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THE PETERSON'S BLOG! Haha! We'll see, we'll see. I just have two much fun reading all of yours, that I don't get around to posting on mine.

Carter's Birthday Part 2

We celebreted Carter's birthday with Derek's family on the Sunday before his birthday. The Giants were in the playoffs against the Phillies so we had to take quick breaks to open gifts and do the cake. Go Giants!

Carter (and Lincoln) got spoiled with new cars, a firetruck, blocks, and lots of new clothes...my favorite part!

We had yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting. When you leave the cake stuff to me, it can be pretty boring, but eh, they tasted good! Carter loved the cake and made a complete mess, so we headed upstairs for a bath in Grandma and Grandpa's HUGE tub. Be careful taking a bath with Lincoln around. He WILL join you!

You know what I'm craving?

A GETAWAY! Preferably with no kids to a secluded tropical island. Totally unrealistic. But a trip with the kiddos to St. George or even Park City would suffice! Anyone want to join?

Carter Turns 1

Carter's birthday was on October 21st. I cannot believe that my baby is one already! He's at the perfect age right now though, and we are enjoying every minute of this little guy. We did an Elmo party for him (something I swore I would NEVER do for my kids...I always thought character parties were dumb)...the things we do for the ones we love! We celebrated a few days after his birthday so that the family could all be together...we're so lucky to have such support!

Thank goodness for Little Ceasars. The kids always devour it!

My parents are always so willing to share their space. We had the party at their home. Love them.

Carter didn't understand that it was his birthday at all, so we shared the fun and let the cousins help open the gift. They had fun showing him his new toys and he was happy to get piled with new cars, trains, clothes, books, doggies, and even a REAL Dorothy (what was I thinking?) with little effort.

The morning of Carter's party my Mom called to ask what her assignment needed to be. I could've used help with just about anything so I let her pick and she said she'd make the cakes! What?! I'd take her amazing cake-decorating skill over mine all day, so of course I said yes! She made a cute Elmo head for the guests and a little Dorothy cake (Elmo's pet goldfish). Thanks MOM!! Everyone looks forward to watching the one-year olds destroy their cakes, and Carter didn't disappoint. He was thrilled to have hit the chocolate jack pot.

Something my boys both love...a sink bath from Grandma. And Carter needed one after the chocolate cake. He was so exhausted after such a big day!

Some things about Carter:

-He started walking at 11 months. He just had to keep up with (and fight back with) Lincoln.

-He has 4 teeth on the top and 4 on the bottom. He hated baby food from day one, so we just started giving him what we were eating. He was still slow to pick it up, but nothing phases him now. He loves any and all food. And I'm not complaining.

-He tells me when he wants to go to sleep. Who knew a kid could do that?! He gets his blanket and tells me, "Nah nigh". So sweet. He goes to sleep on his own too...never thought I'd see a child do that either. He takes 2 2 hour naps each day. He still doesn't sleep through the night though. Lincoln didn't until 22 months, so I'm thinking I have a good 9 months.

-He says "mama", "dada", "uh oh" and "mmmm" and "what's dat?" . We say hi to a picture of Jesus everytime we come down our stairs and one day he repeatedly said, "Dedus, dedus..." So precious. But he hasn't said it yet.

-He loves anyone to hide from him and then chase after him on their hands and knees. It creates lots of noise with the banging on the floor and the screaming/laughing baby, but we do it all day and night. Sorry neighbors!

-He's a Mama's boy, especially when he's tired, hungry, or sad. But, he gets so excited to see Daddy every night. Derek has a special father/son bond with each of the boys, and I'm so grateful for that.

-He's learning to be a stinker already. He pushes Lincoln, or hits him on top of the head. Hmmmm...I wonder who he learns it from? But, I hear Lincoln saying all day, "NO pushing Carter!!"

-He loves cars, balls, books, and bathtime.

-He still nurses. Not a lot, and not very long. I thought I was going to wean early, but when it came down to it, I've had a hard time. He's the baby and I'm in no real rush to stop.

-He's such a joy to us. Derek and I are dorks. We sit around all night staring at our kids, and talking about how they're are easily the cutest on the planet. Come on...you all do that too! But Carter is adorable and he makes us smile all day. Love you Carter Bug!

Michael Jordan? No way!

Derek didn't really think that Michael Jordan would come to Utah and play Bryan Russell at UVU, but JUST IN CASE, he couldn't miss out on the action! He and Linc had a great time anyway.

Bobby Jones and His Caddy

This year for Halloween Lincoln was Bobby Jones and Derek was his caddy. They were a hit and the costumes were so fitting for those two golf nuts! Carter was only 10 days old for Halloween but we couldn't miss out on all of the fun! We went the day before to a parade at Derek's work, and to a grandkids party at my parents house. Then on Halloween we went to Derek's parents to trick-or-treat. Linc liked looking at people's dogs at each house more than the candy he got there. Needless to say, we only went to 6 houses...nice!

Carter

Carter arrived on October 21st and boy were we happy he did! He weighed 8 lbs. and was 21 3/4 inches long...a big boy for being 10 days early! We're thrilled to have a new addition to our family!

It all started on Tuesday, October 20th. I had gone shopping at the mall with a few friends and our kids earlier on that day. By the time I made it out of there I was completely exhausted and thankfully, Lincoln was too. When we got home we both crashed for almost 3 straight hours. I woke up at 4:30 and got cleaned up so that we could run to Target for a few things. I felt a little nauseous, but continued on my way, thinking that it was tiredness, and hunger that were bugging me. By the time I got to the Target parking lot I knew that I was more than tired or hungry. I rushed over to my parents house since it was close and so that they could help me with Lincoln until Derek was off of work. I barely made it there in time to run in the house and throw up. Ugh! I had the flu. But, because I was throwing up I began to have major contractions that were really close together. I decided that it would be hard to tell if I was actually in labor or if it was just the throwing up that was causing the contractions so I called Derek to come and pick me up and take me to the hospital just to be safe. After he picked me up we ran home so I could shower and grab my bag, and then we headed over to the hospital. When I walked in they made me grab a mask...gross! Who wants to breathe into a mask after they've been throwing up?! Then they had me get into a gown and a bed so they could monitor my contractions. Sure enough, they were 2-5 minutes apart, but I was only at a 3+! After an hour they checked again and I had still made no progress so they decided to send me home. I was disappointed because my contractions were painful and close together and I was still really sick so I didn't know how I was going to know to go back to the hospital! We got home around 11 that night, but I wasn't able to go to sleep. I was in and out of the bath, and moaning and groaning all night! Poor Derek and Lincoln!

Derek gave me a blessing around 2:30 am (I'm so grateful for the priesthood) and I was finally able to crash at 7 am. Lincoln was up around 8 so I got up and tried to make it as normal of a morning as possible. By this time I had stopped throwing up, but I was still really weak. My contractions were worse, but were spread out to about 10 minutes apart. As the day progressed my contractions were getting harder and more painful, but still wouldn't come consistantly or close enough together, and there was no way I was going to the hospital again until it was the real thing! Carli came to help with Lincoln that afternoon when she got done with school and then decided to take him to the highschool football game so that I could get some rest. My Dr. called me that afternoon as well and told me to take Tylenol and come in first thing the next morning to get checked. I didn't know how I would possibly make it through another night! When Derek got home we ate dinner (that my sweet cousin Heidi made for us) and decided to play a little Mario Kart to get my mind off of it. We started around 6:30 which is exactly when my contractions started to come 5 minutes apart. After driving off the Mario Kart track several times I decided to quit and focus on getting through the contractions. We called my brother to come and help give me another blessing so that I could somehow get comfortable enough to rest. By the time he was ready to leave our house I knew it was time to get to the hospital! I took a shower and got my bag and got in the car as fast as I possibly could...which isn't very fast when you're dying every 2 minutes! I told Derek he had about 5 minutes to get me to the hospital or else I really would die. On the way there I called my Dad, who was out of town, and Derek's Dad to let them know I was on my way to have the baby. I knew this was it.

When we arrived at the hospital the nurses took one good look at my make-up smeared face and knew I was in total agony. They grabbed me a wheelchair, rushed me to a room, got me in a gown and threw me in a bed. One of the nursed told me she knew I'd have the baby that night. I really didn't believe her because it was a 17 hour process with Linc. Anyway, I asked for an epidural right away but they insisted that I get an IV and get one bag of fluid in me before they'd even call the anesthesiologist. GRR! So, while I waited in pain, I had Derek working like mad to keep me comfortable. He got me warm blankets every so often to put on my hand where the IV was and he pushed my legs as hard as he could up to my stomach whenever I contracted. When the fluid was about empty the nurse called for my epidural. There were 3 woman ahead of me! I barely survived. The anesthesiologist finally came when I was at a 7! The epidural was slow to work and actually never fully worked on my left side, but it was enough to take the edge off. My Mom had been helping settle Linc down at home witht the twins and made it to the hospital around ten. She looked like an angel as she came in the room. There's nothing like having your Mom there when you're about ready to give birth! She took over Derek's job and let him relax for a bit.

Finally at about 10:45pm they broke my water. The Dr checked me and I was at a 9 so he quickly got everything ready and I was pushing by 11:25pm. The epidural makes me sick (but I'd rather be sick then in pain) so I pushed once and then felt like I was going to throw up. I knew I had no strength to push again so they sat me up and gave me a bowl on my next contraction. As I threw up, out shot little Carter...that easy!

He was perfect from the start! I love how warm babies are at first, and my favorite thing was to hold Carter to my chest and gaze into his beautiful eyes. What a sweet moment. We love our little Carter Bug!