Random Events

We haven't really been up to anything too exciting lately. I was wrong about my treatments... it took a couple of days after the first treatment, but I get massive headaches which seem to just be constant now, so we've just mostly been taking it easy. We took a trip to the mall the other day and ended up visiting the Disney store, (if you're not aware, it's going out of business, so there are some AWESOME deals there) but unfortunately, somebody's cheap Daddy (Carlee's), wouldn't let me get her anything, but we still had fun playing. We also went to Build-A-Bear and ended up making this cute bear that Carlee loves. We had to give her the empty shell of a bear while they stuffed hers because she couldn't bear to give it up for that long. Carlee must know how bad I hate cleaning, so she thought she'd help me out a little bit.
We took the girls to the church one day so Clint could work on his calling and they loved being able to run around the gym. Laynee said, "Ains, is this where the REALLY big kids get to have Primary?" I think she was hoping some day she would graduate to that primary, but no such luck kiddo...
Clint's doing in the Disney store. Now don't you think that's mean to give her all of those and then just take them away?
Laynee and Shay checking out some of the local mall entertainment.
Build-A-Bear success...

I Survived...

I had my first IVIG treatment yesterday and I survived. Barely... I had worked a 12 hour shift the night before because I thought I would be somewhat secluded and be able to sleep, also, they gave me Benadryl and Tylenol before the treatment even started. Of course I was ready to sleep! How wrong I was though. I was about 1 foot from 7 or 8 older people getting their own IV treatments. Every time I would close my eyes, I could hear them all saying, "Oh, this young girl is such a good sleeper, I can't believe she can sleep like that." So then, of course, I was embarrassed and would open my eyes so they would quit talking about me. They only had to poke me twice for my IV, so not too bad. Anyway, it was a long day, but I survived... I thought after this I was supposed to be receiving treatments here in my home, but I have to go somewhere else, just to an individual treatment center, so it will be just like the treatments in the hospital minus my 25% hospital employee discount!

Introducing...

Baby #2! I had my 20 week ultrasound this week, so we were able to confirm - still a GIRL!! The ultrasound tech was going so darn fast she didn't really get great pictures, but you can still tell that this little one is going to be just as darling as Carlee! Everything looks good with the baby, the only bad thing that my doctor noticed was the fact that my placenta is on the back of my uterus, which makes it just a little bit harder to sample the platelets from around 32 weeks. Hopefully no problems will arise, but I guess we have a little bit before we need to worry about it anyway! The ultrasound tech told me that she's already almost 1 pound, she weighs 13 oz. right now, so she's getting bigger. I can feel her moving all the time now and I love it!

15 Months!

I took Carlee to the doctor for her 15 month check-up today. She weighs 23 lbs. 11 oz. (60%), is 30 &1/4 in tall (50%), and her head is 46 cm (70%). Looks like the curse of her parents' heights (or rather, lack thereof) are catching up with her. The doctor said everything looks great and she is ahead of the curve. At this stage, she said she is usually happy if the child knows 3 words other than Momma & Dadda, and Carlee knows way more than that, so we're doing alright!Like father, like daughter. Every time we step into the doctor's office, he has to open all the drawers and cupboards and check everything out (embarrassing!), so here's Carlee attempting to do the same, but fortunately, those pediatricians are smarter than that and all of their cupboards/cabinets are locked!
Looks like we have a plumber in the making...

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice is what LITTLE GIRLS are made of - well hopefully that's what ours will be made of! That's right, we're having a GIRL! We don't have any pictures because they weren't supposed to be looking, so you'll have to wait until our next appointment, but we're super excited!

Do Your Cheeks Hurt?

I have to brag about my mom just a little bit in this post. Let me start by saying, in my family, I think almost everyone, cousins, grandma's, sisters, mothers, etc. EXCEPT me got the crafty/sewing gene. I lost out, but I'm working on learning, slowly... Anyway, for Christmas, my mom made all of her granddaughters the absolute CUTEST little skirts ever. Carlee wore hers to church today and got several compliments on it. Check it out! I love my Mom! By the way, the headband only lasted about 30 seconds...

In my last post, I mentioned some of Carlee's new words. Some of you may have noticed that

"LAYNEE" was included in these words. Laynee is one of Carlee's cousins and this little video will show you why Laynee (besides Mommy) has been one of Carlee's first names she learned. I don't know what it is about Laynee, but Carlee just loves her and thinks everything she does and says is so darn FUNNY! They're pretty adorable together.

Christmas Dress & 17 weeks

I wanted everybody to see how darn adorable (she gets that from her Daddy) Carlee is in her new Christmas dress, if only she would still wear headbands or had enough hair to do something with... Don't worry though, it did get combed a little more than this before we left for church. She's so much fun, she's saying more words all the time. Some of her new favorites are puppy, apple, horsey, hot, Mommy (as opposed to Mama), and Laynee. She now knows the song Popcorn Popping and does the popcorn actions when I sing that one, and still loves If You're Happy & You Know It, and Little Turtle. On occasion I can get her to say belly and baby, maybe she'll finally have the two connected by the time the next one comes! She can find someone else's belly when asked, but still isn't too sure where her own belly is. We just love her!

On another note, we're 17 weeks pregnant, and will be able to find out what we're having soon hopefully! I'm not so sure, but Clint's convinced it's a boy... We're still struggling with our insurance company and it looks like things aren't going to end up as we planned, but we'll still be having weekly treatments (just not the exact ones we want/need) starting around the end of January. Hopefully all goes well with the baby.

We wanted to wish (a little late) everybody a Happy New Year!

Spoiled, Spoiled, Spoiled!

Some pictures from our Christmas.... All three of us were extremely spoiled by Santa and friends/family this year! Carlee got a new kitchen, a baby stroller, lots of clothes, and some bath toys. Clint got an XBOX 360 (I think he thinks the next step is Beatles Rock Band - we'll see about that), and I got a wedding band! I'm so happy I don't have to explain the answer to this question any longer, "Oh, how long have you been engaged?" Let me explain, so Clint doesn't get upset. When we got engaged/married, I did NOT want a wedding band. So, technically, it was my fault that I hear that question all the time!Kitchen... BIG hit!
Baby stroller... BIG hit!
Look at all that loot!
Clint opening his new prized possession. (I forgot to mention that for Christmas, I also received a wonderful present, Clint shaved the "STACHE"!)

Carlee seemed to love this spot in the house, she would keep going back and just sit there kicking her little legs.
This hat actually belongs to one of Carlee's cousins, but we tried it on and look how cute it is!
I wish you could see this picture better, but this is my Dad rocking (one of his and most of the grandchildren's favorite activities) in the rocking chair with Laynee, Shay, and Carlee.

Who Here Hates Insurance?

Tomorrow, on Christmas day, I will be officially 15 weeks! We're getting there, but apparently our insurance company isn't a huge fan of us. Due to some technical difficulties we've been having with them, our treatments for keeping this pregnancy a healthy one will not begin until the end of January when I'm 20 weeks. Also, they are refusing to pay for the correct dose, so we'll have to see what happens. There is an alternate treatment, but it is much harder on my body, so I would really prefer not to have that happen, but unfortunately, it's looking like we're headed that way... Unless anybody has an extra $25,000 just lying around??? Some people at my work told me they would hold bake sales to help us raise cash, but I'm thinking that's going to be an awful lot of goodies to make!!

Naughty or Nice?

I figured I would let you decide...




These pictures may be a little deceiving. She's actually been wonderful and we're so grateful to have her in our lives. We love our little baby girl and can't wait to see if Santa spoils her for Christmas!!

Santa Claus

I think I'm finally getting Clint into the spirit of the holiday season. I've been excited about Christmas since long before Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite times of the year. We've had our decorations up in our house since the day before (I know, Clint was bugged too) Thanksgiving and now, I think Clint is finally getting into it. We went shopping at the mall the other day and we have been wanting to take Carlee to get her picture with Santa Claus for a while, but we weren't willing to pay $12.99 (seriously, that's how much it costs, I'm not exaggerating) for a picture, so we never did last year. This year, there was a really nice girl there and she told us we could just take pictures with our camera and she wouldn't say anything! So, after we waited in line for only about 5 minutes, we got a few cute ones (the girl probably only wanted us to take 1, but I couldn't resist). Carlee was a bit nervous to start with, but that only lasted a few seconds and she was all about it!

12 Weeks

Yesterday I was 12 weeks along in my pregnancy, which in my situation, means I am 1/3 of the way there! I can't wait to find out what we're having and finally be able to meet this little one! I'm sure it would be a bit more enjoyable if I didn't have this darn "MORNING" (I quote this, because I just think that's plain funny - morning - HA) SICKNESS! I found out that I will be starting my weekly treatments on the Wednesday after Christmas. Hopefully all goes well with that, my MD said that some women have no problems with the drug and some women get terrible headaches and muscle aches. Hopefully I'm the former...

Now for some random adorable pictures of my baby....

Carlee's trying out her new hat before we went to see Boise's Capital Tree lighting...

I know it's dark, but it was actually really pretty.
Mini- Indiana Jones. Pretty cute, right?SAY CHEESE!! How can you not just adore this smile? She does this almost every time she sees the camera!
Please ignore the fact that she has food in her mouth in all these pictures (maybe that's really why she's so happy)!

All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go

These are mostly random pictures, but I thought they were cute. This is Carlee in her new church dress. She got it for her birthday, but it's just barely starting to fit right and look cute on her.

Please ignore the fact that she only has one sock on. This was AFTER church and we're just considering ourselves lucky that we made it through!
Carlee all dolled up in her "Winter" gear. I know, there isn't even snow here, but it's the cutest coat, so we're getting some use out of it no matter what.

We tried piggy tails in Carlee's hair for the first time the other day and they were so cute! I can't believe she finally has enough hair for it (well, sort of). The only problem is that you can't even tell the difference from the front. So, basically, my child has one of those mullets that I had as a child and every time I look at those pictures, I promised myself I would never to do that to my child! Mullet or not, we still love her and think she's adorable!

Entertainment at the Howells' House

It's so much fun watching Carlee getting bigger and bigger and being interested in even more things. I love the fact that she just entertains herself with almost anything she can find. Literally...Yes, don't look too closely, this is my bra! She spent one entire day wrapped up in this thing. I took it off of her three times and she would bawl every time, so I finally just let her wear it!

These plastic tubes and little tent were a huge hit!


Carlee loved these sunglasses. I thought she would just take them off, but she kept them on for quite a while, cheesin' it the whole time!

Up To No Good...

Well, since I've been feeling sick with this pregnancy, poor Carlee has been a little neglected - it's a good thing she's a great baby and loves to entertain herself. These are a few of the things she's been up to lately...

Please ignore the fact that she's always in her jammers and these top ones don't match - her father got her dressed!

What a great HELPER!!

She's pretty cute, huh?

Baby Update

Well, we had our first official doctor's appointment today to tell us how far along we are and to find out what the plans will be for the care of this new little one. We found out that I am 7 weeks 5 days, which makes me due June 18, the day before my birthday! That sounds like a pretty fun birthday present for me!

Due to the condition that Carlee had, I will have to have weekly IV treatments starting around 14 weeks. This is an IV treatment called IV-IG and it takes all day, once a week. Then, at 36 weeks, they will do an amniocentesis (a big long needle into my belly) to determine if the baby's lungs are ready and if they are, they will deliver me then. Scary, but exciting!

There's Going to be A Bump in Our Road...

A BABY BUMP that is! Yes, it's true, we're adding another to our family! We're so excited to say that we're due in June (in a couple of days after we visit the MD, we'll know more specifics). Although I started my usual throwing up even earlier than last time, I'm still so excited and can't wait to meet this little one!

Fall Weather

Last night we went to Linder Farms, the farm with the pumpkin patch, a baby petting zoo, kids corn maze, adult corn maze, treats, hay rides, etc., and the best part about this farm is that most of those things are free! The baby petting zoo had the cutest animals, they were all just babies and so tiny. Carlee liked looking, but she didn't really want to get much closer than that.

During the free hay ride...

This is Dandelion, she's only 6 weeks old. How cute is she? It's a baby goat that only reaches about up to Clint's ankles, if you can't tell.

It's actually been fall weather around here for a while, it just hasn't been what I actually consider to be fall - no falling leaves, no leaves changing color, etc. Well, finally it's here. Our front porch (apparently the home owner's fee doesn't cover raking leaves) is COVERED with leaves. It would be fun if I had a child that enjoyed it. We put Carlee in the leaves and let her go to town and all she did was book it out of there about as fast as she could. She went straight to the cement where there wasn't as many and kept crawling trying to get out of them. Oh well, some day, maybe... :)

HAPPY FALL EVERYBODY!

As You Wish...

Well, a couple of people mentioned that they wanted to see the crafts we've been working on, so here are a few of them...

Laynee & Shay (nieces) working on the Itty Bitty Carmel Apples...
Ashlee (sister) in the process of making the Itty Bitty Carmel Apples...

The Itty Bitty Carmel Apples

The Halloween Jars...
The Halloween Countdown...
Some of the Halloween Pillow-cases...

What We've Been Up To...

We haven't been doing anything too extremely exciting. We went to Preston so that Clint could go hunting with my Dad, but they didn't shoot (or even really see) anything. So, it was a bust for them, but I came home with lots of completed projects - thanks Mom! I made 9 Halloween pillow cases, two sets of Halloween countdown blocks (REALLY cute!), some of Carlee's Halloween costume (to be seen later), and started working on a Christmas Nativity Advent calendar. We were pretty productive and that's why I love staying at my parents house - they always have things in the works. While we were down there, we also took a couple of 4-wheeler rides, had about 30 seconds in the hot-tub, and finally got to see one of my friends adorable babies!

The most exciting thing about the trip, was the fact that Carlee can finally be turned around in her car seat! This is great for us, because this means I can finally sit in the front with Clint on long car trips - she's so easy to feed, entertain, and help watch Baby Einstein now!
Here she is trying out the new seat, cute huh?
At my parents house, they have two kitchens and Carlee is in complete heaven. She loves playing in the play room with the food and the dishes (mostly just opening and shutting cupboards). Of course, she wouldn't be complete without her tool belt and cell phone hanging from it...

We took Carlee to the doctor for her 1 year check-up yesterday and everything is on schedule. She weighs 22.7 lbs. (70%), and her head circumference is 46 cm., which is the (80%) and her height is 29 & 1/4 in., which is the (60%). Unfortunately, the 2 hour (seriously, we waited that long at a pediatrician's office) visit included 4 shots, so today has been rough!

Gettin' Crafty

As I have previously mentioned, my sister is so creative, and so I'm so glad she's finally here in Boise to help me come up with some projects and ideas. Our latest craft, was an "I SPY" bag. It turned out pretty cute, and I think Carlee likes it (even though she doesn't understand it yet, she likes to shake it around)! It still needs buttons for eyes, but it's cute, right?
I just thought this picture was cute. I had given Carlee a teeny tiny piece of chocolate and it wasn't too messy, and then I set the rest of it somewhere I thought she couldn't/wouldn't reach. About 30 seconds later, I looked and found her with chocolate, wrapper & all in mouth and this... At least she looks like she's enjoying it, right?

One Already?

DISCLAIMER: This is really long, but it has lots of pictures, so it's somewhat interesting......

I know everybody says this, but it seems as if the year has just flown by and my baby turned ONE before I even knew what was going on! I seriously think the time just goes by WAY TOO FAST!! Well, we had a really fun day today, although I kind of think Carlee was pretty worn out by the end. We had a party with friends and family at the church (it was supposed to be at the park, but unfortunately, it was way too cold for that), enjoyed lots of loot (Seriously, she is SO spoiled), porked out on some cake and ice cream, she took her first steps, bathed, napped, and then partied hard at Great Grandma Jasperson's house. Thanks to all who came and for all the cute and fun things she got. We're excited to try them all out - I'm pretty sure everything but the clothes were tested by Carlee's cousins, so I think everything works!

So, I got this adorable hat for Carlee that says Birthday girl on it. I know, I know... I figured she wouldn't keep it on, but I thought she would at least keep it on long enough to get a picture, I was wrong... :)

I figured since she wasn't going to wear it, I would have to get some use out of it somehow.

Some of the decorations, you can't see it very well, but I think they turned out cute!

I just didn't really get a great picture of Carlee in her birthday outfit, but it's darling, so this is the best I've got.
Check out all the goods behind the high chair...
Carlee's cute cousin Cohen (say that three times fast).
This is pretty much how things ended up when Carlee didn't get her toys in her hands as fast as she would have liked.
Carlee's friends Landon and Sienna even came to the party - they slept through most of it, but they were there! I think Carlee wishes she had her headbands on, she's trying to take Sienna's off.
"THE" cake. Let me explain. Anybody who knows about this will probably die laughing at me. I just wanted something cute that tied in with her party theme, "PINK", so I thought I would make a cupcake. Well, I made a practice cake and it didn't turn out right, so then I found this cute idea for a bathtub cake with a pink rubber duck floating in the middle, so I made a practice cake, and it didn't turn out right, so I finally settled on this flower and I think it turned out alright - and I didn't even have to make a practice cake! : )
Enjoying the cake, she was a little timid at first, but I think she's my kind of girl - she mostly went just for the frosting.
Riding Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's gift - she loved it!

Well, it was a fun and exhausting day. We love our Carlee Bear and we can't believe she is so big already!

This next picture was taken on October 1, to celebrate the first day of her Birthday Month (yes, we have those at our house)! How cute are these leggings?

Happy Birthday Clinker!

Sunday was Clint's 29th birthday. Poor guy... I had worked the night before, so he went to the store to get his own Birthday Cake supplies, made his own cake (Tres Leche - which was delicious), even made me breakfast that morning before I got home, and we didn't have any candles either, so we had an unusual celebration for him. We used matches - his idea, I swear the guy is a pyromaniac or something. We had lots of fun though and I hope he had a great birthday! We love you!

I thought I'd post some of these pictures of my STUD MUFFIN too. They were from a while ago, but I just barely got them from my sister. Look at my MACHO, MACHO MAN and my stinkin' adorable nephew! Pretty HUNKY boys, right?

This is sort of random, but I can't get over how cute it is that Carlee knows how to dance and what "DANCE" means. I think Laynee and Shay are on their way to teaching her some "interesting" dance moves. If you look closely, you can see Carlee groovin' and singing in the background.

One Year

My sister, who is a photographer, (check out her photo-blog HERE) took these pictures of Carlee since she's turning one in a week. She was really tired, so she wasn't quite as cooperative as I would have liked, but when you have a subject this adorable, you can't really go wrong.

Cutest Girls Around

Well, I'm sure I've said this before, but I will repeat myself because it is definitely true. I have the cutest nieces and nephews around! I was tending (yes, Melinda and Clint - TENDING) two of them the other day and we had lots of fun making cupcakes while Carlee was taking her nap. Laynee & Shay are really, really good cupcake decorators - if you look closely you can tell which ones they so expertly decorated and which ones I did (mine are the boring ones).

Laynee's always saying she wants to be a sandwich maker and a model when she grows up - looks like she's got the modeling down (showing off the sprinkles).
Shaybird is a girl after my own heart, she just mostly likes to eat the frosting!
Another cute pose from Laynee.
Don't they look delicious?

Thanks girls for playing with me & Carlee.

Carlee also learned a new trick. She knows how to dance and she does it on cue. Too cute!

I'm PREGNANT!!

Okay, so I'm not really pregnant, but .... I CAN be! Alright, let me explain myself. If any of you remember, Carlee was born with something called NAIT, basically, my body destroyed her platelets. We were told by a doctor here in Boise that we shouldn't have kids until they came up with new treatments and that it didn't look good for our family. We were really disappointed and when I talked to my OB, she said she knew of this specialist in Salt Lake. We had an appointment with him this past Friday. He pretty much told us the complete opposite of the MD here in Boise. He said that with the treatment (which consists of IV treatment 1x/week for 8 hours a day starting at 14 weeks) there is a 99 +% chance that the baby would not have a brain bleed (which is what they are concerned about with this condition). He says that my babies will probably still need to be treated after they are born, but that they should have platelets at least high enough to prevent a brain bleed. YAY!! I'm pretty sure that it is still pretty expensive, but for a family, it's definitely worth it to us. Anyway....

The Rest of the Trip

Some more pictures from our trip to Preston, Salt Lake, and Paradise...

My parents have a hot tub and she got in it almost every day we were there, sometimes twice. (I got stung by a wasp one time, so I wasn't too excited about getting back in it during the day again!) She's so spoiled and we love it. Thanks again Mom & Dad for letting us crash there with a grumpy baby for an entire week!
Loving the mirror - as usual.
Messing around at the hotel in Salt Lake City. Can't get any of that precious hair of Carlee's wet - it might mess up her style!

Balloons - who would have thought they made good snugglers?
Carlee loves BOYS - Clint's already getting the shot gun ready... This is her cousin Judd.
Carlee & Ella playing in Grandma Smith's play room. Ever since going to Preston, I've been dying to have a play room that she could just go into and mess up everything in there, and have fun doing it. She loved it!
Remember when I said Baby Einstein became ours and Carlee's best friend this weekend? This is how she spent much of her week due to impetigo and teething!
Carlee even had the luxury of Baby Einstein on the big screen - you can tell she loved that!

Poor Baby!

Okay, so remember those blisters I talked about on Carlee's face? There's a good picture of them in my last post (the one where Carlee's looking in the mirror). Anyway, when we got home from our trip to Bear Lake Monday morning, we found two red spots with blister-looking things on Carlee's face. I thought it was weird, but I have a habbit of panicking, so I decided I would just see if it got better. The next morning, there was a third blister. I was really starting to get worried. That night, Clint went to his aunt and uncle's house and she used to be a nurse for a pediatrician, so I told him to ask her what it was. She just thought it was some sort of bite and she told us just to keep putting Neosporin on it. The next morning, there was another blister, so that was really starting to make me paranoid about it. I was actually afraid it was some sort of cold sore or something. I told my Mom I was afraid it was impetigo (I have a friend whose daughter had a bad case). So, today, I called one of the Family Practice doctors here in Preston and made her an appointment. To make a long story short - (too late, I know) - she has IMPETIGO! It's just a virus that he says almost all kids get at some point. She has to have antibiotics for 5 days - on the plus side, they're cherry flavored and she really seemed to eat them up (YAY)! Sad, huh? At least I know it's not a cold sore or something that is going to scar her or last forever. Poor, poor baby!

More Preston Fun

Clint had an audit for work in Preston this week, so Carlee and I decided to tag along. Even though we're still here, I thought I'd better post something so that I don't have to try and fit all of the pictures into one post. First of all, we were able to make it our nephew Judd's 1st birthday - Happy Birthday Buddy! We stayed with Clint's parents for a night and then we headed up to Preston to stay with my parents while Clint worked. Carlee's been teething, and has gotten some sort of blisters on her face since we've been here, so she hasn't been on her absolute best behavior, and I'm sure my parents are ready to send us back to Boise by now! Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us stay though! My parents watched Carlee for a night while Clint and I went and stayed in their WorldMark timeshare condos in Bear Lake. We had fun just relaxing, although I was a bit concerned about Carlee - this was the longest I'd ever left her with someone besides Clint or me and I knew she was extra grumpy, so I felt bad for leaving her there. My parents also had company at their house, so they had to keep Carlee as quiet as possible during the night and it didn't go so well. She woke up about every hour or so. Hopefully, she's starting to get better and she'll show them her true personality before we leave! Got my drink, got my phone - I'm set to go.

Hangin' out at Judd's birthday party. Everbody was so concerned with her crawling on the cement, but we kept putting her on the grass and she just kept coming back to the cement.

Judd digging into his Elmo cake. He loved it - hope Carlee enjoys hers as much next month!

Carlee loved this Lightning McQueen truck. She sat on that thing forever and explored all the buttons and gadgets to be seen!

Grandma Smith singing songs and doing a jig for Carlee.

Carlee LOVED the 4-wheeler rides. I think Grandpa will keep her! I thought she would be scared, but she actually sat and talked the entire time we rode and then she cried when we took her off.

My sister thinks Carlee has an electronics fettish - she might be right. We can't keep the remote controls, cell phones, DVD players, and computer buttons out of her hands.

One of Carlee's favorite places in my parents house - they have all kinds of tall mirrors that are fun to see "Baby Friends" in. If you look close, you can see her blisters on her face - sad huh?

By the way, it amazes me how fast kids learn things. Carlee already says, "Bye", "Hi", and her version of "Boo!" Too cute! Oh yeah, and she waves bye-bye now too!

As Promised...

Thanks to my sister, I was able to figure this out. Now you can see how cute this is. She's so smart, I'm pretty sure she's speaking Russian or something at the end! : )