A LITTLE BIT OF 2014

a few things we have been up to this year...

we enjoyed some grandpa and grandma lovin' time during daron's parents visit to california just after new years. i can't say enough how sweet these two are with carter.

we embarked on our first carousel ride. carter had a panic attack at the beginning but by the end i was peeling him off.

"teething, the pain that never ends!" i spent a lot time singing this little one-liner in many different tunes. carter's teeth come in soOo slowly. my mom came to the rescue giving carter things like sorbet and ice cream for breakfast. a perk you get when living with your mom is all of her genius ideas!

golden spoon dates. i can't tell you how happy it makes me to have a little sidekick when i get fro-yo now. i used to have to satisfy my craving all by myself but now i have a little buddy that likes it just as much as i do. scarrrrrrryyyy i know! ;)

i even share with him. i've grown up so much... sigh...

takin' advantage of 80 degree winter days (while the rest of the country freezes their buns off). i couldn't enjoy it as much because it felt so unfair!

some dad time. we can never get enough of him.

disneyland weekly. california, you spoil us!

my sister's surprise 30th birthday party. i always told my mom it was going to be really weird for me when shalice turned 30. it feels like yesterday that she was doing make-overs on me and my friends giving us all the best tips and teaching us how to pluck our eyebrows. oh, and my favorite - telling me (when i was 5 years old) "boys have two balls not one, duh." you gotta love older siblings ;) anyway, it surprised me when i didn't mind her 30th birthday at all, i actually sort of loved it. 

watched my child go from being a baby to a toddler. i kept trying to be sad about it but this whole toddler thing is way too much fun. 

quality papa time. i remember when my dad used to throw me in the air like that! sometimes i wish he still could...

being partners in crime yelling at the seagulls through the window. 

starting to show a whole lotta personality! 

playing peek-a-boo anywhere and everywhere - at church, the grocery store, in line for the rockets ride, through the window, below the bed, you name it - we've played peek-a-boo there.

giving the open-mouth-baby-kisses. possibly, my most favorite thing in the entire world. baby kisses have a way of making you feel so special. 

and finally (finally!) carter is starting to discover how awesome cuddling is. it's only for brief amounts of time but i will take what i can get.

becoming quite the helper.

eating kumquats in our birthday suit. a daily ritual really. for him, of course! i wish ;)

oh, my one documentation that the holidays existed. we gave carter a xylophone for Christmas and he decided about 2 months later that he liked it. better late then never, right!?

enjoying a quick get-a-way to palm springs with friends. palm springs is incredible but the company was even better. next time, i'll try and get a picture of our awesome friends.

me and this guy... we aren't so opposite anymore! i'm slowly entering the blonde world. i really like it! 

discovering sprinkles mini-cupcakes and re-enacting our first-year-birthday-cupcake smash. only this time it was while shopping. not the smartest idea i've ever had...

the before

and after...

(i'm not kidding when i say this kid smells chocolate from a mile away. a boy after his mama's heart. or very sweet, chocolaty tasting breast milk)

speaking of breast milk, we also started weaning. i'm crushed. he doesn't even notice. 

look at him. happy as a clam with his milk in a bottle. i only heard stories of it being hard for the baby not the mom!

riding the giant ferris wheel at irvine spectrum. definitely one of our favorite activities.

and lastly, another daily ritual - eating lunch on the steps.

some days we are lucky and we can snatch dad to come join us!

2014 has been so good to us! i was thinking to myself the other day how i could not believe it was already march. i was trying to remember what we have been doing these past few months but it all seemed like a black hole. one reason i love blogging is it helps me sequence my life better. i can recall events much easier and life doesn't seem as much of a blur. 

going through these pictures reminded me of how good this year has been. i look at carter's smile and it screams joy to me. i love it! 2012 and 2013 were stretching years for me. daron and i learned so much and went through so many changes. it's been fun to have a year that is low-key. life is predictable for the most part and just going smoothly. i am going to soak it all in before another set of growing pains.