Entertainment and Food

So here are some pictures of the going ons in our home this past week. There really hasn't been much, to be honest. It's cold here, and because of that, we're slow going. Since our camera was left out in the kitchen most of the week, I was actually able to remember to take pictures! Seriously, I've never been much for remembering to take pictures, mostly due to the fact that I forget the camera!

Anyways. . . last Saturday we went to good ol' Walmart and bought an entertainment center. It's a very common one that even many of our friends have. We need one to keep Carter out of, but didn't want to spend a ton because, hello, we have a 2 year old. What are the odds of him not scraching it, coloring on it, whatever. When we finally have a job and a house, we'll get things we care about. Carter was helpful as ever.

Let me just add that he has become a stripper as of late. He doesn't want to keep his clothes on. It's funny, but also annoying! He's figured out he can unbutton his pants (the ones up and down the legs for diaper changing purposes). So if we go ANYWHERE, if he's wearing pants that have those buttons, when we get to wherever, you can look in the back seat and find him sitting there with his pants completely undone, looking like a skirt, and his socks and shoes off. This is really annoying because he does this over and over!!! Keep your clothes on kid!

What a cutie!!!!

So this is the best breakfast ever. You know it's going to be a good and productive day when I have the motivation to actually make something. You can't tell it from his face, but he loves this. It's a toasted bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. MMMMM baby. Of course it has Mayo too. It's such good loving. We topped it off with yogurt and orange juice. LOVE IT.

This is the best picture yet. My boys spending some quality bonding time. So funny. They're playing Mario Kart.

Dreaming about Bugs

My friend Lindsay would laugh if she read this. She knows how much I am against the following subject. I have this thing with bugs. I hate them. Hate them, hate them HATE THEM. In my dream last night I was a cop or something ( I don't remember too much of the details, it was a dream after all) and I had just caught this lady and was wrestling her to the ground. Let me just stop and say that I've been watching "24" season 6 with Bo every night before we go to bed, so obviously what I've been watching has been carrying over into my dreams. ANYWAYS. The lady and I were fighting on the ground, when suddenly something started bothering my left leg. In my dream I thought it was a leaf, but it kept bothering me, so I looked down and it was a spider. Now I'd have to say that spiders are the biggest threat in my war against bugs. UGH! Well that stopped the dream right then and there.
I immediately woke up and started spassing out. What if there really was a bug in my bed and on my leg. AHHHHH. I suddenly thought of a blog Kacey posted awhile back about the cockroach on her arm, and all sleep left me. For the next 15 minutes I was scrambling around in bed, checking my leg, checking the sheets. I even woke Bo up accidently. Having been used to me by now, he easily went back to sleep.
There was no bug, but honestly, I didn't check every nook and cranny. I was still out of it (I really get into dreams and have a hard time adjusting back). Besides, do I really want to find the supposed bug in my bed? It took awhile for me to go back to sleep, and obviously I have not forgotten. I spent the rest of the day tired and out of it. I really need to stop dreaming so vividly. I really do hate bugs. Texas is not the place to be for a bug hater. Although I will say Galveston isn't as bad as Temple was.

New Calling

It's official. I've known since before leaving for Christmas, but it wasn't official till this past Sunday. I am my ward's new Young Women's President. Its a huge calling that makes me super intimadated. When our Bishop asked me if I would do it, I gently reminded him that I was only 25. Apparently that didn't stop it from happening. :) I'm way excited though. I love the YW!! It's fun to be a part of the program. I can't wait to get everything figured out and moving! So there we have it, now everyone knows.

Birthdays!!

For those of you who don't know, Bo's birthday was on the 4th of this month, and Carter's was on the 10th. So for my two boys, they have had a busy past few weeks, loaded with tons of goodies and presents.

I didn't get any pictures of Bo's birthday. Sorry Bo. 27 just didn't seem as much of a kodak moment as a 2nd Birthday. That's right, my baby turned 2. I was both happy and sad. Happy that I've lasted 2 years :) Sad because he really is no longer officially a baby. You can inch by saying he's a baby when he's 1, but 2 is different. It just sounds so old.

Bo's big birthday consisted of getting a Game Cube. It's all we could afford, not to mention we're not so up on the technology, nor do we play ninetendo enough, to get a Wii (which I really REALLY want) or XBox 360. Carter got toys. He was happy as could be. Birthday shopping for litte kids is the easiest thing ever. It was a fun day of eating good food, going and getting 2 year old pictures, and having friends over for cake and ice cream. What more could a little guy ask for??

Enjoy the pictures!!

Carter just couldn't wait to eat the cake. He managed to take a chunk out before everyone arrived.

I realize the cake in the very first picture looks like happy birtnday. I assure you, it's an H, Carter just decided to run his finger through it, and I tried fixing it, so that's why it looks funky.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Bo and I actually got to celebrate our anniversary (Dec. 27, 2003) early this year, seeing as how we spent the actual day in the car going to Boise. We went to the Tri-Cities the week before Christmas and spent the night there. It was soooo fun. Bo's mom and sisters were kind enough to watch Carter for us. This was the first night I've ever spent away from Carter. It was hard but wonderful to get a break.

We went to dinner at a Thai resturant and then went to I Am Legend. Oh my gosh guys. I seriously cannot handle scary movies. This movie is just intense through the whole thing. Poor Bo, he probably had bruise marks from my fingers digging into his arm. It was a good movie, but man. It took me at least an hour to calm down after it was done. Sad, I know. I should've known better. Anyways, we stayed the night at the Red Lion, slept in (TA DA!! (choir in the back ground)), and then went shopping for last minute gifts and to run errands for my parents. It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary. Four years baby!!! That's right.

Our actual anniversary, as I said, was spent in the car. We drove to Boise to go to my cousin James' wedding. We were able to spend the night away from Carter again, only to share the hotel room with my Dad and Thang, the old exchange student. Very romantic, I know. James looked so happy and Niki was beautiful. I wish I had pictures, but it was cold and snowy, and even their pictures took only about 10 min. okay maybe 20. It was snowing a ton.

So that was our anniversary. I love my husband. I don't think there is a better match for me anywhere. He just fits me so well. I need him to balance out my crazy life. I Love you babe!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was great. We were up at 6 and spent the whole day unwrapping presents, it seemed, since we had 3 houses to visit. We were spoiled, ate good food, and had fun with the family. I think my favorite thing of the day was seeing poor Lawrence asleep on the floor Christmas morning. We weren't even half way done with the presents and the kid was out. Notice he still has a present in his hands. Too funny.Carter with his giant Elmo. He loved that thing! It was a hit. Go team.

The week before Christmas

So the week before Christmas was full of action at the Baker household. The beginning of the week started out calm, with Ivie going home for 2 days so that we could get prepared for the big arrival. Bo and I spent most of that time in Othello with Bo's family so that when my family came into town we could spend time at my house. We're fair that way. :) Haven and Teresa and their 4 kids flew into Seattle on Tuesday and Thursday (they came seperately because Haven had finals) and on Friday all of them, including Ivin and Christina and their 2 kids, and Thang (an old exchange student who goes to college in Bellevue) came in. We had a houseful. 7 kids, and 10 adults (Libby came that evening). WHOA. You see, I have a great excuse for not blogging. Who could with that packed of a house???? We had kids running everywhere and 2 little newborns to hold. It was fun but crazy. I'm sad to say I didn't take one picture of all of them. I hope my brother or someone has some. If they do, I'll see if I can post some. I did get video, but I must've forgotten my camera those days. Ivin and his family were only there for 3 days. They left Christmas Eve because they were going to Victoria with Christina's family the day after Christmas and they didn't want to drive home to Seattle on Christmas day. Whatever. Lame excuse. :) On Saturday night Ivie got sick and threw up. On Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church , which started at the bright and early time of 8:30 am, Emerson (6) and Ethan (4) started feeling sick. We were all running and around frantic. We needed to be on time because we were going to bless Clarissa, Haven's girl. WELL, at last minute, and I mean last minute, they decided to keep those two boys home and not do the blessing. My dad had to go up to the bishop at church and tell them of the change in plans. It was a good thing that the two boys didn't go to church too, because right after sacrament meeting (yes, I skipped the last two hours of church) when we got home, the two boys had just thrown up. 3 sick kids. You can imagine what the basement smelled like. hahaha Ivie wasn't sick too long, but on Monday Lawrence (2) got sick along with his brothers. 4 kids. Did I mention that Clarissa had a bad cold this whole time and that she wasn't feeling well. Poor kids. My parents had high hopes of putting on a little nativity Sunday night, but that was out of the question. Anyways, I am proud to say that Carter didn't get it AT ALL. NOPE. NADA. I told everyone he'd already paid his dues back in November. It was sooooo wonderful to not have a sick kid. Poor Teresa didn't get much of a break those days because of her sick kids. I will say this, if you're gonna have 4 sick kids, might as well have them sick where you'll get lots of help. Libby, my mom, and even I, are expert cleaners now. It wasn't all sick though. We played lots of games at night when the kids were in bed, the kids got to open little presents the few days before Christmas, and we had great food. After Ivin left the kids were still sick for a few days, but they were able to still have fun and they certainly were able get up on Christmas morning and have fun, which I will blog about later. So that was our little adventure the week before Christmas. Hmmm. . . maybe the sick kids everywhere is why I didn't get pictures. Huh.

Christmas Eve

I think this Christmas Eve was the funniest one I've ever had. Oh gosh was it great. We started off going over to Bo's Grandma's and hanging out there for a couple of hours in the afternoon with his mom and siblings. We played games and had great fun. We then spent the rest of the evening in Moses Lake at my Aunt Lori's house. Bo's dad came with us. Baker Christmas Eve tradition is always to go to one of the Uncle's houses and eat a good dinner, with clam chowder, stuffed mushrooms, cheeseball, and shrimp being traditions along with tons of other good food. We talk for awhile, the kids play games, and then we do the nativity. The nativity was what made the night. All the kids, my family and cousins, are all grown up. Because of Haven's boys being sick, only Emerson (who was feeling better) and Carter were able to go. They were the only kids under 12 who were there. Did we decide not to do the nativity becuase of the lack of little kids? Of course not! It was great! All the kids were still single except for Danielle, so each got a part. I'll put their ages next to their names so you can get an idea of this nativity. Seriously, it was so funny.

My sister Liberty (21) and my cousin Reece (21) were Mary and Joseph. Danielle (20) was the narrator. The sheperds were Easton (12), Thang (20?), and Emerson and Carter. The angels were Jill (20), MacKenzie (15), and Brooke (17). James (24), Jordan (23), and Tyler, Danielle's husband, (24?) were the wisemen. It was soooo fun to watch the 20 year olds play the parts. They did a great job. Maybe it doesn't sound funny, but trust me, it was a hit.

Anyways, after that we all went to our own homes. When we got back to my parents we opened our traditional Christmas Eve pajamas. It was fun. Bo, Carter, and I, all had matching pj's. Bo thought it was cheesy but who cares. Right during the evening family prayer, to top off the night, Ethan threw up all over Haven. Bo had to be reminded to end the prayer because we were all staring in horror over at the two of them. *sigh* poor Haven. It was funny though, at the very beginning sound of Ethan's episode, Libby, who was sighting right in front of him, was up and away. Quick reflexes Lib. She survived.

Enjoy the pics! I wish I had more. I got the whole thing on video though!


Don't ask me why this is being posted after my week before Christmas one. Who knows. Oh well.

Family Pictures

For a Christmas gift to Bo's mom and dad, all of Bo's siblings got together and we took a few family pictures to give to them. Bo's parents both came to Othello for Christmas, so all the kids came too. I love Bo's family (my family) they are so much fun. Bo is the oldest, and only he and his brother Travis, the second oldest, are married. Since there are only two grandkids on that side, they both get so spoiled. I love the fact that Bo's sisters, and mom, will watch Carter any time of day. They were wonderful. Because of them, we were able to act like we were childless and able to go out like we did then. I wouldn't trade Carter for the world, but it was oh-so-nice to have a little break.

Santa and the Ward Party

So Carter had the opportunity to meet and sit on Santa's lap twice, the lucky boy, because we made it to both our Galveston ward party and the Moses Lake one too. He was not very happy to be sitting on Santa's lap either time, that is until they gave him the candy. After that he was an angel. That's my kid alright. We left for Washington on the 8th of December, and after a loonngg morning, we arrived in Spokane. Carter did great though, so I can't really complain. We played at my house for a couple of days and then Ivie, Ivin's little girl, came over and stayed for a few days while Ivin and Christina got a break. They had just had Rebekah and we're having a tough time adjusting to staying up all night and all day. I don't blame them. We were happy to have Ivie. She's only 5 months older then Carter so they play well together. Anyways, here are some pictures of Carter on Santa's lap and also with him and Ivie. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, it had snowed when we got there, so the picture of Ivie and Carter was taken just after they came in from sledding. They were having a candy cane to top off their day's activity. I also put in the picture of Carter and the cat. Seriously, my parents have the TAMEST cat ever. He doesn't protest or anything when the kids come to maul him. I was laughing when I took the picture because Carter's practically choking the poor thing.

Comming Soon

to a theater near you. just kidding. You know when you haven't written in so long, and the thought of all the things you need to blog just overwhelm you so you don't do anything? Yeah, I'm at that happy place right now. I promise to do it, I NEED to do it, I just need the time and will power. In my defense, there is no way on earth I could've blogged the last few weeks at my parents house. That was a mad house. I will catch up though. For now, just know that it's comming and that yes, indeed, I am still alive.