Carter Bug Goes to School

Carter also hit a big milestone this week,  his first day of preschool.  Carter has been talking about going to preschool and being in Mrs. Merritt's class for the past two years (when Ammon was in Mrs. Merritt's preschool class).  The day finally came on Monday!  Carter woke up at 6:30 in the morning all ready to go.  After Ammon left on the school bus, Carter said,  "okay, I'm ready to go to school."  Unfortunately, he had to wait until the afternoon.  Colby didn't have afternoon clinic so he was able to go with me drop Carter off.  Another great bonus:  after we took Carter to school,  Colby and I went shopping and out to lunch- WITHOUT ANY KIDS.  It was great.  I think maybe I could get used to this "school thing" after all.  

Carter all ready for school.

Colby and Carter in front of the preschool.

Milestones

Yesterday Ammon hit one of the "big" milestones,  his first day of Kindergarten.   I can't believe my little boy is old enough for school!  I have had so much fun having Ammon home with me for the past 5 1/2 years,  I was very hesitant to send him to school (especially to all day Kindergarten).  Ammon was very excited and wasn't sad at all.  I, on the other hand, cried all week, got teared up at 'Meet the Teacher' day and cried at the bus stop.  Day two of Kindergarten was much better, but I wonder if I will ever stop worrying about him while he's gone. 

Goofy Ammon posing for a classic first day of school picture.

Waiting for the school bus to come.

Ammon getting on the school bus....

and waving goodbye.

Okay, I confess, I followed the bus to the school and took pictures of Ammon in his classroom.  I also cried in the car on the way home.

The first day went great and Ammon came home sooo excited to tell us all about his day.  His favorite thing about Kindergarten was school lunch.  Ammon got to put in his own lunch account number, choose a main dish (cheese pizza), drink (pink milk that he chose thinking it was strawberry, but to his disappointment it was actually white milk) and a side dish (a chocolate chip cookie).  He also had good behavior and "stayed on green" all day (which is a good thing).  I think maybe we will survive this year after all.

The last leg

I am now in the "last leg" of my pregnancy,  the third trimester.  Although I am getting closer to being done,  I still have twelve weeks left.  Twelve weeks seems like a long time to battle all the aches and pains,  incessant hunger, heartburn, stretch marks, swollen ankles, random people being constantly amazed by my hugeness, doctors appointments etc, etc.  In an effort to remain optomistic,  I came up with twelve things that are good about being pregnant (one for each week that I have left).  By popular request, I have also included some pictures of my growing belly. 

12 Good Things about Being Pregnant

1. I am so grateful that I can get pregnant.  It really is a miracle and I am grateful we have never had to go through the trial of infertility. 

2. I love to feel my baby move.  Sometimes when I am watching TV I will get distracted by watching by belly jump and wiggle. The boys all like to put their hands on my tummy and wait for her to kick.

3. I can eat icecream at 10 o'clock at night without feeling guilty. (of course, I regret it every time I go to the doctors office and have to step on that scale, but it is almost guilt free).

4. I am not expected to do manual labor.

5. Colby helps me put on my compression stockings before I go to work, which I think is kind of romantic.

6. It is really easy to clean lint out of my belly button.

7. I can't see my feet.   (If you have ever seen my feet, you know why this is a good thing).

8. I love to listen to Ammon and Carter talk about "baby sister" and give my tummy kisses.

9. I get better tips at work.

10. After reading Stephanie Meyer's new book,  I am grateful that this baby is not half vampire.

11. It is a great conversation starter.  

12.  I have a wonderful husband, who is also a wonderful father.  This little girl is so lucky that she gets to have Colby for a dad.

If anyone can think of any other good things about being pregnant, I would love all of the encouragement I can get!  

Swimmer's Ear

This past week we have been paying for all of the "water fun" we had in Utah.  Last Monday, Ammon woke up in the middle of the night complaining about his ear hurting.  After a trip to the doctor we discovered he had an outer ear canal infection or "swimmer's ear."  We left the doctor's office with a prescription for antibiotic ear drops and were on our way.  Five days later, after cooercing Ammon into letting us administer ear drops four times a day, and alternating Ibuprofen and Tylenol every three hours, he woke up in the middle of the night AGAIN complaining about both ears hurting.  Another trip to the doctor confirmed that the ear drops were not working and Ammon now had infections in BOTH ears.  We left the doctor's office with a prescription for another ear drop, an oral antibiotic and an appointment to come back this morning.  As if we hadn't already had enough,  Carter appeared in our bedroom last night at 2 am with a raging fever.  As luck would have it, we were already headed to the doctors office this morning so I asked if he could just see Carter while we were there.  A finger prick determined that Carter also has some sort of bacterial infection.  We left with another antibiotic prescription and made another trip to Walgreens.   I am hoping that this is the end of it.  In the past seven days we have been to the doctor's office four times, Walgreens six times for medicine (once in the middle of the night), had two little fingers pricked for blood tests, been woken up in the middle of the night by miserable kids seven nights in a row, missed five swimming lessons and had to cancel three play dates.  Being sick is the pits, but I think having two sick kids is worse.  I am just hoping they are feeling better by the time school starts next week.

Friends and Family and MORE Utah fun

First, let me preface this post by saying that I realize I am posting WAY too many pictures of our Utah trip.  I'm going to justify this by the fact that we only make it back to Utah every six months and we had SUCH a good time I just couldn't leave anything out.  So here it is, the massive conclusion of our Summer vacation to Utah and all of the great times we had with our family and friends. In no particular order, because I don't even remember how everything happened cronologically...

We had a great time playing glow in the dark miniature golf  with 

Grandma and Grandpa Stewart, Uncle Dan and Becca, Uncle Scott, Aunt Aleese,

Aunt Leslee, Uncle Kody, Kalii and Barrick.

Matchers! Ammon, Logan and Carter showing off their plaid shorts.

Grandma and Grandpa Frost with all their grandkids.

We discovered "African Ice" with Kalii and Aunt Leslee- it was awesome!

I always look forward to a girls night out!  Shauni, Lisa, Kami and Jen.

(This picture turned out pretty good considering it was on auto-timer balancing on the trunk of Kami's car).

More fun for Mom!  Dinner with Misty, Tricia, Jen and Kristen.

Ammon and Carter LOVED great grandpa's farm.  Climbing the hay while eating icecream cones probably wasn't the most sanitary idea- but they had a great time.

I love this four generation picture!  My grandpa, dad, brother Scott and nephew Barrick.

A stop at Colby's favorite burger joint, aptly named Best Burger. 

Logan, Marcie, Brianna, Henry, Mike and Baileigh.

More family pictures! Ammon, Baileigh, Carter and Logan trying to 

stay clean before the photographer arrived.

I love this picture too.  Colby with his dad and all of his brothers.

Dan, Colby, Ron, Jared and Mike.

We had a great Frost family BBQ...

Where Dan and Colby entertained us by comparing their chest hair.

More GNO fun!  Our self portrait (which we retook multiple times and I STILL have a double chin). Kami, Lisa, Shauni and Jen.

We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Cisney and Aunt Carolann.

We went to see WALL.E with Logan, Baileigh and Brianna.

We were able to go "kid free" one night and go to the temple and out to dinner.

Colby, Shauni, Ron, Susan, Crystal, Marcie, Dan, Carolee and Jared.

We went to Lagoon with Grandpa Frost, Marcie, Carolee and kids. 

Here Colby and the boys wait for the bumper cars with Isaac and Carolee.

Waiting to ride the train at Lagoon.

Grandpa Frost checked all of our teeth.  HURRAY- No Cavities!

We had to wish Colby "good luck" on his boards via email. 

Ammon was so proud of this sign he made for his dad.

Grandpa Stewart took Ammon on a motorcycle ride. He had so much fun

he didn't want to stop!

So of course, Carter had to see what all the fuss was about. 

They would have kept riding all night if I let them.

The boys getting piggy back rides from Grandpa Stewart and Dad.