4 Months old

We took Carson in for his 4 month appointment yesterday. I just can't believe how old he is getting. Here are his stats:
weighs-11 lbs 12 ounces (5 percentile)
height-24 inches (25 percentile)
head- not sure on inches but its in the 25 percentile

Carson had a growth spurt, but the poor guy is not gaining a lot of weight. I'm worried he is taking after me in the small department because that's how I was when I was a baby. I was hoping he would take more after Brad because, trust me no boy wants to be 5 feet tall, just ask my brothers. The doctor recommended that I start giving Carson baby food to try to bulk him up. We gave him sweet potatoes for dinner last night and he caught on pretty quick with the whole eating thing and he loved it. He got really excited when the spoon got near his mouth it was pretty cute.

His personality has really started to come out lately and he is quite the talker! His favorite new thing to do is to grab onto his feet. He can also suck on his big toe like he would his thumb. He is also rolling over a lot more and he can also laugh when he is being tickled.
Carson with his battle wounds. He had his 4 month immunization shots it was so sad because he was so happy that morning...

So we go to the doctors in another month to make sure he is gaining weight. Hopefully all goes well, but for a little string bean I think he is pretty cute.

Kids say the darndest things

Well once again I have been called to Primary. No surprise, but this time I have a partner: Brad. It will be Brad's first time in primary and he is actually looking forward to it. It will be nice to have him in there and hopefully Carson does well. We teach the 5 year olds and have 9 kids. So we have our work cut out for us. Thinking of this new primary calling reminded me of how funny kids can be and I thought I would share some quotes from the kids in the Clifton Ward.

1. My Grandpa is old, but my Grandma isn't.

2. Our choir director was teaching the kids the meaning of staggering singing which is to not take a breath the same time your neighbor does and instead take a breath while they are singing. She indicated that this is a technic they use in choirs and one poor boy raised his hand and said "I would not want to be in a choir, you can't breathe!"

3. My all time favorite: While learning about tithing during sharing time our primary president held up a tithing envelope and asked the kids what it was. A boy raised his hand and proclaimed "its a letter from God!" after when she explained what it really was she opened it up and showed everyone the tithing slip, the same boy then said "its not a letter its a BILL!"

If you have any good stories or quotes about kids in primary please comment and tell us your stories.

*I've made it possible for everyone to comment so if you have tried to comment before and couldn't hopefully I've fixed that and you should have no problems commenting.

Happy Fathers Day

Yesterday we celebrated Brad's first official Fathers Day. I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful and supportive husband. He is such a cute dad to Carson I love watching them play together. Brad has been the only one to make Carson laugh and it is so cute! Everyone says that Carson looks just like his dad.

We went to stake conference yesterday because they split our stake (we had 11 wards in our stake!) and Elder Andersen from the Quorum of the 12 came to speak. Of course he spoke at the very end and right when he started speaking was when Carson decided he didn't want to be there anymore and started screaming. So as a present to Brad on Fathers Day I took Carson out with all the other screaming kids while Brad sat and listened.

One thing I did enjoy before I took Carson out was the song we sand during the middle of the meeting I guess in our stake it is a tradition to sing the first verse English second verse Spanish and third you can choose either or since we have (had) 2 Spanish speaking wards. We sang How Firm a Foundation and it was so nice to hear Brad sing in Spanish and when the third verse came he sang in Spanish and I sang in English. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed. It was so beautiful.

Again I am so thankful for all Fathers, but I am especially grateful to the father of my precious baby.

Summoned

I have been summoned for Jury duty which I have mixed emotions about.  I have been inside a courtroom a couple of times in my life some good some bad.  My very first time was in 3rd grade for "take your kids to work day" with my dad.  Of course being only 8 years old I thought it was extremely boring and didn't understand anything that was going on.  Then in Jr. High I was on the mock trial team, mock trial is role playing a trial with the students as the attorneys and witnesses, we competed against other Jr. High schools and had a real Judge as a Judge to determined who won.  I loved it I had so much fun doing that.  My last time in a court room wasn't such a fun experience since Brad and I where the victims in a crime and had to testify, which for me was extremely emotional and hard to do. 

I love crime dramas and in those you sometimes see a guilty man go free and an innocent man sent to prison, and that's my dilemma.  Our legal system is probably the best in the world but it does has its faults and its hard to imagine having someones fate in your hands.  Its not like mock trial where its just for fun or like TV where they're paid actors its real and it really effects the person on trial.  I just hope I can see both sides and make an unbiased decision.  

I don't have to report until July 25 and I know a lot of court cases are often solved before it even goes to trial so who knows if I will even make it that far.  Its just something that has been on my mind lately.

Murphy Family Pictures

Perfect Timing!

Clark Family Pictures

The two brothers showing off their babies
Fourth Generation Picture:
I just love this picture!

The Grand Canyon

On our drive home from Utah we thought we would stop by the Grand Canyon. Brad has never been and who can say they live in Arizona without ever seeing the Grand Canyon? It was breathtakingly beautiful and Brads mom and sisters even came down for the ride and stayed with us for about a week. It was very relaxing all we did we lounge around the house and pool all week. Emily of course loved the water slides that our community has to offer and would have stayed there all day if we would have let her. Carson even took his first dip in the pool, but the water was too cold for him and I could only get his feet wet before he would start screaming.

We are now trying to get back into our daily routine and I for one am looking forward to having no plans for the weekend.

More pics from the trip

Here are more pictures from our trip to Utah:

First off I just think this picture of Carson is hilarious with his double chin it makes him look a lot chubbier then what he really is.On Monday (Memorial Day) we went to visit the family graves and had a picnic. We also had our family pictures taken and once I get those I will post them as well.

Marilyn cleaning up the graves:

The boys at the picnic:

Carson and I went to see the ducks:

While staying at my parents they made sure Brad and I went out every night while they watched Carson. We saw X-men, went bowling, and went to the batting cages with my siblings. It was so nice to get out and do things and not have to worry about Carson. Oh if only we lived closer I could have free babysitters.

We went and saw Kae (my mother-in-law) at school where she teaches 4th grade. They were having a water balloon party for reaching their reading goals. All the girls just loved seeing Carson.We spent a lot of time visiting with Brads grandparents and I just love this picture.
While in Logan Brad was able to play on his brothers basketball team and even scored some points. (Brad is number 41)Carson and his cousin Brooklyn (born about 2 months apart) and it already looks like Carson is trying to push her away.

This was a typical moment on the trip: Carson just screaming away while Brooklyn never makes a sound.
We also celebrated Brads birthday. He hasn't celebrated a birthday with his family for 6 years. We had a BBQ and some cake. It was a really nice trip.

Carson's Baby Blessing

Over Memorial Day weekend we went up to Utah to have Carson blessed. We had him blessed in my parents ward and Brad gave a beautiful prayer. It was such a wonderful experience and according to those in the circle Carson was very attentive, he had his eyes wide open and was looking around at everything. It was so nice to introduce Carson to our family. It just makes me wish we lived closer.

Father and son:Those in the Circle:

The two proud Grandma's:

The parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents:

Great-Grandma and Grandpa Mickelson with Grandpa and Grandma Clark holding the two Grandchildren; Carson and Brooklyn:

I just love this picture of my brother Tim with Carson. Such a cute uncle:

We were in Utah for a week and I will post more from our trip in the next few days, but in other news Carson is now 3 months old. Carson is getting so big! This morning he rolled over for the first time! I was so excited but I haven't been able to get him do it again since. He is trying to copy our facial expressions and our baby talk. He is such a wiggle worm and always has to be moving. He loves to be outside, he can grab his binky from his mouth and pull it out (hasn't figured how to put it back in though), and wants to hold his own bottle (which he can't but that doesn't stop him). He is just such a cutie we just love him to death.

Happy Birthday Brad!

My husband is getting old!  Today he celebrates his 29th birthday one more year till he hits the big one!  Happy Birthday Brad you are a wonderful husband and father we love you!

PS: for an update on my last post my brothers team came in 2nd at State.  Pretty good way to end his senior year.