July

Carson always stealing mom's water without a care in the world!

We start out July with my birthday! We had a bunch of other things on my birthday this year, which is pretty usual when it's right next to a holiday, so to celebrate when went to lunch at Olive Garden a couple days before. There's a lot of opinions about Olive Garden but I think it's delicious! It was a fun lunch with my boys, a perfect birthday treat. We picked up Gigi's cupcakes to celebrate on my actual birthday and had a great day. I got a new yoga-workout mat that I desperately needed, some new cooling racks for baking, some treats, kitchen things I wanted and a shirt that says 'Boy Mama' how perfect!

Carson is a fruit (and good in general) lover. Our ward had a 4th of July breakfast at the park and after everyone had eaten, Carson was grabbing handfuls of anything he could reach off the food table. He was going to town on the blueberries and had some nice people helping him get some. The bishop saw a need so he set Carson down in the grass and gave him the whole container of blueberries hahaha! Everyone loved just watching Carson who was just in heaven. I joked with Bishop that I'd bring him to his house when it was time for that diaper change (spoiler alert, it was black).

The kids had a great time playing at the park, eating and then decorating their bikes and doing a cute little bike parade. We were even sent home with extra blueberries which Carson was stoked for (and cried the whole way home for haha). Right after the breakfast I headed over to the church for a Primary baptism. After that I came home and got to relax and celebrate with my family.

After dinner, birthday cupcakes and presents, we spent our evening outside lighting off fireworks with our neighbors and friends. We let the kids stay up late to watch our HOA fireworks show. Brooks loved all of it and everything about it. Carson did not haha. While over the evening he got used to them he still snuggled Mama all night and didn't like the noise. Between our HOA and the neighborhood we had PLENTY of fireworks to watch and it was awesome.

Happy 29th to me! Love the snuggles!

A little birthday miracle happened! Brooks finally rode his bike without training wheels! He's done it in very short spurts and then quit for a while and wouldn't try. With some patience and little love to push him in the right direction, he rode it on my birthday! An just like we thought once we got him on it, it's hard to get him off it! It took him another week or two to learn how to turn around and start on his own but he has it now and loves it!

Our 3rd of July felt more like the 4th because the 4th was on a Sunday this year. We went to church, played outside, had a bbq with just our fam and talked about why we celebrate. We relaxed and had fun spending the day together.

Halfway there! 20 Weeks!

Dan had the 5th off so we played in the slip n slide in the backyard. Dad had the idea to put some soap on in and was throwing the kids down the slip n slide. Brooks loved it, Carson loved watching and playing in the water.

Brooks currently does quiet time while Carson naps so I can have a break. He truly enjoys the alone time and it's great for his creativity. But you know you've partied hard on the holiday weekend when Brooks chooses to take a nap in the chair during quiet time.

We had our 20 week anatomy scan and everything looked wonderful. Baby is in fact a BOY! and is measuring perfectly, we are so grateful!

Brooks has been finding some Pjs that don't fit Carson yet and dressing his stuffed animals with them haha!

Carson loving (and wearing) his breakfast. And he loves mama's shake.

Lots of time spent at the pool with my boys!

I LOVE this picture because I have a video of Brooks, LITERALLY the same age stuck doing the same thing! So funny! It must run in the family.

When you give Carson a chocolate peanut butter bar...

We've been to the library a lot, the boys love checking out new books.

How Carson reads haha!

More time at the pool!

A trip to target means cake pops all around! And the barista actually spelled my name right, mind blown!

We were given this large train set and my boys have been in heaven! Since the boys have been sharing a room we're able to dedicate this room to toy and trains for now! No idea what we'll do when we need this room for baby haha. That's a later problem.

22 Weeks!

Everything has been really textbook for my pregnancy. Usual aches and pains, nothing crazy or out of the ordinary and I'm so thankful!

Brooks and I have started baking more regularly together. Mostly because it's the patience that I needed to develop! Now that he's a bit older, it's easier for me to have him help and he loves it!

Carson is 18 months! 50% for weight and 95% for height, healthy as can be! He has been such a perfect addition to our family and is the best buddy for Brooks. Now he can go to nursery and he's not a fan. He looooves his Mama and is very attached. We're working on it, we have amazing nursery leaders that work with him and help him. We've making a point to get more babysitters and just repetition and time he'll start to understand.

If we're taking pictures of one, usually the other wants pictures too, I'm not complaining! I take advantage of it! Love my sweet boys!

More library trips. One of these times Carson decided to take a big ole poop when I didn't bring a diaper, oops. Not his favorite (or mine, stinky!) car ride home.

On a whim I made black bean brownies. They were surprisingly really good. More of a dark chocolate so I thought they were tasty.

Brooks being inspired by the olympics had started trying handstands

We found this cool caterpillar and found out it's actually a Hornworm Tomato kind that devastates tomato plants. Thankfully this was nowhere near my plants.

Carson's 18 month check up, snacks in hand

Painting Rocks! Brooks loved it and so did Carson but he doesn't understand the boundaries of painting yet.

More pool!

We went to Kroger to buy a TON of grapes (14 lbs to be exact). We haven't had grapes all summer because our stores haven't had any or a good summer sale yet. So when Kroger finally did we ran over there. I don't shop there frequently and didn't know they had a starbucks inside... but once I saw it, it just seemed like a good idea to get cake pops! Carson couldn't even finish it and didn't make it home. The car puts him right to sleep sometimes, he just can't hang!

Brooks interest in writing and read has exploded within the last few weeks. No credit is due to me, this has all been organic and from him which is awesome! He's been writing his name and even drew this cute picture of our family on a boat, he even included baby boy! So sweet!

We've also started school shopping for Brooks! I love shopping for school supplies and doing this for my child brought back all the nostalgic feels! He's starting pre-kinder at our school district and I'm so excited for him. He has a late birthday and will be the oldest in his grade his whole life but I know it will be so helpful for him. He is so ready for school and I'm so excited to see him thrive! Watching him pick out his supplies, his backpack etc has been so fun. He's excited and of course a little nervous. My heart feels a little sad but it's only 3 hours and I know he'll love it. School starts next month!