Under Construction!

I have noticed lately how much my blog stinks. I mean, I know I am really not much of a blogger in the first place, but I at least want it to look pretty! Right now it looks like I just picked the most basic layout and fonts (which I did) and didn't put any effort into it (which is also true). But those of you who know me best, (my husband especially) know how computer illiterate I actually am. I had a hard time just figuring out how to create an account on facebook (that really took me a long time and I had to have a roommate do it for me). It really makes no sense, seeing how I have been surrounded by computer savvy people all my life, and then married a computer genius ;) But I guess when that monumental computer moment happened in my life, where it would either make me or break me, turning me into a computer know-how or a just a computer NO-HOW- something didn't click and I turned down that dark road of technology ignorance.

BUT! I will not let this interfere with my changing my whole life around and making something of my online self. My blog WILL be beautiful and I WILL make you all jealous! Muahahahaha! And... I will probably end up getting my husband to do most of the work, while under the guise of "showing me how to do it", but secretly I wont have the slightest idea what he is talking about.

For example, my loving sister gave me a couple of links I could follow to help me get some cool fonts and also to make a signature (the signature I finally ended up doing after like an hour and a half of trying... but look how pretty it looks?!!! :) Getting the fonts seemed easy enough but after trying to follow the tutorial I got pretty lost and spent pretty much the entire day yesterday confusing myself over and over again until finally i just said "FORGET IT!" (literally I said it out loud and in utter despair.) When Kaleb got home I asked him to help me and at first he wasn't sure what the tutorial was talking about, but then after a moment or so once he figured out what the end goal was, he had it finished within minutes. MINUTES!!! It had taken me hours. HOURS!! And then he had the nerve to say in his super smart and sexy way something like this- "I could have done that a completely different way and saved you a whole lot of time." Well, I wish I had known that yesterday morning when I first attempted to do it. I secretly thought if I could do it myself then I could show him that I had computer smarts too, but it ended up totally backfiring. Ugh! Hahaha, he is so smart though. I wish I had even 1% of his computer knowledge.

So, from now until... whenever I get it done, things will probably look somewhat ugly. Things will be stretched, smooshed, cut off, not color coordinated, fonts will be too big, too little, or just won't match, huge gaps may be apparent, but don't worry- I am working on it! (well, hopefully I am- I may have just given up and this is what it is going to look like for good :) Be patient with me and know I am doing this for YOU and for your visual pleasure. And for my ego :D And to those 5 readers that I have, thank you for actually reading and being my friends!!!!

Tautphaus Park Zoo

last Saturday I wanted to go to the Zoo for my birthday and we just crossed our fingers that the weather would be good. It rained on Friday but when we woke up on Saturday the sun was out and shining in all its glory! I was soooo happy until we actually went outside and realized even though the sun was out, it was still freezing cold! And to top it off, on our way to the Zoo it started to snow! But we were all bundled up and decided just to face whatever weather came our way. It started out pretty nice but by the end it was a downpour so we had to leave the Zoo quickly. All in all it was a nice time though. Carter loves seeing cats and dogs so I thought he would just LOVE the Zoo but it turns out he couldn't care less about the animals. He just wanted to climb on all of the fences and run away from us at top speeds. We went with our friends and their little girl who is Carter age and she sat there in awe looking at all of the animals. She even tried to say their names and was pretty successful at it. Talking? What does Carter care about talking?! There are way too many more important things than learning how to speak! Haha, that is pretty much where Carter is on that. Oh well, I am working on it with him. It doesn't help that he won't sit still for two seconds and learn words with me. He is just too busy moving all over the place and getting into every possible thing he can reach. That is pretty much how he was at the Zoo too. I think it might have been better if there were more animals he could have seen. many of the animals, especially the ones in water, were not out to see because it was too cold for them. Even the alligators, which Kaleb and I love, were not there. :( Tautphaus Park Zoo is the largest Zoo in Idaho.... which sounds really cool, until you stop to think about just how many Zoo's are actually IN Idaho. Then you realize that it is not hard to be the largest Zoo when there are like 3 in all of Idaho :) It still was a fun day that we got to spend with good friends. We will for sure go back when the weather warms up for good!

The lion was sleeping the WHOLE time we were there!

Zebras are my favorite!

This peacock was like inches away from me. It followed us everywhere.

Peacocks are so beautiful! Too bad it was such a dreary day or else its colors would have been much more vivid.

Riding his very own tiger!

Walking with the wild cats!

Riding the chicken with Addison

Looking at the Penguins

Monkey's!!

Kaleb measuring up to an Eagle

Llama llama llamas!
Carter loved looking through this window because it was just his size

LOVED this drinking fountain!

Awe! Holding hands with his good buddy Addison

Good thing he didn't hatch from something this size! It would have killed me

In his cozy little nest

Carter's absolute favorite part was feeding the goats at the petting zoo

He had NO FEAR! He loved them!

We needed a lot of hand sanitizer after this! It was pretty gross

New best friends :)

Another favorite!

Man, these guys can open their mouths so wide! It was kind of scary! They kept pecking at our feet. Good thing we had food to give them!

It may not look like it, but Carter was all the way at the other side of the clearing we were standing in. It was just one of the many times he tried to run away from us. As frustrating as it was, it was kind of cute how he would turn around to see if we were chasing him :)

Looking at more monkey's! My hand covered the flash on accident so Carters face is a little bright.

Ugh, I spoke too soon!

For the past two days its been freezing cold and raining. I shouldn't have been so optimistic about the sunshine! I cursed our good weather! Today at least the sun is out, but its still cold and windy. Oh well, at least our grass is getting watered so it can be nice and green so we can impress the neighbors! Haha, keeping up with the Joneses isn't easy around these parts! I feel bad for Carter though, he has been so used to going outside everyday and now he's been cooped up in doors. He is getting cabin fever and driving me crazy in the process! Lets hope its sunny next week because we are going to the Zoo for my birthday. Carter has never been, but he loves animals so I am excited for him to go. Keep your fingers crossed that the sun will come out and play!

Finally, Some Warm Weather Worth Mentioning! (How's that for alliteration?!)

For months now the weather just has been so stubborn and fickle. One day it will be beautiful and warm, and the next there will be snow covering the ground and it will be FREEZING! The wind doesn't help one bit. But for the past week and a half straight its been in the 70's! It has been so nice in fact that I just can't seem to stay inside! Carter and I have been going on walks and playing in the yard (which is now freshly mowed and rid of all the dead grass that the gross spiders have been living in- yuck!). Our friend Charlotte and her little girl Bree have been playing with us everyday. Bree and Carter are the same age so its been so much fun for him. I love getting out of the house and having another female adult I can talk to and actually hold a conversation with. Its been so nice! I forget how to talk adult sometimes because I am so used to saying all of the baby things Carter says. Here are some highlights of our recently warm days.

Playing in the tunnel

Playing in the other tunnel

Charlotte and Bree

Putting the lens cap back on for me

Taking a swig of his juice. It was hot!

Giving each other hugs

Playing with his balloon kite :)
The twin slides were so much fun

He loved crawling through the tunnels

Playing in the dirt where he didn't think I could see him :)

Lets hope this warm weather lasts. Its time to get out and start the gardening! We are ripping some trees and shrubs out to make a garden and then replanting the trees somewhere else in our yard. We want to make both a vegetable and flower garden and I am excited to improve the look of our yard! It is pretty boring and ugly at the moment. Sometime this summer we want to also redo our deck. It is kind of small and really weather worn. Hopefully we will be doubling its size and re-staining it the color we want. Stay tuned for updated on how that is progressing (or not progressing depending on if we even get around to it!).

4 Days and Counting!

So this week has been completely useless. We leave on Friday for Milan, and I can't focus on anything! My house is a mess, I haven't hardly cooked at all- or at least planned ahead with what I am going to cook it mostly just turns out to be last minute chicken or pasta (pasta... go figure right ?:) I just want to spend all my time engrossed in my plans for Italy! Ugh, it is really bad. I feel bad for Carter! He has gotten to be really good at playing by himself all week because I am reading or on the computer just learning about the places we will visit, or the areas we will be in. If I am this excited, I wonder how Kaleb feels? I keep asking him if he is excited and he just says "of course" and then goes on like its not even that big of a deal. Secretly I know he is more excited than I will ever be. He calls Italy his birthplace. We eat some variation of pasta at least 5 nights a week. He pretty mush considers English to be his second language now, like Italian was in him from the moment he first spoke. He wants to cover one whole wall of our house with a giant Italian flag.... The word obsessed comes to mind and it would be the correct term to give to Kaleb. I think I may be more excited that Kaleb finally gets to go back to Italy, than for me to be going for my first time. I know me and Carter are #1 on his priority list, but #2 would be Italy, and it is a close close race. Actually, #2 would be tied between Italy and computers.... but that is just a side note. :)

We are leaving Carter with my in-laws and I am pretty nervous. Not to leave him with them, but to leave him at all for two and a half weeks! Any suggestions on what I can do to be less anxious about it? I am excited to leave him so that I can have a two week 2nd honeymoon with Kaleb, but I have never left Carter before. I dont want my anxiety affecting the trip at all. And part of me is worried I will never see carter again- like maybe something will happen to him while I am gone. I know that is just silly, but I also think every mom in the world feels that way a little bit when leaving their children. UGH! Give me words of comfort!! haha. I was also worried about me dying and what would happen to Carter, but I feel a lot more at ease now that we have decided who would take Carter and that he would be taken care of and loved. I think most of my anxiety has come from the many many people who keep telling us that we should write a will. I mean, I hear that everywhere I go! I am really not planning on dying, but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

As for an update on Carter, last week he has all of a sudden started throwing temper tantrums! If he doesnt get what he wants, his whole body goes limp and he falls to the floor and kicks his feet and screams. I thought this is what terrible two's were like?!! It's not supposed to be terrible 15 month olds! Any advice on how to get him to stop? Nicely?! Haha, not that he has really ever listened to me up to this point. He is pretty much a "my way or the highway" kind of a baby. I just have a hard time finding ways to discipline him since he never listens or cares no matter how I discipline him. And I thought girls were supposed to be the rebellious hard headed ones and boys the sweet and nice ones?! :) Well here are some pictures of Carter since I have never posted any on here.

Lately he has become extremely attached to the binky! I think its because he is getting his molars and he chews on it constantly.

He loves to brush his teeth! His toothbrush is always in his mouth and he always gets the tube of baby toothpaste and brings it to me so that I can put it on his brush. Nothing like good oral hygiene!

The blowdryer is one of his favorite toys. Let me rephrase- the blowdryer when turned ON is one of his favorite toys!

Always making faces.... I dont know if that is a good thing or a bad thing?! :)

One day soon, after I post pictures from Italy and such, I will post pictures of Carter from birth until now. I feel bad I havent put anything on here of him.... But I will! Highlights of his life are soon to come! :)