My baby is turning into a kid!

Monday night I went over to Grandma Curtis' house (suzanne's grandma) to visit with Mike and Karen Fields who were in town. Emily and Carson shared my lap as I read them books and heard them read to me (or point and say) the words they knew. Just for fun I posted Emily and Carson's first picture together so you can see how big the two of them have gotten! I didn't realize how much Carson is starting to really look like a little boy until i saw this pic of him I took last night. :( I cant believe how the time flies. He is getting so big. I just want to make sure that even though i am a full time Grad student and work part time, I dont want to blink and miss my baby growing up!! I want to enjoy every minute of his toddler years because like the country song says... "your gonna miss this, your gonna want this back, your gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast"

Race for the Cure

On Sunday early in the morning after staying out late the night before at julie's shower.. I met Kelly to do the race for the cure at the starbucks up the street and we drove to Fashion Island where we did the Susan G. Komen Race for the cure for breast cancer. I was racing for my aunt event though she has Ovarian Cancer not breast cancer. I am wearing the shirt and hat my aunt got for me that says "I wear teal for my aunt" teal is the color that represents ovarian cancer. This experience has brought my awareness to how many people cancer effects. I had no idea until Sunday at the cancer walk just how many people are affected by this! I got chills seeing the posters displayed on the palm trees down the path of the walk that had pictures of people who have lost their lives to cancer with notes from their friends/family they left behind. I had never seen so many people in one place in my life (besides at a sporting event). But there was literally thousands of people at this walk on Sunday you can see i tried to take a picture so that you can see just how many people were there. I really wanted to RUN this race but kelly had no desire to do so, and I didn't want to leave her in the dust (ha ha) so I walked it. It was a 5k i think 3.2 miles. There were so many people that unless you started at the very front it would be impossible to run because there is people heel to heel. At every corner they had bands playing live music. This made the walk fun. I was just so amazed to see how many people knew others who were fighting this disease too. Everyone who wore white shirts were there supporting others with breast cancer and everyone in pink shirts were breast cancer survivors. It was neat to see all the survivors and to read on the backs of those supporting the cause the names of those they were supporting. The signs on their backs would read "in celebration of" for those they knew who beat it and it would say "in memory of" for those that did not. There were many people who had lists of like 6 or 7 people on their back of whom they were supporting. I couldn't believe how big this is. They say that the two greatest risks of getting breast cancer is being a woman and getting older. The best way to beat cancer is early detection. It is so important to get regular breast exams. My aunt was lucky to be going into a routine hysterectomy when doctors discovered her ovarian cancer.
Overall I am just at peace knowing we serve such a big and mighty God who is bigger than cancer.
I am grateful for all those that come out to events like this to raise money for more research. It is paying off The advancements in chemo therapy i believe is the reason for their being so many more pink/survivor shirts that I saw on Sunday.
This was my first walk for a cause and it will definitely not be my last. I want to do more. I cant wait to see when the next walk I can enter in.It feels so good to contribute to something that is way bigger than you -something that will help make a difference in the life of people.

Julie's Lingerie shower

Saturday Night I through Julie a lingerie shower along with Jenny and Emily (two other bridesmaids in the wedding). The three of us made a great team :) I was in charge of the decorations and party favors and Jenny was in charge of the cake and treats, and Emily hosted and was in charge of food and drinks. And all together with our powers combined we pulled off a great shower. It was a lingerie shower and our decorations and cake went with the invitation. Julie really enjoyed it and her friends made comments that it was one of the best showers they attended and they appreciated that we didn't play any cheesy games. So i take that as a compliment since i was in charge of games as well :). I stole Lisa Parris' centerpiece idea and added my own twist. They look cuter in person the pic does not do them justice. I laced them up like lingerie. Julie liked the centerpieces I made so well that she wants to do something similar for her wedding centerpieces.

Brittany comes to visit

On thursday night I took the train to San Diego to visit my friend Brittany (who lives in WA) She was in San Diego visiting her cousins who live there. I loved taking the train, it was a beautiful train ride that goes right next to the ocean. It was relaxing to be able to sit and relax and do homework and not have to worry about driving.
It was great to see Brit too and catch up on life since I have seen her last.

Wahoo's with the kiddos and then to yogurt

Tonight I met Jessica, Will, Sarah, Suzanne, Lisa and the kids at Wahoos. David and 2 other policemen stopped by for a visit and gave all the kiddos sticker badges.

Carson enticed emily to his favorite discovery the "gum ball machine" which carson views a a giant mini ball dispenser. Later I will be lectured by friends that I am giving my toddler a choking hazard. :)
We went over to the yogurt store after. Where the real fun began.




Josh passed out



Carson went in for a hug with Charlie that went over well...
Then he tried going in for the kiss and that's when things turned sour..She pulled his ear and he didn't know what was going on?



Charlie is being sneaky and pulling Carson's ear with her back hand and acting like its all fun and games from the front..




Will is acting like. "I dont know who taught her that??" j/k


Then Josh woke back up. I cant wait for that boy to start walking around and playing ball with Carson :)
It was a fun night packed with great yogurt eating, dance partying, baby fighting/ lovin fun :)

Pictures of Carson and friends and a lesson learned from the Burger King play place.

Brian and I watched Emily MacShane last Saturday and we took carson and her to the park here are some pics from there fun day together.
The other pics are ones that I realized I never posted and I thought others would want to see. One is of Carson and his cousin's Lili and Kylie at Lili's 3rd birthday party. It was a luao. The other pic is of Carson's favorite girls Charlie Parris and Emily Mac Shane hanging out at Caleb's 1st birthday party :)
I love the pic of the back of Emily and Carson drinking their juice ha ha. I tried to line up all the kiddos at Caleb's party and take a pic as you can see I didn't pick the greatest location for that, haha. Carson got to play some ukalaylee (sp?) at the lili's birthday luao. Every other week or so I go visit my aunt Carrie in Corona she does Day Care from her home and we (carson and i) meet up with her and her day care kids and there are a couple pics of one day when we met Carrie and her day care kids at Chuck E Cheeses. Note to parents: Giving a 1 and 1/2 year old a shot at skii ball, not such a good idea. He was chucking those skii balls I thought he was going to knock some one out. His skii ball kept going in other peoples lanes, and they weren't happy but I was laughing too hard to stop the madness..haha.


I actually met with my aunt and her day care kids today and we went to the burger king in Anaheim hills that has the play ground up stairs. Carson was not brave enough or BIG enough really to climb the maze to the top to actually get to the twisty slide. So of course I took my shoes off and climbed and twisted my body around that little obstacle fitting myself through tiny tunnels questioning the wieght capacity of the plastic tubbing.. as i got to the top and waited for kids that were in a hurry to pass us. Carson got scared at that point and wanted to climb back down the 15 min maze and not go down the slide. He began screaming and squeezing a piece of my arm so hard there is litterally a bruise on my inner arm from his pinch today..I told him "Carson there is no turning back now, we are going down this slide. I will hold you the whole way down but we cant turn back we worked too hard to get all the way up here." (plus I didn't think I could fit my self and carson going back down the small maze.) I said , "it's okay carson, its going to be okay. maybe even fun" So I held my screaming scared child at the top of the Burger king play place still wondering the weight capacity of the plastic tubing as we got situated to go down. I held him on my lap the whole way down.

Lately I keep reflecting on how easy life was when I was living with my parents, and when I get scared of the future and what God has planned for mine and Carson's life up ahead I want nothing more than to retreat back to what I knew was safe and comfortable and go back to my parents house where i came from. Just like Carson felt scared to go up head in the dark tube of a tunnel to a slide because he was unsure of what was head and all he wanted was to just turn back and get down the way we came. The way the had more light and seemed safer. I however, knowing the safer easier route down as his parent had to try my best to calm him as he was in hysterics and reassure him that it would be okay if he just trust me we only had a few more feet to go until we could get to the "fun" part he would like.
God is like the parent in my real life story and I am the scared child that knows I should trust my parent who knows best but fear the unknown. I just need to trust my God who knows the path ahead and wants me to just hold on to him in hysterics or not, but just to trust him that he will keep me safe, and he will provide for me and take me where I need to be.
Man! all of that revealed to me while reflecting on my adventures in the Burger King play place!

Wine Tasting in Temecula

Brian took me wine tasting in Temecula for my birthday last weekend. I had so much fun. It was way more thorough of a wine tasting tour then the one I went on in sulvang a few months ago. On this one at the very first stop we got to see where they stored the wines and how it was made and taste the grapes off the vine! They were so sweet and so good! We went on the Grape vine tours shuttle and the shuttle had about 6 other couples on it that were celebrating anniversaries or birthdays too. The shuttle driver was very knowledgeable about the wineries and the way each of the wineries made their wines.
At two of the wineries they gave me a necklace with a cork on it since it was my birthday. At the second winery that was a bit smaller then the other ones we went to they let me help smash the grapes, (not with my feet like, the i love lucy episode) but with this smasher thing that they use now, apparently it is more sanitary then using your feet...
At one winery they had this dessert almond champagne they served in a chocolate shot glass.It was so yummy and the best part was you got to eat the cup after. I wish every cup I drank out of was chocolate. :). The last place on our tour had really good flavored champagne. We bought a bottle of their peach champagne that was very yummy. Brian was not that big of a fan of the wine but he went and had a good time because he loves me :).
It was a good weekend and I cant wait to go again with other couples or with my girlfriends.

getting older ...

Last weekend I turned 24 I went to dave and busters with some friends it was fun. This week was carson's first day at Mom's Day Out preschool. He will go every monday. It is a christian preschool from 9am - 1pm at EV Free church in Fullerton. I used those 4 extra hours to study and get homework done. I packed his lunch and dropped him off monday morning. And he happily marched into his classroom with out flinching. OF course I took a picture to document this event. Brian met me for lunch at 12:30 and we both went to pick Carson up so he could see where Carson's preschool is and what it's like. When we picked up Carson the teacher said he had a good day but he was a little rough with the other kids.. :( I guess he was agressive with the toys. Brian said, "just like his mom" whatever. I am volunteering in Carson's classroom at church so I will be on the look out for this "rough' behavior I was informed about.
Carson is getting so big and independent now, He can now clearly say "thank you" and say "please" (before he would only sign for please and not actually say it.)
I just had to get him new shoes and clothes because he is getting so tall and his feet are growing too.
Today I hosted a Mom's club pool day at the condo and only one mom showed up with her 2 year old daughter. But carson and Sophie had a blast chasing eachother around the pool, coloring, and eating snacks, and swimming together.
I was looking back on pictures of the fall last year and it is amazing how much bigger Carson is! He is not so much baby looking anymore and is all little boy!
I am looking forward to the FAll and the holiday seasons. I will take new pumpkin patch pictures and pictures in the Fall Leaves and post both this years and last years pics so you can see how big Carson has gotten in one year.

Labor day weekend

Although I didn't go out of town this last weekend I really enjoyed my labor day weekend. Friday night Brian and I just stayed in and watched a movie. Saturday of course I had to watch the USC game! So Brian and John and carson and I went to the Yard house in Newport (By johns new place) and watched the game. Me and carson were decked out in Our USC clothing. (I didn't get a pic :() to bad. Then Brian and Carson went to Brian's house, While I took John (who has no car) to big lots and 99cent store to collect more college supplies. John so nicely babysat carson for brian and me, so we could both go to Brian's friends birthday in Manhattan beach. I hardly ever get to go out with Brian and his friends cause good babysitters are hard to come by. :)

Sunday I took John home, and me and Carson went to church. Brian met us there. Carson and I stayed for the Children's ministry meeting after church then after the meeting got out I picked up John and we went to meet Brian at Newport Beach where he was in a "Horse Shoe Tournament" with his old neighbors who live off the boardwalk.

That was a fun time relaxing at the beach and eating food. Then I took John to HB to go to this store he wanted to go to. Took him home then me and Carson went home.

Monday Brian and I met for lunch with Carson and then dropped carson off at Grandpa Maurers and we had the rest of the day to our selves. Which is a very rare occasion we went down to Huntington Beach and went shopping and walked down the pier and just relaxed in the sunshine and enjoyed each others company.

So over all i had a much needed relaxing weekend with my family :)