Sarah + Lincoln

Scott, the kids, & I went over to meet my best friend Esther's little lady, Sarah.

She is just gorgeous, & so sweet, & 2 weeks younger than Lincoln. I say that means they are meant to be together.

The kids had a blast seeing these sweet babies together. Our little group of 3, is now 5. I'm a little scared of what going out with these hooligans will bring but it'll be fun, no matter the madness.

Baby Celebration!

Today a lovely double, for Es & I, "baby celebration" was thrown by my favorite LBG ladies- huge shout out to Linds who worked tirelessly & had an immaculate house to host it at.

We had such a fabulous time with a close group of friends who came to wish us, & our little soon-to-be-born babies, well.

Tasty food, good conversation, & opening beautiful gifts from extremely thoughtful friends.

I could not ask for sweeter, more generous people in my life. Thank you all for your love & support for this awesome addition to the Carter Clan!

Family Pictures by Kristal 2010

We just got family pictures taken by my brilliant sister-in-law Kristal (she took our pictures that I also loved from last year).

The fates were against us: it was getting dark fast, the kids were awful & restless. Not to mention I felt chubby & my hair was a mess. But somehow Kristal turned it all into a great shoot.

Check out her blog to see more of our pics & her lots of other lovely photo shoots.

Baby Schimtt

Meet the newest PETITE LBG!

Congrats to two of my favorite people Lay & James! I can't wait to get to know this sweet new bundle of cuddles.

P.S. I hope she posts her birth story soon guys b/c you'll want to read it- it's a dozy!

Yup, we like having this fellow around

Happy Father's Day to my best friend.

I couldn't ask for a more amazing partner in raising these little hooligans of ours.

Love you more than beef jerky & chocolate milk... together.

Lovely Baby Shower

We had a lovely brunch baby shower for my lovely friend Malea. Quiche, donuts, juice and good company. How can you go wrong?

Excuse my bedraggled-ness! I was up EARLY making quiche for the party & went to bed WAY too late.

Scott's Birthday

Scott isn't big into large birthday parties. All he wanted to do was go out on a date with me for his "big day". But I have STRONG feelings that birthdays need to be C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E-D!

So, wanting for his birthday to be understated but not forgotten I took him surprises to work for the couple days before his actual birthday:

Then for his birthday the kids & I bought him a pie (admittedly not homemade) & opened presents with him. Then we topped the night off with a lovely date at our beloved Carrabbas Italian Grill.

Happy Birthday to my Handsome

Happy 31st to my favorite guy! I couldn't ask for a better partner in crime & in life. All the fun & joy we have in our family is thanks to you.

Love you more than potatoes & chocolate covered cherries!

Birthing Classes from Rebecca

When I had Sydney I was the only one of any of my friends to have a baby. I had never even touched a pregnant belly or held a newborn until I was in college. I had never changed a diaper until I changed Sydney's in the hospital.

Now after giving birth twice, if we decide to have another addition to our family, I would still take a class from Rebecca Pincock. I know Becca personally, but that means I can attest to her being pretty much the most educated person I know about birth choices, not to mention one of the sweetest, most giving people too.

If you guys are interested check out her website. She's got some classes starting soon or you can contact her about her doula services too.

My sexy view while doing the dishes...

Scott will be embarrassed, but seriously there's nothing as sexy as watching my guy doing manual labor.

However, he will be grateful that I kept the gratuitous booty shot to myself.

6 years with my best friend...

via Etsy

My brilliant father & his mad sewing skills...

So, I've mentioned many times how my dad is & how he has amazing sewing skills (my wedding dress, my pettiskirt, Berto's cow chaps dress-up, & Rob's quilt to name just a few).

Well, I just got an email from him to tell me that the sweet springy dress he made Syd was featured on Burda's mainpage. How cool is that?

Which reminded me to tell you about the remake challenge he's involved in.

The challenge was to take an apron pattern & make something totally original. He was THE ONLY ONE to do a man apron & seriously the most original one I saw.

Stop on by & cast your vote for him! (it's quick & easy!)

For Valentines Day: A Quick Version of Falling in Love

From a young age, I'd sworn off getting married.
I wasn't interested.
No one would gain my trust enough for me to give up my heart.

No one.

But when I met Scott I instantly liked him.
He had a 1969 VW Bug.
Lived off a CostCo pack of Sour Skittles.
And he had a confident infectious smile.

I found out I had an Art History class with him.
A class that he wasn't doing very well in.
I called him to remind him to study for our test next week.
Instead he invited me to get Slurpees at 7-11.

We went with a group to see The Ring.
I pretended to be scared so I could grab his arm.
I found out later that he was terrified by the movie,
But he pretended not to be, so I wouldn't be afraid.

The next day he invited me on a midnight run to Taco Bell.
I was nervous & weird.
I told him I didn't believe in washing my hair everyday.
With a wry grin he told me it was okay, he liked dirtballs & I had a nice smile.

It wasn't long after that he told me he loved me.
He was always surer of himself & braver than me.
I'm pretty sure I said something like, "Thanks."
He thought maybe he spoke in my deaf ear.

"Gah! I think I love him too!" I screamed as I walked in my apartment door.
My roommates consoled me, told me it was okay to like him.
Yeah, I thought, it didn't mean I was going to marry him or anything.
I'm glad I was wrong.

On Marriage

When you're married you know that you love your spouse.

You know it so well sometimes you forget.

It's like breathing.

You do it so often its just there. Unconscious.

And then there are late nights of insomnia like tonight.

Where you lay there listening to him breathing next to you.

The soft steady in & out.

And you think, "That's the most wonderful sound in the world".

The sound of a soft & steady husband.

And then you think, "How did I get so lucky?"