we got robbed

carter had his first easter! we colored eggs on saturday and went to the park to play catch and hit softballs. we hit grounders and fly balls for the other to field, for as long as carter would sit quietly in his stroller (not that long). but after ward i told tyrell that i could not believe how slow i had become (this reality was manifested by my inability to get under any fly balls that were not hit directly to me). he confirmed that "yep, you are pretty slow." well, i suppose this honest statement should be motivation to stop eating the moose tracks and rice crispy treats and start getting some strength and stamina back.

on sunday, the easter bunny found us and we also went to our friends house for easter dinner. i had the assignment to make salad and a dessert. so i made the salad and decided to make chocolate covered brownies for dessert. i made the brownies and once they were done baking, i needed them to cool. since it was 40 degrees outside, i decided to put it out on the ledge by our front door. when i went back to check on them, i found that i was being robbed. and i caught them red handed. i opened the door, he paused with a piece of brownie in his mouth, we made eye contact, and he and his little feathered accomplice ran for it. well... at least i got a good look at him, and i think i could pick him out of a line-up if i had to. i suppose it is just another lesson learned the hard way; squirrels can not be trusted. so much for easter brownies.

carter has been working on a few skills lately. his piano lessons with mom are coming along nicely. and most importantly, his circus routine with dad is nearing perfection. watch out barnum and bailey.

Several down- a few more to go!
I've done the items in bold
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars-out on ben's land (at least that is whose i thought it was) by lyman lake with the scary abandoned house.
3. Played in a band - i was always the last chair in middle school, i played the claironet and saxophone, all my friends played the trumpet
4. Visited Hawaii- my favorite vacation ever, Gina and i had a great time
5. Watched a meteor shower- at lake powell, atop a house boat, with my then adorable boyfriend, tyrell.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo- several, all of which have been emotioanlly scaring, and i have since sworn to never do it again.
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning- luckily... no
17. Been to the Statue of Liberty- well i stood on the shore to see it.. we didn't have time to go in.
18. Grown your own vegetables- indirectly with my family and this year we are going to have a garden in our back yard
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on a train- when we went to spain
21. Had a pillow fight- ammon used to always smash the pillow into the bottom of the pillow case, so that it was hard and hurt when he hit you. jerk :)
22. Hitch hiked- that is how gina and i got around oahu... it was awesome and we didn't even get killed
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill- i like to call it a personal day
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping- in ithaca NY... lindy made me do it...
27. Run a Marathon- no thank you
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - only at Gany Ranch
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run- well i don't think it was my hit that made the home run. it was the series of errors by the other team... but i'll take it.
32. Been on a cruise - no but i almost did once
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person- they were beautiful, but the trip was a disaster (reference previous blogs for details)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors- uh, my grandpa was born in nutrioso and i have been there... does that count?
35. Seen an Amish community- we went to intercourse
36. Taught yourself a new language- pig latin?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - i took a class for about 2 weeks; didn't love it. i suppose we only ever climbed in the gym, perhaps it is more fun outside.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke-only in front of lisa steadman.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing- in the cook islands and mexico
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud - four wheeling after a good rain was so much fun
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business- no but my husband would love to do this... i think it is scary
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies- if i did i am pretty sure all the thin mints would have never made it for sale
62. Gone whale watching- well we saw some whales while we were deep sea fishing
63. Got flowers for no reason- but not nearly enough :)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Tied a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone - i am going to count my teeth
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - chris hower might still have my claw marks on his chest
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car- i am pretty sure tyrell will never let this happen :)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating- i couldn't bring myself to actually cut off the chicken's head but i did de-feather and gut it. it's the same with the fish, my dad has to hit them over the head with his pliers and then i can clean them. i would rather just be an accomplice.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life - i saved carter from a basketball heading toward his face...
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee- in the middle school lunch room.
100. Visited Italy

not exactly a sound sleeper

the chase

the other day i was putting carter down for his morning nap. he had fallen asleep in my arms and i was extending my sweet lullaby and swaying to ensure true slumber before i put him down. that is when i heard the garbage truck. the garbage comes on tuesday mornings and when i heard it i knew i had to act fast. tyrell will usually put it out on tuesday mornings as he is heading to work (the neighbor's trash on the street reminds him that today is the day). but i knew he had failed this tuesday because he was running late.

so i quickly put the baby down, put on a shirt and headed to the back door. i grabbed the trash can and ran to the street. it was at this point that i had to quickly evaluate the situation. was the truck coming or going? are the neighbors cans emptied? ok, it's going and yes they are, the truck has already past my house. ok, should i... take the trash can to the back yard because it is too late? do i yell? do i run? and that is when i knew what to do. i was not going to be the victim of trash over flow. so i yelled 'hey' to catch their attention and started running toward them with my trash can... in my pajamas and bare feet. i am sure this provided the garbage men with a good laugh. they were very nice and rewarded my charade by taking my trash and sent me home with an empty can.

it was almost as bad as the time i chased the mail lady waving my netflix video in the air. she was wearing head phones so i had to yell a lot more and chase her a lot further. she didn't seem to like the idea and ensured me that she would be down my side of the street in a minute. woops!

i suppose it is my sj upbringing (where the garbage man never leaves his truck and the mail is delivered to a box), which has left me unable to properly interact. i am sure all future service workers will be warned of the crazy lady on parker street.

i am pleased to announce.... that my adorable baby boy slept 8 hours straight last night! this is the third time in the last three weeks he has done this and i felt it was worthy of public praise (in hopes that such positive feedback and recognition will encourage the lad to make it a habit:).

he has also accomplished a few other things i thought i should mention.

he has finally realized how entertaining/funny his mother is, and at last, all my ridiculous voices, songs, faces, and dances are finally reaping a reward....smiles. tyrell's outlandish antics are also beginning to consistently provide our child with moments of visible happiness. a friend told me about a study she had read somewhere which claimed, that babies smiles activate the same area of the brain in mothers that methanphetamines do. i can believe this as i find carter's smiles both fulfilling and addicting!

at six weeks old, carter, in a fit of rage, managed to roll himself over... twice!! i would not have believed it if i had not seen it with my own eyes. it is amazing what a melt down can motivate a child to do. i have not seen this accomplishment since but i fear that once he begins moving around i am going to be in trouble.

chicago

this last weekend we met my parents in chicago. we left at 2:30am to get to chicago so that we would miss the st. patrick's day parade traffic. it was rough but i managed to stay awake the whole time.

it was our first road trip with carter... he did pretty well. and i did pretty well also i might add, as i ventured into the world of feeding carter in public. i nursed him in every major tourist attraction in chicago. it was a bit embarrassing but oh well, the poor kid has to eat.

1.we went to the top of sears tower but only to the 99th floor because the 103rd skydeck was closed. notice that carter is wrapped in a blanket. this is due to the fact that he managed to go through six outfits in two days. in this picture he had soiled himself but we did not have a place or the time to change him. (the blanket is serving as protection) good thing i packed so many clothes for him. he was a mess.

tyrell packed him around the city in the front baby carrier thing and it worked out really well. we just put him in the warm little suite with his hat and he looked adorable. tyrell also loved all the smiles he got from all the passers by who stopped to admire his adorable cargo.

a cute pair!

2.the shed aquarium was fun and the best thing we did was get a wheelchair. originally we thought we would just get it for my dad because he has been having back problems, but everyone ended up benefiting. my mom said i should use it to nurse. so she pushed me around to look at the fish and carter ate. a little awkward, but it was great that i didn't have to hull up in a corner and miss out on everything because the baby needed to eat. dad got his needed rest and mom got some QT with sleeping baby carter. the aquarium was crawling with other screaming children so we fit right in.

3.the field museum was great and carter is apparently already bored by history. we went to the special pirate exhibit and saw some neat stuff. and in the few hours we spent there we only scratched the surface of that huge place.

4.we ate chicago style pizza and hot dogs so we could say we had the full experience. and after eating his hot dog, tyrell claimed that he likes it better with just plain ketchup... he would:)

5.we met up with my cousin tammy and her husband jan for dinner. it was good to see them. thanks for traveling to see us.

6.my parents and tyrell went to the show, jersey boys, and really enjoyed it. i stayed at the hotel with carter... we took a nap. oh the sacrifices a mother must make:)

all in all we had a great time and were glad to get out of the house and have an adventure. it was really great to get to see my parents as well and for them to see carter. next trip... i am going to brave traveling to az by myself. i hope we survive.

ps.

this is a picture of carter on his first day of church (6weeks old). he looked so cute in his little vest.

my neighbor/landlord bought us a jogging stroller!!! i am so excited about it. he is really nice and said it is carter's present for "being born". or perhaps he got a look at me and thought this would help us both:) i took it out for it's maiden voyage yesterday (because it was a warm 50 degrees) and it is great. we are going to really like it. thanks mark!

carter smiles

tyrell can not get enough of carter's smiles. they are adorable that is for sure. and do you see what i mean lindy... it will be love at first sight. make sure you show lauren how handsome and jovial her future husband is :)