Walker and Brayden 3 1/2

W and B are growing up so quickly!

I can't believe they're already 3 1/2!

 

 B

 W

 

They are super busy all day long, everyday!

They started PGY (performing groups for youth) this month and are loving it! The show this semester is a Christmas one and they're learning Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and LOVE to sing it!

They are big helpers with their baby sister, they love to make her laugh and sing to her!

They are learning to help around the house--clearing their place at the table, putting away their toys, etc.

They are VERY silly and always have some type of funny game going on between the two of them...

IE:

On Thursday they decided it was K's bday (obviously it wasn't) and everytime she came into the room they yelled Happy Birthday and sang to her! They asked her if she wanted cake several times throughout the day!

Despite the fact that there's two of them they always seem to be playing with an imaginary friend, there's always someone else playing with them...this also comes in handy when they do something they shouldn't be doing, "I not hit him, Jason hit him..." (Jason is their favorite pretend name for some reason)

They love to play pretend, usually one or both of them is a seal or a kitty.

They are still very lovey and cuddly to me, B especially is such a mama's boy--although W has been a mama's boy recently too! I treasure every second I have cuddling with them, I know eventually they'll be too cool to cuddle with me!

 

 First day of PGY

Trying out toddler beds...

We experimented with toddler beds for about 2 weeks...they would go to bed at 7pm and not fall asleep until around 11pm...

This mama was not getting anything done in the evenings and getting extremely frustrated--So I turned the beds around and they went back to sleeping in diapers!

To parents without twins I may seem crazy, but 2 boys in the same room in toddler beds was not working right now, and considering that they still don't climb out of their cribs we decided my sanity was more important than them being "big boys"! They don't really seem to care either way, maybe we'll try again soon...or not...

Kinsey 6 Months

 Our sweet Kinsey Lee is already 6 months old!

We haven't been in for her Dr's appt yet, so I'm not sure how much she weighs but she is growing like a weed!

 

At 6 months Kinsey is:

 

Crawling!!! Not perfectly, but she can get wherever she wants and fairly quickly!

Sitting up

Wearing 3-6 month clothing

Eating bananas, sweet potatoes, apples, and baby cereal

and still nursing

Saying "Mama", "Dada", and "Baba"--baba is not in refrence to a bottle it just seems to be her favorite sound

Sleeping 6-8 hrs straight at night

ALWAYS smiling and giggling

Has 1 little tooth on the bottom

 

She absolutely adores her big brothers, and they are the reason she is smiling and giggling half the time!!

We love Kinsey and she is the perfect addition to our family!!

 

 

Kinsey Lee

Kinsey Lee Carlson

February 9, 2009 6:29pm

6lbs 2oz

19 inches

Her story:

Almost a week before Kinsey's arrival Friday February 3rd, I had my membranes stripped and we were hoping that would at least get something going...we had a really busy weekend and then Joseph took off to Reno for work on Monday morning. During that time I may have averaged about 4 contractions a day, not very intense and definetly not worth keeping track of. The boys and I ran a lot of errands Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday trying to get things ready for Kinsey's arrival, and on Tuesday I actually packed a few things in a bag for the hospital.

Thursday morning my Grandma Overton came up to help me with the boys and around the house--she's the best--and right around 10am I had my first real contraction. It was very intense and resonated in my back, my Grandma wanted to write down the time to keep track but considering this was the first of anything I didn't want her to! Within the next 10 minutes I had had 2 more contractions and my Grandma had started a list!

We then got the boys up--yes they do sleep in till after 10am on a regular basis--we decided to clean out their closet. When we moved a bunch of things had gotten dumped in there and I wanted to go through things. I sat on the floor with the boys and my wonderful Gma went through everything asking me where to put things and so forth. For the next 1/2hr I consistantly had a contraction every 5 minutes.

I decided to call my Dr's office to check in, I was having a vbac and they wanted me to come in when the contractions were 7-10 minutes apart so I wasn't sure what to do. When I said my contractions were 5 minutes apart for the last 40 minutes they immediately said I needed to go to the hospital...now seeing as this was the first of any action I had had with this pregnancy I decided I would take my time--I really didn't want to be sent home from the hospital once I got there! I got dressed, we got the boys dressed, and we had breakfast. At that point my contractions were getting to be 3 minutes apart and much more intense!

Grandma and I loaded the boys into the van and drove to my parents house. I switched into my moms car and she drove me to the hospital. Luckily Joseph was working in Roseville so he was heading toward the hospital at the same time as us. My mom dropped me at the door and just as I was sitting down to wait for her to park I looked up to see my Joseph sprinting toward the hospital in his suit! He almost passed me he was in such a hurry!

I continued to have intense back labor for the next hour or two. I was dialated to a 4 when i checked in. After being there for a few hours I was given my epidural and things slowed down a little bit. Joseph ran to get some lunch and change out of his suit, when he came back my doc came to check me and I was dialated to a 9. Shortly after that she decided to have me do a test push and then she immediately made me stop as the baby was ready to come! They called everybody they needed into the room, I pushed twice, and she was here! She came out so quick the dr. barely caught her and she whipped her right up onto my chest, we were all so suprised that we were all giggling! Joseph cut her cord, i required a few stitches and the whole thing was done in about 5 minutes!

It was such a different experience than the boys, to get to hold and love her right away! The whole experience seemed so surreal! She nurses like a champ, and latched on right away her first try! She is such a perfect addition to our family, and we all love her so much! Its been just over a week but I already cant imagine my life without her!

Welcome to the world Miss Kinsey Lee!

Fairytale Town

This past Saturday we decided to take the boys to Fairytale town, they had never been before and we had a ton of fun! I grew up going to and performing at Fairytale town all the time and was super excited to get to go after so many years...Joseph couldn't remember anything about it except for the giant cheese and was pleasantly suprised that there was more to do there than sit on giant cheese! The boys loved everything about it but their favorite thing was getting to pet the sheep!

Frosting Cookies

In some homes frosting cookies with your kids looks like this... In our home frosting cookies with your kids looks like this...
Now I realize one version of cookie frosting might take a little more clean up...but seriously who do you think had more fun in the process!

Cute Boys

Funny B Story...

We work very hard in our house at sharing! Having 2 two year olds who usually want to play with the same toys gets a little bit tricky! We have worked out a rule where if one of the boys wants what the other is playing with he counts to 5 and then gets to take his turn! This is usually followed by the first one counting to 5 and taking his turn and so on and so forth! It is actually suprisingly effective! There are days when they kick and scream while they're counting to 5, but they understand that they have to wait to take their turn! It has been funny to see them try to use our rule against other kids...when we are at the park and someone is on a toy or something they want, I tell them they have to wait their turn and their immediate response is, "1, 2..." The way they count to 5 is wonderful to...they count 1, 2, 1, 2, 1! which is technically 5 and they really shout out that last 1!

A few days ago I was pushing B in his swing out back and I was on the phone with my mom at the same time. Her and my dad were in LA for the week so we had been talking for quite a while. B finally said, "Mama, no Hello" (the phone to them is a hello) to which I responded, "okay, wait just a minute" to which he responded, "1, 2, 1, 2, 1!" At that point I decided I'd better get off, I'd told him to wait and he'd waited the way he'd been taught!

Funny W story...

A few weeks ago on a Sunday morning I was feeling particurally sick so I asked Joseph to get up with the boys and let me lay in bed for an extra half hour and then bring the boys in to get me. So after my little extra rest W and B climbed up on my bed to "wake me up", unfortunately for them I had to jump up immediately and run to the bathroom to be sick. When I came back in to bed to lay down with them they were both very concerned about me and asked me all sorts of questions about if I was sad and if my tummy how owies.

And then with all of the sweetness in the world W ran his fingers through my hair, put his hands on my cheeks, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Mama, you hairs a mess."

Love these sweet boys of mine--they make me laugh and smile every single day, don't know what I'd do without them!

And Baby Makes 5?...

We are so excited to announce that Carlson baby #3 is on his or her way! I am feeling entirely too lazy to scan in my cute ultra sound picture so just imagine our sweet little baby bean waving and kicking its legs in black and white!!!

And now the answers to some of your nagging questions:

-We are 15 weeks along and due February 12th

-Yes, we were trying!

-We are definetely only getting 1 little baby bean this time; most people think we would've been incredibly relieved to get this news, but we were totally okay with having another set of twins--needless to say we are still uber excited to be getting one little baby!

-My belly is popping out already and has been for a while, I've been trying to wear baggy clothes but I'm not sure its made any difference! My body for sure remembers how to stretch!

-W and B LOVE to talk about the baby in mommies belly! They rub my belly, talk to it, and give it kisses--they always say it is a baby "goose" which in their world means girl! we'll see...

-We are not dying for a girl! We would love to have a girl or a boy; I think either would be perfect for our family and we know this won't be out last child!

-Everyone always wants to know how you're feeling when you're pregnant...I never know if they're just being nice or if they actually want to know, and I try so hard to stay positive I always hate to complain! I will say I have not been feeling wonderful and the energy and feeling better thats supposed to come with the second trimester has not yet! But the baby is growing and healthy and that is whats most important!

It is so crazy to think that 2 1/2 years ago there were just two of us and now we're going to be 5! We cannot wait for this little one to join us in February, we feel so lucky that our Heavenly Father continues to pour blessings down on us--we could not be happier with how things are going for our little family of 5!

btw--please excuse my spelling throughout this entire post...at least I know its bad I'm just to pregnant tired to fix it!

Summer Fun-Friday!

I finally made my cute little summer board! I know its not amazingly cute or fancy but I LOVE it!

Painting the sidewalk with water!

Playing in the pool with Matthew!

Filling the pool with water!

We had family come in from Missouri and Idaho tonight. We spent the evening at Gma and Gpa Overtons house visiting and watching all the kids play!

My great aunt and uncle came from Missouri.

My cousin Wayne, his wife, and their five boys ages 5mo's to 9years old!

W and B had so so much fun playing with all of them!

Unfortunately I was having so much fun talking and visiting that I didn't take a single picture! I'll have to steal some from my mom...

On the way home I asked the boys if they had fun playing with the "big boys" and they both threw their arms in the air and yelled "YESSSSS!"

Summer Fun--Late Thursday!

Thursday was a busy day for us!

And as I'm sure most of you ran to your computers last night desperately wondering what we Carlson's had been up too yesterday, I sincerely apologize!!

We headed out bright and early to the Folsom Zoo, for the boys bdays they go membership passes--so we can go whenever we want for free!

Gma-Joe's Mom met us there as well as Auntie Caitlin and Matthew-the little boys she nannies! After seeing all the animals we had a picnic lunch with Gma and played at the park! Then we ran back into the zoo to make one more round and tell the animals goodbye!

Suprisingly W and B both took a 2hr nap which was heaven! They are being really difficult about naps right now but they are always in bed for at least an hour and a half, whether they read books or play quietly with toys, or sleep they have to stay in bed! After naps we played outside, had dinner...etc.

Then I got to go out to dinner with our YW Presidency, which was super fun! Joseph was in charge of bedtime, and I got to enjoy a peaceful dinner with wonderful company! We have a great YW Presidency and I have such a great time hanging out with the other gals! Then I got to run in Target and buy a mop! Good Times!

Hope you didn't miss me too much last night--I'll post tonight, promise! We're already off to a great start on today!

Ready for the zoo--remember what I said about not being morning people...

Watching the monkeys play!

with Matthew, one of their best friends!

Summer Fun-Wednesday/Joseph's Bday!

Happy Wednesday All!

I have no pictures today as my camera is still dead! I have to mail it back to Kodak and they are apparently going to fix it for me which means for now I have no camera--ugh!

Anyway, today was our library day and Joseph was home for his bday! We let him stay home and relax and went to the library with Gma, my mom!

We LOVE the new toys at the library, the boys have so much playing and I actually get to look through the books!

We came home to Daddie and he read the boys their shark books we checked out! Then we ran some errands, and then Joseph and I got to go out for his bday!

We saw Pirates of the Carribbean--Joe had seen it already but I hadn't! I loved it, it was so fun! Then we went to late lunch/early dinner!

We came home to 2 silly, happy boys! They got to play with Gma, Gpa, Auntie Caitlin, and Uncle Cole! Such lucky boys!

I am loving our summer schedule, what good days we're having and fun memories we're making!

They also learned how to give "nose" kisses aka eskimo kisses today--SO CUTE!

Btw--I'm so glad my wonderful, handsome, silly, smart, caring husband was born 27 years ago!! Love you babe!

Summer Fun-Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Today was preschool/learning day for us...We are grumpy morning people at our house, here's W pretending to be asleep when I came into the room and B rubbing his eyes!
We switched out schedule a little bit and went to the dollar movie this morning. We were going to see How to Train Your Dragon but it was too loud for the boys, we ended up in the Trumpet of the Swan...LAME--sorry if you like this movie! Halfway through I looked at W and said do you wanna go home and he said Yeah, so we left!
They LOVE pirates...not pirates the movie, just pirates in general! They had to stop and check out the posters and I caught B doing his pirate dance!

After leaving the movie we headed to preschool for the last hour! So much fun for them to play with the bigger kids!

After preschool the boys got summer hair cuts! They look so big! I Love it!!

Then my camera pooped out on me so I didnt get anymore pictures!
To complete our day we danced, sang, jumped on the couches, played with Auntie Caitlin and Matthew, made Father's Day pressents, read all of our library books, went on a walk with Gma, visited Uncle Cole and Gpa, and finally went to bed!
Tomorrow is library day and we have Joseph home because it's his BDAY! 27 years old tomorrow!

Summer Fun Day One!

Today was our outside day, we decided to go to the park and picked up Auntie Caitlin on our way! We played for a long time and then had a picnic lunch in the shade.

While the boys were napping I whipped up some sidewalk chalk paint and when they woke up we had a great time painting our porch and sidewalk!

The boys played outside at Gma and Gpa's(my parents) house and then got to hang out with Uncle Cole and some of his friends!

W and B didn't get enough sleep last night so they were a little bit grumpy today, it made me so happy I already had things planned for today--had we just been staying home with no plan my grumpy guys may have spent some time in front of the tv!

Cute W at the park

B loves to swing

B

Our fun sidewalk paint--this was so easy to make and the boys really liked it!

W painting

B's grumpy face...isn't he irresistable!

Hanging with the big boys! Cole got an owie on his knee and the boys were so concerned for him!

We LOVE Summer!

Summer Plans!

We are so enjoying this summer weather!

I have come to realize that my life is a lot easier with 2 two year olds when I have specific plans for our days!

I found this blog that has amazing "staycation" ideas for summer. She has a theme for each day and plans everything out in advance!!

Following her lead I made a three month calendar for the boys with a different activity everyday...last week was the first week on our calendar and it was wonderful! It was so nice to wake up in the morning and know what are plans were for the day!

Here's a little peak at what we're doing:

Monday is OUTSIDE DAY--this week we are going to the park and taking a picnic!

Tuesday is PRESCHOOL or LEARNING DAY--we either attend Summer Preschool with my mom aka Miss Cindy or do something educational at home! This week we're going to Superhero day at Preschool.

Wednesday is LIBRARY DAY--Our library has awesome toys right now and the boys love to hang out there while I go through the children's books.

Thursday is FIELD TRIP DAY--This week we're going to Folsom Zoo--we got passes for the boys bday!

Friday is WATER DAY--This week we are setting up our mini pool and practicing pouring!

Saturday we are doing day trips as a family--This week we have cousins in town from Idaho so we're not too sure what we'll be doing yet!

I've decided I need to take more pictures this summer and blog more, so I'll be trying to post everyday this week about what we're doing!

Hope you're having as fun of a summer as we are!
And of course a few pictures of what we'll be doing this summer...

Relaxing with our daddie...having lazy afternoons!

Playing on our $5 slip-n-slide!


Smothering...I mean Loving our sweet kitty!

And Potty Training!! Wish us Luck!!

BTW--we had Joseph's bday party tonight combined with Cole's--Cole's bday is tomorrow and Joseph's is on Wednesday. I made this cute penguin cake for Joseph, he requested it and I had fun making it--I think it's my favorite one I've made yet!