It's been a while....

I can't believe how long it has been since I blogged!  Life has been very busy, so I stopped blogging for a while.  But I decided to get back on top of it after looking through my blog last night and seeing all the pictures of my sweet Jackson boy.  I often write down thoughts in my journal, but I loved seeing pictures that went along with some of my memories.  I sometimes feel sad that my children are growing so fast, and I hope that this blog will be a fun way for our family to look back, and better remember, some fun things about our lives.  

Since I last blogged our family has had a major change....Jace David Carter joined our family on September 16, 2012.  He has brought so much joy to our lives.  I often wondered how I could love another baby as much as Jackson, but I felt my heart grow the moment I saw my sweet Jace.  He is the happiest, smiliest baby ever!  His whole body shakes when he smiles because he is so happy.  All you have to do to get him to smile is look at him:)  It is pretty fun.  He is now 5 months old and 21 lbs. He is starting to sit on his own, rolls from his back to his tummy, and has his hands figured out pretty good.  He is working on cutting TEN teeth right now.  None have broken the surface yet, but his gums are very swollen where ten little teeth are obviously working their way down. 

Jace has battled a fistula and abscess on his little bottom for most of his short life.  He had surgery on it in December, and we have been trying to help it heal ever since.  Sadly, he went in for a second surgery yesterday.  They basically cut out all the infection, and leave a big open wound.  Then we get the awful task of wiping the wound out every time he has a bowel movement.  He also spends a lot of time in the tub to keep it as clean as possible.  I don't mind the washing part, but my heart breaks every time I have to clean out the wound. I wish so badly that I could take the pain for my sweet baby, all I can hope is that someday soon this will all be over.   I was worried he would be so fussy when he came out of anesthesia  since he wasn't allowed to eat for several hours.   But we came to the recovery room to find him smiling up at the two nurses caring for him.  Even with cutting a mouth full of teeth, and a sore bum, he is the sweetest little guy.  We love him so much, and are so grateful to have him in our family!

Jackson is currently 2.5 and is an awesome big brother!  He adores Jace, and is constantly begging to hold him.  Jackson is so creative and imaginative.  He is constantly using his imagination, and I love watching him play.  He dances, and jumps, and runs in circles all day long.  One of my favorite things about Jackson lately is how he accidentally mixes words.  A few of my favorites: hair gel is "Jello", bow is "rainbow", robot is "rainbot", birth mark is "marker".  He is growing up to be such a happy, funny, sweet boy that we love so much!

Life with two kids is a bit crazy, but wonderful.  Brad keeps himself busy with work at USU, web design, running numerous websites, laying carpet, and being an awesome daddy and hubby.  I am happy that I get to spend each day hanging out with my two handsome little dudes. I feel so blessed and very lucky!  

Brad is gone camping with the 11 year old scouts tonight. I hope they don't freeze to death! It is supposed to snow tonight. I am glad I am home in my warm house and not in a cold sleeping bag. So I figured now would be a good time to give a little update of what we've been doing this fall...

Jackson has become a much better eater. One of his new favorite foods is spaghetti. This was his second helping:)
We've been learning to make our own pizza. Brad made this beauty all by himself, even made the crust from scratch! It was so delicious we made it two nights in a row:)

We've been enjoying our last warm days of the year. Jackson loves going to the park by our house. He always snuggles with me like this on the swing. I love it!
We also love going on walks. We have a beautiful trail by our house that runs along the Logan River.
Jackson has been getting his first set of molars. See the lovely drool on his shirt?;) And he learned to copy Brad's "o" face!
We've carved some nice pumpkins. Here is one of Brad's pumpkins this year.
And we had fun with this cute little monkey!
Well that's it for my random post of pictures. We have had a wonderful fall and are getting so excited for the holidays!

Jackson is 1! What?!

My sweet little Jackson turned 1 on August 8th. This last year has been the best year of our lives. Brad and I can't imagine our family without Jackson and are so grateful everyday to be his parents. I still can't believe a whole year has gone by; it went way too fast!

We celebrated Jackson's birthday with a family party. Jackson was totally spoiled by everyone. Being the only grandbaby on both sides will do that I guess:) I even made Jackson a dairy free cupcake, since he has a milk allergy, which he wanted nothing to do with. Oh well! We had so much fun being with our family and enjoying the beautiful day.

Jackson is at such a fun age. He is walking, starting to talk, gives the sweetest kisses, points at everything, and loves exploring every little detail that surrounds him. His favorite things right now are music, his special blankie, and any kind of ball. He loves anything he can feed himself (food doesn't taste as good if I try and feed it to him I guess) and loves drinking from a straw. He is definitely a momma's boy; I'm enjoying that while it lasts:) I love his big cheesy grin, showing off his cute little baby teeth. He still isn't the greatest sleeper, but at least we get to spend lots of time snuggling in the rocking chair. We just love our little man so very much!

Our friend Sami Jo is an awesome photographer, and she took some pictures of our family and Jackson at 1 year. Here a few of our favorites:)

1st Haircut

My friend Brijin, who cuts my hair, was so sweet to give Jackson his first haircut. Jackson did so good. He was very serious the whole time, but didn't cry. He was a little squirmy, especially when the razor tickled the back of his neck:) I was a little sad because he looks so much older to me now. I know there is still plenty of soft, adorable baby hair on his little head, but I feel like he is growing up too fast!

Before:

During:

After:

4th of July

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the good food, fireworks, nice weather, time off work...it's fabulous! I was feeling bummed that we were not going to see the fireworks this year, since Jackson would have been so tired. But then Ben came to stay with us and was so nice to watch Jackson while Brad and I watched the fireworks. We rode our cruiser bikes and found a spot we could see the show. It was so much fun. Thanks Ben!

The next morning, we all headed up to Star Valley to spend the weekend with Brad's dad. Allen put so much thought into the wonderful food. Brad always teases me about how food is my hobby. I love yummy food so much! We had awesome tinfoil dinners and a big breakfast on the morning of the 4th. We had fun riding the four wheelers and taking a little hike behind the house. Brad got lots of target practice with his bow; he's getting ready for his archery elk tag this fall. Brad also had fun picking up his elk from the taxidermist. I thought it was very entertaining to see how much attention that elk mount got from Brad, Allen, and Ben. Crazy hunters! I don't think I'll ever understand why they love hunting so much:)

Lovin Summer

We have been having a wonderful summer. Here is a little update on some of what we have been up to the past few weeks:

Brad has been able to go fishing a couple of times. Jackson thought all the fishing gear was pretty fun:)
We had a blast going to Bear Lake with our friends, the de la Houssaye's. I feel bad I didn't get a picture of everyone, but I promise they were there! Bart grilled the best steak I've ever eaten. We played at the beach....Oh wait, there is no beach at Bear Lake. Just lots of rocks! We were kinda bummed about the lack of sand, but we made up for it by playing in the pool, eating lots of yummy food, and playing games. It was so good to get away for a couple days.

(Jackson was so snugly after swimming. I was in heaven!)

This last Saturday we went up Green Canyon with my family for a dutch oven breakfast and hike. Brad got me a backpack to carry Jackson in for my birthday. He let me have it early so I could use it on our hike:) Jackson and I both loved it!
And yesterday we celebrated Father's Day. Brad is the most amazing dad and husband, and I feel so lucky to have him! He adores his little man, and I love how much fun they have together. Thanks for all you do for us Brad; we love you so much!

I was happy to spend part of the day with my own dad. He is a great example to me, and I always know my dad is there for me. I love you dad! And he is such a great grandpa to Jackson:) My dad gets so excited to spend time with Jackson, and seeing the two of them together is adorable.

We've had fun going on walks, bike rides, breaking out the grill, and just being together. Jackson is cruising all over the place. He army crawls, walks along furniture, and took his first steps just last week. He babbles all day long, and is still such a happy baby. He keeps growing so fast! Jackson is loving summer. He would be perfectly happy to be outside all day long.

Recently....

We took a trip to Star Valley to visit Brad's dad and help him hang his gigantic moose on the wall, above the stairs. Talk about a good arm workout; I thought I was going to die helping to lift that thing. It was so heavy! Jackson found a new friend while we were there:)
We had the annual Fairbourn family easter egg hunt. It was a blast, even though I only found three eggs. I was going for quality, not quantity I guess. Brad has finally mastered the egg hunt strategy and found the most money eggs (he hasn't had a lot of luck in past years).I'm lucky he decided to share his treasures with me since I did so poorly;) Even though we are all getting older now, we love the egg hunt my parents put on. It gets really competitive and everyone has so much fun!

We had a wonderful Easter. We were able to spend the day together as a family, enjoy the beautiful sunshine, and had a delicious dinner at my parents house. I am so grateful for my Savior and the knowledge I have of the gospel. I really love Easter Sunday, and my heart has been so full as I think about our Savior's sacrifice for each one of us and that He lives.

We took a few pictures after church on Easter. Here a few of my favorites:


Lastly, we have been having lots of laughs at our house lately. Jackson is getting so much personality and loves to laugh. He laughs all the time, which makes us laugh, which makes him laugh....You get the idea:) Brad was playing peek-a-boo the other night during dinner and Jackson was loving it. I feel so blessed!