Big Sisters

Getting a good picture of these two girls together is impossible. Seriously. These were the best ones out of about 30 pictures. I had the girls wear these shirts to tell Nate the news. He didn't notice them at all. Pretty typical guy. :) Paige stood right in front of him with a huge smile on her face, waiting for him to notice, but nope. So finally Paige said, "Mom, can I tell him?" I said, "Yes" and she said, "Dad, we're gonna have a baby!!" She is so excited. Nate is excited too.

I really hope this pregnancy is smooth and uneventful. I realize it's always risky announcing the news this early, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. I'm just so happy about it! I'm due May 4th. So far I'm feeling really tired and I'm having major food aversions. Other than that, I'm great. I need to treasure these next couple weeks because around 8 weeks is when the sickness usually hits me.

My lovely wreath

And it only took 5,000,000 hours to make! I am honestly really happy with it, but I would like to mention that the lady who originally created it was somewhat deceitful. It did not cost her $1 because you need a TON of hot glue and I went through 2 average-sized novels and I still need some more pages to make rosettes to fill in around the outer edges. AND she didn't mention the fact that it takes seriously like 8 hours to make... or more. I should have logged my hours. I knew it would be a tedious project, but I had no idea how long it would actually take. Anyway, aside from those "minor" details, I really do love it and I'm glad I made it. You always appreciate the things that you work hard for, right?

Good news!!

Carter baby #3 is coming in May!

Poor Katers

This was around the time the Tylenol kicked in.

Poor little Kate. She freaks out whenever we have to go to any doctor appointments because she has had her blood drawn so many times for Alpha-1. I hate seeing her like that.

So yesterday evening Kate was sitting on an office chair with Paige and she fell off. I wasn't home and Nate didn't see what happened, but after she stopped crying, she still just wasn't herself. She was somewhat lethargic and would not walk or stand at all. She would try to stand up and then she would start to whimper and just sit right down. I knew something was definitely wrong with her right leg. She would only stand on her left.

So we took her to the ER and they did an x-ray, but it did not show a visible break or fracture. But when the doctor pressed on Kate's shin area she would start to cry really hard. He said that sometimes fractures can't be seen clearly even with an x-ray, so he decided to treat it like one and referred us to an orthopedist. He put her leg in a splint and sent us home. After some Tylenol Kate was acting much better and happier. She slept pretty well last night too.

We met with the orthopedist today and he could see a pretty minor fracture on her tibia on the x-ray. It was in the same area that she started to cry when he examined it. He decided to just keep her in the splint for a couple weeks, but he also said that kids heal super fast and she may be ready to start walking sooner.

She has been surprisingly OK with the fact that she can't move around. She just sits on my lap or I hold her ALL DAY LONG. But I'm not complaining because it could have been much worse. Plus, it's kind of nice to have her so calm and snuggly. She's usually a super active little girl. We can't believe that just falling off a chair onto carpet could cause an injury like this. It's so sad to see her try to walk. Every few hours she tries to stand up and then realizes she can't and sits back down. Poor girl.

Love love love this!

I have to make this wreath! I found it here. This lady makes some adorable things. It's made from the pages of an old book. She says this wreath cost her $1 to make since she already had the book and glue gun. Cool, huh?

An Interview with Paige

My friend, Ashley, did this with her 4 year and daughter and I thought it was such a cute idea.

What is your favorite book: "Nothing" (Ok, we're off to a good start!)

What is your favorite animal and why? "My favorite animal is a little, cute pig."

What is your favorite thing to eat? "Corn on the cob, and gummy bears, and shell spaghetti"

What is your favorite movie: "Jasmine"

What is your favorite season and why? "I like when it's Halloween and Christmas and summertime."

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? "I would go to Summer's house or Ally's house or Savannah's house."

Tell me a favorite birthday memory: "I like the cake with Snow White and Nemo."

Where would you like to go on vacation? "I would like go on airplane to give stuff to kids who don't have clothes and toys."

What is your favorite thing about summer? "I like to go to the beach."

What is your favorite sport? "Dancing"

What is your pet peeve / something that bothers you? "When no one wants to play what I want to play."

What do you like best about your home? "I like that we have toys and clothes and movies to watch and food to eat."

What makes you sad? "When my friends don't want to share with me."

Tell me a joke: "If somebody plays a piano when they are changing a baby's diaper." (followed by giggling)

What age would you like to be? "I would like to be 18 to be a very big girl and I can carry a baby around."

What are the names of the Seven Dwarfs? "Dopey and Grumpy and Bumpy."

Tell me something you like about your dad: "When he brings suckers from work and raspberries and cherries."

Who is your best friend? "Brooke and Summer and Jace and Ally and Easton and Kobe and Jack and Savannah"

What is your favorite scripture story? "Going to the temple... or the one with the lions."

What would you like to be when you grow up: "I would like to be a princess."

When is your birthday? "In July 17th"

What do you want for Christmas? "Oh, I know! I know! A dress and a crown and necklace and pretty shoes and earrings."

What is your favorite color? "Black"

What did you do that was good today? "I went outside."

What is your favorite hobby? "I like to make pancakes with you and taste cookie dough."

What is your favorite song? "Voyage, Voyage!" (Wow, that's a dance/techno song... she knows that thanks to Nate :))

What is your favorite dessert? "I like to eat brownies!"

What is something good about you? "It's good that I have eyes to see and feet to walk and legs to run and a tongue to taste and ears to ear and hands to touch."

What is your favorite childhood memory? "Feeding my baby sister."

Paige is so funny and such a great big sister. We love her!

Orcas Island

We stayed on Orcas Island with Nate's family last Tuesday until Friday. It was a fun trip and the weather was perfect.

We launched water balloons

The house we stayed at was nice and cute. It had 2 floors and a basement, so there was room for all of us.

Thank goodness for a DVD player

We had a campfire near the house we stayed at

More water balloon launching

At the top of Mount Constitution... Paige throws a lot of tantrums these days.

Does this picture give you a heart attack? There is actually a hill/ridge right under that ledge, so it's not a big drop. It freaked me out though when I first saw him up there.

Forcing her to smile.

Ally was taking notes of everything she saw.

Paige and her beloved flashlight.

So we got home last night to find that our fridge door was left open the whole trip!! Grrr... And then we saw that our plants and grass looked just about DEAD because the sprinklers never went off the whole time. Awesome.

It's nice to be back home, but it's also hard to get back to real life. I had a super fun week over there.

I also got to have a reunion with my high school friends, which was so fun, so there will be a few pictures of that coming up next.

The half-marathon

Yesterday was the Tacoma Narrows Half-Marathon and it was such a great experience! The route had lots of variety, and I was able to chat with my awesome high school friend, Jenn, the whole time (well, except for the hilly parts). It was just so much fun and so exciting! I finished in 2 hrs 22 min. I didn't really have a goal for my time, but I sort of wish I would have pushed myself a little more. I know I could have run a little faster, but my main goal was to just enjoy the run and take it all in. I think next time I will set a time goal and run faster, but this time was just fun and enjoyable. It was so awesome. I would highly recommend doing a race like that. It was a bummer that me, Sarah, and Jenny ended up running separately, but we all finished and we were happy and proud.

Jenn and I almost to the finish line. Best feeling EVER!!!

Sarah and Trent

That's one lucky orange. ;)

Sarah, Jenn, Jenny, and me after the race

I have to say... I have some pretty amazing and inspiring friends. Jenny ran the race with super sore knees, which is pretty dang miserable. And Sarah ran on a sprained ankle!! Geez, they're tough. Good job, girls! We did it!

I forgot to mention this little conversation I had with Paige when I got back to Nate's parents' house after the race:

Paige: Mom! Did you win?

Me: No, but I finished the race and I had a fun time!

Paige: (Very disappointed/confused face) You didn't win?

Me: No, but it's OK. It was still fun!

Paige: But you didn't win?

Ha ha ha. She asked me that several more times that day.