Christmas Sunday Carlson Family Style

1. Get up at 6am to shower and get ready before the boys get up, pack the diaper bag, ready everything for church, leave with 5 minutes to spare and still manage to be 15 minutes late....CHECK
2. Ditch handsome husband and children in the rain storm, run inside to young women's and realize that we're 15 minutes late...CHECK
3. Listen to the rest of the wonderful Christmas lesson and hear three wonderful girls bear powerful testimony of the church and our Savior and momentarily feel that wonderful true Christmas spirit!...CHECK
4. Baby B aka Brayden gets kicked out of Nursery because he's SO tired--spend Sunday School hour in nursery with both boys...CHECK
5. Leave nursery and look for previously mentioned handsome husband who has the diaper bag, walk around the halls with both boys holding one of my hands--best feeling ever--and being such good/sweet boys...CHECK
6. Change stinky diaper and finally sit down in Sacrament meeting surrounded by family who had come to listen to all of us sing--hubby, sister, mom, and I were all in the program...CHECK
7. Baby A aka Walker pukes his guts out just as the Bishop stands to welcome everyone to church--that would be an entire bottle of EggNog...CHECK
8. Rush around frantically trying to clean puke without anyone noticing...CHECK
9. Escape to the hall with Baby A to change him and try my hardest not to burst into tears...CHECK
10. Sissy and I jump in the car and take both boys home, I run back to church--in the biggest rain/wind storm ever and make it just in time to hear handsome hubby sing an amazingly beautiful song, handsome hubby leaves post haste to relieve sissy who makes it back with seconds to spare to sing with mom in a beautiful womens "trio", and I sing a somewhat rushed version of a great song about our Savior because my mind cannot slow down...CHECK
11. I sit back and finally sing the closing song and am overcome by the love of my Savior and my family--how blessed am I to have family to help me every Sunday and who love, support, and give unconditionally--as crazy as our hour and twenty minute Sacrament meeting was for us I truly feel the joy and spirit of Christmas...CHECK
12. Spend the rest of the day snuggling with handsome husband on the couch while boys play on the floor and watch Christmas movies...CHECK
13. Thank my Heavenly Father before falling into bed for giving me the two most wonderful blessings I could have ever asked for--while our lives are rarely boring we would not trade the craziness for anything in the world!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Sunday and that you got to enjoy your program a bit more than we did! Merry Christmas!

New House, New Adventures

2 weeks ago we moved into a new house! We are out of our little condo and into a 3 bedroom house that feels huge to us! We have a garage and a great backyard and are loving every single second here! The boys wake up in the morning have breakfast, play outside, take a nap, eat lunch, play outside, eat dinner and sleep like rocks!

Last Sunday when it rained I taught the boys to puddle splash in our backyard--rain is my favorite weather and growing up everytime it rained I put on my mud sliding clothes and ran outside to jump in puddles and slide in the mud, and when I say growing up I mean until I got married!--Anyhow the boys loved it every bit as much as I did!

A sweet story about the boys--Saturday night Joe and I were making spaghetti together while the boys were playing, they came in the kitchen and asked for bottles and after I made them both a bottle they dispapeered and got very quiet, I came around the corner to check on them and they had climbed up on the couch, pulled a blanket up over them, and were just sitting together on the couch drinking their bottles. They are best friends and I LOVE it!

One more story about the boys--they found Joe's remote control R2D2 toy and figured out how to work it...they passed the remote back and forth a few times before they got it working but I was just amazed that they could actually work it! They're such smart boys!

We are loving our new place and keeping busy getting everything organized! For anyone wondering we are still in CP and didn't move very far, we are even still in the same ward!

On the brink of VACATION!!

So, I am PROCRASTINATING...I should be packing for Pismo but my brain is already in vacation mode...our family goes to Pismo once a year--this year my grandparents have rented a beach front house that we can all fit in and we get to spend a week relaxing!
As excited as I am I just can't find the motivation to get things done--it's a bit overwhelming to pack for two 18 month olds for a week...here's what the math looks like

for 1 child most people say pack 2-3 outfits per day: 14-21 outfits

we need pj's for every night because we usually wet through at least one set per night: 7 pj's for 1 child

x's by 2: 42-56 outfits total

plus

at least 2 sweaters per child, 1 coat per child

2 pairs of socks per child per day: 28 pairs of socks

2 pairs of shoes per child/2 pairs sandals per child...

7 sheets per child--refer back to wet diapers in the night--we usually change the sheets once a day...actually I just read that...who in their right mind has 14 pack-n-play sheets not me--looks like we'll be washing sheets!

2 pack-n-plays

2 booster seats

1 double stroller...

good thing we're taking the truck!

All adding up to 1 momma who should definetely be packing instead of blogging...

btw don't judge me for my spelling, I'm a fairly good speller but have never been able to spell the word definetely right...it's like a mental block, go figure!
Honestly I don't know how all of you mother's do it--or how my mom did it with 4 kids for so many years...I guess I'll find out eventually...but for today I'll stick to packing for 3...wish me luck!

Thursday Thoughts...

Most of my blog is about my children...as much as I love them it makes me feel like I don't have a life beyond being a mom...which I guess could be true at some times--it just makes me feel fairly uninteresting!

So I thought I'd try to blog about something different every once in a while...

1.

I had Jury Duty this week...it was awful and I cried...in front of the whole court room and the judge--I am traumatized! The case was very similar to the car accident I was in back in 2003 and had been caused by a 21 year old kid who had been drinking--it felt way too familiar for me and I had to explain to the judge that I couldn't be unbiased in the situation because of it...as I explained the car accident and how it impacted so much of my life back then I began to cry--I was so embarassed...the upside--I was excused which means they consider me as having served and I can't be called again for a year...BAD day though!

2.

I am obsessed with Glee...Joe and I rented the first disc of season 1 via Netflix and bought the first season shortly after--we have watched the entire season twice! We don't pay for TV though and have been watching season 2 online a few days after the new episodes come out...I am sad to say I don't enjoy the 2nd season nearly as much as the first...

3.

We are going to Pismo Beach in less than 2 weeks and I am so excited! We look forward to this trip all year long!

4.

I have been toying with the idea of joining a gym--I used to love running but have only done it a few times since having the boys...at this point I am a little bit scared to run because when I do it will show me exactly how out of shape I really am...

5.

Last Saturday night Joe and I got free movie tickets to see Life as we Know it--it was a pre screening type thing, I don't think it comes out until November--although it could come out this month I have no idea...it was actually pretty cute and for being a free movie we both had a great time...since the movie was free we were able to spend a whopping $11 on a small popcorn, large soda, and a water bottle--amazing! We stopped by Coldstone for dessert and came home to sleeping boys and a clean house--thanks Mommie!--We don't get to go out just the two of us very often but landing free movie tickets was the perfect reason for a night to ourselves!

6.

One last thing--my calling right now is in Young Womens, I am the Personal Progress Specialist and I absolutely LOVE it! The girls in our ward are so sweet and I have had such a great time getting to know them! We are trying to move into a house and are looking so hard to stay in our ward because I LOVE being in Young Womens...plus we have some pretty rad people in our ward!

Nursery!

Sunday was the boys first time in Nursery by themselves at church! Now that they're 18 months old they get to go to Nursery for the first two hours of church and play with all the other kids! They were such good boys and had so much fun! I prepped myself all week because I knew that they would do so well...Brayden was a little bit sad to see me go but Walker was fine--they both played just fine without me around! Can't believe they're this big already!

18 months ago...

18 months ago yesterday I was busy growing my two little angels...little did I know my water would break that night and I would have my two sweet boys 5 weeks ahead of schedule!18 months ago today Heavenly Father sent these sweet boys into Joseph and I's lives and everyday since then has been a wonderful adventure!
18 months ago, Joseph and I became parents and changed from a couple to a family

6 months ago we celebrated these sweet little guys 1st birthday--and the fact that Joseph and I had survived as parents for a year!

Today I woke up to the sound of my babies playing and giggling at eachother...as usual one of them was covered in poop--such smart boys getting their dirty diapers off--they played in the bath for an hour, we had breakfast, we played some games, we danced and sang at the top of our lungs, I chased them upstairs and they are now slumbering sweetly...

It is days like today when I know how blessed I am to be a mother and to have such wonderful children...

It's somewhat bizarre going from 2 to 4 in a matter of nine months...there were day when I was pregnant that I thought how in the world will I care for and love two children at once--I remember worrying that I might love one more than the other or that I wouldn't have time to play with both of them each day--

I can truly say that I LOVE being a mother--I treasure each moment I have with my little guys...even the poop filled ones!

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by and how big Walker and Brayden are already--I hope that I always remember these moments and make time for more moments throughout their lives!

And there is no way I could talk about the last 18 months without saying how wonderful Joseph has been as a husband and father--he is such a natural with the boys and they absolutely adore him! They talk about him all day while he is gone and giggle and sit with him when he gets home--

I love you Joseph--thanks for being the best!

Dear...

Dear Fall...

Thank you for showing your beautiful face on the tree in front of our car this morning! Can't wait for more good times with you! Please stay for a while!

Your friends-Kira, Walker and Brayden