the top 6 moments of our week

#1 when daron decided to give us a v-day surprise and come home from work an hour early. 

best surprise ever. 

#2 finally visiting daron at his office and showing carter what i mean when i answer his daily question of, "mama, where dad go?" and i say "he's at work, carter!"

#3 finding a sweet hand-written note by daron hidden under the carton of eggs after breakfast. why are love notes so awesome? 

#4 the look on carter's face when he saw his first, ever "art project" hanging up on the wall. 
(finger painted paper hearts)

he. was. beaming.

#5 when this sweet boy gave daron's co-worker an out-of-the-blue hug and kiss on the cheek. carter, you are the sweetest!

#6 catching carter furiously stuffing his mouth with marshmallows before i could take them away. also, yelling at me from his car seat, "mama! stop singing!" when i try and sing along with the terribly annoying cd he is obsessed with. is he already too cool for me!? oh and then there was hearing carter say "instagam" and "oh my gosh" for the first time. he sounded so old and so... millenial? 

okay, that was like 4 things in one but i can't help myself.

#7 realizing i forgot my wallet while checking out of trader joes with a cart full of groceries and a busy toddler screaming, "let me walk!!!!" 





ooooooohhh wait... that moment belongs on a different list! ;)

baby bump #2: 28 weeks

over labor day weekend of 2014, we found out we were expecting! 

when i found out i was pregnant with carter, i was in complete shock. 

this time around, i cried tears of joy. 

i had been a little suspicious during mine and carter's stay in utah that i might be pregnant because i couldn't eat too much without feeling a little woozy, i was peeing constantly, and every time i went for a jog, my legs felt like lead - exactly how they felt before i knew i was pregnant with carter. however, i had convinced myself that i was pregnant a few times over the summer only to learn that i wasn't, so i was doing my best to shrug off the subtle symptoms.

once we got to the uintas for our horseback riding trip, i started to get really suspicious. i wanted nothing to do with the costco size bag of peanut m&ms the entire trip. i knew then that somethin' was up!

i expected this pregnancy to be exactly the same as carter's. all of my mom's pregnancies were similar and so were my sisters and so i figured i would follow suit. then, surprise! i quickly realized this pregnancy was very different.

the nausea was much more intense. the only way i found relief from it was while sitting in the bath. i was much more tired this time around too. my hair was falling out instead of getting thicker. (with carter, my friends all called my hair "my horses pony tail" because it was so thick and long). it also lost all of its volume in an awful way. around 15 weeks, i couldn't take the "limp hair" (as what to expect calls it - yes, there's a name for it!) and i chopped it off. i also never got that pregnancy glow or the 2nd trimester "pep in my step" i felt with carter. throughout the 2nd trimester, i was still nauseous and having really intense headaches. i kept giving myself deadlines for when i was going to feel better but the dead lines would come and go while the nausea stayed. i finally realized i should expect that i might be sick the whole time. 

i wish i could say i have handled the whole sick every day thing really well and have been positive and happy and a peach to be around but then i'd be lying. it sounds weird but i haven't felt like myself. it has felt as though someone zapped all the enthusiasm for life right out of me. a few other physical symptoms i think have played a part in this but i will spare you the details of those because trust me - they are TMI.

eventually, at 27 weeks, i woke up to a text from a sweet friend of mine (who is also expecting and has a similar due date) congratulating me on making it to the 3rd trimester! i read her text and almost cried. 

i couldn't believe it. this whole time i had been avoiding thinking about how many weeks i was because time had been passing painfully slow. i hadn't realized how far i had come! my little nauseous body felt a renewed sense of energy and i was filled with hope.  

since then, everything has been better. i feel exactly the same physically and emotionally but everything is better. isn't it funny how that works? it all seems doable to me now. i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. and it's finally late enough in the game that i can really start focusing on this little girl being here and not feel like i am getting ahead of myself. i know this change of attitude is a gift from the heavens. i feel as though God is letting me borrow some of His optimism because i was having a hard time having any on my own. 

cheers to 12 ish more weeks!

^^this picture- because this boy has my heart and this spontaneous kiss made my day

glimpses of spring

over the weekend, we noticed glimpses of spring have sprung up all around our new home of san diego! the blossoms are beautiful, even carter was a little mesmerized by them. he kept asking me to lift him up so he could pick the flowers from the trees. every time i lift that kid up he yells, "mommy, higher! higher!" or "mommy, i wanna be tall!" i always feel so exasperated trying to stretch these midget arms of mine as far as they can go. in the end, they never can lift him high enough! carter always has the most confused look on his face when i set him down and try and explain to him that my 5'1 self just cannot lift him that high. it's no wonder why he always wants daron to hold him, the view is way cooler in dad's arms! 

seeing these blossoms everywhere put butterflies in my stomach. for 7 months, i've been telling everyone this baby is coming in spring annnnddd it's dawning on me that spring is almost here! i'm officially feeling some urgency to start preparing for this baby. ya know, like maybe buying some diapers, a few clothes, ... wait, my mind went blank. what else do you need for a newborn again? don't even ask me which double stroller we want because i don't have a clue! i also, still, haven't decided whether i want to go medicated or unmedicated when i deliver this baby. i've sort of been in denial that i will have to push this baby out. speaking of deliveries and pushing babies out, i think it's time i share carter's birth story on this blog because can i just tell you... it is a really good one! 

friday favs

we had an interesting week over here. sunday was rough. i wasn't a very good mom. i vowed to do better monday. monday was one of those blissful days. then came tuesday. tuesday was worse than sunday. i plan to forget tuesday. thank heavens i have a mom who reminded me {after tuesday's events} i'm not the worst mom in the world no matter how much i feel like it. patience is a virtue that i am really working on right now and i'm afraid possibly for forever. 

now, i can't stop laughing at some of the moments from that day i plan to forget; like, when i sort of tried to hypnotize my child so he would take a nap... he was so desperate for sleep. the crazed, irrational 2-year-old was in full force throughout the day. we finally got in the car to meet daron for dinner and i knew we weren't going to make it if carter didn't get some serious shut eye. only problem was we were driving and he never, and i mean never, falls asleep in his car seat anymore. airplanes, tractors, bulldozers and crane trucks are just way, way too exciting. 

at a stoplight, i found myself typing the words, "put to sleep hypnosis" in youtube. i thought twice as i was typing those words since i was exhausted myself and driving, but the hesitation didn't last long. i felt totally pathetic. i just kept thinking, "i'm crazy. am i seriously trying to hypnotize my child so he will sleep right now???"

thankfully, the week slowly got better. this age is somethin' else. carter's new thing is to call me, "babe" and "honey." 

"babe! i need a fork!"

"babe! sit by you."

"mama, do you need a drink honey?"

"yeah, i want some nuts. thank you, honey."

and now, thanks to me, after saying my name 23 times in a row, if i haven't looked he holds up one finger and says, "mommy, listen" with a little stern look in his eye to go with it! that's when i think, "is this kid for real!?"

i'm sure glad i love roller coasters because this 2-year-old takes me on one almost every day. hi five to weekends when dad gets to ride the roller coaster with us!

oh, and if you're curious, the hypnosis video totally worked. ;) 

froyo dates with carter

mine and carter's froyo dates go a little something like this...

we both order chocolate.
i get peanut butter cups, he gets m&ms.
he starts out happy as a clam with his own yogurt. 

about half way through, ever so subtly, my adorable date sneaks bites from my yogurt (usually my peanut butter cups) when i'm not looking-
like, when i need to run inside to grab more napkins, dig for a wipe, or check my phone. 

after quietly snatching bites from under my nose, he eventually starts pushing his own yogurt away until mine is comfortably placed in front of him.

inevitably, i call him out...
and he yells with his sly little grin, "i got mommys!"
like it just magically happened!

after a while, i give up.
i put him in my lap and we share both of our yogurts together,
all the while, screaming things like "big bite! big bite!" & "mommy, i got chocolate!"

how come everything taste better when it's not yours?

(i ask myself this every time i am stealing daron's meal when we go out to eat. sigh... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!)

THE USS MIDWAY

we took a little trip downtown to see the uss midway museum with my parents and grandparents. the ship is in a beautiful part of the harbor and the view of downtown is pretty stellar when on the top deck. i didn't expect there to be so many airplanes on the ship. carter was in pure boyhood heaven. it's amazing to me how much joy planes, trains, and automobiles bring him. i've had to really step up my knowledge of all three! there is a really inspiring video you can watch of a few of the heroes that served on the aircraft carrier. i totally teared up. and probably for the first time in the last 7 months not because of crazy hormones making me emotional. i always tear up learning about war heroes. they are incredible.

 ^my sweet grandma & grandpa clegg

or "grandma gg" and "papa clegg" as carter calls them

 thanks to this guy, i had to play pilot of the airplane alone. carter was horrified by the fake people. my mom felt so bad for him. i thought it was quite funny. they were a little startling when we first saw them. 

i love this little interaction of carter with my dad and mom. it's so classic of my dad.

^"carter, which one is your favorite??"

and... we still think "cheese" is "cheeks." i'm not tellin' him. nope, i'm not. maybe when he is 3.

on the daily

(jennifer winder photography) 

a few things that carter doesn't go a day without saying or doing...

in the morning {while still in his crib waiting for me to get him}
"mom. moooOOOOooom! mom! where are ooo?" 

once i'm in his room, he makes sure he is under a blanket and as i lean over the crib he throws the blanket off while yelling, "boooooooooo!"

as i bring him upstairs for breakfast, he buries his face into the blanket on my shoulder yelling, "too bright! too bright!"

before nap time and bedtime he asks, "mommy snuggle snuggle?" and "mommy, yook at pictures please?"
we proceed to snuggle under a blanket on the couch and look at pictures on my phone and tell stories.

before he can sleep he must throw all of the stuffed animals friends he wants to sleep with in his crib. there are about 10 different stuffed animals that sleep with him. a few have top priority though. he isn't sleeping if he doesn't have his penguin, whale, mr. owl and his {ginormous} dog. 

once he's up, he throws them from his crib to "their home" - a basket next to the crib.

if i sneeze or cough, "bless you mommy!"

phrases that don't make sense unless you replace "you" with "me."

"mommy... come which you, come which you?"
                     hold you, hold you?"
                     play which you, play which you?"

{oh, i guess you need replace which with with, too! and everything is always on repeat. always.}

once daron is home from work, "daddy wrestle?"

and for my personal favorite, 
{the last thing he does before he goes to sleep}
"mommy, hugs kisses?"

i melt every. time.