Sleep Deprivation

I don't know what is going on, but Carter has not been sleeping well. It's killing me! I used to long for him to sleep in till 8:30, then a month ago I longed for him to sleep in till 7:30. Last week it was me longing for 6:30, and yesterday, oh what I wouldn't have given for him to sleep in till 6 a.m.!!!! I'm soooooo tired. Bo let me sleep in till 7 this morning. He got up with Carter. I feel guilty, since I knew I should get up and play with Carter so that Bo could get ready for school and study, but I was too selfish. Is that bad??? I could use tips from anyone and everyone on what to do. He's going to bed at 8 at night. If I put him to bed later, he still wakes up early. I'm wondering if he should go to one nap a day, or if maybe he's teething. I don't know, but the sleep deprivation makes him whiney and me grumpy and impatient. It makes me feel like I'm a horrible parent to have those feelings too. I hope he gets over this soon.

I should take naps when he does, but I'm caught up in reading the Twilight series. . . again. I bought Eclipse (the third one) a week and a half ago and read through it quickly. Of course I hadn't read the first two for awhile, so I felt that I should read all three of them again. I'm just about done with the second one. They are good books. I'm a hopeless romantic and I love cheesy girly books. What can I say?? They are good. If you haven't read them, do it! I got hooked on them through my friend Linds. Apparently her second cousin is the author. I had no idea the books were so well known, but apparently they are a big hit.

I have friends!! I've been hanging out with some other girls in my ward and it's been great! The ward has lots of young couples and they are all really nice. It's been fun meeting them. One friend, Stephanie, has a little boy a couple months younger then Carter and her husband is a first year med student too. She's been a life saver. We've gone swimming, to the aquarium, to the library, and if I can talk her into it, hopefully we'll go to Sam's today. It's such a relief to make friends and have someone to help you kill time till your husband gets home. Well that's all for right now. I need to write more often so that my entries aren't so long. I'm really starting to like Galveston. The ocean is soooo cool! It's fun to look out and see the swimmers, and in the distance (way distant) the huge ships. I've heard you can even see dolphins every once in awhile. I can't wait! Oh yeah, and at Stephanie's apt. there is a lake that has turtles in it!!! How cool is that! Yeah, I'm starting to get comfortable here. Go team go.

Galveston, Tx

So we're here, and man is it HOT!!! No seriously, it's HOT! When we got here two weeks ago, they were having record highs here. They were saying that Galveston and Houston both had records. Galveston hadn't had a new heat record since 1920. It was 99 degrees. Now that doesn't sound that bad, in ML it can get in the hundreds, but they said that the 99 with the humidity actually made the temp. around 115!! Seriously, my body can't handle it. We are melting. We live on the third floor. You can only imagine how bad it was moving. There was an elevator, but it was like a sauna, more so than outside, in there. Needless to say, when we were done, we looked like we had just gotten out of the shower with our clothes on. It is so hot! Guys, I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle 4 years here! They say it's only this bad like this in July, Aug, and Sept., but I don't know. . . Humidity is a killer.

So we're all moved in. I love my apartment. New paint, new carpet, new wood floors, a balcony, and the best news ever. . . so far not that many bugs!!! I'm not that skilled in decorating, but I'm pleased with my progress. We have a two bedroom apt. and a HUGE walk-in closet. Love it! We have a spare twin bed and now a futon, thanks to Whitney, so anyone and everyone is welcome to visit!

You might have noticed they news talking about Hurricane Dean. For a good couple of days, there were announcments on the freeways and news about the hurricane possibly coming here and to get your gas can full. Bo and I went to Walmart and got an emergency evacuation kit together. It's got flashlights, a radio, panchos, food, diapers, first aid kit,. . . well tons of stuff. It's all ready to go in a little suitcase so that we can just grab it and go and the first notice. I live in the land of hurricanes. It's scary, I'll be honest. We have tons of spare water in our apt, so that in case we do get stuck on the island, we'll be okay, and luckily since we are on the third floor we don't have to worry about flooding. The hurricane missed us, it went to Mexico, but it's still early in the season. There was a little tropical storm last weekend and it brought in some fun waves. I really want to go down and go body surfing. We'll see. Carter doesn't like the ocean much. We're going to have to warm him up.

Well I don't want to talk long, I know it's probably too much and overwhelming for everyone besides myself. :) I just want to end that Bo starts Med school next week. YAY BO! He had his white coat ceremony on Monday. I was sooo proud of him, and he looks so cute! We went to a party for his class at the Yacht club yesterday and that was really fun. I've never been to a Yacht club before. Anyways, I hope this isn't too much. Sorry for being delayed at writing. I'll write more and keep my blog updated on the storms and how we're handling it. And as an FYI for those of you who don't know where Galveston is, it's a little Island south of Houston on the Gulf of Mexico.

Here are some pics!

Man he's cute!

Here's the view from our balcony. past the buildings in the top right corner is the ocean.

He might not like the ocean, but he loves swimming in the pool. He put these on himself and was walking around. It was funny.

What the heck?!!!!

DAH!!! Can I just say how frustrated I am? Is it too late to change your child's name?? Seriously! Before I had Carter, I had only heard of one other kid named Carter, and it was a baby that was born while I was pregnant and already planning the name for my own child. Now, everywhere I turn I'm either meeting a new Carter, or someone I know is naming their child Carter or has a sibling or friend who is. Chad Platt and his wife just had their baby and they named him Carter. They knew, KNEW, my son's name was that. AHHH! I do not want my child to be a Sara or a Jessica, or Nick or whatever! I don't want people saying, "Hey Carter B." What can I do though? The damage has been done. The thing is, I look at my kid, and he just IS a Carter. What else was I supposed to name him? His name is perfect for him. I guess I can't blame everyone else for using it, but still, I'm entitled to be a tad frustrated, yeah?? So there you have it.

Being a Parent

So I was on the phone with a friend today, and we were both talking about growing up and our parents. I knew my parents had some quirks about the way they raised me, but I thought that it was just my parents. Then talking to this friend, she revealed some of HER parents' quirks, and I don't know, it just dawned on me, that hey, if both of are parents aren't normal, how many are? Seriously! Now I know we all love our parents, and obviously they did a good job (well at least on me :) ) but still, we can't deny the craziness of their lives and the inpact on ours. ANYWAYS, my point is, why am I feeling so stressed about being the perfect parent, or a normal parent??????? No one else is, why should I???? I think I'm going to relax on this whole parent thing, and just enjoy it. I can't believe how fast Carter is growing, in every aspect. If I worried about all of these ridiculous things that I need to teach Carter and so forth, when would have time to breath?, much less have fun?? I want to enjoy my kids. Now of course I'm still going to try and be a good parent, I'm going to try and teach him in the things that I feel he should learn, but I think I'm going to chill out and just realize that since my kids are still going to think I'm crazy at the end of the road, then why not have fun while doing it. That's my two cents.

In other news, we take off today to go to Seattle. We are officially leaving Moses Lake. Of course we'll be back for Christmas, but we're done for the summer. I'm excited to go to Seattle! I'm hoping to go shopping for some shorts for Carter and some jean capri's for me. Bo and I are going on a double date with Ivin and Christina tomorrow night. We're going to the Bourne Ultimatum. We're really excited. We love the Bourne series. The books are even better, I recommend them to everyone. Anyways. . . on Monday I'm getting my hair highlighted. Yay for highlights! Yay for blondes! When I get highlights I always feel so much more alive, you know? I feel fun and exciting. It's a sure fire way of getting a boost in self esteem. Look at me. I just said sure fire. MAN!!! I guess you can't take the farm out of the girl eh? SO. . . we fly out on Tuesday, and are moving in on Wednesday. I probably won't be blogging for a week because of unpacking. We'll see. Hope everyone's having fun, and just so you know, I do read your comments, so thanks for them!!!

Summer of Fun

So my summer of fun is almost to an end. I can't really figure out what I feel right now. I'm excited to go to someplace new, but scared at the same time. It's kind of a crazy town, the most crazy part being the weather. For those of you who don't know, we'll be moving to the city of Galveston, Tx. where Bo is going to start med. school. I'm excited about having a new place, especially a place of my own, but nervous to see the apt. at the same time. We saw a model, but the doesn't necessarily mean that's what our place will be like. I'm kinda sad to leave home. It's been fun having babysitters anytime I want, and it's been great having my dad or Bo watch Carter in the morning so that I could sleep in. Those days are going to be gone once we leave and Bo starts school. I'm also sad because I'll be leaving all my family. Whitney lived in Temple too, and now that he's gone to Pennsylvania, we're gonna be alone. We have family in San Antonio, but still . . . not next door. The thing I'm most bummed about is that I'm gonna have to start all over again at making friends. It takes a lot of work, and I like my old ones!!!!! I am getting kind of skeptical at the thought that I can make as good of friends as the ones I've left behind. They were such good friends. Each time I leave, I have to say goodbye. I guess there's one comfort in the fact that at least in Galveston I'll get to keep my friends longer because I'll be there for 4 years.
Anyways, those are the emotions I'm going through right now. For some good news, and I'm sorry it's a tad old, but Whitney and Bridget have a baby boy!!! His name is Elijah Jesse Baker. He is cute. He was born on July 17, and was 9 lbs. 11 oz. He was a big one. If you want to see pictures, go to bakerfamily.net
I'm off to go have fun this last week in Moses Lake.

I'm DONE!!!

Don't worry Sam, I won't give anything away, but I'm done with the 7th book of Harry Potter!!! I must say, I'm sad I'm done. I love Harry Potter. I'm proud to say I'm a fan. Bo and I went to the midnight showing of the 5th movie, and the day the 7th book came out, we bought two. If I didn't have a wedding to go to the next day I would've gone with a friend to a midnight party for the book. Such a good series. I think I've bawled my eyes out for every book since the 3rd one. I get that into them. Anyways, I'm done. Bo finished too. I've got to go and re-read the last third of the book. I have to sort things out, but there it is. Is it bad that I'm sad I'm done? No more. What do I have to look forward to? This just means I need to find a new book (or maybe move on with my life and start paying attention to my surroundings again). Any ideas? I will say that I am waiting for the third book in a series that started with Twilight. The third one comes out in August. It's a fun series. Nothing to Harry Potter, but still. . . . you can thank my friend Lindsay for getting me hooked. I recommend them to all. They aren't super deep, but still fun. The author is Stephane Meyer and she's mormon, but the books aren't religious. There you have it. Until next time. . . .

I'm Alive!!!

Yes, we are still here in Moses Lake and have been very VERY busy. I'm sorry I've been slacking on my blogging duties, but seriously, I really haven't had time. I'll break down what we've been doing:

June 26-30 we were either at my aunt's visiting because of a cousin coming home from his mission and thus tons of relatives in town, or we were in Othello visitng Bo's family that was all coming in for a family reunion.

June 30-July 5 We were in Othello for Bo's family reunion on his Mom's side. It was really fun! We swam, played volleyball, swam some more, played games, and caught up on each others lives. Oh yeah, and we watched a great fireworks display. Happy 4th everyone!!

July 5-July 10 We went to Seattle to help my brother Ivin build a fence for his back yard and put in 3, count them. . .3!!, truck loads of dirt in his back yard. Yeah. . . we still need to go back and level the dirt better and put in sod.

July 10-14 We had a 2 day break at home to breath, which of course meant we ran to Othello to visit Bo's mom, and then we spent the next couple of days camping up in the Cascade's with Ivin's family. It was really fun and beautiful!!! I hope we get to go camping again before we leave, but I don't know if we'll have time.

July 15-18 We had Sunday off to unpack from the camping trip and pack for a quick trip down to Utah for my cousin's wedding. We left for Utah on Monday, spent Tuesday at BYU and then in Salt Lake helping with the wedding. It was fun seeing my family and eating good food! The wedding was in the Canyon, at a place called Log Haven. It was gorgeous and fun. My cousin looked great. We took off the next day and headed for home, but not before we stopped off at Costco and where my parents and brothers bought me a digital video camera for my birthday. I LOVE IT!!!! Best birthday present ever!! I also got some shirts and candy and bracelets and more candy and a book from other family. Oh yeah, and I got a churro to eat on the way home from my dad. :)

July 19 Bo took me on a date for a late birthday present. We went to a Thai restaraunt in town and then went to Transformers. I liked it, but wasn't my favorite. Still, it was good. OH yeah! We went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. LOVED IT! It was soo fun. We went to that the day it came out. It was fun staying up late and watching the movie. They had 2 theaters open for it and it was PACKED.

The rest of the week was spent going over to Bo's grandma's in Othello because his sister came into town and his Mom was going back to Alaska so we wanted to hang out with her before she left. Oh yeah, and we also had another wedding on Saturday for one of Bo's cousins. Which was fun and of course beautiful.

So that has been the last month. I laugh when I think I had wanted to get a part time job this summer, because seriously, when would I have had the time????? It has been busy and fun and has been going by too fast. I now hate the car, but still want to go back to Seattle some more. We're taking this week off for a break though. I think I'm going to a movie today with one of my Aunts.

Here a some pictures of the summer:

This is Carter and me at the Palmyra Temple

This is us in front of the place where the Book of Mormon was first printed.

Carter at Niagra Falls

I thought this was the cutest picture!

Carter and me on the Log Ride at Lagoon. He was fearless!

Carter and Ivie swimming in the back yard.

Us at Lake Diablo where we camped.

Carter and my dad at the campsite.

I love this picture. We're on a ride at Lagoon.