4 Days 9 States (Arizona to Maryland)

Well, on Sunday, June 20th we headed out on our adventure across the country. We left around 6:30 pm and drove through the night. Greg was a trooper. He made it til about 8:30 am before needing me to take over so he could nap. I drove for about 2 hours or so then Greg was ready to switch back. Our first big stop was in Oklahoma City where we met up with a friend of ours for lunch. Carson did not sit down once in the 2 hours we were out of the car. We took turns chasing him around the restaurant. There was a little downtown area to walk around so we walked around, took some pictures and watched the ducks. Then it was time to get back in the car and keep driving. By this point Carson and I were done with being in the car, but Greg wanted to get to St. Louis. St. Louis came and went and Greg was still driving. We finally stopped around 6pm on the 21st in Joplin, MO (Holiday Inn). Since it was dinner time we decided to get take out from the hotel restaurant and eat in our room so I could sit in bed and Carson could run around the room.
The next morning we left Joplin and started our drive to Louisville, KY where we were planning on staying 2 nights. Not quite how long the drive was, maybe like 10-12 hours (it was dark when we checked in to our hotel, Park Inn). The next morning we got up and got ready for our day. We had a day of fun planned for Carson. We went to a cute little breakfast/lunch shop called Toast on Market. It was delicious. I would have liked to go back to try more things but we didn’t have time. Our first stop for the Day of Fun was to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. It was pretty cool to go on the factory tour, but I don’t recommend going if you have a very hyper toddler who doesn’t like to sit in the stroller for longer than 5 minutes. Greg really wanted to get Carson a personalized bat so we headed to the gift shop before leaving. It was about an hour wait for bats so that gave us time to take Carson to the Children’s Science Museum. It was $15 for adults (I think) and $12 for children 2+, so it was a little more than I wanted to pay but oh well, it was a day for Carson. *By the way, we did not pay the $12 for Carson. We cheated and said he was under 2 because I do not see a need to pay that much for someone who can only “play” with less than a fourth of the things there (due to a whole exhibit being closed for changing). I would have no problem paying if there was more for him to do. Carson had a blast in the small little Under 7 section of the museum, but then just ran around the rest of it.
That night we went over to a friend’s house for dinner. Greg was friends with them before I moved to Arizona and then they moved to KY about 4 years ago. We hadn’t seen them since. It was nice to see them and catch up.
Thursday, time to head to Maryland! We left KY and started on our 9 hour drive or so to my parents house. I remember thinking that we would never get there. Who knew that West Virginia was such a big state and took FOREVER to drive through? It was about 8:00pm when we finally got to my parents house.
It was so nice to be home. We didn’t really plan a lot for our stay in MD. We really just wanted to relax and visit with friends and family.
Stay tuned for the rest of our trip. I also plan on blogging about Greg’s money saving ideas!

You're going to do what?!?!?!

Well school has been out for 4 weeks and they have gone by so fast. We have already been on 1 family vacation and we are about to go on another. On Sunday we will embark on a 3 day drive to Maryland to see my family and friends. I am so excited to be going home and Carson is excited to see Mimi, Pop, Dandle (Daniel) and Manta (Samantha).
We hope to start our first day of driving Sunday evening and drive through the night in order to get as far as we can while Carson (hopefully) sleeps. If all goes as planned, we will drive at least 15 hours the first day and that should get us to somewhere in Oklahoma. The next day our goal is to get to Louisville, Kentucky where Greg has friends who moved there 4 years ago. After spending a day or 2 in KY we will head to Maryland. We should arrive on Thursday if all goes as planned.
We will be in Maryland until July 5th then we will start our drive back home, but this time going the northern route. We need to be in Colorado for my cousin's wedding so we figured might as well make it part of our journey. We hope to make it to CO on the 8th and we plan on staying there until the 13th.
Now I know you are probably thinking "she is crazy" and I totally agree with you! This was all Greg's idea and I am being a loving and supportive wife. I will be sure to update you on our trip as we get to our stops.
Wish us luck!!!!

Handprint Tradition

During the 2008/2009 school year I was introduced to the wonderful world of Becky Higgins. Her son was in kindergarten at my school and his teacher (my good friend) told me how crafty she was and how she had a website full of fun stuff. So of course I had to check it out and I immediately became sucked in. One of the first things I found that I wanted to do was the Handprint Tradition.
Today I decided to do Carson's 2 year old handprint and I cant get over how much bigger it is in just a year.



I think I might re-do his hand print because it is really bothering me that he wanted to do his left hand instead of his right.

The most handsome little boy EVER!

Today Carson had a photo shoot with my good friend Heather. She recently got an awesome camera and wants to start doing photography as a side job. Heather asked me if she could use Carson has her "toddler model" and of course I said yes. Any excuse to have more pictures of my baby boy and of course I love Heather and will do anything to help her out. Carson was definitely not in the mood to sit still and it was hard to get any family pictures with all of us looking at the camera, but I love all of the candid shots and I can not find a favorite out of all 120 pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

Happy 2nd Birthday Carson!

I can not believe how fast time has flown by. Carson is no longer my little baby boy, but now my handsome little man. He is so independent and also quite demanding. He talks so much and is learning new things everyday. I love that he is saying small simple sentences using 2 to 3 words. His new thing to say is "I LOVE (whatever he is wanting or doing at the moment)" like when he wants or is eating a Popsicle he will yell, over and over again, I LOVE CA-I-CLE (popsicle)! Just last night Greg was drinking a beer and Carson was yelling I LOVE BEE-AH (beer) for a good 10 minutes.
Carson also started talking in a silly voice. He tries to talk in a really low voice and he is just so darn cute when he comes up to me and say "Moooommy". Since I do not get to be a stay at home mommy :( Carson goes to daycare when I am working. I am so thankful to have found a place that teaches the kids at every age level. I have to give credit where credit is due. Carson knows a ton of songs, all of his body parts, all popular animals and their sounds (my favorite is when he does gorilla and elephant), can count to 10, sing his ABC's and he can even recognize a few letters (O and P).
Yesterday, Carson had his 2 year old check up. Carson is 27 pounds (38 percentile) and 34.5 inches tall (63 percentile). The doctor said he was doing great. She was amazed at how much he was talking in the room and repeating everything we were saying. She wants us to keep him on whole milk for another 6 months to a year since he is on the smaller side.
Well I think I have gushed enough about my little man for one day. Here is a picture of him on his birthday at the beach in his 2 shirt (ordered from Etsy). We are haing his 2 year pictures done on Friday by one of my close friends, Heather. I cant wait!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms out there! I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband and son. Sunday morning Greg got up with Carson and let me "sleep" in. Then I was "woken up" by Carson running into the bedroom yelling "MOMMY!!!" and Greg following behind with a tray full of breakfast for me and presents :) Of course Carson wanted to get up in the bed with me and watch "B" (t.v.). Carson was excited to help me open my cards and presents. I opened my card from Carson and there was a Pita Jungle gift card in there :) If you know me, you know I LOVE Pita! Then I opened my card from Greg and my present. Greg and Carson had gone to Jared's and got me 4 new charms for my Pandora bracelet. These new charms have made my bracelet complete. I don't think I fit anymore on.
After relaxing for a bit, it was time to get ready for Church. This was the first time we have gone to Church on Sunday (we usually go Saturday night) and it was packed. After Church we got something to eat and let Carson play at the playground. That is his favorite part about Church. Here are some pictures of my handsome little man on Mother's Day.

Carson didnt want to take pictures


Me and my little man


My new favorite pictures of Carson


Weeeeeeeee!

Almost 2!

It's hard to believe that my baby boy will be 2 in just 1 month! It seems like yesterday he was learning how to roll over and sit up by himself, now he doesn't sit still for longer than 30 seconds. Carson is learning so much everyday and I can't get over how much he knows. He counts to 10 (with a little help) and he sings lots of songs (Wheels on the bus, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle little star and Itsy Bitsy Spider are some of his favorites), knows his animals and sounds, knows his body parts, and is starting to talk in simple sentences. Carson loves to play outside or "ow side" as he would say and he loves playing with his balls and cars. Carson no longer lets me dress him. He has to be the one to put on his pants and he wants to help with his shirts. Diaper changes have also started to become a struggle so I am hoping that means he is ready for the potty. He has been interested in sitting on the potty for a while now but he has only gone pee pee a few times. Maybe with me being home all summer we can start to make some progress. We will also be taking away his pacifier with in the next few weeks. I am not looking forward to it but I know it is something we need to do.

Well here are some pictures new pictures of my Almost 2 Year old!

Here is Carson sitting on his potty.


Carson put his pants on all my himself


Sitting by the pool splashing my feet at Grandma and Grandpa's house