Last Minute Birthday Surprise....

First of all, Happy Halloween everybody! Kinda....

Backing up real quick, yesterday was my 24th birthday. It was pretty great. We had our Primary Program, and as a member of the Presidency, I'm ELATED it's finally over! Everything turned out awesomely, but the few weeks prior put us in such a worry-fit, we didn't think anything was going to go right day-of.... Luckily, we were proved wrong, and I got a lovely birthday present of singing children and angelic "from the mouths of babes"-esque speaking parts... Then I got sang to twice in Sharing time (Jr and Sr) and we played a game with a monster dice and sang silly songs....

We went into town for dinner at my parents and got to play a game that I'm pretty sure nobody else likes to play but me. Everyone was such good sports... We headed home early, put Carrie to bed and I fell asleep thinking I'd had a pretty good birthday.....

Que "last minute birthday surprise"..... now.

A few minutes before midnight, Carrie made a coughing sound. I shrugged it off, but Justin bolted upright and said, "Did you hear that?! Is she ok?" (which is weird, because he usually doesn't hear her at night). I shuffled in to check on her and found her covered in throw-up..... grreeaaattt......

After a few scrambling minutes of running to the bathroom, grabbing a bowl, cleaning up, and bathing, Carrie was settled in on the floor in our room for the rest of the night. We did not. sleep. well.... She threw up probably five or six more times before the sun came up and a few times in the early-mid morning.

We lazed around and watched too much TV all day. (On a side note, because of the extreme lack of sleep and the queezy feeling that always comes to the parents when your kid gets sick, Justin stayed home from work, and we got our grass seed planted today!!)

Anyways, Carrie crashed asleep on the couch upstairs for a couple hours in the afternoon.

When she woke up, it was about time for us to decide if we were going to do anything for Halloween night. We had an invitation to walk around trick or treating with some friends; An option that QUICKLY was shut down by Carrie, almost in tears.... The other option was to drop in at another friend's block party. We figured we'd grab a couple bites of food, hang out for a bit and head home. We felt pretty safe because Carrie hadn't thrown up since about 10am...

On the way there, we stopped by the grocery store for bananas, per Carrie's request.... and she threw up in the parking lot. Luckily, Justin was able to grab her out of her carseat with a split second to spare.

Carrie said she still wanted to go, and us being slightly selfish, horrible parents thought, "Well, we still want to go too...." So we went... We walked around the block following our friends' kids trick or treating while Carrie was fully satisfied with sitting in the stroller, not in costume. But of course that wouldn't be the end of it... :) She puked in a random stranger's driveway... Got it all over herself and the stroller.... We went home and she fell asleep faster than Justin could say, "She's going to be out in no time"
Poor girl... It's been a long day....

Cinderella's Royal Family

Last night was our Ward Halloween party! I know you've all been looking forward to seeing our costumes.... So... here you go! Cinderella's Royal Family!!

Out of nowhere, I decided Carrie should be Cinderella for Halloween. I've been planning it for MONTHS.... Seriously, I would lay awake at night thinking of how to construct the dress to perfection....

And who's Cinderella without her Prince Charming? (His outfit? Old white shirt, workout pants, gold satin and hot glue.... lots of hot glue.....)

Even though I've been planning this for months, and bought everything to make our costumes a good 6 weeks ago.... I did almost NO work on them until this week.... Most of it was done Thursday night. That's right, the night before the ward party I stayed up until 2:30am finishing our costumes.... Luckily, I was in good company. My friend Corynn had plenty to craft too, and she let me stay at her place til the wee morning hours and use her husband as my "dress form" to hot glue some of Justin's costume together...

These are the mini spider-web cupcakes I made for the cakewalk booth the Primary Presidency was in charge of at the ward party. The spiders on them are little plastic rings, so the kids got a treat and a toy :)

Just chilling with Daddy/Prince Charming after a long 2 1/2 rounds around the cultural hall "t

And just because, here's a few of our friends and their awesome costumes:

Corey, Liz, and Ben as a Super Mario Bros Family

Cori as a web, and Jazlyn as a spider

Indi as Rapunzel and Isaiah as Spiderman (his mom tried to talk him in to being Flynn Rider, but to no avail...)

Everett as Perry the Platypus.... If you don't know who that is, you should watch more Disney Channel......

One of the Missionaries as.... an Angry Bird?... I think?.... No wait, I got it! Literally, just now as I was looking at the picture... He's a minion, from "Despicable Me".... :)

If he was really trying to be an Angry Bird, he should have taken a hint from Kai....

Carrie trick or treating to our home teacher and his wife. (No that's not his real hair) ;)

The kids playing the cakewalk.

We had a blast! I love indoor Halloween :) Now I better get started thinking about what we should be next year, it's going to sneak up on me before I know it!! I hope this won't jinx it, but I REALLY hope we have another little family member to dress up with us next Halloween....

How Could We be Angry?

Remember this picture? (July 2009)
Last night Carrie was being a little terror about going to bed. I don't even remember the specifics, but it wasn't pretty. We'd reached a tipping point and just said, "Goodnight", shut the door and let her scream.

She was calling out, "Mommy! Daddy!" etc... but we both knew we were too steamed to rationally deal with her. The next thing we heard her shout/cry?..... "DADDY!! WE FORGOT TO READ SCRIPTURES!!!"

It was sad and pathetic and adorable..... I don't know if it was just a rouse to get to stay up for a few minutes longer, but I'm thinking probably not. I feel really proud of us for instilling that habit in her already. Although most days she fights it, squirming, wiggling, and whining about repeating a verse.... I think deep down she likes it....

We immediately went into her room, scriptures in hand, and read together as a family. And she went right to sleep.....

Jogging

I know by the looks of Carrie's wardrobe, you'd think it was snowing or something, but nope. Just 54 degrees. We're freezing!! Although once we get all bundled up, it's the perfect weather to go for a jog in. It's one of Carrie's favorite things lately. Lucky for me, when she asks, it's usually so cute, I can't say no, and I get a workout in the process. :)

(Quick bragging moment, I crocheted that beanie! And I love it! Carrie hated it for about a week, and then suddenly begged to wear it. I was so excited because it looks so stinkin' cute on her!)

About halfway through our jog, I wasn't really jogging anymore... I was totally walking... Cheater cheater, I know.... Anyways, I guess Carrie was serious when she said she wanted to go on a jog; She asked me if she could get out of the stroller to run "super-fast"

She ran almost the entire way back home. I was thoroughly impressed. Looks like I have a little jogging buddy now!

Cookie Fail... Kinda

I really wanted to carve pumpkins this year... Our "to-do list:time" ratio wasn't looking too promising though.... So instead, we just made halloween themed cookies (Using pre-made cookie dough and frosting, and sprinkles that someone else bought for us... oober lazy)

Carrie had fun helping me roll out the dough and cut the shapes.

We had bats, pumpkins, moons, cats, witches, and ghosts.... At least when they were in dough form...

When we baked them they lost their shape completely!! I was so bummed! They ended up being big Halloween blobs!

Carrie didn't seem to mind too much though ;)

Meltdown

I had a major emotional meltdown last night.... About Brigham, the miscarriage, not being pregnant, body image issues, hating that life's not fair, not knowing all the answers to everything....

My biggest gripe lately has been trying to trust in Heavenly Father's timing. I like being in charge, I like lists, schedules etc.... So it makes me crazy that I don't know my whole life plan!! :P It's always worse when I'm tired, obviously, but still.....

All I know is that we were ready for another baby in our home 9 1/2 months ago... But he's not here.... And then the miscarriage happened.... Consciously I don't feel judged because I don't fit the perfect little LDS family mold of, "Carrie's almost three, where's your next kid?".... But I guess subconsciously I feel it. Or more so, I think I'm judging myself... My life isn't following MY plan exactly...

I'm going to be brave and bare my soul a bit... Our counselor suggested I have a notebook by my bedside so when I have my "I'm tired and emotional" moments, I can write things down. Here's a teeny excerpt from what I wrote last night.

"I know the truth! I have a testimony! Just because I'm aware of the bigger picture doesn't mean that I understand it, or like it... I don't know the details, but I really do try to "step into the dark" and try to trust that the light will follow me. I just feel like sometimes I have to take 3 or 4 steps in the dark before the light catches up.... Or maybe I'm running... Maybe that's my problem... I'm obviously trying to make my life go faster than Heavenly Father planned for me.... I don't know how to slow down..."

What a Pain in the Neck

Usually that phrase is used metaphorically.... I wish..... About a week ago, I pulled a muscle in my neck while I was doing my Jillian Michaels workout DVD. (Curse you, Jillian!) I know what you're thinking.... "Pulled a muscle working out?! How OLD are you?!".....

It must be an early birthday present reminding me that I'm getting closer to the quarter century mark. (My birthday's in a couple weeks and I'll only be 24, but I have a feeling next year's birthday is going to be rough!)

Anyways, it's STILL killing me! I can hardly turn my head to the left without flinching.... I've been hopped up on Ibuprofen and Tylenol around the clock for a whole week... Stretching, heating pad, ice.... It all works, but only for the teensiest amount of time... Then it's back.... I hope it goes away soon..... :(

And because I've been on a roll lately of posting random pictures that have nothing to do with my post, I'll keep it up.

Carrie's favorite place to eat grapes... The stairs. I don't know why...



The cute baseball cupcakes I made for a friend's baby shower tonight!

It's Not Dark Outside, It's Happy!

That's Carrie's new favorite way to wake me up in the morning. She'll yell out, "Mommy!" and when I come into her room, she's points to the window and says, "See mommy?! It's not dark outside! It's happy!!!" Adorable and profound all at the same time....

And just because I don't have any pictures to go with that story, here's a couple recent random ones. Carrie holding up Flat Steven and a picture she drew for Halloween. Yes, I know you can't see the picture, but you can see her, and she's the cutest part about this picture, so enjoy :)

Also, last night, my youngest brother Jake had his Eagle Court of Honor! We're proud of him and the awesome example he is to Carrie.

Seriously.... Awesome.

What a Doll!

Carrie has discovered Barbies... And I'm totally cool with it. This dollhouse she's playing with was mine and my sister's when we were little. Our parents built it for us for Christmas one year. (I'm feeling like building Carrie her own dollhouse might be an awesome Christmas present this year.....)


The dolls my mom got recently are all Disney Princesses, so Carrie already knows all their names.

I love that she totally knows how to play with them. Nobody taught her, she just started making the dolls chat, play, cook dinner, go to bed... Everything...




Also, because I didn't feel the need for a separate post, here's the cupcake cake I made for my dad's surprise 50th birthday party. It's cake mix boxes stacked and covered with fabric to look like a hill. Get it? Over the hill?.... The cupcakes are green and springy on the left and as they go up and over the hill, the frosting "plants" start to die, until they're only a pile of sticks at the bottom.... I thought it was clever....

San Diego!

What a weekend! We got home last night from our trip to San Diego with my family! Here's oodles of pictures from our trip!

Carrie and "Flat Steven" in the courtyard at our hotel. (Flat Steven is a project for our cousin Steven who's in Kindergarten in Utah. "Flat Steven" came to visit us in the mail. We've had him for about a week and we get to take pictures with him of places we go and things we do, and then send him back so real Steven can give a report to his class!)

Grandma and Grandpa LaPray, and Grandma Lori

Monday we headed to the San Diego Zoo! Before we even went through the front gate we saw an elephant!

We decided the bus tour would be a great way to see most of the Zoo without getting to hot or tired. (Don't we look cute?! I love this picture!!)

The Elephants were Carrie's favorite part! She got soooo excited to see them! And she makes the cutest little elephant sound imitation ;)

Getting tickly hugs from Auntie Rissa on the bus

Some of the gang walking around. With us were, my parents, one set of grandparents, my sister Marissa (w/ husband and baby), my brother Kevin (w/ wife and baby), my brother Jake, my pseudo sister Alex (w/ baby).... Two full double strollers! (If you look really closely, you can see Carrie picking her nose.... I didn't see that at the time)

Carrie playing with Flat Steven during our lunch break

Trying to get a cute pic with Grandma, Carrie, and Mommy. But Carrie wouldn't look, stinker!!

Almost the only picture I got of Justin all day where he wasn't making a goofy face. Isn't he handsome?!

A long day at the zoo will certainly make you tired, especially if you're two years old...

Justin and Flat Steven riding the "Skyfari" tram. The Zoo is enormous!! And so gorgeous from above!

Carrie rode in the tram just before us, with my parents. This was our view on the way down!

Waving hello from the tram

Making friends with a gorilla statue (probably because she wants its banana) ;)

Poking up through the ice with a (fake) seal

Giving hugs to the polar bear statue

Panda bears!

Carrie's loot from the gift shop. A panda t-shirt and a panda puzzle. When she "opened her present", she held up the puzzle and asked us, "Where did you get this?". We replied, "From the gift shop." She thought for a second and said, "Oh... well, you can take it back to the gift shop, I don't need it"..... It was hilarious! (And no, we didn't take it back. It was like $3, and we knew she'd love it eventually)

She crashed in the stroller right as we were about to leave. 6 hours at the zoo?.... We were all tired...

But not tired enough to miss out on the Mormon Battalion Museum. (Thanks Brian and Kristan for the suggestion!) Grandma LaPray stayed at the hotel with the sleeping babies while the rest of us trekked out to the museum. It was so cool!

Jake got to dress up like one of the battalion members. From what I hear, that gun is super heavy!

At the end of the tour, we all got to pan for gold. Wish it wasn't fools gold, we found a lot...

We got a commemorative museum picture too!



Then we headed to the San Diego Temple to see it all lit up at night.

We were back the next day though, because....



My Sister Marissa, Brother-in-law Brandon, and Nephew Isac, were sealed together as a family for all Eternity!!!








We're so proud of them for reaching this goal! Congrats Smith family! We loved being a part of your special day! Thanks for giving us a reason to have a family vacation to San Diego! ;)