Unwrapping our First Christmas Present!

Carson just recently discovered wrapping paper, and I think that you can see how much he likes it.

He did this all by himself, with his ever-grabbing hands while Misty was getting things wrapped.

Oh Christmas Tree

With all of Phil's job changes these past few months, our Christmas money is a little tight. So tight that I was thinking that we should probably not spend money on a Christmas tree. I didn't want to admit it, but I was pretty heartbroken. I can't remember a Christmas without a tree. We talked about it and decided that we both really did want one but we would just get a really inexpensive live one, even if inexpensive usually means not so nice. The day after we had decided this, I was making dinner, and heard a knock at the door. No one was there, but a big box. Upon examining the box, I realized that it was a new prelit Christmas tree. It's not the big fancy one Phil and I will eventually buy, but with the nice ornaments we bought last year and our expert tree fluffing skills, I think turned out beautiful. The best part is that no matter how tight things are at future Christmases, we will always have a tree.

To whomever it was that brought it to us, and I am pretty sure I know, thank you! I was having a hard time feeling the Christmas spirit this year with our financial situation and the lack of snow, but you truly brought that spirit right to my heart. Phil and I really appreciate your generosity and strive to be able to serve others in a similar manner.

Here is a picture of our beautiful Christmas tree.

I also included a picture of our mantle because I think it looks wonderfully Christmasey and makes me smile.

Four months old

Carson is now 4 months old. We are so unbelievably proud of him. We think that he is the cutest, smartest and greatest baby in the world. He brings more joy to our lives than we ever thought possible.

We had his 4 month well baby check this week. He is now 19 pounds and 26.75 inches tall. His weight is in the 97tth percentile and his height and head are both in the 94th. The doctor says he is very healthy and was impressed when he made Carson giggle by checking his abdomen.

Some of Carson's favorite things to do are smile, giggle, give kisses, talk (his favorite word right now is ma ma), play with his toes, shake his rattles, and kick things. He has decided that it's more fun to use his feet to play with his toys than his hands. He also likes to grab our arms with his feet while we are changing his diaper. He rolled over, from his front to his back, for the first time the other day, but hasn't been able to do it again. He is very good with his hands and grabs everything he can.

In our last post, we included some family pictures that my step-sister took of us. And as promised, here are more of those pictures. There were so many that we liked that the slide show is kind of long. Hope you don't get bored!

Pictures

Phil, Carson and I have never had our pictures taken together. We have no pictures with all three of us together. I decided that that needed to change. My step-sister, Angie, has recently bought a new camera and is starting to get into photography as a hobby. I asked her to take some picture of us. We are waiting for her to send us a cd with all of the pictures on it, but in the mean time, I have pirated some of the pictures she posted on her blog. Hope you don't mind, Angie!

WE GOT ONE!!!

FINALLY!

Carson is the biggest stinker! He is such a happy baby, but once the camera comes out, he becomes so serious. It has been so hard to get a picture of him smiling, but finally we caught him off guard and got a picture of him smiling! I have no idea how we lucked out, but hopefully this won't be the last of his smiles and we'll see if we can get some giggles on video too!

BEFORE HE SAW THE CAMERA

AFTER HE SAW THE CAMERA

Long Time Coming

So now that it is time for Thanksgiving, I have decided to post Carson's Halloween pictures. Sorry they are so late. I didn't know how to get them off the camera. Phil just taught me. Hope you enjoy.

He was Captain Adorable. His super powers are overpowering villans with his cuteness, then he drowns them with his drool. Oh and watch out for his radioactive diaper blowouts. And if a foe is especially devious, he incapacitates them with spit up.

And yes, those are little girl's tights. Hope he is not traumatized for too long.

His cape

What's that in the sky? It's a bird, it's a plane. No! It's Captain Adorable.

3 Months Old!

Where does the time go? Today is Carson's 3 month birthday. In a way, it seems crazy that he is already 3 months old, but at the same time, it feels like he has always been in our family. He is growing so fast. He has brought Phil and I more joy than we ever felt was possible. He is growing so fast and learning new things everyday. Some of his favorite things to do are take baths, stand up, have tummy time, shake his rattle, chew on his hands, scream at the top of his lungs (not just sad crying screams, he screams when he is happy), smile at daddy, have mom sing him songs, eat (maybe eat should be at the top of the list). He has the cutest little personality. As long as he has everything that he wants, he is happy and smiley, but if he wants something he can be very demanding. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father allowed me to have this little miracle in my life! I couldn't have asked for a better baby. I'm sorry to all you other mothers out there. Your children may be cute, but I got the cutest baby!

I tried to take pictures of Carson for his 3 month birthday, but I am not a photographer, and our camera takes to long to take the picture so I missed a lot of good shots, but here are a couple of the best ones.

Just Chillin before the photo session started.

I tried to get a picture in the leaves in our yard, but Carson wanted nothing to do with them.

Good idea Mom!

Phil thought it would be funny to take a picture of Carson in this box. Carson was cool with it until he started pushing on the edge of the box with his feet and lodged himself in. He was pretty traumatized.

We are still not sure what color his eyes will end up being.

This is the closest to a smile out of all of the pictures.

Super Carson!

We tried the leaves again. Still not a good idea.

He didn't even want to stand in them.

Carson and Mommy

Carson and Daddy

The rest of these pictures are ones we have taken this month