Someday I'll Laugh About It

So it's been a hectic few days. We still haven't found a place to live and health insurance is giving us a headache from my "pre-existing" condition that will be born in mid-November sometime. We're trying to keep the stress at bay, but let me tell you, it's getting really hard at this point since we'll be moving in one month. Plus I lost my phone on our daily walk in City Creek Canyon on Monday and walked 7 miles in the scorching sun back and forth trying to find it. I never did, but I think I got my exercise for the week in and I'm hobbling to prove it :) When it was obvious that the phone was just plain gone, we went out to Costco to get a new one and even though the guy who set it all up for us said it'd only take 15 minutes to activate it, an hour later we were finally ready to go. Ridiculous and we were only half an hour late for the dinner party we were having at our house. Sorry guys! Anyway, it all worked out, but needless to say Tuesday I was exhausted.

Now for the real fun. Tuesday, as I said was rough. I was tired and having one of those really emotional "we'll never find a place to live and we'll have to pay full price out of pocket for this delivery because all insurance companies hate us" days. I didn't get a nap when Grace was down so around 4 I laid down on the couch and apparently fell heavily asleep. When I rolled over when Grace woke me up I saw her holding an open Sharpie. Apparently she had pushed the cooler (which was inside just for the day) up to the high counter where we keep the pens and pencils and a rogue Sharpie and out of all those had chosen the Sharpie. So I jump up (slowly because I was so dizzy from sleep and blood rush) and start to survey the damage. Permanent black marker was everywhere. Walls, cabinets, cooler, toys, clothes, Lacey, coffee table, kitchen table, chairs, everywhere. So I called Rob to be sure he'd be home soon and as I started talking the flood came. I just couldn't help but sob through the phone call. So I started to clean the Sharpie up and couldn't stop crying which made Grace cry because she cries when anyone else does. So through my tears and scrubbing I'm trying to reassure Grace that it's okay and Mommy's just sad, but not to worry. Every 2 minutes I'd have to stop my scrubbing and give her a hug because she was so distraught, but I just couldn't stop the flood of tears that I'd held back all day. So Rob came home to two red-faced, sobbing girls sitting in a puddle of their own tears trying to scrub the refrigerator. Nice welcome home from a hard day, eh? :) In the end we got the Sharpie off of most everything and I think Grace may be scared into never doing that again (let's hope!). Sorry no pictures...I obviously wasn't in the documenting state of mind.

Spruces Campout

Last week the Gweaston Clan did their annual camping trip at the Spruces. It was so much fun to just hang out and spend 3 days with all the family. It was so relaxing I didn't even get the camera out once, but thanks to Rob, here are a few pictures of our adventure.

This is how Grace spent most of her time at camp. If the wagon was missing Grace probably was too. She loved getting pulled around in the wagon or pushing it around herself.

Grace and her cousin Lucy enjoying a wagon ride together. It's a good thing Grandma brought the wagon...not sure what Gracers would have done otherwise!

The last night Grace was so overtired, she just could not fall asleep and was so hyper. Every time we went to check on her this is what we'd find. She would unzip the window of the tent and look out and try to get whoever's attention she could that walked by. It was really sad, but all she needed was sleep!

Getting Stuff Done

This is my life:



Thanks, Cullimores for sharing!

Trust the Gut

From the beginning of this pregnancy I've felt quite sure that this baby is a little girl. Even in the face of all of those who were equally sure it was a boy because I've been sicker this time around. But I just knew there was another little girl wanting to come to our little family right now, even if I didn't have medical proof of the fact. Yesterday we had our hospital ultrasound and everyone concurs that this is in fact a sweet little girl with nothing between her legs. Thank you gut for not making me look like a complete idiot! She looks perfect in every way and is moving so much these days. It's hard to imagine her getting much bigger, though I know it must be.

Without further ado, I present Baby Girl Carter's first photos:It's a girl!
Shy...with her hand covering her face.
Her face. The doctor had to remind us that it's taken on a flat 2-D plane, but at least she has two eyes, a nose and mouth that are all formed well and in the right places!

Now for the fun of picking out a name...suggestions are welcome for first names that go with the middle name Elissa.

Happy Father's Day

Today in Nursery, Grace made her Daddy a special "neckle" (necklace) to show him how special he is! And boy, was he special! He was the only Daddy who even had a Father's Day neckle!

It's been so fun to watch Rob grow into daddy-hood these past two years. He is the most wonderful father I could ever imagine for Grace and it shows by how much she loves him and would rather be with him than anyone else.

Happy Father's Day Rob!

Grace Keeps On Growing Up!

Here are some cute pictures we've taken of Gracers recently. She is just getting (and acting!) so big!

Posing after taking DeDe for a walk around the house.

It's been really difficult to convince Grace that she doesn't need to wear a jacket anymore since it's 80 degrees out. I guess she's just got it ingrained in her head that when you go outside you wear a jacket. I'm pretty sure she was sweating under her fleece jacket while we shopped today, but she wouldn't take it off...maybe because it's an accessory. Oh what we women will do for fashion!

Talking on her "hello." I love that whenever I am on my phone, Grace gets her "hello" out and imitates me talking on it. It's really cute and a good reminder not to talk too much!

What a little lady! Doesn't she look like she's ready for an Easter Parade or some such fancy event? She loves to get dressed up and girlfriend loves her some accessories!

Yellowstone Campout

June 3-6 we went camping in Yellowstone. I had never been and it was on my Utah bucket list (to do before we move), so we went. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn't choose her best Yellowstone weather for our visit since it rained non-stop for all but most of one day! It was chilly, but so much fun!

But Uncle Bri, I'm so close to getting my license and I pretty much know how to drive already...won't you pretty please just let me take your truck for a spin?

At Old Faithful walking around the boardwalks. Did I mention we had very rainy weather? It was cold too!

All bundled up! Apparently I looked like a marshmallow the whole trip. Oops.

That's the end of Old Faithful's eruption behind us. So neat! Right after it was done though, the heavens opened up and let the rain fly! We ran for the lodge to keep dry.

Finally on Saturday we had some sunshine. You may think I'm funny, but this little tree and rock were maybe one of my favorite things. It's a lone tree growing out of the rock in the middle of the river. Talk about perseverance against the odds!

A classic sight in the park. It was so neat to have animals in the road or wandering alongside the road so close to your car you can almost touch them. It was really neat for Grace to see so many wild animals.

At Yellowstone Lake

Grace had a fun time being with Daddy so much!


This is me for pretty much the whole trip. There were so many beautiful things to see, even from the road!

Like this guy.
And this gal.

Sweet girl decided to climb out of her pack and play for her nap. The only problem was that she fell asleep on top of all the blankets, so it was kind of tough for me when I snuck in to nap too. Brian slept with us in our little tent. He was such a trooper to squeeze in with us. I don't think he realized that it'd be that squishy because I am pregnant and sleep with my leg out to prop my belly up (yes, like an outrigger, thanks Bri)!

That afternoon we drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs. Throughout the town square there were wild elk and buffalo roaming right there along with all the tourists!


Some buffalo were grazing in the park right next to the parked cars.

The North Entrance had this incredible stone archway leading into the park.

Rob was an amazing driver and wildlife spotter (all at the same time!). He saw this guy before the bear jam had even started. It was neat to watch him for 10 minutes or so. He was so close!

The neatest part was watching him try to ford the river. It was running so high and fast that when he got in it swept him at least a quarter of a mild downriver before he could reach the other side!

This was as far North as any of us had ever been.

At the Mammoth Hot Springs. This was the only one we saw that had water running on it. So beautiful!

DeDe even had a good time despite some teasing from Uncle Bri. She and Grace still sit and commiserate over it :)

Enjoying her lunch by the fire.

We had a delightful time with Brian on the trip. What an incredible park it is! We can't wait to go back and explore more in (hopefully!) better weather!

Baby Beauty Night

On Memorial Day we finally decided to cut Grace's mullet hair since it had finally grown enough to be slightly out of control and need a trim. Cousin Henry was in town and he also needed a haircut so we decided to make it a baby beauty night.

Trying to escape impending doom.

First cut

We're probably bad parents for not keeping her first golden locks chopped from her head, but here's a picture of them :)

Sweet girl

Good thing we had an extra comb for entertainment...

Thanks, Grandma, for a cute haircut!

After haircuts, the kids had a bath. Henry wasn't so sure about sharing his bath, so he had to mark his territory on Grace's leg to be sure everyone knew who was boss there :)

Cute kids all clean and jammyfied after a good tub-draining.

Race for the Cure 2010

As you may remember last year we did the Race for the Cure with my Uncle Gord, Aunt Janis, and cousin Shannon. As we ran we thought about how cool it would be to have my mom come in 2010 to do the race with us since it is such a neat experience to participate in. She is a 17 year survivor of breast cancer and we're so proud of her! My parents were planning on coming and they found some awesomely priced tickets so my Aunt Ellie and Uncle John decided to come too. Then, they all found a way for my Aunt Mur to fly out from Florida to complete the reunion of the siblings (Ellie, Elissa (mom), Gord and Mur). So with a semi-reunion started, Shannon and I started brainstorming about the Race for the Cure this year (as if I wasn't in the throes of planning another reunion. I'm crazy. There it is. Moving on.). We decided to make it a day of celebration of Elissa since her birthday is also in May. So we invited all the family who is in Utah who we hardly ever see and got a huge team of around 40 people together. It was an awesome day of celebration of my mom's survival!

My partner in crime and co-planner, Shannon, and I with the team booby{LIS}cious shirts we designed and had made.

Sisters Ellie, Mom and Mur

Siblings Mom Ellie, Gordie, Mur

Getting pumped for the race by doing the "kick-off" dance, a family tradition

Shoulder-riding in style!

Having fun!

And then riding in the stroller and walking weren't cutting it for these two so they got the princess treatment of shoulder rides by their daddies!
Grace, Rob, Jaden and Adam

3 generations of cancer-free women

We finished the "race"...hooray!

The survivors were honored in a parade and were then given the chance to honor someone who helped them through their cancer with a white carnation. Here is Mom giving hers to Dad.

Our sweet husbands showing their "support"

The whole crew at the party afterward.

As a birthday gift, everyone sent memories to me that I made into a book to give to my mom to help her commemorate this great day.

Shannon and I made bracelets for all the ladies and girls to wear during the race and to remember it by afterward. Here we all are with our bracelets.

Mom and Bri

Birthday cake to commemorate the reason for the weekend! haha!