What a year, 2010!

It's been a long and eventful 2010! We have had lots of many excited things happen in our family.

The most amazing gift came to us on April 30.....Lincoln Joseph was born:)

and...

Granny moved to Arizona


(She is not easy to capture on camera)

We look forward to a new year. I will be finalizing my resolution list soon:)
Wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

Blogger Freeze

Ok, so it's been a day or 50 since I last blogged! I have several blogs that I read and find myself getting annoyed when they are not updated on a regular basis! Crazy, I know! I am not sure what my obsession is with reading about other people's lives, but I enjoy it! I am about to be completely honest for a moment! I read several blogs of people that I do not know. I am not sure why I do this, but when I can't sleep at night it's what I do! I get so annoyed with a couple of them. They are dramatic bloggers, have you ever heard of these people??? They are the ones who sound like they are big time writers, writing a column for The New York Post ( n0t sure why I picked that one...never actually read it) Anyway, are you following me??? They make their lives sound so "perfect"! I think that if they were to burp, roses petals would fall out of their mouth! I am not sure if they are really that well off and happy, or they want everyone to think they are?!? They are just over the top kind of people! Why can't we all just be real, and write what really goes on in our lives!

I stopped blogging for stupid reasons. Well, one reason isn't stupid...I was kinda busy with two Master's classes. But the other reasons were that I only had two true followers! I started blogging because I suck at writing in a journal and because now that my mom is living here in Arizona, she kinda already knows what is going on! See, she was a faithful blog follower. Olivia was my other true follower! That a girl! I knew I could count on you:) Well, I guess what I am trying to say is I am back in action! Classes are done, so that should free up some time!

So what the heck have we Carpenter folks been up to lately? Well, mom and Olivia (he he) I will tell you!

We will start with Peyton....(only because he is the oldest and it's only fair)
That's one thing about Peyton...he is all about being fair! If someone else has gets something...well darn it he should get it too! It's kinda a joke around the house now:) He is getting so grown-up! He has made the honor roll twice this year! He amazes me everyday with how smart he is. He loves to read! He is reading chapter books on a second grade level. His teacher comments to us all the time how much he soaks at school. He has become very interested in Science. He is really enjoying his new telescope, science kit, and moon lamp that he got for Christmas! I am going to go ahead and say it, this kid can be whatever he wants to be when he grows up! He has such big dreams and ideas! I know that he will accomplish amazing things!

Next topic of discussion, my beautiful Carlee Jane! What a hot mess that girl is:) She lights up my whole day! She is three, so with that comes some stinky behavior that makes me wanna scream, but her cuteness just melts ya! She is a very unique little girl. She loves all things girly, but doesn't mind to shot a few bad guys with a nerf gun! She is so much fun to have in the family! She loves going to preschool to play with her friends. She talks the whole way there and the whole way back. Just the past few months, she has matured in the way she talks. Sometimes we crack up at the things that come out of her mouth! We tell her all the time that she is beautiful. Depending on her mood that day, she will either agree or say things like, "No, I'm pretty" or "No, I'm cute" We are working on getting her to pick up after herself. She will go from room to room making huge messes, and when we ask her to clean up...we get this, "I'm too tired" or "My legs are broken" or "My eye hurts" Seriously, she pulls out some good ones:) But man, do we love that little girl! I wish I could keep her little. I will always remember the smile she puts on our faces!

And last, but certainly not least..Mr. Lincoln Joseph! That baby is a heart melter! He is nothing but pure sweetness! Being that he is my last baby, I couldn't have asked for a more cuddly and precious baby boy! He is full of life! After his rough entry into this world, he still remains one tough cookie! He is so determined! He wants something, he is determined to get it. He is so mobile! He, quicker than my other two, is all over this house! Plus, he is cutting some major teeth much sooner than his brother and sister! He is the happiest baby! He will smile at anybody that smiles at him! He can make a perfect stranger stop what they are doing! He is full of smiles! I am so thankful for such an easy going baby! He goes with the flow! His favorite hobby is shopping with me and Gigi! No, really! He goes everywhere with us:) Did I tell you that he is in love with his Gigi. She is known as granny to Peyton and Carlee, but he came out with Gigi! If she walks in the room, he immediately goes crawling as fast as he can to pull up (and pull down her pants) to Gigi! I am so glad that my mom was here when he came into this world! She has been able to see every second of his life...I am so glad that he lights up her world!

I will leave you with this.....I promise to be a better blogger because one day I hope to show this to my kids and them be glad that I took the time to write about them! Everything I do is for them! My mom did it for me, and I will do it for them! My life revolves around them! Do I wish I could take longer than 4 minutes in the shower? YEP! Do I wish I could get a massage every week? YEP! Do I wish I could make it through the grocery store without at least one meltdown? OH HECK YEP! But, I can't just do what I feel like most of the time! I am a mom. I choose to give up certain freedoms when I made the decision to have kids! I don't regret a second of it! I will take meltdowns, spills on the carpet, back talking children, messy rooms, and sleepless nights because I have no room in my bed! One of these days, I will look back and wish they were little again!

I will leave you with one picture of my little stinkers! I had no idea I was going to write this much! Must be the pills I took for this aching back that doesn't seem to be getting better! I will add more soon...or later than that:)

Lincoln 5 month update

I cannot believe that my little boy is now 5 months old! It is hard to imagine what all we both went through. Sometimes it seems like so long ago, but other days it seems like yesterday! He truly is such a good baby! He is easy going and so content, but he will let you know if he's not! One thing that he gets angry about is riding in his car seat. He HATES it! My other two loved their car seat, but not Lincoln.

One thing that is shocking us all is, he is starting to crawl!! He just turned 5 months old a few days ago, but he has been trying to crawl for weeks. He has mastered getting up on his knees, rocking back and forth, and lunging forward. He can make it across a room pretty quickly!
We had started giving him rice cereal at 4 months, but he wasn't interested. We started back up again a few days ago, but he still doesn't seem to like it. I added peas last night for dinner and he was able to take a few bites. He quickly realized that they were not his favorite veggie, because he started gagging! We will have to reintroduce them later. He seems so interested in food when we are eating. Tonight we are trying squash. Hopefully he will not gag!
He makes everyone smile! People stop me all the time in the store to talk to him....and he never disappoints! He is always willing to give a big gummy grin!

Carlee loves Lincoln...in her own special way! She does not pay as much attention to him as we thought she would. When she decides that she wants to, she is very sweet with her baby brother! She is mostly too busy with other things, like playing babies, drawing circle people, playing with her dollhouse and tea set!

Seeing these two playing makes me smile!

These two are the best of buds! Peyton loves Lincoln so much; and Lincoln adores Peyton! First thing in the morning Peyton always goes to Lincoln and gives him kisses! Lincoln laughs and smiles at Peyton no matter what he is doing. He could just be walking by him and Lincoln will cackle and smile! I hope these two will always be the best of friends!

Lincoln,
I am enjoying every minute that I have with you! You are such a sweet and loving little boy! I am so thankful that you are my last baby! I will cherish every second that I have with you!!

Lincoln 4 month update

Can't believe Lincoln is 4 months old! He is chugging right along! He now weighs 15 pounds, but anybody who carries him for longer than a minute would say different! He is 25 inches long, grew 3 inches in 2 months! He is in the 50 percentile in weight (which was shocking since he feels like a sack of taters) and 98 percentile in height! No shocker there, our children are long and skinny!
He is out of our room at night:( and :) He loves his crib, but he also loves Granny's bed too:) At night our family likes to play musical beds! We all start in one bed, but who knows where we end up! It's exciting to wake up in the morning and see who is in what bed?!?!?
The doctor said if Lincoln was ready, we could start him on rice cereal! Of course we tried it, and he was not a huge fan! We will keep trying, but honestly who wants to eat that bland ole' stuff!
He is shockingly growing too fast! He is trying so hard to crawl! He gets up and kicks off the floor and literally moves across an entire room! He also likes to roll, and roll, and roll some more. We look up and he's already under the kitchen table before you know it!
We love this little guy more than anything! He lights up everyone's face when he is happy! I thought my other two were happy babies, I think Lincoln wins the prize for being our happiest! BUT, when he is mad....he will let you know! Watch out when that boy gets teeth!

Long time ~ no blog!

First of all, a huge thank you to my very special college roommate for designing my blog header and sprucing up my blog background. I had been trying for awhile, but could not ever get a finished product. She offered, and I gladly accepted! Isn't it cute?!?!?!? Thank you Lauren. One day soon I hope, we will reunite!


Oh man a lot has gone down here in our home! I will do my best to fill you all in because I am sure you are dying to know, right?!?!?!

I started working full time again! Yea for me! I am working as a long term sub. Right now I am teaching in my idea classroom, Special Education Resource Room. I see about 10 kids throughout the day ranging from Kindergarten to 4th grade. I am loving it, but it comes with a lot of work!

Dave is back teaching Geometry and Algebra along with coaching the JV basketball team. He is crazy busy. The one great thing about where he works is that Peyton can go to school with him every morning and a bus takes him to his school. He rides over(1 mile down the road) with all the other teachers kids. And in the afternoon, the bus brings him back to his dad! Wonderful set up.

You may be wondering who is watching Carlee and Lincoln?? We have the huge privilege of having a live in Nanny! You may be asking, how can we afford this luxury on a teacher's salary??? She's FREE! My mom has left the country life, filled with ice and snow, and joined us in the desert, for extreme temperatures and grand babies!! She loves our kids and would do anything for them. Believe me, I have stories! Dave and I are so blessed to not have to put them in daycare. Not that there is anything wrong with daycare because we did that before she came. To have my mom be with her grand kids everyday is good for her too! However, we have been informed that the weekends she is 'off duty' he he!!! She deserves it after watching Lincoln who can be needy, and Carlee who.....well she's one of a kind! The stories my mom tells me when I come home about their day make me laugh!

Little Lincoln is not so little anymore! He goes pretty soon to the doctor for his 4 month check-up. I had him in the front pack the other day when mom and I were out shopping and my back was toast after 20 minutes! He is so heavy! He has been rolling over for weeks now. He has a magic trick, he can make 8 fingers disappear and on occasions even a whole fist. We think he might be ready to cut a tooth or something. He's biting things and drooling everywhere! He likes to roll. Not just once or twice, more like from room to room. We can lay him on a blanket and look away for a few minutes and he's already in the kitchen! Crazy boy!

Since I have been so crazy busy lately, I have not taken many pictures. We did get some family shots done at the end of July. I will try and post them this week. I will leave you one of Lincoln getting an old fashioned bath, like the ones I took at my grandmother's house when I was little.

Relax, that's his belly button being pushed out by some fat!