FOUR!

The first thing I woke up to on Carter's big day was his smiling face asking me when he got to open his presents. I thought I loved my birthday a lot... but it turns out my son blows me out of the water. He couldn't stop hugging and kissing the balloons we set out for him the night before and the entire morning he would randomly burst, "I love my birthday!"

Our morning was a repeat of Daron's birthday, pumpkin pancakes and blowing out candles. Except this time we skipped the bacon. Carter doesn't like it either... thank goodness! 

My friends (who Carter calls his "second aunties") were the best and surprised us all by stopping by! It was so sweet and made Carter feel so special. While Carter was eating his pancakes, Lindsay and Jessica asked Carter what he is going to do when he is 5 and he said "Go to Disneyland." (I took note to remember that one!) and then they asked, "What about when you're 6?" and he said, "Oh, then I'll be all grown up like my dad..." hahaha. I got a kick out of that one. 

We decided Daron would take Carter to Legoland while Naomi and I would stay home. I hold every one back if we are anywhere where you walk... and Naomi was still under the weather from not feeling well. I captured Daron and Carter before they left but Daron forgot to take pictures at Legoland! It broke my heart a little... I was so excited to see his face on the rides. Daron snapped a ton while he was there but then tried to look at the videos and didn't realize you can't go back and save your snaps unless they are on your story... haha! Snap chat isn't Daron's thing. But seriously, it's the first app where I had to explain to Daron how it worked... unheard of!

We immediately opened presents when Daron and Carter got back.  The day overall was wonderful but there were quite a few "mom fails." Daron and I had no gift for him. I'll spare that whole story but mom. fail.

Luckily, Grandpa and Grandma's gift came on time(!) and Carter rushed inside from Legoland ready to rip open their gift. I took lots of adorable pictures of Carter opening their present and was so excited to look at them and then my camera informed me there was no memory card. 

Mom fail #2.

Linnea and Steve got Carter a hot wheels set that he played with the rest of the afternoon until dinner. 

For dinner we ordered pizza and the pizza guy asked if I was babysitting. #winning (Somehow he missed the 8 months pregnant bump?) While eating pizza, Naomi was doing her best to say, "Happy Birthday!" I'm still sad I didn't catch that on video. 

After dinner was cake and more candles!

^Not pictured is the frosting that got all over in my hair from that kiss. Worth it of course.

We put a sick Naomi to bed early and made the best decision of the night which was to cuddle with Carter in our bed until he fell asleep. We talked all about the day and his favorite parts -blowing out candles and opening his presents!- and then I told Carter all the reasons I loved him while tickling his back. When I was done, he looked up and said, "Mom, I love you for giving me my birthday."

He doesn't understand obviously why that is so fitting but it made me melt anyway. I could tell he was trying to say "thank you" but it came out like that and it was so sweet.

The next day Carter kept asking if he was getting more presents. At first, I was thinking he was ungrateful but then he finally asked if Daron or I had a gift for him -enter a knife to the chest. I should have put together that my birthday-obsessed child would notice his parents didn't get him a gift. He also was really sad that we didn't get him a birthday card. Mom fails, people. What number are we on? 4? 

Happy Birthday, Carter! Oh, how I love celebrating your special day with you. Next year, I'll try really hard to have zero mom fails but even if I do, promise to love me anyway! xoxo

THIRTY!

Daron turned the big 3-0 on Saturday! I can't believe this day came. It snuck up on me. I've been dragging my feet for Daron and I to leave our twenties while Daron has been so anxious to turn 30. He's been so excited. 

The day started out with hot, pumpkin pancakes and Carter begging to be allowed to blow out Dad's candles with him.

^Naomi's cheese in the background! haha

Our birthday boy was a good sport when his candles started tipping over because the pancakes were so hot!

I also cooked thick cut bacon for the meal. Each year, I make bacon once... for Daron's birthday! (I'm not a bacon fan) And this year I totally ruined it. Daron was also a really good sport about that. Poor guy. I think I'll start making bacon more than once a year for him so I get it right on his big day!

After breakfast, we headed out to Moonlight beach to reserve a pit for his party and hang out with the kids. The weather was truly perfect and the sky was a beautiful blue as we hung out on the sand while the kids played. 

Don't mind Carter who quickly lost his shorts once we made our way down to the water...

^I have so many pictures of me like this with my dad when I was little...

Carter was off doing his own thing. Naomi was her usual self not leaving our side. She had a particular love for putting sand all over Daron. It was really cute.

We all went home and got ready for Daron's party that night. Daron said an ideal birthday for him would be to see as many of his old and new friends as possible and catch up with people. So that's what we did. We reserved a pit where we had dinner catered and then had desserts and smores around the fire. The plan was to not have the kids there either but I made a grave mistake telling Carter all week we were running errands for Dad's party!!! It slipped my mind to mention that he wasn't invited...

We ended up letting him and Naomi come for the beginning and then endured a 10-minute-very-sad melt down when it was time for him to go home with my parents and the babysitter. Rookie mistake!

And now... for the 4 pictures I got all night. Some day I'm going to figure out how to throw a party and document it so we can remember it!

I'm glad we sang to Daron that morning because the candles would not stay lit at the beach. And unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of all who came out for the party! A big thank you to everyone who came out. We had such a great time seeing everyone.

Oh, and one more necessary picture...

Daron with the sign my mom and I made for him.  He was horrified I had a big sign up with his name on it. (We are soooOOoo opposite, ha!) I told him the sign had to stay up because my mom and I slaved over the dumb thing and I had to endure a very, very VERY nice man's BO (he saw my mom and I majorly struggling and came over to help us) to get that thing up so the sign was staying... then he decided to take a goofy picture next to it to amuse me. 

Again, a good sport!

Daron deserves to feel special on his birthday every year but I was so hoping he would this year. He not only turned the big 30 but also has been through some long months with me and this pregnancy. He never complains and is always so helpful. And through all my pregnant grumpiness, he is still the happiest, most loving Dad. I'm convinced Daron is one of the greatest Dad's on the planet. The job comes so naturally to him. 

We love you so much, Daron! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVER! 

HALLOWEEN WEEKEND

Our Halloween weekend started off with a bang at the Pumpkin Station Pumpkin Patch in Del Mar. I knew Carter was going to be in heaven but I didn't anticipate the excitement from Naomi! She couldn't stop flapping her arms and bursting out in giggles all night. I realized once I was at the pumpkin patch I forgot to charge my camera... hate when that happens. But Kristy from the BoysAHoy blog was nice enough to take a family picture of us and a few of our pumpkins...

The pumpkin patch isn't much but the kids have the best time. It's totally magical to them. And I was mesmermized by the gorgeous sunset that we played under all night. The sky was incredible last year, too. Pictures will never do it justice, but it really is somethin' else!

The rest of the pictures are from our ward Trunk or Treat party. I hear a lot of stories of kids changing their mind about what they want to be for Halloween but this was not the case for Carter. He told people for two months he was going to be a "race car" and so I knew what I had to do! We ended up just building around him making Daron "the driver," Naomi a stoplight and I was "Ms. Green m&m" - their sponsor. Costumes were a stretch but I was just proud I got us all in something. I have this problem when I am pregnant where it's really hard to care about life. That sounds sad and depressing and it kind of is but I become so apathetic! I have to force myself to care about everything. Anyway, I can write more on that later.

Sunday, we carved pumpkins. Daron kept telling Carter to pull out the seeds and Carter kept saying, "But Dad! It's so uncomfortable!" (Like Father like son! Daron's mom has told me stories about how Daron refused to touch the inside of a pumpkin when he was little... hahaha. Carter ended up going for it but it made me laugh.) He also had us set the carved pumpkins right by his bed. Every time I walked by his room, I got a little scare! 

The actual day of Halloween was kind of sad. I woke up feeling terrible. I had plans to take the kids trick or treating until dinner time. I was trying to finish the chili I made but couldn't. My head was spinning, my nausea was way worse than normal and I was on the verge of tears. Daron convinced me to stay home and put Naomi down who was exhausted and to let him and Carter go. It was for the best but it made me so sad. Daron and Carter came home on a Halloween high. Carter was giggling like crazy and Daron couldn't stop talking about how fun trick or treating was with him. 

Halloween 2017 better be ready for us because I will be making up for lost time!