Christmas 2011

It seems the older Carson gets the funner the holidays are, because he gets it that much more.  I loved watching his excitement that comes with the magic of Christmas, But the best part of the holidays are spending it with family and friends.  So here is a quick recap of things we did.

Went and saw Grandma Clark at school.

The last of "the boys" got married!  So fortunate that we were in town to go.  Congrats Nick!

On Christmas Eve we went ice skating, and even Carson got on the ice.

Christmas morning.  His face says it all.

Seeing the empty plate of cookies and milk that Santa left behind. 

Playing with his presents.

Went and saw the lights at Temple Square. 

Of course we had to go see the trains at Union Station. 

More lights in SLC

Riding the fork lift at Grandpa's and Uncle Ryan's work

Other things we did that are not included in the pictures are: going to see the Christmas Carol with the Murphy family, going country line dancing with uncle Ryan, movies, went to the treehouse children's museum, shopping, going out to lunch with friends, and stopping in Vegas on the way home.

Hope everyone's holidays were surrounded by those you love.

Tanner's Baby Blessing

 Tanner was blessed December 18 and shared his big day with his Uncle Daniel's Homecoming.  It was such a great meeting!  Brad gave a beautiful blessing full of thankfulness and aspirations for Tanner.  It was such a special day filled with loving family.

 Tanner and his namesake Grandpa Reed:

In more Tanner related news he has rolled over this week!  From his stomach to his back.  I have also noticed that he loves to sleep with his hands near his face.  He is pretty dang cute!

2 Years Later

Elder Daniel Murphy returned home from his mission in Taipei Taiwan.

After:

A lot has changed in 2 years!  Welcome home Daniel we missed you!

2 Months

 I have too much fun with these photo shoots!  Tanner is just too cute I have to take a bunch of pictures!  Its incredible how just in one month babies can change so much!  I saw a newborn yesterday and couldn't believe how much bigger Tanner looks.

New things that Tanner has been doing this month: sleeping through the night, smiling (my favorite), holding his head up, and also standing.  He is such a strong little boy!  He is also starting to take the binki more easily (he hated it at first and would purse his lips so you couldn't put it in) he still isn't a big fan, but at least he will suck on it for a minute or two.

The other day I was asked "what was the best day of your life," and growing up when I heard this question adults would always say "the day their children were born."  I remember thinking that was such a copout and cheesy excuse, but as I was asked that question I immediately said "the day my children were born."  Because there are no words to describe the feeling you get when you hold your child for the first time or having your almost 3 year old child tell you that you are his best friend.

I love my little baby and I love watching him grow.      

Tanner loves looking at our Christmas tree.  He loves the lights.

Such a strong little man!

I think this will also become a Carson photo shoot too since he doesn't like to miss out on all the fun.

My Sweet Family

With the arrival of Tanner it was time to update our family picture for the Christmas card.

My sweet boys

One of those days

Last Friday I had "one of those days" the kind of days that make you wonder "can I really do it with two kids" kind of day. Of course Brad had to be out of town, because really these type of days only seem to happen when he is not here to rescue me.

It started off when I was trying to get ready. I was in the bathroom and Tanner was asleep in the basinet/pack n play, and Carson was playing with his trains. Then I hear a blood curdling cry come from Tanner. Not the I'm hungry cry, the if you don't rescue me I'm going to die, cry. I rush in to see that Carson had gotten into the pack n play (he unfortunately does that quite a bit no matter how many times I tell him no) and collapsed the basinet with Tanner still in it. Poor baby.

Next I'm getting everything ready to go to my doctors appointment. I wanted to go do some Christmas shopping at the mall afterwards so I wanted to bring my new double stroller. I could not get the double stroller to collapse so it would fold up into the trunk. I was so frustrated and had to forget about it or else I would be late. I got the kids into the car and drove to my doctors office and once we got there and I got Carson out of the car I realized that I had forgotten Carson's shoes and socks. So now I'm carrying him and the car seat (with Tanner in it) across a very large parking lot. My doctor just laughed and said its ok to feel overwhelmed. Gotcha.

Next I go to the mall, and since Carson has no shoes he has to go in the stroller and since I only have the single stroller I'm carrying Tanner in one arm and pushing Carson in the stroller with the other. Let me tell you its hard to navigate a stroller with just one arm. I went into Victoria Secret to buy some lipstick (because they were having a sale on their make-up) and after I buy my purchases I just threw my wallet into the stroller and left. I let Carson play in the playground and as I got settled I opened up my purse to put my wallet back in and realized Carson had stuffed 3 gift boxes from Victoria Secret into my purse. We had shoplifted. I rushed back to the store to return the items. The lady in the store thanked me and by this point I had had it and decided to do Christmas shopping another day and decided to leave. However Carson was not ready and had a meltdown while I tried to get him from the playground. Needless to say there was a lot of kicking and screaming while I got him back into the stroller and out of the mall.

It wasn't until that day that I realized having two kids is a lot more work, and although I was fuming, stressed, embarrassed, and overwhelmed by said events I realized this is probably going to be one of the many "one of those days" especially since I have two boys. So for now I can look back and laugh (or at least my mother-in-law can laugh it may take me just a little bit longer) plus it will make a great story for when Carson gets older and I can embarrass him in front of his friends or even better his Prom date, by telling them he shoplifted at Victoria Secret.

The Polar Express

Carson and his cousin Brooklyn were one of the lucky few children chosen to ride the Polar Express, and where nice enough to invite their parents and baby brothers to tag along for the ride. We boarded the train in Williams Arizona (by Flagstaff) and drove through the magic tunnel to get to the North Pole to see Santa. On our trip they served us hot chocolate and cookies, and they read the story of The Polar Express. Santa then came on the train to give all those who truly believe a bell. Carson and Tanner both got one, but sadly mom and dad did not (we must not be believers I guess). Then on our way back from the North Pole we sang Christmas carols.

Getting ready to go! Can't you tell they're excited?Watching the train come in

Meeting the conductor:

mmmmm cookies and hot chocolate!
seeing Santa arrive:
saying hi to Santa
There he is!

We Believe! Showing off our bells
As you all know Carson is a huge train fan, and last year around Christmas time we bought him the movie The Polar Express and he watched it almost everyday for months. So I knew he would love going on this train ride and bought the tickets clear back in February. Carson absolutely loved it! His face said it all and I may or may not have teared up once or twice because of it. We all had so much fun and it put us in the holiday spirit. I can't wait to go again next year!