9 MONTHS

This is his last month EVER in the single digits!!!! (Insert ugly cry emoji here!)

Also, a photoshoot totally didn't happen this month. Sooo I'll just include a couple random iPhone photos!

At 9 months Carter...

-Is impossible to change. We have a few go-to toys that he can hold that will entertain him for a minute or so.

-So, so, so active. I am baffled when I see other kids just sitting still in their carseat/stroller/moms arms. Carter is always on the go.

-Definately prefers feeding himself now. Once we use up our existing stash of baby food that we have I don't know if I'll get much more. Except green beans, he still totally gobbles those down.

-Speaking of food, Carter loves tangerines. Whenever he sees that little orange ball he will scream until he gets some.

-Is walking around on furniture and can stand up by himself for about 10-15 seconds at a time. However, once he notices he isn't holding onto anything he looses his confidence and will sit down.

-Loves books (the more bears, the better!)

-Also still loves balls. His favorite is watching people dribble basketballs in front of him. He will start waving his hands up and down and try to do it too. So cute.

-Will army crawl around with his green spike ball held in his hand. It just screams boy to me.

-Has much lighter hair. Its still definately brown but it's much, much lighter than it was when he was little.

-Hasn't gained hardly any weight since he was 6 months old. We have his 9 month appt next Tuesday but according to the scale when he was at Valley Children's, he's only gained about a pound or two the last 3 months! He still eats a lot, but would definately rather be moving around than strapped down to eat.

Is fitting in 9-12 month clothes but 12 month pants are a little long on him. He must have gotten his short legs from his mama.

Has started to get a bit of a temper. Richard is much better about recognizing it and not rewarding him when it happens. I'm still learning.

Always gets comments about his happy disposition

Is a total flirt with strangers. Sometimes I just want to ask strangers at stores to talk to him because I know he'll put on a little show for any stranger that will give him attention. Gotta watch out for this one!

19 Week Update

1) Weeks Pregnant/Size of baby?  19 weeks! I figured since we're almost half way there, it was about time that I graduated from the selfies! Baby is the size of a mango or heirloom tomato.

2) Symptoms? Well I think I am officially out of the cheeseburger stage, so that’s something!  Other than that, symptoms have included serious pregnancy brain. I thought I had issues finding my keys and phone before…

Besides that though I am (negative) symptom free! I joke with people and say if all my pregnancies turn out to be this easy, I might just have 1,000 babies ;)

3) Sleep? Not too bad recently! I steal mostly all the pillows from Richard which is sad so I’ll need to go out and get a few more for him. I try to be good and fall asleep on the magical left side but I worry myself because I'm a back sleeper and always end up on my back in the middle of the night. My Dr. says I’ll start to get lightheaded if the blood supply or whatever is truly getting cut off but it’s something I think about nonetheless. #firsttimemomprobs

4) Mood? As of Thursday after 3:15pm afternoon I've been happy as a clam! Haha! Before that, I was staying up til 3:00am every night working on my major presentation for my capstone mktg class as well as just tons of homework and studying for other classes. Now that that week is over, I’ve been great. The weather has been wonderful, I feel a lot more comfortable with my new role at work and I got a A on my last three capstone presentations  (including my major, hour long one!) and that teacher is TOUGH! I am also throwing a bridal shower next Saturday, which is always way fun!

5) Fitness?   Nope! Haha. Well, not at the gym at least. I still do planks and arm weights when I'm watching TV. This last week I haven't gone to bed earlier than 2:00am because of my big project sooooooo, yeah that's my excuse for the week. I’ve officially gained 5 pounds at this point which made my Dr. happy.  I was on the heavier side of the “normal” range to begin with so I want to be careful about gaining too much weight. The baby can feed off my thighs just fine ;)

6) Cravings? Hmmm…nope! Can't say that I have any cravings. My appetite has chilled out a bit too which is nice. At around 16-17 weeks if I didn't eat every like 4 hours I was on the HUNT. It was almost burdensome.

7) Maternity clothes? I bought a couple sweaters (like the one pictured above!) a week or so ago that aren't maternity but are a lot more flattering than the things I’ve been wearing. My mom also dug through her whole closet and donated a few of her longer shirts so I could use them (Thanks mom!!). My normal fall uniform consists of really roomy, flowy sweaters, skinny jeans and knee boots.  I’ve learned that as far as tops go, I need to have things either fitted on my arms or fitted around my waist/hips and not just baggy everywhere like I normally do or I end up just looking massive. I can still wear and button most of my normal jeans... but things just aren’t as comfortable that way, so I’ll use the hair tie trick or my belly band, I just have to make sure to wear a longer shirt or things can start looking a bit awkward!

8) Movement? Yes! You guys, so exciting! It started late into week 16 but I was so doubtful because it would be the smallest little tap and then go away. They are few and far between so it was hard for me to really pay attention but I’m a lot more confident now that they for sure are actual kicks. I usually only feel them at night if I’m lying on my back the couch. Except for yesterday morning, little dude was dancing around for a good 5 seconds. I tried to put my hand on my stomach to see if I could feel anything on the outside (for Richard's sake) but then he stopped moving :|  Little stinker.

9) Highlight/lowlight this week? Finishing my HUGE capstone project was definitely a highlight! The lowlight was staying up so late every night to get it done haha. 

Oh also!! We took Richard's siblings trick or treating which was actually really fun. Where I grew up, there weren't really any kids in the neighborhood so I always went over to my friends houses. Richard's old neighborhood was the place to be apparently! Tons of kids everywhere, so cute. Trick or treating is a great time to teach kids the concept of taxes ;)

And here's the ONLY pictures him and I got together that night. Super flattering, I know.
  

  

10) Looking forward to? 20 week screening this Thursday! Richard and I are sooo excited to see our little dude again :)

An Ode to My Better Half

Richard,

This month with you made me realize a few things. We didn't go to the Fair or Fright Fest or Hobbs Grove or our ward Halloween Party or our friends Halloween Party or even carve the pumpkin that we bought! Before we got married I had a serious fear of missing out. Like, bad. Growing up, if there was anything going on I HAD to be there Until very, very recently I couldn't even stay in our apartment until you woke up on Saturdays (around 2pm), I had to go out in the world and interact with people and things even if that meant a pointless trip to Target or even the gas station! I just had to get OUT. 

This month has been a little different. We had big plans like we always do. Luckily, you like to travel and do things too...but you're happiness doesn't depend on it. This month we had a TON of bills (2 years of no dentist will do it to ya) and couldn't afford the Fair or Fright Fest or costumes, etc. We also were in the middle of mid-terms and both have night classes.

To the outside world this whole situation sounds LAME. I'm sure it would have sounded lame to me too.

This month because of our limited funds and our busy school/work/church calling schedule we had to get a little more creative. We've been very blessed financially so far in our marriage and date nights have been a breeze, no problem!

This month... you taught me how to play poker (sorry family!!!!!!) we watched a LOT of baseball and silly YouTube videos, went to birthday parties, went to the temple, ate a whole bunch of junk food, made dollar store crafts and generally just cuddled and goofed around a whole lot. It has been the best. Thank you for teaching me that I'm not missing out by being at home. Thanks for teaching me that those other worldly things are just extra. And thanks for teaching me without you even knowing that you're teaching me. What we have at home is all we really need. Love you, you cute thing ;)

                

                      

                                

The "green" pumpkin you vetoed. It's GRAY ;)

                                             

                                                        

                       

                                                          

Breaking up the dog pile after the pinata broke

                   

                             

Me creepin' on their epic game of truth & dare. Probably embarrassing the birthday girl but that's what aunts are for! ;)

                

                  

I promise I was happy to go to the temple! P.S. this is the dress that my mother-in-law MADE for me! Score!

                       

  The other Halloween pumpkin you rejected ;)

                                                                     

   NLCS Champs

                                                           

                                                                                   

1st game of the world series. Enough said.

                           

                            

                                                   

                                                   

  It's the little things.

                                                             

                                                                                  

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

So this 4th of July was kind of a buzz-kill. Rich & I had plans to go deep sea fishing but being the accountant in training he CANCELLED PLANS THE DAY BEFORE and said that we were too poor to go. I know you're probably like, "Wow, first world problems much?" But we both work 2 jobs not because we HAVE to (we can pay our bills just fine) but because we like to work hard so we can play hard too. And save too, I guess. I just didn't get that memo. So plan B was to go shooting with one of his friends. I was super pumped..I remember doing this for mutual back in the day and I felt super gangster. I even proceeded to go to Wal-Mart and buy a whole bunch of sodas and a Justin Bieber poster for target practice. 

That plan fell through as well.

Anyways, we ended up going fishing up at Millerton. Last minute decision at 10am. We bought some cheap polls, used the bait we had on hand, got a one day license and left. The drive up there was beautiful. I'm sorta obsessed with the area. I hope Fresno starts to develop a little bit that way so that I can possibly raise my babies there. We found an awesome little spot outside of the lake itself and set off.

Gorgeous right?

My babe workin hard.

 I actually really don't like this picture of myself. My face looks extra round. HOWEVER how adorable does  Richard look? Man babe, that over the shoulder smoulder kills me. Yes please.

And the best part of this whole post?? 

I CAUGHT A FISH!

You need to know the back story to appreciate this. Rich & I went fishing...I don't know...like 5 or 6 times last summer and did I catch anything? NO. Never not once. I caught one once when I was like 13 on a boating trip with one of my friends but that didn't count. I never got a picture. But now I have proof!

The proof was hard to get too. The area we were in was pretty weed-y so I was accustomed to pulling hard on my line to get it untangled. Yet this time, the tug felt different. It was like a sharp snap so I snapped back and proceeded to real in my PRIZE! I was SUPER pumped. Richard went to go grab his phone to take a picture and he couldn't find it! He told me to go to our old spot and see if he left it there (our old spot being like 200 feet away)! I ran like crazy while he kept the fish in the water (I didn't want to kill it!) and what do you know...the phone was with him the whole time. So after sprinting around like a madwoman. I finally got this shot. No fish were harmed in the making of this blogpost. We set him free :)

Afterwards we had my family over to come swim and have a BBQ at our complex's pool. I have no idea why I didn't think to take pictures! I need to be better about that. While Richard & my dad entertained Jaron, Brooke & Bradley I proceeded to hoard baby Aylexa :).

Her mama took this picture. We tried everyttthing to wake her up. She is one persistent sleeper. But then again, "First world problems" right?

Oh and sister Pam brought a super adorable cake for Aylexa's uhh week and a half birthday? The Willis girls always find an excuse for cake! It is in our blood.

We closed our evening while watching the fireworks at Buchanan. It was beautiful. I truly love this country and for the freedoms we have and for all the sacrifices that were made on our behalf.

All in all, thanks Rich for cancelling our deep sea fishing trip. Plan C was way better.

P.S. No fish were harmed in the making of this blogpost
P.P.S. Anyone have Bieber Fever and could use a poster?