Lately

This is a little bit of what we've been up to lately:

Grandma brought donuts to eat one morning and this is how Carter eats donuts apparently.

We've been working hard on cleaning up our yard. We let the weeds get way too overgrown in the winter. One thing about Arizona is that when you live in dirt you need to be prepared for all the weed pulling and spraying. We planted flowers too. Jax was an excellent helper.

I cut Carter's hair and took a picture. His smile and his frog shirt say it all. This picture is the epitome of Carter.

The days are warming up around here. School ends in a couple weeks and Carter will be starting swimming lessons soon! We've been playing in the sprinkler lots lately. I put the sprinkler under the trampoline and the boys think it's the greatest thing ever. We also like to keep a supply of water balloons on hand at all times in the summer.

Don's work is starting to do this awesome thing where each employee gets one week where they get off at 5 p.m everyday and get that Saturday off. We took the boys this weekend to the park. We tried to teach Carter how to ride a scooter and he got frustrated. I never thought of how important it is to have a driveway or sidewalk to ride bikes on when we bought our house.

These boys love the swings! Don and I made an obstacle course and raced each other on the playground. What's family time without a family competition?

We had a rainy day this week. We stayed inside, I never brushed my hair and for some reason it was the best day! I had so much fun playing with Carter and Jax. Carter's new favorite thing to do lately is play phonics songs on youtube. 

Carter also likes to practice writing his name and has me draw pictures of family members. This picture cracked me up. He had me draw me, his cousin Brynn with a mustache on her dress, his aunt Liz and uncle Tilghman. When I drew Tilghman he said, "I like to grab Tilghman! Grr!" 

Relaxed sleeper

That same afternoon I found Carter asleep on the couch. I told you it was a good day!

My favorite things in one picture. My favorite people. My favorite dog. The smell of fresh cut grass.

I met up with my cousin at the park awhile back. Carter LOVES to play with Reddic. And I think these two will be having fun soon too.

Last weekend one of my best friends, Marilee came to visit. She came down to watch Spring Sing so we got to relive our glory days together. I had such a blast hanging out with her all day! Sometimes I get in such a mom mode I forget I'm more than just a mom. I can always count on Marilee to help me  revert back to my goofy, nerdy ways when she's around.

My other music nerd friends Jessica and Brady came too! 

And of course we couldn't go to Spring Sing without visiting with Dr. Bishop afterwards. 

Other updates are that Don's dad retired last week. We went to his party at work on his last day and we've been seeing a lot more of him. It's been fun!

Jax's personality is really starting to bloom. He says new words constantly. He's quite the little parrot. The other night he came up to me, started wacking me saying, "Hi-yah!" What one year old knows that?! He has yet to learn how to walk, but he's getting so close. He'll take a couple steps and stands up in the middle of a room without assistance. Jax gives the best hugs and kisses. I love feeling his little arms squeeze around my neck. I think me, Carter, Don and Deedee are his favorite things on the planet. Funny thing is when I get after Deedee (because she thinks she can go to our neighbors house and bark at their puppies) he'll chew her out too in his own baby language. It's hilarious! I'm really enjoying my boys right now. 1 and 3 are the BEST ages!

Carter is funny as always. He's a sponge right now. He's trying real hard to understand the days of the week and phonics. Every time he says something he tries to put phonics in front of it like "puh puh penguin." Except he gets it totally wrong. At least he's trying! He's really interested in family members and everyones names right now too. He keeps calling me Lauren and the other day I told him, "No, you call me Mom. If you keep calling me Lauren I'm going to call you Bob." That fixed it really fast! Hahaha! 

Don's been doing really well at work. He's always one of the top sellers in the store. Don's favorite hobbies right now are mowing our lawn and playing basketball a couple times a week.

I've gotten back into my workout routine the last few months. I love going to the gym. Sometimes I can't sleep because I'm so excited to go to the gym in the morning. It's such a mood booster! I've been at a weight plateau for a year now so I've been stepping it up. I can now do a pull up, hand stand push ups, and tricep dips. I'm learning to appreciate my body and the amazing things our bodies can do!