to tell, but he was taking the cup form his small potty chair and taking cups of water from the actual toilet and dumping them onto he floor of the bathroom! He was in this picture standing in about a 1/2" deep of water! Toilet water at that!!! Yuck....i disinfected right after that!

When Daddy comes home the boys love to play with Dad! Riding horse is just one of the many Dad plays with them. They also like going on "Bug Hunts" where they take the fly swatters and flash lights and hunt for bugs in the dark with dad!

These boys (all three) are the lights of my life...boy BOY do they wear me out!!! Constant chaos over here at our house...so if you happen to just stop by...please don't be surprised if one is wearing nothing but undies and the other is in a super hero costume! Just another day in the life of a mom with 2 wonderfully BUSY boys! I love it!

2011 Happening for Carter Jameson...

2012-01-15T22:31:00.000-05:00

2011 was a great year with lots of growth for little C-man! He turned 4 years old on June 7th and has been growing like a weed ever since. In September he started Pre-school at the Chelsea Community Preschool. Which happens to be where I went to high school some 12-13 year ago. It is now a preschool and continuing ed building.

I have first day of School pictures on my iPhone, so I will have to get those on here, plus so many more pics that other may enjoy. (more posts to come when those show up) But Carter struggled a bit at the start of school. He was not sure if he was left handed or right handed. The teacher asked, and I asked her the same question. He is a bit of a "switch hitter" he uses both hands to write with. But now as time has gone on I see that he does a better job and is more confident as a right handed writer. I would love if he could do both...especially in sports...but whatever he does best at works for me. He is a social butterfly at school and has so many friends.

He has a best friend names "Laura" who for a while was calling him her "husband" and we had a few kisses being given to Carter. He learned quickly he didn't like kisses from girls and started to tell her that he only got kisses from family...whew!

We had a fun story with some of our moral values as well. Carter is a giant sponge and picks up on every tiny detail. But he knows that we do not drink coffee, tea, or alcohol as well as smoking. Well, he wasn't at school more than a week or two and he saw his Teacher Mrs. Downer and her aid Mrs. Mullens drinking their morning coffees. When he quickly announced to them, "Jesus does not want us to drink cofee...It's not good for your body!" The teacher giggled a little at his seriousness, with which he became as serious as a heart attack..."It's not good for our bodies, and alcohol too!!!!" They quickly saw it was not something he wanted them to be doing and they hid their drinks from him. Later both the teachers and he told me the story and we had a discussion at home. But he was just so worried about them and cared for them that he was letting them know.

I volunteered in his classroom one morning when they were making gingerbread men. It was so nice to see him interact and be so sweet to his peers. One of his peers was unhappy and did not want to join their circle for "book look" and he said to her,"I saved you a seat, you can come and sit by me!" She quickly got over whatever she was upset about and joined the group. He has a very tender side and seems to be loved by everyone including his teachers.

Carter had been planning his Halloween Costume for a whole year. Last Halloween (2010) he said he wanted to be Peter Pan. Well, he was serious and planned it all year long right down to the tights! And boy did he play the part.

I had to hide the costume from him after it was finished so that he wouldn't sleep in it, or spill on it before he actually got to wear it for Halloween. He enjoyed the Halloween Carnival they had at the preschool, as well as the ward Halloween party at church! And if anyone called him "Robin Hood" he was VERY quick to correct them, "I AM PETER PAN!" One lady while trick-or-treating even said to him, "I love your shoes" and he replied, "I know!" Manners are a constant battle and HUGE learning curve for these kids!

Thanksgiving we spent with Chris' family in Brighton. Becky (Chris') cousin was in town so we enjoyed a trip to Bronners Famous Christmas Store and the annual Turkey Trot 5K in Ann Arbor. I walked it being that I was and am pregnant and when the race was over and Carter was waiting at the end he said, "Can I run this with you next year?" I quickly replied, "yes let's plan on it!" Becky and I also enjoyed some serious Black Friday shopping the day after Thanksgiving...got some serious shopping done and very little sleep.

Nana showed up at our house on November 1st because Becca and Jon had a baby the end of Oct. So she was with us all through the holidays and into the New Year. Getting ready for Christmas with Nana was fun. We made cookies, read lots of Christmas stories, did the Advent Calendar, and had a new visitor come to our house "Elf on the Shelf".

Carter named our Elf "Twinkle" He loved this elf and spoke with her and believed in all of her magic. She goes home to Santa and reports kids behavior to Santa each night while they are sleeping and when they awake she has landed in a new place in the house. Now, you can't touch the elf or she will lose her powers.

So Carter was trying to get something off of the mantel where "Twinkle" just happened to be sitting. He accidentally touched her and he began to cry!!! I mean tears of pain and sorrow!!! "MOM, I accidentally touched Twinkle...she is going to lose her power...Oh No!!!" I mean he was beside himself! He cried to Nana and was SO upset! We convinced him that she understood it was an accident and they she would be OK. The next morning she was still alive and had all of her powers, he was SO relieved!

Chris was worried about the boys getting into the Christmas tree this year. So he told them that is they touched the tree that it sounded an alarm to Santa and Santa would then send Dad a text saying that they had touched the tree and with each touch then Santa would stop working on any gifts he may have for Christmas! Boy was Carter sold on this LIE too! Anytime he bumped or came close to touching that tree I would catch him wispering, "Sorry Santa!" to the tree! Carter was in the spirit and believed all the magic of Christmas this year.

He saw Santa 3 times this year...church party, PAT play group and Preschool! By the third time he told Santa, "I already saw you and told you what I wanted!" And what did he ask for...a jellybean shooter! That was all he asked for from Santa.

He loved helping Eli and teaching Eli about Christmas time and traditions. It was fun to watch.

He would open each gift and say, "That was just what I wanted!" It didn't matter if it was a shirt or a remote control car..."It was Just what he wanted" despite the fact that all he asked for was a jellybean shooter and he didn't even get that!!!

What was even more funny was to watch him at church on Christmas Day! There was a musical program and the primary kids sang "Away in a Manger". Carter was standing there and not singing a thing, but plugging his nose the entire time while making a face of pure disgust! When he returned to his seat he told his dad, "Something stunk up there dad!" Oh how he is honest!

I love this family picture...one is picking his nose and the other sticking his tongue out! Gotta love these boys!

They sure were handsome though! We had a very Merry Christmas and Carter loved having all of his family here! He loved playing with his cousin Nikolas who is 9 as well as his cousin Lillia who is 2-1/2 years old! They all played very well together. We also enjoyed the baptism of my brother-in-law Jason Mayer who was baptized Dec 24 by my father. It was a special family day!

Looking Back on 2011---Eli Douglas

2012-01-08T15:25:00.000-05:00

I know it has been WAY too long since I last updated this blog. Whenever I think about updating I get overwhelmed with how much I need to catch up on...I get filled with guilt...and then I just say, "Forget It!"
But...now its a new year. Time to start over and do a better job recording the simple happenings of our lives so one day I don't look back with regrets. So lets just wrap up some favorites happenings of 2011...

Starting with Eli Douglas...
This kid has grown more than I can even believe in the last 12 months. Just last year he was pulling himself up to things and just starting to get around. And now...I can hardly keep this kids' pace. He is into everything and at times looking for trouble. Eli had his first birthday in March and started walking around that same time.

He has been a slower talker than his brother was, but don't think for a minute that we don't know what he is saying despite his lack of words. Between signing, grunting, pointing and the few words that he knows he is very clear with what he NEEDS! Or maybe it is because he is so LOUD! He is learning new words every day...some new words he has picked up in the last 2 months..."Nana", "Poop" (always a good one), "Toot" (another essential in a little boys world), "up", "Woof", "ME!", "Ah!" (which stands for his pacifier, a drink of water/milk, or anything he would like to put in his mouth)...and I am sure there are others that I just can't remember.

Eli had a rough couple of months back in the fall with getting his blood drawn. At his 1 year well baby check-up they found his iron was low so we started a Multi-Vitamin with iron. Then they asked to re-draw the levels in a month or two. So they checked it again in the summer and found that the iron levels were still low. So he started taking "Ferrous Sulfate" (straight iron...I mean you can smell metal when you open the bottle). But in the meantime we found out that he had abnormally low neutraphils. Whick is part of the white blood cell count. They did not know why this was since he is a very healthy boy...which required him to come back for blood drawns once a month monitoring the levels. Talk about a moms worst nightmare...taking her 18 month old to get poked...watching him bawl and cry using one word he knows very well..."Momma" when there was nothing I could do. After months of blood draws and about $200-$300 worth of lab costs and co-pays his levels have ever so slowly improved. For now we are just going to watch it.

But I am not sure he will ever be happy about going to the Dr. In fact...after one blood draw he was so angry that he ripped the bandaid off before the blood could cloth that blood went everywhere...the nurse said, "Wow, Eli it looks like a Murder scene in here!" And it did, blood everywheres! That is one strong boy! Took 3-4 of us to hold him down each time!

Other adventures this summer...
My nephew Nikolas came and stayed with us for 2 weeks this summer. The boys loved a playmate and we enjoyed playing outside in the warmer weather.

Spooner Family Trip to Chicago to see a Red Sox vs White Sox baseball game. Eli enjoyed his first major league game and train ride. He also enjoyed time with his aunts and uncles and cousins. We walked the Magnificent Mile, saw Millenial Park and Navy Pier, ate great Chicago Style pizza, and SHOPPED! We even celebrated Chelsea Irons birthday (Uncle Jamie's girlfriend).

(Popcorn and baseball..yumminess)

(I love the train...no carseats!)

(He enjoyed riding the luggage cart too)

(Eli and cousin Lillia at church together in the windy city)

Eli also decided in about October, Halloween time that he was tired of wearing his diaper. He started taking off his diaper and going into the bathroom when he needed to perform his duty. I decided that we can better jump on board and start potty training this kid. He has done VERY well and we are so proud of him. At times he will show up missing and it never fails...if we go into the bathroom there he is...standing up...on the stool...aiming...shooting...and firing. Saying "PEE, PEE" and pointing at the potty. He does not wake up dry yet, so he still uses a diaper at bedtime. And #2 is still difficult and a work in progress, but otherwise he does very well.

Speaking of Halloween...Eli loved being "Smee" from Peter Pan and Captain Hook this year. He even wore the glasses the whole time we were "trick o treating". He had a great time with all of the candy and playing out his part with his brother who was Peter Pan.

Eli and I have had some great moments together since Carter started school in September. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday it is just he and I from 8:30am until 11am. We both enjoy the one-on-one time together.

Eli is a very special little boy. He LOVES to help and will help with any project whether you want him to or not. HE LOVES HELPING and says, "ME" to let you know that he can do the task at hand by himself!

This boy can kiss. Eli loves to give away his kisses. Maybe its because his dad is always telling him to give kisses or maybe its because he has the cutes most FULL nice lips..either way he melts are hearts when he shares his kisses. Just beware...he kisses the Dog on the lips...kisses the TV...kisses legs...chairs...heads...and of course lips. Maybe we should call him "Loose Lips"?!

(just look at those lips...who wouldn't want a kiss from this little man!?)

He had a great Christmas. Loved talking with "Twinkle" the elf on the shelf. Sometimes he liked opening gifts and othertimes he could have cared less. He loved having Nana and Pepa back in town from Romania especially when Pepa let him play on his iPad.

He also loved meeting and "helping" his new cousin Ari Hale Spooner. He loved having a "BABY!" around and wanted more than his share of turns to hold him.

As for Santa...he was NOT interested. He was terrified and watched from a safe distance.

(look at those curls...never had a hair cut and almost 2 years old...NO just a CURL-HOCK!)

Some of his favorite gifts this year...His brother "drill" from uncle Jon. He must have drilled everything in the house on Christmas Day. His remote controlled car...beanbag...police car that makes noise and his Hot Wheels cars!

Eli keeps us on our toes...but is a pure joy to have in our family. He is getting to be a big boy right before our eyes and I wish I could just say, "slow down!". BUt he is learning and growing so much and turning into his own little strong-willed bossy self! You can see this when the dog or Carter gets into trouble and he goes up to her and says, "NO, NO Woof, Woof..." all the while shaking his pointer finger back and forth. Oh melt my heart Mr. Eli!

Salt Lake...Council Bluffs, Iowa and home...

2011-08-28T16:45:00.000-04:00

We left Blackfoot and went to Alpine, Utah to stay with Chris' brother Doug and sister-in-law Lori and their kiddos. One of the first days we were there was Mother's Day. The guys cooked us a Mother's day Dinner. It was delicious.

Uncle Jamie came from SLC and he introduced us to his girlfriend Chelsea. Everyone loved her especially Aubrey.

We enjoyed spending time with Doug and Lori's kids. They are so sweet! Aubrey would come up to me and say,"I really like your outfit!" or "you look beautiful!" She was so adorable and cuddly...which we don't get a lot of at our house.

We spent one day at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Pointe. The kids loved it.

Carter loved naming the dinosaurs he knew from watching a TV show of course! Not from his mom:)

Eli was thrilled to be along for the ride!

There was a fossil and water table to play in. They had a ball splashing about!

All the girls wanted to run by the sharks...but not Carter. He wanted to climb in and touch his teeth. He settled for a simple picture.

They even had a dino dig. They got to dig for dinosaur bones in a big sand pit. Clothes filled with sand but so much fun!

Another day we wernt to Temple square in SLC. Carter for months was asking to see "The Pipes!" Yes the organ!

Cute JD enjoyed paling around. What a doll!

We loved the Christus as usual! Such a wonderful feeling in this room.

The colors on Temple Square were amazing as usual.

We did other things with Dave and Carlie and their kids (Dylan and Malia) as well as plenty of shopping and hanging out. Carter loved playing with his cousins and it was sad when we had to go. We miss them all wen we live so far away!

All the cousins...from left to right...Malia, Aubrey, Carter, Kayla, JD, Dylan and Eli What a cute bunch!

Road Trip out west. First Stop...Blackfoot, Idaho

2011-08-28T16:19:00.000-04:00

Since we are running a home business selling both fabric and product we attend the International Quilt Market each spring. This year it so happened to be in Salt Lake City Utah. So we decided to make a road trip of it for about 2 and a half weeks. Chris didn't drive with us butmy mom came along for the ride.

We arrived in Omaha after the first day of travelling without difficulties. However the next day was not so pleasant. Eli woke up and was upset the entire day. Between the diarrhea, fever, and lack of sleeping Eli was miserable. We were stopping every hour trying to get across Nebraska and Wyoming. It was terrible. We didn't make it to ID like we had planned, but rather stopped at a shaddy hotel for the night. The next day we made it to Blackfoot Idaho early morning the following day. Grandma and grandpa were very happy to see us. And us them. Aunt Karen even came over to visit.

Carter enjoyed playing tag with her and her tickling.

Grandpa even gave 4 wheeler rides to Carter. And as always he loved calling the cows in the pasture!

Eli was ill most of the time we were in Idaho. It was hard to get him to eat anything and drink much at all. But Grandpa had a special touch. He could get him to drink and eat! He really loved snuggling up to him.

Only because I was getting so worried about my little man and his fever that would not break and ended up taking him to Urgent Care that he got better. It seems that once I give in and take him in and pay the copay that one of two things happens...the fever breaks or he gets better! Two days after the 104 degree fever broke he wound up with a red itchy rash all over his entire body! Thank you Roseola for accompanying us on our vacation!!! My poor baby!

Spring Soccer

2011-08-28T16:05:00.000-04:00

Carter has been dying to play soccer since he started talking. The kid loves to run and loves to kick! So we signed him up for soccer this spring. And he loved it!

And it loved him! He did very well and the coach really liked him since all the other kids wanted to get off the field and Carter didn't want to get off the field. He scored a goal and performed a great goal "dance".

We will definitely do soccer again...it was a great experience for us all.

April 2011 Recap...

2011-08-28T15:58:00.000-04:00

My poor sad blog...life has been crazy for MANY months! I guess it seems since Eli turned 1. Yes he turned one...started walking...and got his own opinions. So I am taking some time to try and catch up on the happenings of the Edwards family this last spring and Summer. Her goes...

Chris was in a head on collission on March 23rd and totalled his 2002 Toyota Avalon. He was fine...few bruises...and sore for a few days from the airbags deploying. But he was OK. We did get some x-rays to make sure, but he was fine.

Until about one and a half weeks later he started to feel bad, have pain on his head and get sores all over his head. Ended up at the Urgent Care...sure enough...SHINGLES. I know I thought it was for "OLD" people. But my 31 year old husband got shingles all over his head and on his eye lid.

He was in a lot of pain and missed several days of work. We all felt bad for him...but we also didn't want to touch him either:) He had to see a opthamologist since they were on his eye lids...but thankfully there was no damage done to his eye sight.

It was a sickie month here though. At the same time Chris was taking all his medicines for shingles, I got a sinus infection, and Carter had an ear infection. At one point we were taking all of the medicines in the picture plus we had a script we didn't even fill.

After we all got healthy...we had Easter! I made the boys matching ties, belts, suspenders, and a bow tie. Chris even allowed me to make him a tie.

We spent Easter afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Edwards home. We had delicious food as always and had an Easter Egg hunt in their back yard. They boys had a great time.

Anytime the boys get to play with their cousins they are thrilled! Carter especially! Here he is with his cousin Brady Ward.

Carter got some great eggs. His brought home quite a loot with the money Grandma included in the eggs. Thanks Grandma!

"Our Little Man Turned One" -Birthday Recap

2011-03-27T23:10:00.000-04:00

Eli turned a year old on March 13th. We had his party on March 5th. He loved all of his gifts and thought the cake was OK. Once he got dirty while eating his cake he was finished!

At his 1 year checkup he weighed 21lbs and 2 ounces(23%tile), 30.5 inches long (71%tile) and his head circumference was 46.3 cm (46%tile).

He is all over the place, walking like a champ around the house! He climbs everything he possibly can including Carter's chair, the train table, the stairs, and EVERYTHING he can. He says "dada" very well and gives his brother a run for his money.

It has been a great year!

Spring is in the air...

2011-03-27T22:51:00.000-04:00

OK so in Michigan it does not feel like spring and I'm not sure when it will but we are getting ready for spring. Carter is all signed up for spring soccer and we just bough him new cleats and shinguards.

He can hardly wait and wants to wear these around the house all day long. If you want to make this kid happy...buy him sports equipment!

Now we just need to get his uniform. No underwear on the field!

Happy First Birthday to our blue eyed, bald baby boy!!!

2011-03-13T15:40:00.001-04:00

WE LOVE YOU ELI DOUGLAS!!!

Happy Belated Valentines Day

2011-02-23T23:14:00.000-05:00

This was an attempt to take cute fun pictures of the boys for Valentine's day! I was completely unsuccessful at taking one of the two of them together. Any picture with both was filled with fighting. So I settled with some single pics!

Happy Valentines to my boys and wonderful husband! They light up my life and make my heart just burst at the seams. Even if when Carter was asked at playgroup on Valentine's Day, "Who/what do you love?" and his response was, "BAD GUYS!!!" Hmmm...not sure where that came from, we are working on that one!
I love you!

Super Carter...Captain America...Peter Pan...Football star...

2011-02-23T23:06:00.000-05:00

So Carter has many Alias it all depends on the day. But no matter the day and no matter the character for the day he is our favorite "CHARACTER".

He received these wonderful rocketship "FOOTLESS" pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Edwards. He LOVES these and wants to where them everyday. By 4pm on most days if you were to come over you would find him in these! There were some days where I thought they would stand up on their own...I couldn't get them washed before he wanted to put them on again.

Just one bad thing...now he won't wear any footie jammies!!! He had about 3 footie jammies and after wearing these he REFUSED to any of them. So we resorted to cutting off the feet of his other pairs....and when he asked his dad to cut them off he said, "Just save them in case I want to put them back on!" Sorry bud, the cut was permanent!

Dad and Carter went ice fishing with all the counsins, uncle Steve and Grandpa. He had a great time. Wouldn't keep his gloves on and was hugging all of the fish they caught. He even threw one up in the air and it hit grandpa right in the back.

Another one of Carter's loves is chewing gum and chomping on tic-tacs. One day he found a box of tic-tacs and put the remaining tic-tacs in his mouth and this was the present I found for me on the kitchen table...

Let's just say that from now on the gum and tic-tacs are not as accessible!

We have a dress up tub here and it is full of fun costumes...Captain America...
Army uniform...Spider Man...and the cowboy! He loves to be a cowboy and he enjoyed having a cake pop dressed in uniform.

This character has a hard time leaving the couch cushions on the couches. They become wrestling mats, forts, tents, and in this case and tumbling mat.

This boy is just so sweet and so imaginative. Just this morning he said, "Mom You surprised me last night!" I replied, "Why?" and he quickly said, "With you super powers!" I have no idea where he gets this stuff! But he is always on some adventure, going some place, and dreaming up all of the details along the way! We are just glad we are around to enjoy all of his adventures with him! No matter the character he makes us laugh!

11 months old...

2011-02-23T15:47:00.000-05:00

Eli turned 11 months on February 13th. All of a sudden he has become a busy, opinionated, strong-willed, fiesty little boy! The boy started to become mobile and now he has something to say!!!

Eli is getting into everything. If you can't find him here is where we check in no particular order...

This is Carter's "Time Out" chair and he loves to climb up it.....

And stand up....and begin to ROCK the thing...

Then once I found him doing this....

I stopped this quickly...no chewing on tables...

Or mommy's finger...I seem to be finding my fingers in his mouth often as I am forced to fish things out of his mouth like string...paper...bouncy balls, etc. He has 7 teeth now so he can do some damage.

The second place he likes to go is the pots and pans cupboard. He climbs right in there and brings them all out to bang around.

This little man is climbing everything and getting into everything! He eats everything just as quick as you can put it on his highchair tray. Here is some more her is doing at 11 months old...

-Walking- - -about 6 steps at a time

-Climbing the stairs without hesitation...just last week I lost track of him for 2 seconds and he was half way up the stairs...scary.

-Yelling and grunting at everything and everyone especially to get attention or more food.

-He uses sign language when he feels like it, but he knows "more", "dog", "eat", and "milk".

-He still is nursing for the most part but has just started whole milk at meals and LOVES drinking anything from a cup.

-He loves his dadda and gets very excited when daddy comes home.

-He pushes EVERYTHING around as a walker...I mean everything!!! At grandma Edwards her found her jumbo bottle of cooking oil and he was pushing it all around the house. Other things he uses...rocking chair, wooden horse, large cooking pot, children's suitcase, boxes, laundry baskets, and anything he can get his hands on! HE IS ON THE MOVE!

-He loves to play in the dogs water dish and has been found many times completely soaked!

-Loves to wrestle and be tickled by daddy and Carter.

-Loves Climbing...did I already mention that? I just pulled him off of the train table that he had managed to climb on top of!

So determined, so strong, so brave and so totally loveable! It has been a wonderful 11 months and it is so hard to believe it has almost been a year since he joined our family!

Come on Let's move!!!!

2011-01-30T21:46:00.000-05:00

Carter loves to dance and any time he hears music he has to move! Just ask about the time we took him to see "Gulliver's Travels" and how he danced in the theatre everytime a song came on. Here he is dancing with his cousins and Eli is watching closely as well.

A little bit of craziness

2011-01-28T14:45:00.001-05:00

This month has been a bit crazy at the our home. Lots going on but among the business we have had some fun moments! Moments I don't want to forget.

One of our favorite dinners is Angel hair pasta with chicken and pesto. This is one food that Carter just "sucks" down and he hardly makes a peep during mealtime.

So we figured Eli was old enough to eat noodles. I was not sure how he would feel about pesto since it is a strong flavor. Here is how it went....

What do you think?

He slurped it up and when he was finished with his first helping he saw more on the table and grunted and pointed at the noodles! He loved it! It was everywhere and we found it in the tub water afterwards.

Eli has really developed his personality over the last several weeks. He wants what he wants and communicates that the best way he can. For the last 10 months Carter has been able to just take whatever away from Eli whenever. Now that Eli has his growing personality and attitude he is not standing (or sitting) for it. Just on Wednesday Eli and Carter were playing while I was making dinner and they were wrestling around and Carter tried to take a toy away from Eli when Eli GOT him. I walked over and I saw scratches on Carter's face. I asked him, "What happened?" He said, "Eli scratched me!" I said, "well did he say he was sorry?" Carter quickly replied, "NO, He has a mouth but he can't talk!!!"

I just has to giggle! I see many arguments, conflicts, wrestling matches and much more in my future! These boys will be the best of friends and at times the worst of enemies! Both stubborn and opinionated...not sure where they got that!

After burning out our second vacuum we finally had to purchase another. Eli was starting to eat many a fuzzies and stings off the floor! So the boys were very excited about the box that the vacuum came it.

This afternoon we spent most of our time making an airplane with some duct tape and the box. Carter liked it so much he had lunch in the cockpit and spoke with my parents in Romania on Skype while doing so! It still could use some paint or something to make it look more like an airplane, but before I spend time like that I wanted to see if they destroy it or not! They are hard on things sometimes!

These boys just keep me laughing and crying! What did I ever do before them?

Oh how I miss you Brazil

2011-01-20T21:16:00.001-05:00

I was asked to speak to a group of 3rd and 4th graders in their music classroom. It was great to think back to my time living there and the many wonderful things from that beautiful place. I was flooded with many wonderful memories! I even made one of my favorite desserts "BRIGADEIROS" for these children. Yummy chocolate balls made from sweetened & condensed milk, cocoa and butter. Oh so yummy! The kids loved them and so did Carter! Now he regularly asks, "Mom can we make those chocolate balls again?"

Peter Pan and Captain Hook

2011-01-20T21:11:00.000-05:00

Carter said family prayer tonight and he said this...

"Please bless Peter Pan and his friends to keep them safe from Captain Hook!"

We watched this movie this afternoon and it made a BIG impression on this boy! He is worried about their safety! He loves Peterpan and is already planning his costume for Halloween next year!

He has such a vivid imagination! He is so creative! He just makes us giggle! We love you Peter Pan!

Eli is ten months old

2011-01-20T21:03:00.000-05:00

On January 13th Eli turned 10 months old. I can hardly believe that he will be a year old in about 8 weeks. This last 10 months has gone by way too quickly. I just want time to stand still just a little bit to enjoy these precious stages.

Eli is a ham. Here are some things that he is doing these days:
-Loves climbing into the dishwasher just to shake the racks.

-He is super fast at crawling everywhere and when he gets where he wants to be he quickly stands up and walks around whatever he needs to. There is hardly and still time in his day...only when he's sleeping.
-He loves to play with his brother Carter. Playing matchbox cars or with figurines. He just loves his company.

-He is a "bruiser"! He just got over a cold sore on his head. Only to get a scratch on the back of his head last Thursday from his brother trying to pick him up. Friday he got a bruise on his eye from trying to pull himself up to a bucket of toys. Monday he fell walking around the toy room and scratched his chin. We are wondering is he needs a helmet?

-He has started catching on to some sign language. He is signing "MORE" and "PUPPY". We are working on others.
-He is eating everything but not sure about some of the chunkier textures...strong gag reflex!
-Eli says "Dada", "Mama", and just today he said, "Nana".

-He uses his teeth and voice as his defense mechanism. He can't defend himself from his older brother...so he has bit Carter a few times when he takes his toys away from him. Not promoting this, but is is teaching Carter not to mess with him!

He is such a sweet heart and he brings so much joy to our home. It has been a wonderful 10 months!

Sweetest Child's Prayer

2011-01-06T20:44:00.000-05:00

Carter graduated from nursery last Sunday and is now in Sunbeams at church. He has been waiting for this for a long time. He is such a sweet boy and has started saying prayers without any coaching. He starts the prayer and finishes all by himself. I am amazed at some of the things he is grateful for and what he asks for in his sweet prayers. Tonight's prayer was especially sweet to me!

He said, "...Please bless Uncle Doug with his job.....Please bless Granny since she is with you....Thank you for the grass...Please bless all my aunts and cousins..." He melts my heart. He is aware of things that are going on and is learning how to pray to his Heavenly Father. I love watching his small testimony grow and him learning how the Lord impacts his life. He is such a special spirit!

Carter's Food Challenge test with a twist

2011-01-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

We found out in September that Carter's RAST test (a blood test that we have checked every year) was almost immeasurable. Which meant that the Dr thought we were doing all the right things by completely staying away from egg and that he likely was outgrowing the allergy all together. He was almost positive that if he was to eat egg that he would not react. So he recommended a "Food Challenge Test" where you eat the allergic food in their office under observation.

So the BIG day was yesterday January 5th at 1:15pm. We were longing for this day with the hopes that all the food restrictions would be lisfted and my anxiety could be lessened. We got a sitter for Eli as we knew that we would be there for close to 3 hours. I cooked up about 2 cups of eggs and headed to their office. Dr. Leflein is our Dr., a very pleasant man. We got into an exam room and the test began. First was just a teeny tiny piece of egg. We waited 20 minutes and they returned to check hi heart rate and his skin for any reactions. This went on for 2 hours gradually increasing the amount of egg he was to eat. Things went GREAT!!! He loved eggs and no reaction. The Dr. and Carter and I were thrilled! He told us we no longer needed to carry an epi pen and that he had indeed out grown the egg allergy. Carter ran out of the office and down the LONG hallway so very happy with the news.

Here's the twist...we get in the car and start our journey home and he says to me from the back seat, "Mom my throat has something stuck in it...it tickles!" I became somewhat alarmed as that is a sign of an allergic reaction to foods. But I gave him a drink and watched his breathing closely. He stopped complaining. Then he said, "Mom I am going to puke! My stomach hurts!" I told him that we needed to run to the Post Office really quickly and he replied, "OK, I will just puke there!" We ran our errand and no puke, but the stomach complaints continued!

We had a mutual activity for Young Men and Women so we were heading to church. I got him dressed and we headed out to church. While at church his face got reddened and his eyes became puffy and red. He started itching his bum, neck and ears. He hands became swollen and very red. This all happened very quickly. We rushed him home gave him Benadryl, a warm bath and a blessing. He continued to itch like CRAZY and evey broke the skin on certain areas of his bosdy. I found some steroid cream from the last time he had an allergic reaction to something on his legs and I applied that to the areas. It was the worst hives he has ever had. In his armpits, on his bum, around his neck, in his ears, on his chest, around his belly button and waist, and many in random spots.

I did not add the pictures of his bum. But let's just say that was the WORST spot of them all.

So ~6 hours afterthe egg challenge test he broke out into hives. Hence, Carter is still allergic to eggs. Delayed as it may be he is still allergic! We were all disappointed about the whole thing. But what broke my heart was when he woke up this morning and said, "Mom, my itchies are all gone, I can have eggs now!!!" and when I told him that was NOT the case tears started to stream. He was so sad! The Dr was very surprised by his reaction and said we could test again down the road. Let's just say I am in no hurry after the scare we had last night. My poor baby!

A Wedding, Christmas, and Sickness

2010-12-29T22:25:00.000-05:00

The boys and I drove to Columbus Ohio to fly out with my sister in law Becca and niece Lillia. We left Columbus on December 14th with WAY too much luggage and definitely too many funny looks for all the other travelers on our flights. Picture this....2 women and 3 kids-a 3-1/2 year old boy, a 21 month old girl, and a 9 month old boy, 2 umbroller strollers hooked together, 1 back pack, 2 diaper bags and 1 carseat in a bag. Yes that was us...making our way from Columbus OH to Omaha NE with a layover in Chicago Midway airport. All in all the kids were great. They ate way too much junk food, but they were great! Eli slept on both flights and Lillia took a long nap on the second leg. Carter watched movies and was a very pleasant boy. The men joined us days later.

All of this for my older sister's wedding. My sister Emily was wed to Jason Mayer on December 18th at 11am. It was beautiful. The colors were red and black. Mom made the little girls dresses and I made red ties for the boys and headbands with rosettes for the girls hair. It was nice to see Emily and Jason so happy.

We stayed through the Holiday and came home on December 26th. We Many things happened while in Council Bluffs IA. Just some highlights...

-We saw the infamous gingerbread display at the Tabernacle. Carter was thrilled.

-It was COLD...we were chilly sleeping in the basement of Mema's house.
-Ate lots of food and too many leftovers.
-Chris and Jon went shopping with Jamie only to get to the check-out line with EXTRA LARGE women's briefs in their basket.
-Lillia my niece went to the ER and they thought she had the croup but found out later she had Pneumonia. Poor baby!
-I got the stomach flu, in bed on in the bathroom all day. Then 36 hours later Jamie had the same thing only WORSE!

-I got a cold sore right before the wedding and unfortunately passed it on to poor Eli right on his forehead right before Christmas. We ended up seeing a PA on Christmas Eve who gave him antibiotics for his viral infection and "cold sore" on his head.
-Everyone in the house had germs...I think 75% of the house was on antibiotics of some kind. Merry Christmas.
-Christmas Day went to see "Gulliver's Travels" and took a chance taking Carter. He did OK till 3/4 of the way through he got ants in his pants and could NOT stay in his seat. Any time a song came on he danced down the rows.
-Mema kept calling Carter things like "Cutie", or "Baby Doll" and he didn't like it. One morning as he walked up the stairs at 7am he confronted her about it. He said, "Mema, did you know me when I was a Baby?" She replied, "Yes!" He said, "Well, I am a BIG BOY now and you CAN'T call me cutie!"
-Carter loved all of his gifts and was so excited that Santa knew what he wanted! He got the Leapfrog TAG and kept saying, "He knew, He knew this was what I wanted!"(He wrote a letter and hand delivered it at the depot at the beginning of December!!! )

-I LOVED listening to my grandma talk about the days when she was a young mother and how she handled things and what her worries were. I love listening to all of her stories and her thoughts. She is and was an amazing woman!
-Celebrated Nikolas' 8th birthday and baptism on December 19th. He was baptized by my father, confirmed by Jonathan Spooner, and Becca Spooner gave the Baptism talk and Grandma Shirley Acebedo gave the talk on the Holy Ghost while I sang "Teach me to walk in the Light". We finished up the event with shark birthday cake and shark sugar cookies.
-Saw old freinds that came for Emily's wedding...Don and Colby Fletcher and Angie Crandell.
-Ate way too many famous sugar cookies and chocolate covered pretzel rods.
-Enjoyed the company of Grandma and Grandpa Spooner along Aunt Luanne.
-Had a small bachelorette party for Emily, getting pedicures and shopping for something special. So many laughs my cheeks hurt!
-Attending the famous Family Christmas Party with the Pinata....many fond memories from when I was a young girl.

(Carter quickly grabbing his candy!)

-Ate the traditional Tea Ring Christmas morning.
-Looked at my dad's chewed up ear after he had minor surgery for presumed skin cancer...thankfully it was benign.
-Took the kids to the Children's Museum in Omaha! They loved it...I highly recommend it!
-Watched Mom and Mema beading at the dining room table...listening to them tell me I will be like them one day.
-Way too many gifts received by so many wonderful people. Thank you everyone!

We had such a wonderful time with family. We enjoyed it all! The boys are off schedule and not sure what time-zone they are in, Eli is still getting over his head sore, and we are all sniffling and hacking....BUT it was worth the trip and we loved every minute! Thanks for the memories!

9 Months old December 13th

2010-12-29T21:07:00.000-05:00

Eli turned 9 months old the day we left for Omaha Nebraska for my sister Emily's wedding. He weighed in at 19lbs 15 ounces...Yes he is 20 lbs. Carter was 20lbs at 13 months! They are two different boys. He was in the 37th percentile for weight for age and 70 something percentile for height. "Long and lean" were the words of the Dr. One thing they did find was an extra roll on the right side between his bum and leg. This is something they screen for when they are looking for hip dysplasia. She seemed to think that it would likely be nothing but ordered a hip xray just in case. We will keep you posted.

Eli is just a HAPPY little boy. He is always smiling and gives everyone a toothy grin! Before his 9 month well baby check up I took him in to check on the annoying cough that seemed to be lingering, The Dr said he had an ear infection and asked, "has he been fussy?" He is rarely fussy even with an ear infection.

He just started walking around everything. He walks behind is cart, around the couch, plays on his train table and is SO proud of himself. But just today he let go and fell flat. Walking is just weeks away I am afraid.

He says, "Mama", "Dada", "Baba" and babbles all the time.
He loves to take toys from his brother.
Annoys the dog.
Still loves to be swaddled
Is still SO TICKLISH....if you even pretend to tickle him he squirms and belly laughs
Loves when his daddy comes home
Best buddies with his brother Carter

He is such a JOY!!! Don't mind the sore on his face. This was a little skin issue Santa brought. (I had a cold sore and he had a small opening in his skin on his forehead and I kissed him...you guessed it...he got it all over his head...poor kid! But he didn't complain one bit!"

2010-12-29T20:29:00.000-05:00

Eli Douglas turned 7 months old on October 13th. He is growing and changing everyday. Some things he is doing these days are:

(This was the best I could do)
-"Army crawling"...he can get to about whatever he wants and grunts the whole way there.
- Eating all of foods...avocado, peaches, rice cereal, Oatmeal cereal, pears, peas, green beans, cottage cheese, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, carrots, apples, prunes, broccoli, and whole milk yogurt. The boy LOVES to eat and has yet to turn down a food.
-Loves his momma and when she's in the room that's all he wants.

He is SO Ticklish! You get close to his tummy and he starts to giggle!

Where did he come from?

2010-10-02T23:59:00.000-04:00

Carter Jameson is one amazing little boy. He tries my patience, makes me laugh, makes me cry, melts my heart, touches my spirit, and makes me better! He brings out so many good and bad things in me that I never knew were there! The good things get better and the I am working on the bad things!

Here are some new things going on with C-Man...

Being dirty is the thing to do...He loves just getting dirty. This was was him on vacation in Ohio at the beach on Lake Erie. He just wanted to be filthy!

He has gotten into fishing and bugs. He loved fishing this summer with his dad. He is also very excited about finding any bugs and or worms.

He loves his cousins. He is lucky enough to live close to several cousins. Whenever he talks about his "friends" and when we ask who they are he always says the names of his cousins. (Lillia and Carter had a great time on vacation in August...they just chased each other around and laughed at each other!)

Carter is trying to kick his daily nap. Which would be OK with me except he can't make it to 7 pm quite yet. If we do anything in the afternoon he falls FAST asleep only moments after getting in the car. You can tickle him, talk to him, yell at him and the kid will NOT stay awake! So then he ends up falling asleep at 3 or 4pm messing the whole night routine up by staying up till 9 am... we are working on this. He still naps about 4-5 days a week. But the days he doesn't we all pay!

No more high chair. He finally got advanced from the high chair to his big boy chair once Eli started eating solids. If it weren't for Eli he would still be in the high chair. He gets up and down from his chair during his meals countless times. It makes meal time so much more stressful. But I guess he needs to learn how to stay in his seat.

He wrestles everyone...loves to tackle and pretends he is playing football and tackling others all the time!

Loves to be a BIG brother. He worries about his brother, tells me when he wakes up, tells me when he pukes, and helps me feed Eli. He is a big helper in this department.

Carter loves to read the scriptures every night. Most of the time we read from the Art Media Guide. We hold up a picture and he tells us what the story is about. He also has all 24 modern day prophets memorized. We say the name and he points to their picture or he can also say the name of the picture we point to. He loves doing this!

Carter has been talking for a LONG time now. He amazes us daily on the words he uses and the things he says. Here are just some that I can think of...

-"Mom I deserve this..." (as I handed him cut up apples and peanut butter for an afternoon snack) I respond why, "Because I took a good nap!"

-"Mom, can I have a horse? A little tiny one...I will take good care of it, I will rock it, and feed it cereal, and he can sleep in my bed, and I will put jammies on him!"

-"I am going on my mission to mania!" (Romania)

-"Coach Dantonio is in the hospital, he had a heart attack!"

-"Grandpa, I want to live in a castle some day and I am going to be the queen and mom is going to be the princess!"

-"I don't want to listen to the primary songs..." (we play the primary song CD when he goes to sleep at night), Chris responded, "Why not?" Carter explained, "They make me sleepy!!!"

-"I need to wear my goggles (swimming goggles) in the rain to tect (protect) me!" (And he did just that, wore his goggles and jumped in EVERY puddle from the car to the post office entrance soaking my pants and his pants clear through...it was fun but his eyes were protected and steamy by the end of it!)

-"I starving mom!" (h said to us at bed time after refusing to eat his dinner) and I replied, "Sorry the kitchen is closed!" and he matter of factly said,"No It's not mom, Look it's open...see!"

-Carter was up in his bed trying to take his nap when I hear from his room, "Ouch, my nose hurts!!!" When I came in to investigate and I asked him what happened he said, "I was trying to put this quarter up my nose!!!" Gosh, what was he thinking? He quickly learned NEVER to do that again! Good thing he has small nostrils, huh?!

-When telling Carter the story of David and Goliath tonight before bed he said, "I want a sling-shot too" and I replied, NO he was using it in battle or war. Carter replied, "I want to go to war so I can have a sling-shot!" Gosh, why can't we get the significance out of the story instead of the "WEAPON"

-"Mom, I am the boss! I am the man of the house..." when I replied "No, I don't think so" he responded, "Can I be the boss of Eli? Who can I be the boss of?"...first child = bossy!!!

-The nursery leader was talking about prayer and Carter yells out, "JOSEPH SMITH SAID A PRAYER, and he saw Jesus and Heavenly Father!" The teacher said, "I feel bad I call on Carter all the time because he is so easy to understand!!!" (He calls his leader Sister Gines- - -Sister Giants:))

-"Mom, I want to return to live with Jesus again!" (My personal favorite)

He is so special!!! we just love this little boy and we know he has so much that lies a head of him! We just hope that we can harness all his energy and strong will for good!

Another Fabric lover...

2010-10-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

We got in several large fabric orders this last week and Eli discovered fabric for the first time! He had fun laying on the bolts (wrapped in plastic of course) and playing with them a bit. No drooling on them of course. My boys are going to hate that their mom takes pictures of them with fabric bolts when they get bigger! Oh well! We have fun in our fabric shop together for now! I am going to enjoy it while it lasts!

Carter's Curls

2010-10-02T22:55:00.000-04:00

So we got lazy and didn't get Carter's hair cut when we should have to keep it trim. Then all the sudden it started to curl in the back and on the sides. So we decided to let it grow a little. These pics are not great, but the boy has some body!

I have learned what it is like to have a girl though. We have to do our hair every day...or else it looks BAD! So the rule is...let me do your hair or you MUST wear a hat! Last Sunday Carter went to his nursery class and said to his teacher..."I have gel in my hair!" I think it is cute for now...I will get some better pics so you can see better!

ARE THEY TWINS 33 MONTHS APART????

2010-10-02T22:24:00.002-04:00

OK, so the older that Eli gets and the more I look at pictures of Eli with pictures of Carter they look very similar. if not the same! What do you think? This is a picture of the boys both at ~6 months of age.

Who is who?

6 months Old...

2010-10-02T22:09:00.000-04:00

On September 13th Eli Douglas turned 6 months old. He no longer just sits there while I put the paper reading "I'm 6 months old". Now he grabs it, chews and drools on it, and crunches it! So these are the pictures we got.

Eli weighed in at 17lbs 8 ounces and 27-3/4" long. He is in the 47th percentile of weight for age and 76th percentile in height for age. He is growing like a weed, but not as quickly as previously. Eli is so similar to his brother Carter is so many ways but so different is so many others. Eli had a runny nose and was drooling like crazy so I expected teething but I was waiting for a burning temp, diarrhea and a wicked diaper rash accompanied by a FUSSY boy! Fortunately for us Eli only had the runny nose and drool. No temp, no diarrhea, no rash and same old pleasant boy...then out popped 2 bottom teeth. Just a week before he turned 6 months old. He has 4 more teeth on top trying to make their appearance known. His gums are so swollen!

Eli is rolling all over the house and getting where he needs to go by rolling, bumping into something and rolling again. He has discovered any speck that we miss on the carpet so we are vacuuming more frequently. He is sitting up and enjoying all the new views. He is occassionally getting up on his knees and wants to get moving so I think it is only a matter of weeks before he is mobile! He is starting to make noises like , "Da" and blows raspberries. We started eating food about 6 weeks ago and he loves his foods. To date he is eating, rice cereral, oatmeal cereal, avocado, bananas, pears, prunes, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and apples. So far he eats everything...I did try whole milk plain yogurt which he loved but he spit it up all day so we are holding off on the dairy a little longer!

Eli was also tested for food allergies. Good news...no food allergies!!! I was so excited to see that he had no allergic reaction when he was skin tested 2 weeks ago. That same day we found out some more great news...Carter's food allergy is improving as well. They think with our strict avoidance combined with him likely outgrowing the allergy he is improving. So the next step is a Food Challenge. Which means I make up a batch of scrambled eggs and we go to the allergist office and they give him the test in small doses gradually increasing over the course of 2 hours and watching for any reactions. The Dr is 85-95% confident that Carter will tolerate the egg and we are in high hopes that we can move past this one! We will keep you posted on this one.

Back to Eli...

He is just a joy..happy most all of the time...yells out at times just to remind you he is there! He has to yell since his brother is so loud and distracting! He loves his momma and is starting to get a little clingy! We are so happy we get the opportunity to raise this special boy in our family!

C-Man My HERO!

2010-08-15T12:21:00.000-04:00

Carter has been growing up right before our eyes. Not sure how it happened, but all of the sudden he is getting so big! He has taken a liking to taking pictures. So I gave him my OLD digital camera to take a few pictures. When the internal memory gets full we just erase them and start over. Here is one we took the other day...

I love this picture...it has symbolism I think...hopefully I can have the right feet for him to follow after...

First child is such an experiment on certain things. Right now we are learning how to work on getting C-Man to LISTEN. I know that it will be a constant work in progress, but it gets tiring of his inability to use his ears!!! When I tell him, "DON'T GO OUTSIDE!" and he turned and walks out the door. Or getting him to take and nap when he is SO exhausted or just STAY IN HIS ROOM! So we are working LONG and HARD on this one. The picture below was when I gave up on the nap after 1.5 hrs, many trips returning him to his room, and some tears...He fell asleep after being in the car "MAYBE" 2 minutes...

THIS WAS BEFORE HE GAVE IN...

2 Minutes later...

drool and everything...

Something we are trying is a "Listening Chart" It worked great this last week...still needs some tweeking, but he was able to go to be better FOR SURE...

Carter is such a smart and talented little boy that tries my patience until it is impossible to try it any further...because I end up not having any some days. He is very strong willed and my mother would say, "It is the Mother's Curse" because I was her "strong-willed child" that made her buy the book!!! Well, I got THE book, from my Mother-in-law. I am in the process of reading it and I pray I will be able to help this very special little boy to use his strong willingness for good!!!

He made us giggle at dinner last night when he said, "I want more sauce please, SWEETY!" and responded after I gave him some, "Thanks SWEETY!"

The other night he ran out of his bedroom at bedtime and ran into our room with this Easter Bunny that sings some silly bunny song. Chris chased after him and Carter looked up at his dad and knew he was caught, took his pointer finger and pressed the button on the "musical bunny" and started to dance around in a circle pointing his fingers in the air, Chris contained his laughter and told him it was time for bed and picked him up. That didn't slow down his gig, as he continued to dance in his father's arms all the way to bed!!!

So often he melts my heart and is a little "mini-me" of his father!

Carter, I love you SO MUCH, but sometimes you wear me out!!!

Fabric Shop is Exploding...

2010-08-15T11:49:00.001-04:00

Chris and I have been so excited about HBfabrics (Hilary Brooke Fabrics) a business we started to be able to buy fabric at wholesale in order to make my bags, however it has grown so much!!! More than ever expected!

This picture was 2 days worth of orders, I think 66 yards of fabric. We are shipping all over the world and meeting all kinds of great people who support our shop on etsy! Amazingly, I feel like some of them are my "friends" though we have never met or even spoken on the phone.

We have a whole fabric wall in the once "formal dining room" and we cut fabric regularly. We love when the UPS or FedX guy comes to our home with a new box of fabric. I may have said this before on here, but Carter said to me one day from the back seat of the Honda Pilot, "MOM I SEE THE FAVRIC TRUCK!!!" I was a bit confused until he went on to say, "You know the brown truck that comes to our house!" Oh the UPS truck...he makes me giggle!!!

Things are great ad the business is booming!!! It is fun to start something and watch it grow! Thanks for everyone's support and help with this business! Though hard work

and time consuming, it is hopefully going to pay off down the road!

Random thoughts...

2010-08-15T11:35:00.000-04:00

I stayed home from church today with another "scary" infection. Only this time on my bicep. The third time since Eli was born. The first two were on my abdomen. I will spare all of the gory details, but I finally ended up in the ER on Thursday night August 12th and am on 2 antibiotics and doing 4-6 hot compresses daily.

The timing was perfect when I was supposed to cover at work three days in a row. Due to the severity of the infection I unfortunately had to call into work. Hopefully the girls at work will forgive me on this one. Believe me, I'd rather be at work that deal with what I have going on...IN A HEARTBEAT!

Monday I return to my PCP and then I will be referred to a Specialist. Not fun at all! Painful and scary with 2 little boys and one Big boy at home! Let's just say that my hands are raw and the house smells like Clorox Bleach Wipes!!!

So I have quarantined myself for the past 4 days and I think now I am on the upswing. It has been stressful and my anxiety has reared its ugly head, but hopefully I will recover fully and NEVER have this occur again! The upside, I have been able to spend some quiet time with just me and Eli. Which hopefully he has enjoyed as much as I have. He is such a sweet and content baby. Right now as I am writing he is sucking on his baby gym listening to the choir on the TV.

Eli Doulas is 5 Months Old...

2010-08-15T10:38:00.000-04:00

On August 13th Eli Douglas turned 5 Months old. Time is going by way to quickly for our little guy. Just look how he has changed. He was so tiny above and now see how he has grown...

He is such a happy baby and we like to call him "smilely"! Here are some things he is doing...

SLEEPS GREAT

BELLY LAUGHS WHEN TICKLED

ROLLS ALL OVER THE FLOOR

GRUNTS WHEN HE IS FRUSTRATED (no crying just grunts even when his brother lays on him)

GRABS AT YOUR FOOD WHEN YOU ARE EATING

SMILES AND LAUGHS

TRYING TO SIT UP

HOLDS ALL HIS TOYS AND CHEWS ON EVERYTHING

LOVES HIS BROTHER

KNOWS THE MOMENT HIS MOM WALKS INTO THE ROOM

IS JUST PLAIN HAPPY!!!

We love him so much and enjoy every moment that we have with this special boy! He is growing quickly so that he can defend himself against his older brother. Carter loves him so much but is just so ROUGH sometimes!

My adventures with the two "little" men in my life!

2010-07-29T09:26:00.000-04:00

We have been busy this week...

Monday we made yummy granola bars from a recipe Carter got from his nursery teacher. Thanks Sydney! We love them!

Tuesday we went bowling with several families from our ward. Carter was determined to throw the bowling ball all by himself. "I'll do it myself!" Though at times the ball would be rolling so slow we had to walk along the side and give it a push! He did better as the game went on.

YES these are the cutest little bowling shoes...I wanted to keep them!

After each turn he would put one hand on his hip and watch the ball for as long as he could then he would RUN back to the bowling balls or anywhere he wanted. At times he would run across 5 lanes. We had to have a talk about running into others' lanes! He was just so excited! He did cross over the "foul line" once and slipped falling right on his back. We talked about not crossing the line and after the fall he never crossed again!

Wednesday we had a VERY busy day! Started the day at the post office (we go there daily to drop off fabric or Hilary Brooke Collection products), then we headed to the Park (Timber Town). We played there with some friends for about an hour and then went to story-time at the library. After story-time we went to the Luau celebration in the courtyard of the library. We played giant Volleyball, went toe fishing, made a fun fish visor, got our face painted, played in a bounce house and had a BLUE snow cone!

Carter ended the reading program by reading 105 books! We were very proud of our accomplishment whether we win a prize or not! BTW this kid had blue from head to toe after the snow cone!

Summer Sweat Shop...

2010-07-25T17:33:00.000-04:00

This is the "sweat shop"...where we cut fabric for our online fabric shop hbfabrics and where I sew for Hilary Brooke Collection business has been going well and keeps our nights packed! Fun times! We continue to iron out the kinks in our processes and we have fun doing it! I just love it when Carter says, "I see the Favric truck!" It was the brown UPS truck, he thinks it only delivers fabric because it comes to our house regularly!

Summer Fun...

2010-07-25T17:22:00.001-04:00

So busy here at the Edwards house! Here are some other things we have been doing...

We celebrated Chris' Dad's birthday by taking him too the driving range. Carter had a ball, but we had to make sure he didn't ruin any clubs by dragging them on the cement...

We have also been participating in the local library's reading program. For every 5 books we read to Carter he gets a raffle ticket. To date we have read 85 books which = 17 raffle tickets. He has the chance to win either 4 tickets to Cedar point or a $100 gift card to a local book and game store called "Just Imagine". It ends this week...we will see if we win a prize! Here is is reading card...

We have also spent a lot of time outside...in the kiddie pool and at the park playing sports...

We also had an incident with immunizations. Carter revieved the Prevnar 13 booster at his 3 year check up (on July 13th). They told me he would have NO REACTION what-so-ever. However by 5pm the night of the shot he was screaming and would not walk on that leg. By morning the leg was hot to touch and swollen. By the next day his leg was swollen from thigh to kneecap. I wish I had taken a picture. The only one I have is on my phone. It was scary, but we got him in to the Dr and he was started on antibiotics and it resolved in 24 hrs. Ugh...wierd things happen to that boy! He weighed 29.5 lbs at 3 years old. Always thin!!!

BUSY TIMES BUT FUN TIMES WITH OUR BOYS!!!

Eczema . . . .

2010-07-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

I know this is a strange title on a family blog, but it has been on my mind for QUITE some time! Yes, Eli Douglas also has Eczema just like his older brother...ONLY WORSE! He has spots on his back, elbows, calves,and cheeks! It has been my Full Time job to try and keep him slathered up with lotions, creams, buying the right "soap free" bath soaps and using the right detergents on our clothes! I was fed up!!! At the worst falre-up points his poor little arms were oozing. I felt so horrible. Even Carter knew how bad it was and how worried I was. Whenever anyone talked to us about Eli in public Carter would respond, "He has eczema!" We all felt bad!

So I went for a natural healing alternative. A woman found Hilary Brooke Collection and wanted to do a review on some of my child products for her blog. So I started to look at some of the other things she had reviewed. One of the things she had reviewed was a necklace from Hazelaid. This company makes necklaces out of the wood from the Hazelnut tree. They say this wood, "has the unique property of absorbing the excess acid produced in our bodies when it is in contact with our skin." and supposedly 70% of all cases of eczema are due to high levels of acidity. I know what you are thinking, right, "babies shouldn't wear necklaces!" These necklaces are NOT a choking hazard and BREAK open whenever any pressure if put on them and the beads are very tiny as not to be a choking hazard. The necklaces are small in size as well only 11" long so he could never reach it and pull!

I was willing to try ANYTHING...so I told myself if it didn't work, I had a cute anklet for myself. BUT IT DID WORK!!! I got a prescription for a steroid cream the same day I received my necklace in the mail. I decided to try the necklace and hold off on the cream. (Who wants to put steroids on their 4 month old?) So he has been wearing his necklace for 11 days now and I would say it has cleared up 50%. He is so cute in his necklace, but the part I love the most, NO MORE CREAMS!!! Thank you Hazelaid I Eli's necklace!

These pics are from the day I put on the necklace...

Now here are some new pics from today...

It is hard to tell exactly how much better it has gotten, but BELIEVE me it is SO much better! He is so happy! I just love these pics! My baby is growing WAY too fast!

Summer Field Trips

2010-07-11T23:09:00.000-04:00

So there is a great girl in our ward that organizes field trips for every Tuesday for most of the summer. She plans a trip and then lets everyone know about it and if we can make it we do. So this is what we have done so far...

Trip to the Scio Township Fire Station...

Carter insisted on wearing his fireman's jacket (that was about 3 sizes too big). He learned so much from the few words that the Fire Chief had to say! He kept repeating, "You shouldn't be scared of the fireman!" and "when there is a fire in your house you just GET OUT and go to your special place!" or "when you are on fire just "Stop, drop and Roll"! The kid is a sponge! Since his visit we have designed our very own family fire escape plan, tested our fire alarms, and designated a "special place" in the case of a fire! Thanks for the learning field trip!!!

Next we went to the Washtenaw Dairy in Ann Arbor Michigan...

Here we got to watch how they made their very own donuts! See how they fry them and even help frost them! These donuts did NOT have egg in them, so Carter actually had his very first donut! He had a fun time and enjoyed all the sugar he could handle!

We also have spent a LOT of time at the library. Carter registered for the summer reading program. So for every 5 books he reads or is read he gets a raffle ticket. He enters each ticket into a raffle for different prizes like 4 tickets to Cedar Point amuzement park or a $100 gift cert to "Just Imagine" (the new children's book store in town). So far he and I (of course) have read over 50 books! I am pulling for the Cedar Point tickets.

We also are attending story time with the puppet Rosie as well as any activity they have at the Library. Like 2 weeks ago we went to see the Reptile man and met all of his alligators,snakes, and toads. This week we went to Music Together, where we learned about music and sang and danced. This week is just as busy...we will keep you posted on our happenings! Eli enjoys just going along for the ride! He is a real trooper!!!

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-04T21:48:00.000-04:00

Since Independence day is on a Sunday this year we celebrated on the 3rd of July. We spent the day with the boys and enjoyed the sun and fireworks.

I had fun making Carter a "Red, White and Blue" velcro belt to go with his festive plaid shorts.

We went to Manchester MI foreworks and Carter had a great time playing football and baseball with his dad and an "new" found friend that he made. He was a happy boy all night!

Chris did have to venture into the "port-a-potty" and if you can see from the LONG line in the blurry picture (sorry) that potty got a work out. Being that this was Carter's first time in one of those (I try at all costs to avoid them) he went to the bathroom and after leaving said to his dad, "Dad, did the horse go to the bathroom in here?" The potties were FULL! Chris had to contain the laughter!

Carter loved catching fireflies and wanted to bring them home. He was sad to see that they were dead before the end of the fireworks display. "But I wanted to bring them home and put them under my pillow!?"

Eli enjoyed the fireworks from the comforts of his swaddle blanket and his car seat! He slept right through all of the fireworks! We had a great night and enjoyed celebrating together!!!

Summer Fun..."Thumbs up Dude!"

2010-06-20T23:07:00.000-04:00

We are having a great summer...so much to write about and so much to do!!! My boys are keeping me busy and I am loving being home with them!!! Eli is 14 weeks old and Carter just turned 3! I am one proud mom and I feel so blessed to have this chance right now in my life to be entrusted by the Lord to raise these special spirits!!! I will find some time this week to tell you more about what we have been up to!!! But things are buzzzzing around the Edward's house!!! Love it!

Happy 3rd Birthday Carter

2010-06-20T22:59:00.000-04:00

Carter turned 3 on June 7th 2010. It was a fun day! Uncle Jamie along with Jon, Becca and Lillia were all in town to celebrate with us. We went to the "Tree House" to play and then came back to the house and met up with Grandma and Grandpa Edwards to open gifts and have cake and ice cream! I made a picnic cake with ant cupcakes. (All egg-free of course). Carter felt so special and got way to many gifts! Thanks everyone for the great gifts and wonderful company!!! My baby boy is getting so BIG...

Meeting a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles....

2010-06-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

Today we had the chance to listen and meet Elder David A. Bednar a member of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles. We started preparing to meet and hear from him weeks ago. We talked about aspostles and facts about Elder Bednar last week for Family Home Evening. Carter got so excited to learn about him and pray for him that whenever anyone said prayer this week Carter took it upon himself to make sure we were ALL praying for him.

We listened to the voice of this apostle today and even got the opportunity to shake his hand. Carter had an experience that he will never forget. Carter is so impressionable and loves to learn about the gospel. On this Father's day, the father's were challenged by not only the stake president Rick DeVries but also by Elder Bednar to ask their children what they can do better as fathers. So Chris asked Carter after his nap today and this was his response...."teach me the gospel and teach me to hit baseballs!" He was so sincere in his request to his father and out of the mouth of a 3 year old, he asked his dad to teach him the gospel. Though we work hard to teach him the gospel, we felt strongly that he truly desires to learn about Jesus! Carter...Thank you for your sweet spirit and Christlike attributes, to keep your parents on track!!! We feel so blessed today! Thank you Elder Bednar for your inspired words!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

2010-06-20T22:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day to the BEST DAD around!!! We love you Chris for all you do!

Eli and Carter love you so much!!!!

12 Weeks Old and "ROLLING"

2010-06-06T21:20:00.000-04:00

Eli has turned 12 weeks old and he is just as pleasant as can be! Just last night when I layed his down to take a picture he surprised me by rolling over! I am not sure I am ready for movement from my little guy, but he is ready! He is already trying to sit up-whether it is on your lap-in the bouncey seat-or in the swing. He wants to see al the action. And believe me...THERE IS ACTION at our house! Carter loves entertaining him and making him belly laugh. He just wants him to be able to play so badly! Thankfully Eli is VERY tolerant of his brother's ROUGH love! None the less it IS love! We all love this little boy and can't get enough of his GRINS and GIGGLES!

Cloth diapering is still going quite well! No rashes, BLOW-OUTS or issues so far! I am sold. Though Chris watched the 2 boys all by himself yesterday and he was busted with the "emergency" disposable diapers we use when either we are traveling or grandmas come over. So, I think at times he is still a little nervous about them! But the cost savings has been GREAT! Plus my baby boy has fun and colorful diapers, which I LOVE!

2010-05-10T15:17:00.000-04:00

Eli is 8 weeks old - 2 months!! He is sleeping through the night 8-9 hours and laughing and cooing all of the time. He is a pleasant little boy! Just a joy!

What have we been up to at the Edwards Home???

2010-05-10T15:12:00.000-04:00

What a whirlwind it has been in the last 8 weeks. We have laughed and cried and laughed some more. It has been quite an adjustment for the whole family since Eli has joined our family. Everyone has adjusted a little differently, but we all have adjusted. I am now staying at home with my two boys. The days of working outside of the home full time have ended for now and I am excited to say I will be at home. The blessings of this decision have already started to pour in. I will however be working at home. Hilary Brooke Collection and our fabric store on etsy HBfabrics (Hilary Brooke Fabrics) have been very busy and we are hoping will start bringing in even more now that I will be at home. It has been a real adjustment going from 1 to 2, and from being at work receiving respect and a paycheck to staying at home working just as hard (if not harder) with days where I feel nothing gets checked off the list and the paycheck is non existent. But everyday has gotten better and we are figuring it out. I am NO super mom by any means, but I feel good at the end of the day when I can say that I sure am trying.

Besides the adjustments, we have been busy with other things as well. Dr's visits have been our main attraction during this maternity leave. Yes, Dr's visits for either myself, Carter or Eli weekly since Eli's birth. I deloved 2 spots on my stomach one after the other that had some complications and sparing all the gory details we have been packing an open wound in my stomach for close to 6 weeks now. Thanks to my dear sweet loving husband for spending that time with me each day packing my wound. It has been frustrating to say the least, but I am on the mend.

Carter AKA "Captain Sensitive" developed a contact dermatitis after playing in the tall grass. It looked like he had red socks on his ankles. It was just from his ankles up to his sock line. We were putting calodryl and hydrocordasone cream on here at home, without any relief. After Carter scratching chunks of skin off his legs from itching so bad I finally took him him. His leg was swollen and had the beginnings of an infection. They couldn't tell me what had caused the dermatitis, but started him on a nasty antibiotic "Clindamyacin" 3 x daily, Claritin 1 x daily, and a steroid topical cream for his legs. Between his meds and mine it was $75.oo last Monday. So I have been on "Scratch Patrol" watching and making sure Carter doesn't scratch his legs. To help with this we have worn Dad's tall tube socks, wapped bandages around them and finally Baby Legs worked the best. Thankfully after Doctor's visits, many doses of meds, a blessing, clipping his finger nails, and Baby Legs the itching has stopped and his legs are on the mend. He was a trooper. I felt so bad for the kid when I would find hi laying on the carpet rubbing his legs back and forth to get some relief for the itch.

Besides Dr's visits we have done some fun things too. Storytime on Thursdays at the library. He loves Miss Jackie and Rosie the puppet. We have been having playgroups with some of the girls at church. We has made friends with Elle and her Mom Laci. We got a new double jogging stroller and we go on walks and runs around town. We also got a plant...OK it is like a Chia Pet but you grow hair and then cut it as it grows. Chris also won a bird feeder at work for Earth Day. This has been fun to watch the birds in the backyard and Carter watches out the window constantly to see if he can see a bluebird or cardinal.

We have been busy here at home and these boys keep me hopping! But we are loving every minute of it.

Given a name and a blessing...

2010-05-10T15:03:00.000-04:00

On May 2, 2010 Eli was given a name and a blessing at the Chelsea Michigan Ward in the Ann Arbor Michigan Stake. He was blessed by his father Christopher Edwards. The members in the circle were Gary Ray Spooner(Pepa), Douglas Edwards (Grandpa), Ryan Ward (uncle), Gordon Madsen (uncle), Jonathan Spooner (uncle), and Stephen Sweitzer (2nd uncle). It was a very blessed day and the spirit was very strong. This little boy is very special and everyone can feel that about his sweet spirit. Nana (Debby Spooner) made his blessing outfit and it looked adorable. After the meetings everyone came to our home and we had a brunch. Eli slept through all of the festivities. It was a special day and one we will never forget.

Growing Like a Weed - -Eli is ONE MONTH OLD

2010-04-13T16:39:00.000-04:00

My baby boy is growing so quickly! Today was Eli's one month check-up. He weighed in at 11lbs even 22.5 inches long. 50th percentile weight for length, 76th percentile wt and 76th percentile for length. He is doing great. Nursing like a champ every 3-4 hours. Sleeping great too. His current schedule is eating at 8pm and going to be shortly there after and then he wakes up at 2:30 am and then at 6:30 am after I am already out of bed. So once a night, I can handle. Hopefully soon he will go to sleeping through the night. He is a very pleasant baby and easy going. Just a joy to have around. Just attaching some Easter pics of the boys and Eli's first bath!

Flying kites with Carter! It was a great windy spring day!

Baby Eli and Edwards Family Photoshoot

2010-04-13T15:55:00.001-04:00

Once again Tanya Dunn of Blue Peach Photography has worked her magic in making the Edwards family look good in pictures. Check out the slide show of our family pictures and newborn pictures of Eli Douglas!

http://www.bluepeachphotography.com/client/EliEd/slideshow.html

Thank you Tanya!!! You are the best!

Baby Update and Pictures...

2010-03-26T14:22:00.000-04:00

So life adjusting to having 2 kids has been a bit of a rollercoaster with many more hills to climb. But every day it gets better. So many of you have asked for more pictures. So I am posting more pics of Eli. He is doing geat. Feeding every 3 hours during the day and going every 4 hours at night. Except we did have a WONDERFUL night Wednesday night. He only woke up once. Yup...one time. Ate at 8:30 pm and wokr up at 3am and then woke up at 7am. I thought we may have been on our way to sleeping through the night...but last night he woke up every 4 hours again and had a stuffy nose that made it hard for him to sleep. But we will keep working on it.

We have had a busy week....

Monday-Stayed home and adjusted to life without dad
Tuesday- Dr's appointment and quick trip to Hallmark for Thank You cards (that was all I could handle first day out with 2 kids)
Wednesday- a visit to Preschool for Carter to check out the class for the fall
Thursday- Storytime at the local library
Friday- Eli had a checkup with the cardiologist at St. Joseph's for a echo just to finally rule out a bicuspid aortic valve--HE HAS A PERFECT HEART!!! Grandma and grandpa stayed with Carter so I only had one today...it was peaceful!

We are all doing very well and Eli is is such a joy to have around. Carter just adores him and thinks and worries about him all of the time. I am recovering well and am so greatful for all the help we have received with meals from the ward at church. The food has been wonderful and Chris appreciates it! We are so blessed! Two healthy boys and a wonderful husband that I get to have for eternity whether they want me or not!!! I feel blessed!

Eli Coming home form the hospital

Eli is sleeping in the same cradle that I slept in when I was a baby, made by my father.

He loves to be swaddled of course!

Carter lov when we do "tummy time!"

Today's picture- 2 weeks tomorrow.

Weighed in at 9lbs 2 oz at the Dr. this morning! gotta love the breast milk!

"Potty Like a Rockstar"

2010-03-26T14:00:00.002-04:00

The title of this post was printed on a T-shirt that my mother got for Carter about 3 weeks ago. 3 weeks ago Carter was still wearing his diapers proudly, but things have recently CHANGED. 2 weeks ago Carter ditched the diapers and is now in underwear. Yes you read that right, no diapers in 2 weeks yesterday. So here is the story...

It all started with a fancy potty. I had been seaching for the perfect potty that was comfortable and colorful and most importantly would catch all the pee-pee. So I looked and looked for the perfect potty and it arrived in the mail. He was so excited to open the box and that got the ball rolling. I ordered the Prince Lionheart Potty Pod. This is a new potty I found and it has a soft cushy seat that Carter loves and blocks the pee-pee just great.

Then mom (Nana) got a great idea called the "Potty Prize Jar" so we headed to the store to buy little dollar prizes that he gets to pick once he makes pee-pee in the potty. He was very excited to give it a try. Once he got a prize he started to understand the game. Now poo was a bit more difficult. So we upped the anty a bit, 2 prizes from the jar if he went poo. That one is still slow going but he has had some success with it.

Nana has worked very hard with him while I was in the hospital with Eli. She sang a lot of songs, read a lot of books and helped him get his aim down. We owe her a BIG thanks! Now this boy can hold his pee and has such control. I even think he can make pee any time he wants a treat/prize from the jar. It is amazing. He gets so excited when he uses his potty and wants to show everyone the results in the potty. Then he asks, "You so proud of me mom!?" Then we respond, "We are so proud of you Carter!" Then he responds, "Thank you Mom!"

The prize jar was getting low so we headed to the store again, and Carter leaned over to me in the Car and said, "Mom we need to get more fruit snacks and chocolate for potty prizes." I then suggested to him we buy some more healthy snacks like dried fruits like boxes of raisins. He quickly replied, "MOM RAISINS AREN'T POTTY PRIZES, FRUIT SNACKS AND CHOCOLATE ARE POTTY PRIZES!"

Congrats to my "Big Boy" and being out of diapers and into underwear. He is growing up so fast! I am so proud of you Carter!!!!

Eli Douglas has ARRIVED!

2010-03-23T15:11:00.003-04:00

So Eli was not coming on his own, so I was induced on Saturday March 13th at 11:30am. Things went pretty well. I was having fairly regular contractions and managing the pain until the Dr broke my water. He broke my water at 2:30pm and then the real pain began. I progressed to 4 cm and I was ready for the epidural. I received the epidural at 5:30 pm and went from 4 cm to 10 cm in 2 hours and Eli was born at 7:29pm. They had to use the vacuum on his poor little head and he was out.

He weighed 8lbs 8 oz at 21.5 inches in length, exact length as Carter just 2 lbs and an ounce heavier. It is no wonder I was so uncomfortable when he was on the inside. Things are going great. Today he is 10 days old and after his checkup at the Dr's office he now weighs 8 lbs 14 oz. Carter loves having his baby brother here and tells him he loves him all of the time. Yesterday he even said "You're my best friend". Sure his hugs and squeezes are a little rough, but he means well.

Chris went back to work yesterday and I am on my own. So far so good, but many more days to come. Eli is just so precious. Though he looks very much like his older brother, he has a personality all of his own. He is very calm and layed back and just a joy to have around in our home. We feel so blessed that he was sent to be a part of our family and I am so excited to be with him forever along with my other 2 boys-Chris and Carter. I am one lucky girl.

"I wanna be Naked, Mom!"

2010-02-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

Carter has known for some time how to take his clothes off, but it has been in the last few weeks that he has started taking them off in his bed. We have gone up to bed and found him completely naked, sourounded by EVERY STUFFED ANIMAL that the kid owns.

He takes about 45 minutes to put himself to bed every night. He is now fully accustomed to his "BIG BOY BED", never gets out, but has a ball with all of his animals every night. Sometimes I think he looks forward to his special time with his "pets" (that is what he calls all of the stuffed animals). We will listen to him on the monitor singing lullabyes, "Book of Mormon Stories", telling stories, getting after Pluto telling him it is time for bed, and so much more. We needs reality TV when you can listen to your 2-1/2 year old in his bed! We just giggle! His imagination never quits and we love it!

Funny Things my Toddler says......

2010-02-23T21:40:00.000-05:00

I don't want to forget these things, so I am taking a minute to jot them down.....here goes!

-"Mom, my tummy hurts...my baby brother is kicking me!"
-"Dad, no sneak up on me and say SHHHHHHHHH" (Chris leaned into his room when he was trying to go to sleep and said shhhhh to quite him down, scared the pants off him!)
-"I am going to name my baby brother Suzy!"
-"Super Debby" (His uncles taught him to call his Nana this at Christmas)

He has so many, I am going to keep adding to this post as I think of them!!!! This kid cracks us up, gotta love him. I don't want him to grow up, it all happens so fast.

Fetal Echo Results

2010-01-24T15:00:00.001-05:00

Monday January 18th I had my fetal echocardiogram at DCH (Detroit Children's Hospital) downtown Detroit. Unfortunately my insurance would not let me get this procedure done in Ann Arbor MI (15 minutes from home) instead I had to travel over an hour to Detroit. Nonetheless, I was glad I had medical insurance.

I waited in the waiting room for an hour and then spent about an hour with the tech and Dr. The baby was very active as they were bugging him. It was hard to "count the leaflets" as the Dr put it. He suspects that his heart is totally normal top to bottom, however he did find something that made him hesitant to completely rule out a bicuspid aortic valve. It is hard to explain and especially since I am NOT a cardiologist I will spare the details. But end of story, he wants to see the new baby after a week of life and perform another echocardiogram just to make sure. The Dr said he may be hypersensitive as he knows Carter has a bicuspid aortic valve and so they are trying to find one on this baby as well, but that he may not have one at all. But the baby is fine and all looks good, no changes in delivery plans and nothing to worry about hopefully. We will just see once he arrives and we can do another echo.

I am curious to see what my OBGYN has to say once he gets the report. But I just pray that all is well and that we have nothing to worry about. I also think to myself, maybe many of us have small abnormalities with our organs/hearts that we just never know about because we don't see any symptoms. As Carters congenital heart defect is not bothering him at ALL and we don;t expect that it will, we just happened to look into a seemingly simple heart murmur. And this baby is only getting his heart looked at because of his big brother. I am just excited for this little guy to get here.

Carter's Many Changes - - - Big Boy Bear & Big Boy Bed

2010-01-24T14:39:00.001-05:00

So after Christmas we decided we needed to transition Carter into his "Big Boy Bed". We bought a bed on Craigslist and Chris repainted it blue and we put on it a brand new football quilt that Mema (great grandma) made for him. He was very excited about the transition and watched his dad take down his "cribby" and put up his new bed. For the first 2 weeks it was great. We had the railing up and he would climb into bed and go right to sleep (just like when he was in his crib) no issues. Until the day he found out how to climb out. So we discovered how to climb out the one end and then we had to keep taking him back up to his bed. That lasted a few nights until we put the other railing on the bed, overlapping the two, so there was no longer any opening for him to climb out. Problem solved...he no longer climbed out..and all was going great until about a week ago......

WE LOST "NI-NIGHT" (PACIFIER")

Carter has used a pacifier for only naps and bedtime for about a year and a half. He could not carry it around the house and had to leave it in his bed before he could get out of bed. Hence the name "Ni-night". It helped him calm down for bed and fall fast asleep. Well on 1/15/10 Friday at the babysitter's house he LOST it, our last one. The babysitter said he took a good nape without it, so I decided to go with it. He was told it was gone and that we didn't have it anymore. That didn't make him feel better, but at least he knew it was GONE! So first night...He screamed for 2 hours before falling asleep. He was angry and me, yelling things like "GET BACK IN HERE MOM!!!" and "I NEED IT NOW!!!" I told him that he was a big boy now and that we could go get a Big Boy Bear if he would go to sleep. He was in a rage that night so I was not sure he would even remember what I had promised him. I should have known he would remember because first thing the next morning was "Can we go bet my Big Boy Bear today?" I kept my promise and we headed to Build a Bear for him to pick out the "BIG BOY BEAR" to replace his pacifier. He told the girl at the store all about the traumatic night without the pacifier and that he was a big boy now. He picked out his own bear and even named it witha birth certificate for "Big Boy Bear". I have yet to take his picture with the bear, but here is the bear he picked out.

He loves his bear and he no longer asks about his "ni-night" I wish I could say that he falls asleep as quick and as peacefully as he used to, but that is not the case. He still naps and sleep by himself, but it takes a little longer. Some times over an hour. He doesn't get out of his bed, but he talks, sings, tells stories and rolls around in his bed until finally he passes out. We always wonder what we will find when we check on him. Sometimes he is asleep sitting up in his bed. We don't care as long as he falls asleep and stays in his bed! I just hope that 7 weeks is long enough for him to full DETACH himself from the pacifier before baby #2 comes along. We shall see.

Carter has many more CHANGES to come, but I think he will do fine. It may take awhile to adjust to not having mom and dad's FULL attention, but he will be a great Big Brother! I am excited for the 2 of them to meet.

Cloth Diapering...anyone?

2010-01-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

So I have been looking into cloth diapering for baby #2. I have done a lot of research, attended classes, talked with friends and everything has been positive. I even bought a few already on a SUPER deal I found. The ones we have tried are BumGenius, Happy Heiney's and Blueberry. So far I have been happy and I plan on moving forward with it. Since baby #2 will hopefully not be our last I figured it was worth a shot to try and save some money.

If anyone has any ideas, thoughts, or knowledge to share with me I am open. I am learning very quickly everyone has an opinion and everyone likes something different. I guess that makes sense since every child is different in size and bodily functions. Let me know any tips if you have any to share.

Holiday Happenings in the Edwards Household

2010-01-06T16:21:00.001-05:00

(Carter's new train table - - He and Niko played together so well)

(Lillia- Jon's little girl - 10 months old...and looks just like her daddy...such a sweetie)

Lots of visitors and lots of fun. Our fun started on December 13th when my brother Jamie came home from Utah State University. Carter could hardly contain himself and his excitement that he was there. Jamie watched Carter for 2 days while Chris and I worked...I am not sure he knew what he was in for, but he did great!

Mom and Dad (Nana and Pepa) came home on the 16th and stayed till January 2nd. We picked them up at the airport and Carter never stopped talking from the moment they got into the car till he went to bed that night. Just jibber-jabber. He sure has missed them.

Then my sister Emily and nephew Niko came on the 18th and we all headed down to Ohio to see my brother Jon, sister-in-law Becca and niece Lillia. We took family pictures that were long over-due and just enjoyed one another's company.

Then Emily headed back to Nebraska and we all (Jamie, Nana, Pepa, and Niko) headed back to our home in Michigan until Christmas. Niko stayed behind without his mom to spend time w/ his Nana and Pepa and cousin Carter. We went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan for the Christmas Holiday Lights. It was wonderful...FREEZING but Wonderful. Carter got to ride the old fashioned Carosel and even got to see Santa and 2 of his reindeer. At the very back of the village they had Santa on top of Rob Frost's house saying Merry Christmas to everyone and their children. He had helpers on the ground wearing Microphones. You told his helpers your child's name and he would tell them Merry Christmas from the rooftop. So he said "Merry Christmas Carter and Niko" and made believers out of both of them. Carter even yelled to Santa..."Make the reindeers fly Santa". He told everyone that Santa had told him Merry Christmas. He felt special.

11 people under one roof for 5 straight days...that was our house. Emily came back on Christmas eve and Becca, Jon and Lillia came up from Ohio all to saty at our house.

Here are a few highlights:

-Decorated the traditional Sugar Cookies- - -Yummy!

-Played cards (Crazy Rummy our favorite)

-Had the traditional enchilada Christmas Eve dinner

-Left cookies and a carrot for Santa d his reindeer (Carter hought it was great that the reindeer ate the carrot Christmas morning)

-Opened presents...Carter loved his train table and trains that Santa brought him. In fact he thought every gift was from Santa. He also loved his new snow boots and wants to wear them everywhere he goes.

-We all ate too much food, but enjoyed doing it!

It was a great Christmas and we loved having everyone under one roof. it is back to the grind of work and an empty house. Carter was sad to see everyone go and asks when they are all coming back (even Santa). Sad we won't see Jamie, Emily or Niko for a while. But Nana is coming back for baby #2 in March I am sure we will see Jon, Becca and Lillia around that same time.

Happy Holidays had by all here at the Edwards house!!!

Week of bum rash, burns, and bites!

2010-01-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

I was worn out after last week that I needed the weekend to recoop! So I am getting to blog finally today! Carter reminded me all week of the numerous joys of motherhood. We started on Wednesday when he stayed at home with me and got diarrhea. A joy for both of us. Oranges are in season and of course he loves them, but his little sensitive bum DOES NOT! Mind you he gets diarrhea very easily and diaper rash just as easy. So we dealt with that most of the day and he continued to remind me each time that he had a "BUM RASH" with all seriousness.

Later that same daye we decided we would enjoy making some cookies together. I was being very careful and I had told Carter several times that the stove top was hot and that it would burn him. He was doing well and enjoying licking sugar granules off of his fingers. Until, I turned my back for literally one second and he touched the stove top. I heard a sizzle....I quickly ripped him off of the stool and threw him into the kitchen sink and started running the water and got ice in a cup with cold water. Before he could even get the crying and tears out he had his arm up to his elbows in ice water. Thanksfully he just got some tiny blisters on his 3 middle fingers and he wasn't bothered by it at all. But I beat myself up about it all week, thinking about what could have happened. Mom guilt was running high!

The next day Thursday Carter went to the babysitter Jeanie's house. She has 2 girls 3 and almost 5 I think and a 7 month old boy. When I arrived she told me hesitantly that Carter had bitten his son on the hand and that he had left teeth marks. He had never done this before. I was angry, embarressed, sad, disappointed and upset all at once. Carter openly admitted his transgression and stated that "Lincoln take my snack! I bite him!" We have several long discussions on the way home, the entire night, and then when his dad got home. We wondered is he understood...but when Chris took him back to Jeanie's the next day Chris said, "Now you be a good boy at Jeanie's today!" and Carter promptly responded, "NO BITING!" And today when I picked him up from Mary's she told me that Carter had told her she had bit Lincoln and that it has made his mom sad. I hope he got it! I don't want him to be the kid that bites!

Our Little Boy with a Special Heart

2010-01-03T22:22:00.001-05:00

Just before the family arrived at our house we took Carter to the pediatritians for a check up on his heart mumur. Yes, we found out that our little guy had a hard mumur at about 15 months. The Dr. looked into it a little further at his 2 year well baby check up and checked a pulse ox and listened to his little heart for about 20 minutes between him and his PA. They had decided at that visit to just watch it and suspected it was "Innocent". Then Carter go the H1N1 (it wasn't that bad really...just the terrible fever followed by congestion) in October and became very congested. The doctor heard his mumur much more pronounced w/ his H1N1 visit and wanted to check in on it again once he recovered. So on Dec 16th we headed to the Dr. for him to listen to his heart again. He checked the pulse ox again and it was 98% (great) and listed w/ his stethascope for again another 20 minutes or so. He still suspected it was an "innocent mumur" but wanted to send us to see a pediatric cardiologist just to make sure.

So Chris and I took him to Ann Arbor St. Joseph's Hospital on Friday the 18th to see Dr. Humes (such a wonderful man and blessed with a wonderful talent). The whole ride there Carter asked about what the Dr. would do and we continued to remind him that he was just going to listen to his heart. So he rehearsed it to us full with heart pounding sounds and all. Carter was EXCELLENT...I mean EXCELLENT!!! The whole appointment took about 2+ hours and everyone in the whole office fell in love with our little boy asking them all if they wanted to go to the circus with him and volunteering to hel the ultrasound tech if she needed his help. He charmed them all from the clerk at the front test down to the tech performing the ECHO. He got the whole work-up...EKG and Echocardiogram - with a sucker and Handy Manny episode as a treat during his Echo at the end. We found out that indeed he does have an "abnormal" defect. Carter has a bicuspid aortic valve. We learned that we should and most of us have a tricuspid valve, but his cusps fused together in utero and his valve does not open 100%. It opens about 90-95% which is still great, but could cause a problem over time. His valve does close 100% which is very important. So he does not have any problems right now, and we hope he never has any...however we will follow-up with the cardiologist yearly for now. The cardiologist said that they do not know why this happens, but that about 1-2% of the population has this and by no way does 1-2% of the population have problems with this. He said he is not restricted in anyway from anything and that would only happen if it did become leaky. He also said you could live to be 102 years old and NEVER have a problem. The cardiologist I work with said that a lot of times an 80 year old will come in for their first Echo and learn for the first time they have this same condition.

So, we are not worrying, but aware at this point. Now that I am 31 weeks pregnant, I worry about this next little boy on the way. I am scheduled for a fetal echo on January 18th (with the same wonderful Dr Humes). I do not think there will be anything to worry about nor will it change anything, but it is nice to just rule it out for now. We always knew Carter had a special heart...now we know why!!!

Boy do we love our little guy...more than I ever dreamed possible!

Catching up.......

2009-11-29T22:35:00.000-05:00

It has been too long since we have posted anything of the Edwards Family Happenings!!! So I am going to try and sum up the last several months.

Carter was a Michigan State Spartan Football player for Halloween. He loved being in his football pads and running from house to house. He was a little top heavy w/ shoulder and thigh pads and we had a few spills, but nothing would keep him from getting the candy he had been promised for more than a month.

Chris has been busy at his new job. He has been there about 6 weeks now and things are going well. Carter goes to a babysitter 4 days a week for now and I am still working 4 days a week as a dietitian at a local hospital. Carter loves going to Mary's and Jeanie's and loves playing with their kids. I am now 26 weeks pregnant and this little guys continues to grow. He is busy kicking and playing all day.

Carter is excited about his baby brother. Although he may be a little confused. He said one day after picking him up from the sitter's "Mommy, I name him Suzie!" Funny, we don't know anyone named Suzie. I am glad he doesn't get the final decision on the baby's name. Carter amazes us daily on the things that he says. He told his dad in the church pew when Chris was telling him to be reverent...."I no want to talk about it DAD!" He has quite the personality and determination. The time-out seat is in use though we don't use it much, he knows right where it is and that when the timer goes off he can get up. He loves his nursery leader Kathy Adams. He runs to her after sacrament and says "Come-on let's go to class!" I hope she likes him as much as he likes her! He talks about her all week long. Today he told me he learned in nursery on the way home. He said "Jesus get baptized in water, Mom" He is learning everyday. The other night he was laying in his bed singing his ABC's...mind you it was not perfect and he repeated the same letters over and over, but he is picking it up.After the ABC's he proceeded to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to everyone his little mind could think of..."Happy Birthday Mom....Dad...Nana...Pepa...Grandpa...Grandma...Brysen...Brady...etc. He went on for quite some time. We giggled listening to him on the monitor. Colors are coming along too.

(is picture is the way we found him one night before we went to bed...poor kid must have been HOT)

He is growing up way too quickly and before we know it we will have two little boys on our hands. What will I do? We had Thanksgiving here at the house. My parents are still in Romania, but we had all of Chris' family here for the big day. It was nice and we enjoyed each others company.

We are very busy with our fabric business and Hilary Brooke Collection. We started August with 17 small sales for fabric....now as of today we have 236 sales. Chris and I will work a long day, make dinner, put Carter to bed and then start our part-time job of filling fabric orders. I also had my annual craft show this year on Nov 19th and 20th. It went well and I increased my sales from last year. I also received about 10 custom orders that I need to finish before Christmas. So I have a full plate for the next few weeks. Things are taking off and we enjoy working on this small business venture together. Chris even built a fabric shelving unit for all of my bolts of fabric.

Things are great here and we are very excited for the changes that are coming our way with baby number 2 arriving in about 3 months. So much to do before he comes, but we can hardly wait to welcome him into our family. Mom and Dad are coming home from Romania from the 16th to January 2nd. So we are excited to have them and everyone else here for the Holidays. Emily and Niko will be coming, Jon, Becca and Lillia will be coming, and Jamie comes in the 12th until the 28th. We will have a full house! Carter can hardly wait. He keeps asking if Jamie will help him build a snowman at Christmas.

2009-11-29T14:34:00.002-05:00

GAP Casting Call

2009-10-25T13:35:00.002-04:00

We are asking for your help. Carter has been entered into the GAP Casting Call. We need you all to vote for him. The winner gets $1000 GAP gift cards and a GAP photo shoot. You can vote for him once daily until November 17th. Thanks for your support and login and VOTE!

Carter E.

Baby Boy
ID: 815955610

MI

Fan Favorite Votes: 0

Vote for me so I can be the Fan Favorite

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Baby Edwards......is a ___________!!!!!!!

2009-10-21T16:51:00.000-04:00

Yes, We are having a BOY!!! We are very excited to have this special boy in our family! Carter went to the ultrasound and he is already talking about his "brother"... he asks daily, "I teach him tackle?" or "I teach him play football?" I hope they are the best of friends. I am 20 weeks pregnant and growing bigger by the day it seems. I have been meaning to take a picture of the belly, but have yet to get around to it. I will get one on here soon.

Potty Training Day #1

2009-10-04T01:14:00.000-04:00

OK, so this was not actually day one...but this was SERIOUS DAY ONE! We have tried before but with little success and the whole novelty wore off quickly. He has used (#1 and #2) the potty a lot since he was 18 months old. But then he decided he didn't want to sit on the potty. But now we are seriously giving it a go again. No more diapers exist. He was in underwear all day today. Yeah, not too successful and several accidents, but we wore them all day. He even woke up dry from about a 3 hr nap. I will keep you posted on our progress, but we are working hard at this one and hope to be successful. If you have any tips, please let me know. I wish I could just snap my fingers and be done. Good things come with patience. And wouldn't it be SOOOOOOOO good to have him out of diapers?!

I am thinking about bribery with a new toy and a sticker chart may work for him. Cause treats DO NOT work at this point. (I guess we have trained him too well) He could care less. Day 2 starts soon...I will let you know how it goes!

Chris got an offer....

2009-10-04T01:06:00.002-04:00

Chris accepted a job offer on Wednesday. We are very excited about the things to come! Carter will miss being at home with his dad and "Daddy Day-Care", but we all will have to adjust. We will keep you posted, but thanks to all that have kept us in your thoughts and prayers. The economy has not been great here in Michigan, but the Lord has blessed our family in numerous ways!

We bought a car on Friday and are getting things lined up for our transition. Fun times for the Edwards family!

We were especially happy today about Michigan State's won over Univesity of Michigan. Go Spartan's...way to pull it out!

THIS KID CRACKS ME UP!

2009-10-04T00:58:00.000-04:00

Carter is such a gabber. He surprises me everyday at what he has to say. Today we giggled pretty hard at this one...

Carter saw a mark on the wall and asked, "What's this from?" I responded "Did you do that?" when Carter said without hesitation and completely serious, "No...Baby did it...My sister did it!"

OK, we don't find out what we are having for about another week, but he is already blaming his sibbling before he/she is even here. He is trouble.

I had a few other phrases that left us laughing...

-"Dad you're my HERO!" (Where he got that, I have no idea!)
-"Dad you're my best friend!" as he leaned over the shopping cart and gave his dad a hug. (I think he got this from Franklin the turtle)
-"I wuv you too mom!"
-He leaned forward in his high chair and tooted in which he responded "You hear that dad?"
-"Come on...sing with me guys!" (He was signing in the back of the car as loud as can be)
-"crock-diles in my bed mom!"(he watched animal planet before bed...bad idea)

He is such a special boy with so much character and personality. He keeps us smiling!

Getting SO BIG!

2009-09-20T21:36:00.002-04:00

Carter seems to be growing up before our very own eyes. Maybe it was the haircut that his Dad gave him a few weeks ago. We took the buzzers to him...it looks so good. But either way, he is just getting so big. (Not weight wise...still only at 26.5lbs- - -he weighed 25lbs at his 2 yr check up in June---has his Dad's build and metabolism.) He is speaking in sentences, asking questions like "what's this for, Mom?", calling his own football plays in the family room during Saturday football games "GREEN 80...HUT-HUT,HIKE!", hitting baseballs when pitched to him, and saying please/thank you/and "I love you too Mom" without being prompted. We are so blessed to have this special little boy in our family. What did we ever do without him? Thanks Carter for being just a shining star in our home! We love you!

I love it when he calls me when I am at work and says, "Coming home soon, Mom?" He melts our hearts and I hope he continues to do so!

Photography giveaway...

2009-09-19T07:37:00.001-04:00

She does an excellent job and this giveaway is not just for locals where she is....so enter to win. That's what I did!

Claire Waite Photography Giveaway time! Enter soon for your chance to win a custom designed photo card and $25 gift certificate. The gift certificate can be used towards a session or for prints.

http://clairewaitephotography.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-look-time-for-giveaway.html

Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island

2009-09-09T09:42:00.006-04:00

For our 4th Wedding Anniversary we spent 2 days at Mackinaw City/Mackinac Island in the upper peninsula of Michigan. This is on Lake Huron. It was beautiful and a fun experience for the whole family. The island does not allow cars and the only mode of transportation is horse and buggy or bikes. I tried to talk Chris into renting a tandem bike with a trailer to pull Carter. Since we could not remember the last time we rode bikes and being pregnant and all we decided maybe that wasn't the best idea. The way to get to the island is by Ferry. So we took a ferry from Mackinaw City where we stayed over to Mackinac island. The ride was beautiful and Carter especially loved the boat ride.

This is Mackinaw Bridge view from the island.

We enjoyed watching others play on the rocky beach walk on the boardwalk.

We enjoyed ice cream on the island...had to make sure to find ice cream without eggs...this boy did not want to miss out on his ice cream.
These are in front of the Grand Hotel. After 6pm you have to be in a suit and tie to enter the lobby. That is NOT where we stayed...little bit out of our budget.
There are horse and buggies all over the island as well, had to watch our step at times. Carter let us know every time he saw a horse. He is such an animal lover.
We stayed at a great hotel in Mackinaw City...great pool...great contenential breakfast (make your own waffles and everything)...and right on the lake. This was at the back of the hotel. It was cool and the water was freezing. Carter did not care one bit and walked RIGHT in...sweatshirt, jeans, and shoes! He loved the beach...even swore he saw a turtle in the lake...turned out to be a large rock. But he fed it sand and truly believed it was a BIG turtle. He made us laugh.

We had a great trip and loved the time away from home even if it was just 2 days. Next time we are going to rent or bring some bikes to the island.

4 WONDERFUL YEARS

2009-08-26T06:58:00.004-04:00

Happy Anniversary Chris! Today is our Anniversary and we are packing up to head to Mackinaw Island Michigan for a night. But I wanted to just take a minute to reflect on the last 4 years. IT HAS BEEN WONDERFUL! I could not have made a better choice in a companion for myself. Chris is the perfect guy for me. We have grown so much over the last 4 years and so many wonderful things have happened. I am SO HAPPY I get to spend the rest of ENTERNITY w/ Chris and I look forward to many more wonderful years with him.

10 of some of the Reasons I love Christopher J. Edwards:

1-Wonderful Dad-he and Carter are the BEST of buds!

2-Keeps a great house while I am at work---seriously he does a WONDERFUL job

3-Hard worker

4-Patient w/ me even when I am not so patient

5-Makes me laugh

6-Loves me unconditionally

7-Spiritiually intune and always striving to be better

8-Great example for our family

9-Has helped me fall in love with college football---Go Spartans

10-Cause he is so good looking---even if we gave in and shaved his hair w/ no clip

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY CHRIS...I LOVE YOU!

Start Spreading the NEWS!!!

2009-08-16T20:31:00.003-04:00

Carter is wearing some BIG news for the Edwards Family. See if you can figure it out!!!

You guessed it...WE ARE PREGNANT!!! I am 11 weeks along and still having that ill feeling inside but everyday gets a little better. I have been sick for about a solid month now and I just keep telling myself that it is worth it. Anyone who has been there understands.

Carter is very excited about having a baby and keeps lifting up his shirt and says that the baby is in his tummy. (oh if that were only true!) Depending on the day he will say it is a brother and sometimes it is a sister. We will be excited to find out. Either way...we will be happy!

I went to the Dr. last week and everything is fine...heart rate of 172 beats per minute and a due date of MARCH 5TH. No issues except I asked him to write me another prescription for ZOFRAN for my 24-hr nausea. I wish it was only "MORNING SICKNESS" ...what a lie! That is the BIG news around here and we will keep you posted on our updates.

Carter videos

2009-07-29T15:06:00.003-04:00

Omaha, Utah, Idaho Trip

2009-07-29T13:30:00.007-04:00

50 hours in a car with a 2 year old and 7 different beds later we are home from vacation. We left on July 4th and returned back July 18th. Before we left Carter had his return visit with the allergist on July 1st. After waiting in the office for about an hour and 45 minutes we were finally seen. Only for him to tell us Carter needed to have his blood drawn to see if he had the antibodies of the egg allergy. The Dr as well as us were with high hopes that the antibodies would not be there and that we could move on. So we headed down to the lab and I held onto Carter with all of my strength while Chris waited in the waiting room (some people can't handle needles). It took 4 pokes, 3 techs, a lot of stickers and tears from mom and Carter but we finally got blood. They sent him home w/ 2 stuff dinosars and about 3 rolls of stickers and he even said thanks when he left. He came home and told Nana all about the "Blood" and how sad he was. I was really hoping that we would not have to worry about the egg allergy anymore. But after vacation I got the news...STILL ALLERGIC. Oh well, we will keep working on it.

Carter enjoyed having Pepa and Nana at home. He rode w/ Pepa the whole time to mow the lawn. He usually only lasts about 5 minutes w/ Chris.

We started our trip out to Omaha Nebraska/Council Bluffs Iowa. Carter was excellent in the car. I loved the DVD player as much as he did I think. There we stayed at my uncle Darby's house. Carter had a blast checking out all of uncle Brian and Shireen's animals (cows and horses) and even took his first horse ride. He will tell you all about it if you ask him.

We took Carter and my nephew Niko to a water park called Coco Keys. They loved the slides and multiple pools to play in. Niko showed off his growing swimming skills and Carter showed off his lack of fear for water. After several hours Carter looked at me and said "Hungry momma...suit off!!" I took that as it was time to go.

We enjoyed playing with family and Carter really enjoyed playing w/ his cousin. We headed out on the next leg of the trip after spending 2 days in Omaha. We went straight to Saratoga Springs Utah to Chris' brother Doug's house. We stayed for 2 days - -One night we went to dinner w/ Nate and Steph Halladay @ Cafe Rio. We saw their new baby John and Wes who will be 3 in September. Carter played w/ Wes in the mulch pile.

We loved seeing them and miss them so much back in Michigan. Maybe someday we will live close again. We then headed up to Logan to Leslie and Paul Erikson's home in Richmond UT (just outside of Logan). Carter latched righ onto Laura Leslie's daughter. He wanted her to do everything for him. He jumped on the trampoline, played in the sandbox and played w/ all the toys he could find. It was so nice to stay w/ them. Thanks again guys! We also say a friend of mine from college days. Aimee Marble and her daughter Helen. It was nice to see her again. The Logan temple was beautiful as always. Chris also got to enjoy golfing w/ Jamie in Logan. Thanks Jamie!
We headed up to Pocatello on our way to Blackfoot. Stopped in to see Teri Harris who is a great friend and old roomie from my Ricks College days. She has an adorable little boy Tyler. We had some lunch and played at a local park. It was nice to just see her and meet Ty for the first time. I wish we lived closer.

We headed to to grandma and grandpa Spooner's home in Blackfoot. It is their 60th weddiing anniversary. Everyone was there-- - -all the cousins and aunts and uncles. It was nice to see them. We gave them a memory rock garden-all of us wrote memories we had of them on rocks that they could look at for the years to come. Grandpa is in a sling from cutting a fish on a fishing trip.

We had the Christensen family reunion the day after. We saw everyone. We particularly enjoyed seeing Ross, Clay and Jeff Christensen and their parents. We played on the playground, ate great food and played games. Finished off the day in the pool at teh hotel. It was cold, but of course our little guy didn't care.

We look family pictures. These are the grandkids. Niko, Lillia and Carter. Hard to get them all looking at the camera.

We headed back down to Utah and visited w/ Elba Robison my old roomie at USU. We stayed at her cute apt and Carter still talks about "Mooch" her dog. She took us to Liberty Park and Carter ran through and from the sprinklers. Thanks Elba, we loved seeing you again. You are the BEST!

Back to Saratoga springs to visit w/ the rest of Chris' family. We saw Doug and Lori and their daughters Aubrey and Kayla. Aubrey took to Chris quickly, and I think Chris liked playing w/ a little girl. Carter loved playing w/ the girls but at times had troubles sharing---tough lesson to learn. We went to a temple open house. On the way there, I loved hearing sweet Kayla singing "I love to see the Temple" on repeat without missing a word. The temple was beautiful. Carter loved seeing all the beautiful things inside.

We wanted to make sure to see Dave and Carlie's new house. It was very nice and we are encited fo them on their new adventures as home owners. Dylan is getting so big and can hit the baseball very well. Malaia is growing like a weed too.

Chris and his brother's went and played homerun durby like the old days. I hear Chris was the winner w/ 7 total homeruns. I guess he still has something! Way to go Chris. We live too far apart we decided! Nice to see you guys again...thanks for letting us crash your house and for Aubrey's bed!

We headed back home and finally made it!!!! If I heard it once I heard it 20 times from Chris, "We are not driving this for a LONG time!" I agreed every time. Nice vacation, but such a LONG trip!!! It is good to be home!

Nana and Pepa return from Romania

2009-06-29T06:56:00.002-04:00

Nana and Pepa (My parents) have returned from Romania for about a month visit. Carter was so excited to pick them up from the air port on Saturday. We love having them home and Carter has a new person to entertain. We will be heading out to Omaha and then on to Utah and Idaho this Saturday. We need a vacation.

Other news...Carter at his 2 year check up weighed in at 25lbs. That means that in 1 year he has gained 5 lbs. The doctor said that when he went in w/ a cold in February he weigh 21lbs. Then at his 2 year which was June 10th he was 25lbs even. I guess someone had a growth spurt. His legs look so long these days, especially when he sleeps in just a diaper and a T-shirt. Also at the Dr they found he had a heart murmur. After being checked by the PA and then the Dr they determined it was innocent at this point, but they do want to watch it over time. Carter was a PERFECT little boy while they worked him over. This was a long visit and he was so good. The PA even said, "This is the easiest 2 year old well baby visit I have ever had!" I was proud of my little guy, as always! We will see how he does at the allergist on Wednesday. I am hoping the EGG allergy is improved. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

We have a busy week before vacation, so much to do so little time. Thankfully I have a very helpful husband and Nana and Pepa are also a big help. More news to come, I just need to have more time.

Creative Juices flowing

2009-06-06T22:46:00.005-04:00

I am also including some other things we have been doing. We had a "Quarterly Birthday" party w/ Chris' family...these were the cupcakes for that event. Oreo centers and Red M&M ladybugs. So much fun to make and even more fun to eat!

I have been working on a new Hilary Brooke Collection piece I have added. This is a child's back pack. I made this one for my neice for her 2nd birthday. Carter thought it was his and had a hard time giving it up and has been asking for his "Pack-Pack" ever since. I call this bag the "Mini Pack-Pack" Thanks Carter!!! He is always my inspiration.

The bag is lined and has one interior pocket to hold those few necessary items they cannot live without.

Perfect size for taking their own things to church or on a day outing.

I do love creating and wish I had more time to do so. But this is what I love the most...my two boys. Carter and Chris enjoying the swings at the park. We enjoy our evenings together. Although Chris is still looking for a job, it is awfully nice to have him home so much. I know Carter and I love having him around more. We love you dad.

Turning 2- - -Not So "Terrible"

2009-06-06T22:03:00.003-04:00

2 Years ago tomorrow @ 9:32pm my little boy was born weighing in @ 6 lbs 7 oz. I never imagined how quickly this time would pass. My baby is turning 2!!! Today was his party and we had a great day! Thanks to Kathy @ Modern Polkadot we had some adorable invitations for his Baryard/Farm Party! My dirty little, animal loving, truck and tractor driving little boy TURNS 2!
(Notice the boots he insisted on wearing the other day...yes they are winter snow boots worn in this beaurtiful 70 degree weather...they are too small...and he insisted those were the shoes he wanted to wear on Wednesday)

Cowboy cupcakes, Cow Tail candy and "Chicken Feed" Chex Mix were at the tables.

The hats are Pringles, eyes mini M&M's, fruit roll-up mouth and scarf, chicklet tooth, Cheerio ears, Jelly Belly nose, and Gumdrop top of the hat. These were of course made w/ an egg substitute called Ener-G for the egg allergy. These were a hit w/ the kids.

As a goodie bag...the kids got Tractor soaps...adorable purchased on etsy from Arizona Soap Works who does a great job w/ custom soaps. The kids were excited to use these in the tub.

The kids all go hats and bandanas to go along w/ the theme. (from left...Caleb, Carrick, Hadley, Carter, Andrew, and Aaron)
Carter's favorite gift from Ed and Kathy Hall...his first gun. Makes all the fun noises that every guy/man likes to hear.

This gift went perfectly w/ his other gift from the halls...perfect camo overalls for next hunting season. Thanks Ed!

We got him a Little Tikes Toolbench. He thought it was great and it was only a matter of time until he figured out how to climb on top.
We had a great day! Thanks for everyone that came. We love birthdays, even if it means my baby is growing up. Thanks to Chris my wonderful husband for being so helpful w/ all the festivities...you are great!

Carter goes for a SPIN

2009-05-09T23:21:00.006-04:00

Bag It Up Baby

2009-05-09T21:05:00.003-04:00

My newest Bag. This is the Small Tote. The fabric is Anna Maria Horner Good Folks Dusk. I made this for a good friend who is pregnant w/ her first boy Thomas James who will be here in a few weeks. More to come...totes and more totes.

We also had 5 sales last week on the fabric we are selling on etsy. Check it out www.hbfabrics.etsy.com We will be listing even more fabrics soon. So much fabric so little time. I am really liking the fabric/sewing business, though small very entertaining on my part. Chris has gotten into it as well and we have fun together working on it. We will keep you posted.

Toddler take over

2009-05-09T20:39:00.005-04:00

Just a quick update on Carter-Bo (AKA Louey) Don't ask why we call him that, we are not sure it just came out. How do you shorten Carter any way..."Car" just doesn't fit!

So Carter is VERY fair haired and has been bald for quite some time. So we did not have a first haircut until 2 weeks ago. And by the way, he didn't REALLY need it then either. But Dad was sick of his "tail" so we had it cut off.

He did very well. Didn't move a muscle. Just look how far he has come w/ his hair growth and his sweet "widow's peak". This mommy was proud of it and kept what little hair from the "tail" she could.

Carter has also been known to streak...we found him the other day in the laundry room playing w/ Henna's (my parents dog) dish of food. Nothing on but SOCKS. Gotta love it.

He has also been very into playing in the yard and riding the tracker. He goes to the door and says, "Side, tractor, bike..." We have been playing outside quite a bit lately. Here is my attempt to catch him looking adorable as I feel he is. He still. melts his mom.

Carter says pretty much everything he hears now. His vocab expands every day. It is truly amazing. He is saying 3 words in a row and all very understandable. "My turn mommy", "Read it please", "Carter do it!", "Thank you Daddy", "Bike, Ride it" We giggle when he copies us and says things like "Doubt it" or "Oh Gosh!" He is a HUGE mimic and we are learning to be very careful. We love this kid!

ATTACK OF THE RED FOOT DISEASE

2009-05-09T20:27:00.001-04:00

This is BLOG worthy...and I wished I had taken a picture...Ugh! Carter went to bed last night with a slight cough. Then coughed on and off through the night. In the morning he woke up rather grumpy and whiney. I thought he was OK so we went to swimming lessons. After swimming he was shivering and ended up with a fever of 100.9 for no apparent reason. (I know I should not have taken him to swimming and I am a bad mom...but I REALLY thought he was OK) So he has been on Tylenol and Motin all day. Right before dinner we were talking on SKYPE with Mema and she said..."His feet are RED, what is wrong w/ Carter?' I looked at his tiny piggies all the while Carter grabbing his toes and saying "RED, MOMMY, RED" I finally got a good look at them and noticed they were not just red but BRIGHT red w/ BRIGHT red specks all over them. They were not hot to the touch just RED!!!

Hmmmm, I quickly tried to think of all the medical conditions it could be! As if I had heard of any "RED FEET" conditions. I thought this must be the cause of the high temp and it has finally presented it self. My Grandma says..."He needs to go to the doctor!" I almost agreed when Chris yells from the kitchen, "IT'S THE CRYSTAL LIGHT!" Carter was playing w/ some tiny Crystal Light packets I had in the pantry. Unknown to me one packet was open, and he had spilled it all over the kitchen floor and was walking his bare feet in it. THUS THE RED FOOT DISEASE!!! We all laughed! My little man cracks me up even when he has a fever!

We still don't know why the fever, but he has been himself the rest of the day. Hopefully he sleeps it off tonight!

hilarybrookecollection

2009-04-19T14:52:00.005-04:00

Like I said in my previous post I have moved forward with my bag/fabric business. I am now receiving shipments of bolts of fabric to my home/business. I love having beautiful fabrics at my disposal. I have been sewing up a storm these days and I have my own sewing room...to hide the mess...and keep it out of reach or mister curious. It is great!!! Check out what I just got in and see my blog for what I have been up to...or even my etsy account to see what is for sale. http://hilarybrookecollection.blogspot.com or http://www.hbcollection.etsy.com

Anna Maria Horner Fabrics (I love her stuff)

Amy Butler Fabrics (another one of my favorites)