Halloween 2009

The only bummer about November is it is time to take down all the Halloween decorations, which, surprisingly has climbed the list of favorite holidays now that Cameron is old enough to trick-or-treat. We had such a blast on Halloween this year. Cameron went as a little puppy dog and I don't think he could have been any cuter!!

He was a little hesitant at first to go to people all dressed up at their doors, but as soon as he realized that they were giving candy......he was all about it!

He waslked right up to every door and dug his chubby little hands into their bowls of candy to pick one, or two, or three...... He was so excited after every door to come and show me what he got and fill his baggie of treats!

(and we all know who really ate his candy, ahem Daddy) He even signed thank you to a lucky few after they gave him treats! He was the smallest thing around and people coudn't believe the cuteness. They would call their family members to the door to come and look at him. It was fun to watch him have a good time.

We had perfect weather and the street we chose was really fun. Everyone was in the Halloween mood, doors decorated, parents in costume, it really made it a blast. It was also special because it was my grandmother's neighborhood, and she has a tradition of dressing up like a witch to answer trick-or-treaters at the door. She is so fun!

Miracle Blessings (aka....pay your tithing)

I have seen many doctors over the past few months and I was calling all of them to find out what I owed, when I was to be billed, and due dates, etc. I called the Chiropractor's office and the office assistant informed me that there had been a mistake on my bill, but that they wanted to look at it and fix it as best they could. The mistake was that when they originally looked up my insurance, the person wrote it down wrong. they had me as a copay patient and were billing my insurance. I should have been a cash-only patient because my insurance only covered a tiny amount of each service. So I had racked up a pretty large bill.

When the lady from the office called, she informed me that the bill was rather large. I replied with "You know what, it was expected, so just send it over and I'll get you guys taken care of".

She said, "Well, Dr. Lovelace wants to take a look at it to see if she can write off some of it for you".

I responded, "That would be awesome, thank you. Anything would be appreciated." She said she'd call me back later that afternoon to let me know.

When she called me back she informed me that Dr. Lovelace wanted to write off the entire bill!! I started to cry "Really? Thats Amazing!" "Is she sure? WHY?" She replied, " Dr. Lovelace felt badly about the mistake and she knew your struggles monetarily, being a student and all, so she wanted to do this for you."

I couldn't stop crying, but I managed a thank you and hung up. Halsy was here and wondering why I was crying, I could barely get the words out to tell him that $950.00 was gone from our worry plate. I was so relieved because I had been stressing for months trying to figure out how we were going to manage all this, but this was a blessing from Heavenly Father.

Another little one is on its way!!

Yes, thats right. The Carters are PREGNANT! We are very surprised and I think we'll be excited soon!! We don't even know how pregnant I am, but we'll find out in a couple of weeks! Here we go!

Cameron's 15 month Doctor Appointment!

Cameron went to see Dr Palmer for his 15 month check up. He is such a big boy!! Here are his newest stats:

20.2 lbs (finally made it onto the charts)

31 inches tall (50th percentile)

He passed the exam with flying colors and even with extra praise for his little personality! We had to get two shots, but he did pretty well.

Cameron is learning so many new things daily!!

He makes all kinds of animal noises:

*Mooo* *Meow* *Roar* *Neigh* *he haw* He makes a sound for: *fish* *Bunny* * elephant*

He can say:

"MaMa" "DaDa" "uh Oh" "Nana" "Oh Toodles" (occasionally)

He can sign:

MORE, FOOD, PLEASE, MILK, SHOES, AGAIN, I LOVE YOU, ALL DONE, and BYE BYE.

He is a little cuddle bug and still loves to hold mommy's ears!

He loves to play chase/hide and seek.

He loves his bottle and to throw his food!

He tries to do a sumersault on the carpet, but only ends up pushing his head across the floor.

He loves to be outside, doing anything, as long as we are outside.

He is a brave little guy....running, jumping off things, playing with Jackson.

He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Ice Age, Elmo's World, Wipeout, and Toy Story!

He is a stair master....Up.......down....up........down......we can barely keep up!

He now nods his head yes when you ask him a question....so cute. He can tell me yes or no!! Ahhhh I love big kids!

We love our Cameron boy....

Forgotten Anniversary.....

Halsy and I both forgot our anniversary this year!! How did that happen??? Well I think it has something to do with the fact that we are insanely busy with school, work, kids, the house, family, and life in general, that we absolutely forgot. Not that we have any excuse becasue I know other people are very busy too and never forget, but I was glad we both forgot and could laugh about it instead of one forgetting and the other getting their feelings hurt.


The way we found out it was our anniversary was Halsy's brother in law sent him a text message around 10am saying "Happy Anniversary Bro". Halsy died...he looked at the calendar and sure enough it snuck right up on us! He called me at work and said "Hey honey I just got a text message from Matt". I said, "Okay is it good or bad?" (becasue his voice sounded like he was either going to laugh or cry) and he said "well, i think it's a little of both.......look at the calendar and see what today is." "Oooooohhhhh!! today is our Anniversary" and then we both busted up laughing!! We laughed till' we about peed our pants and then said "Happy Anniversary honey" to each other and said "I love you" and went on with our day. Luckily the night before we actually went on a date to see Harry Potter so we counted that as our anniversary date!

So here's to remembering our Anniversary....I love you sweetheart and I am excited for another 4 years together plus more!

We are officially Gateless!

We have now taken down all the gates on the stairs!! Cameron has mastered the stairs....although he still makes me very nervous, but I figure that if never take them down then he will never become an expert. It is a lot harder to keep him contained to a space now too! He loves to go upstairs/downstairs and run through all the bedrooms! Hopefully I won't have to endure too many spills down the stairs before he gets it down.

He is getting so big, I weighed him before bath time tonight and he is almost 21lbs!! I know that doesn't sound like very much, but for Cameron that is a lot!! He is finally feeling better and his appetite is 100% improved. So hopefully we will be on a healthy kick for a while, it is no fun to be sick!

Beach Trip 2009

Day 1
Our departure time was 12 noon…and we actually came very close, leaving at 1pm. We packed in the horrible heat that is currently plaguing Portland and got out as soon as possible. We headed to Costco to pick up last minute items for the trip and headed westward to Seaside! Jena and I drove the minivan with the babies and Dad drove the big van with the rest of the clan. As soon as we hit the road Cameron and Jackson fell fast asleep and Jena retired to the back seat to read/sleep. I was grateful for the quiet. We stopped at a rest area when the boys woke up and relaxed a little while they stretched their legs and used the bathroom. Cameron tries to grab the honey bees on the clover..but luckily they always fly away. We found a little creek behind the rest station and went to dip our feet to get away from the heat. John found little baby trout swimming in the creek and figured out how to catch one. He would catch them in his hands and the babies loved looking at them…and Cameron loved trying to squeeze them. After a nice break we got back in the car and headed to the beach house. Our beach house is way cute and fits us perfectly! John and I took the little boys to explore and find the closest beach access and find fun things to do! We had homemade pesto pasta for dinner and it was delicious…thank you Mother. We watched Last Chance Harvey, which was very good, and hit the sack around midnight. The weather was beautiful, it never got above 85 and there was a breeze all day! Couldn’t have asked for a better start to the vacation!

Day 2
Cameron woke me up with an adorable smile around 7:30 and we headed downstairs for a bottle and some TV before everyone woke up and started making noise. We hung out together on the couch until 8:30 when the house woke up and we started to get ready for our beach boot camp led my Mom. I had to stay with babies and take my turn missing the workout, but I will join the torture tomorrow! I took the boys to the beach to watch them workout and to watch Cameron discover the sand and the waves. I put him down barefoot in the sand and at first; he didn’t know what to think. He gave me a worried look and noise, but wiggled his toes around and then took off to play. He fell in love with the sand, sat down, and was covered in minutes. He still hadn’t seen the ocean because we were quite far away from the waves due to low tide. When he did see the ocean, he got a little overwhelmed by the view. He was running towards the waves excited to play in water and then he started crying…he didn’t know what to do. He wanted me to stay by him until he felt comfortable. He crept closer to the water, but would back up as the waves headed towards his little toes. He never really got into the water, he was much happier in the sand. We played and had a blast…building castles and digging moats. We came back to the house and decided to have brunch. Jena and I cooked pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. It was yummy….so tasty after playing on the beach in the sun! Our cousins were in Portland from Colorado and decided to come and visit us at the beach. They came, and while the boys took their naps, went boogie boarding. I stayed at the house and watched a movie until Cameron woke up. He has been so fun to bring on vacation. When he woke up from his nap, I heard “Maaaa” on the monitor and I answered by yelling up the stairs “Mommy’s coming!” and he didn’t make another peep until I came into the room and he bounced with excitement! He is growing up so fast….such a fun little person.

We came down and shared the couch while he got his sleepies out and then the family returned from the beach. Jena and I wanted to take the boys down to the beach to play while it was still warm and Dad said he would come with us. We set up our blankets and had so much fun!! We played in the waves…jumping and enjoying how the water felt. The boys were covered in sand, especially Cameron’s ears (and mommy’s ears). We built a big sand castle with a moat, but the tide was coming in and our castle was defeated by the waves! We had to move our blankets 3 times because the tide kept creeping up on our stuff and soaking us! Mom, John, and Katelyn showed up on their bikes to come and hang with us too! We played until past dinner time and then people’s tummies were growling so we headed home. We had sliders and fries…yummy. After dinner we played in the living room and wrestled with the babies. The kids were getting rowdy so we went for a walk in the golf course. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect for an evening stroll. Cameron fell asleep and luckily transferred to his bed! We watched Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler and laughed till’ our sides hurt! Halsy called mid movie so I missed a lot of the middle. He misses us a lot and can’t wait to come down Thursday night! Now I am headed to bed so I can get enough sleep to survive Boot Camp tomorrow!

Day 3
We went for a very nice run on the beach (just mom, dad, and myself) and then came back to the house for showers and to play on the beach! We were going to go to Cannon Beach to look at the tide pools and play on Haystack Rock, but there were so many people coming to the beach from Portland that we were waiting in miles long lines to get anywhere, so we stuck to Gearhart beach. Cameron fell in love with the ocean today! He was very nervous and would whimper if I put his feet in the waves, but after watching Jena, Austin, John and Jackson have so much fun he decided to give it a try. He loved it! He was walking without holding my hand after a while and the waves were up to his little thighs. I was so excited he wanted to play in the water. We all got covered in sand digging holes and building castles, but it sure was fun. We came back earlier than the rest of the crowd because Cam was getting pretty cold from the Oregon water! We took a warm shower and got dressed for dinner. We tried a few places, but yet again we were foiled by the huge crowds of people. We found a little dive on the roadside and decided to give it a shot. We were glad we did, we shared yummy burgers, beer battered fish and chips, and chili dogs. Don’t forget brownie ala mode, strawberry shortcake, and bread pudding….yes my diet was out the window. We came back to the house to cuddle in for a movie. We watched Chain Reaction with Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves, it wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t awesome either.

Day 4
Cameron joined our run today in his jogging stroller and he loved feeling the wind in his blonde hair as I suffered pushing him. We stopped to work out at a playground for a little bit so he could go down a few slides. After the workout we get dressed and wet to Nehalem bay for crabbing! I was the only one who had been crabbing before, so everyone was very excited. We brought Jackson with us and he looked so cute in his little life jacket. He was smiling so big the entire boat ride until he fell asleep, just played till’ he dropped! We were very successful in our catch! We caught 2 full buckets of crab…it was a blast. We laughed and talked up and down the inlet dropping and pulling our pots. We decided we would be the Northwestern. Dad was Sig and John was Edgar….anyways we love that show and had fun crabbing like The Deadliest Catch!

While we were pulling into the dock to survey our catch Megan called to say she was in labor! We couldn’t believe it….she was headed to the hospital before we were even off the boat! We took our crab to the cook and had to wait 45 minutes for them to cook and clean all our crab before we could drive the 40 minutes back to our beach house! Megan updated us the entire way! Before we got to the beach house she was dilated to an 8!! We got to the house and packed like mad trying t make it, but as we were driving home we got the call that she had her baby! 6:30 pm Patrick Finley Morin. 7 lbs 8 oz, 20 inches long. We raced and got there 1 hour after the little man arrived! He is so beautiful and I think he looks like Megan. We all smelled like crab and beach, but we didn’t care. So our vacation was cut short, but I can’t imagine a better reason!