My little rolley polley

Carter is growing and changing so much and it's hard to believe my life would not be the same with out this slobbery, pudgy thing! He is so chunky that his ankles and wrists have pudgy little crease lines. He is so round and he is starting to roll EVERYWHERE! He loves to roll up to the DVD cupboard, put his hand on the handle, then turn and smile. We are going to have our hands SO full when he is officially mobile. I can't believe that on march 8th, he will be 6 months old! Half a year! Time goes by way too fast. I already miss my tiny sweet 6 lb. baby that loved to cuddle and sleep all day. But this stage is very fun too. He loves toys and gets so frustrated when they get away from him. He loves sugar, cartoons, baths and sucking on his toes. He LOVES food. He knows when i get out his bumbo chair that it is time to eat and I can't ever get the food to his lips quick enough! He hates carrotts and sunday shirts that button up. And he hates when I am not paying attention to him every second. Somehow he knows if my eyes are up on the tv trying to watch my daily Oprah show rather than on him. But oh how i love him. I am looking forward to summer to taking him in the boat, swimming, playing on the grass. and camping trips. It's true, life would not be complete with out him.

Romantic Weekend Getaway

On our way home we stopped at the Shilo Inn in Idaho Falls where Chad used to work and took Carter swimming for the first time. He was really tired so he didnt really react to the water until some girls splashed him on accident. But he was a trooper and didnt even cry!
My boys in their board shorts.
Being silly getting ready to head out to the best hot tub i have ever sat in. It was AMAZING!
We put Carter to bed early and enjoyed our chocolate dipped strawberries and sparkling cider before we went to the hot tub!
YUMMY!
There was a pool table in the basement so we stayed up for a while playing. We used to play lots of pool while we were dating and hadn't played in a while so i thought it would be fun!
Our family at the Blue Heron Inn
Posing by the fire place
Little gift from my hunny! :)
V day cookies I made for me and Chad
Opening V day gifts by the fire
This is what our room looked like when we arrived. Sparkling cider and chocolates on the bed. We stayed in a room themed the "Bunk House." It was all decked out in cowboy decor. It was so cute!
We went to dinner at Stockman's in Rigby. Chad had all you can eat sirloin steak and i had chicken fettuccine! SOO yummy!

We stayed at Blue Heron Inn Bed and Breakfast that i HIGHLY recommend if any of you are looking for a getaway trip!
Starting out the road trip with our new camera!

I made this post backwards, but you can get the idea. This was a perfect little getaway (besides Carter not sleeping at night. He is no longer invited on over night trips!!!) The cabin was cozy and romantic and I can't wait to go back! It sits just on the river and everything around it sparkled with snow. They made us an amazing breakfast and had complimentary snacks all around the cabin you could just eat! We also were able to see my new nephew and lots of family along the way. We took 5 month pictures at Hymas Image of Carter and they are going to be sooo cute! It was a wonderful trip and it was even better to get away!

Bubbles and cookies

Valentines cards I made
Carter just hung on in his jammies and played with toys while we made cookies!
Big cookies i made for me and Chad
Mom decorating cookies
So yesterday i loaded our dishwasher and realized i was out of dishwasher soap. I remembered that when we moved in the office gave us some supplies so i pulled out the "dishwasher soap" they gave to us in a tupperware container and filled up the soap dish and started the cycle. Then i started making sugar cookies with my mom. As soon as my hands were all dirty with flour, eggs, sugar, etc., i noticed my foot was very warm. I looked down and BUBBLES were EVERYWHERE!! On instinct, i quickly opened up the dishwasher and MORE BUBBLES spilled onto the floor. The whole dishwasher was completely full of bubbles as was my kitchen floor. What i had thought was dishwasher soap was really LAUNDRY SOAP!! I felt so dumb! Luckily my mom was around and we were able to quickly clean it up and continue in our cookie making. Talk about a bubbly day. I should have taken pictures of all the bubbles every where but i was VERY frazled. Atleast the cookies turned out!

25 date ideas for VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

I was just talking with friends trying to get some ideas to do for Valentine's and then i ran into this blog. so i thought i would post it and pass the advice along!

There are only a few more days 'till Valentines day and it seems like everyone has made plans for their true love except YOU! I ran into this problem myself. There are so many ideas out there! I decided to grab a wide variety of ideas. Some unique, some classic, some very low budget, some a little less on the low side. Anyhow, hope my little list helps!


25 DATE IDEAS FOR VALENTINE'S

1. Surprise him at work by showing up with a lunch you made including some of his fave foods, or send a lunch with a Valentine's note inside.

2. Book a hotel without him knowing. Call ahead and have dinner set up in the room before hand with flowers and dessert.

3. Dedicate the night to getting to know each other. Ask each other 30 questions each over a relaxed meal or steak dinner.

4. Have a reminiscing night; look at photos of when you first met, watch your wedding video, or listen to some of your favorite songs, and talk about the memories you've made. All this while drinking hot chocolate by candlelight.

5. Take your man to a nice restaurant, but have him blindfolded before getting in the car until he's seated at the table. Have a thoughtful note waiting on his plate.

6. Cook dinner together with your left arm tied to his right. Enjoy a night of laughs and good times!

7. Make a picnic on the living room floor. Lay out a blanket and light lots of candles around the room. Make heart shaped pizza and serve fresh fruit with fondu.

8. Have a progressive dinner. Eat an appetizer at one restaurant, main course at another, and dessert at another. To make it sentimental, go to restaurants that are memorable and that you would frequent while dating.

9. Go shopping and pick out gifts for one another.

10. Take your sweetheart for a carriage ride. Bring a blanket and hot chocolate, and cuddle the evening away.

11. Try something you are both new to, like ice-skating. You'll have a ball learning something new together.

12. Print out a list of '10 reasons I love you.' Leave them in various places you know he will find, like the mirror, his car, his pillow, etc.

13. Go play in the snow at midnight. Have a snowball fight or build a snow man. Then finish the evening with lots of cuddling and warming up!

14. Instead of your usual 'going to a movie' routine, go to a concert or play, and get dressed up for it.

15. Go skiing together, then warm up afterward in a hot tub.

16. Fill up the bedroom with balloons; helium balloons to cover the ceiling, and regular balloons to cover the floor. Have a board game and popcorn on the bed with some music playing.

17. Leave a 'meet me' card in his car for when he gets off work to somewhere in the community, like a bakery. When he gets there, have a cake ready for him with a note of another place to go. Have the final destination be your home. Be all dressed up with dinner ready!

18. Clear an area in the house that would work for dancing. Have soft music playing while you eat dinner, then dance the night away!

19. Go to a museum or planetarium, or any place conducive to hand-holding.

20. Give him a 'HEART ATTACK!' Cover his car or room with hearts that say things you love about him or words of significance to your relationship...or cover his car with chocolate kisses while he's at school or work!

21. If it's warm where you live, rent a canoe and watch the sunset on the water.

22. Print out coupons for future dates like 'one free massage' or 'one candle lit dinner'. Make an entire booklet and let him pick which ones he wants to use on Valentine's day.

23. Have a camp-out at home.

24. Play scrabble, only require that all words must have to do with romance or your relationship.

25. Get some magazines and each cut out pictures that remind them of the other person. Make a collage out of the pictures!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Walk to the canyon

Look at all the ice!


Chad kept letting go of the stroller while we were going down the hill

Happy to be outside!



It was a really nice afternoon and cabin fever is setting in at our house, so we got out and went for a walk to the canyon. Carter was so relaxed. He loves being outside. In the pictures it looks like it was really cold, but it was a really nice quiet afternoon. The canyon waterfalls were all frozen and you can see some of the icicles in the canyon in the picture. I'm SO ready for spring to be here!

Calling all pregnant women!

My mother in law, Evelyn Hymas, who is a professional photographer, is looking for pregnant women or women with babies up to 8 weeks old to photograph for free! She is starting a new segment called "Bellies and Babies." You also will receive a $100 gift certificate towards the purchase of your pictures. Her studio is in Rigby, so you would have to travel to her. But pass the word along to anyone you know is pregnant or just had a baby! This is a limited time offer! I wasn't sure i wanted pregnant pictures, but she did an amazing job and I cherish the pictures she took. If you are interested let me know or call Hymas Image. The link is on my blog.

Game night

All the kids watching movies and snacking!
Jordan, Megan, & Finn
Brandon, Aubrey, Addie, & Bryce
Brian, Mandy, & Case
Two Chocolate coated little girls!

Last night we decided to have some of our friends over that live in the same apartment complex as us. The little "wives group" has gotten to be pretty good friends, but our husbands miss out and don't know everyone as well. Also our friends Beau and Heather are moving so we wanted to have a get together before they left. We had a nacho bar and ate and played games for a few hours. The kids had a p.j./movie party in the back room and watched Cars. It was a really fun night. I think we counted 16 adults in our little house. It was packed! I didn't remember to take pictures until the very end of the night, so these are just a few i got as the party was winding down.