Summer Catch-up

I have a ton of stuff to catch up on. Basically our whole summer. So over the next couple weeks I will back date and start updating, so be on the look out because I am going to date them according to the event. However, since we have Daddy home for one more week before school starts I will most likely procrastinate updating for another week! (At least I am honest with myself right?!) We had such a fun summer together though so it is definietly blog worthy. Here are a few of our favorite highlights from the summer and a preview of what is to come....

-Annual Cook Family Trip to Rocky Point
-Welcoming Elder Justin home from his mission
-Carson's Birthday (I did blog about that!) & Lots of cousin/aunts/uncles/great grandma birthdays. Seriously we have a TON of summer b-days between both our families!
-Larimore Family trip in Pinetop (AWESOME summer weather)
-Disneyland/California Adventure trip with the Cook Clan
-Countless hours at the pool... we miss this already!
-Lots of lots of cousin time
-Both sets of grandparents to love on
-Rob getting a paycheck!! haha His job was perfect. 3 days a week (just enough not to feel guilty) and they were SOOOO SOOO flexible and let him off whenever!
-Day trips to museums and the aquarium
-Celebrating our 5 year anniversary
-Lots of stress free relaxing family time

I am not going to lie I am super sad this summer is over since it was Rob's last real summer vacation for the next 3 years, but I am happy we are that much closer to him being done! It was so nice and I loved that Carson got to spend so much time around both of our families and get to know all of his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents better.

And because I can't post without a picture, check out these baby blues!

Trip to the Aquarium

Carson loves fish! We aren't really sure where he got this interest, but he thinks they are great! Whenever we give him a tub full of bath toys, he always goes for the fish. He especially likes fish that are Nemo or resemble Nemo. Which again is kinda funny, because he had never seen the movie when this love began! Anyway, before Rob started back up with school we decided to take Carson to fish heaven aka the Sea Life Aquarium! It was a pretty impressive aquarium and Carson seemed to have a good time pointing at all the fishy! Afterwards, we spoiled ourselves and shared some yummy ice cream!

Check out that sea turtle up top! So cool!

5 YEARS!!

Rob and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this year!! As cliche as it might be I can't believe we have been married THAT long! But at the same time, life without him seems so long ago. We knew that on our actual anniversary we would be back in Phoenix actually moving and it would be a very busy time to try and celebrate our anniversary, plus we wouldn't have our favorite babysitters to use, so we celebrated early this year! Since Rob was working and we actually had a paycheck and it was a bigger milestone (AND I was finally done nursing) we decided to splurge our poor student budget and go to a resort! We got Mimi to babysit and Rob and I got to stay up late, go out to eat (at Oregano's yummm), go shopping, go out for ice cream (at Frost yummm again), and go hot tubing without any parenting responsibilities! It was a little strange, yet nice, to be able to get out at the mall and just run in without unloading the stroller, baby, and the mando bag of distractions in hopes of making it to a few of my favorite stores before a meltdown exploded! It was a perfect celebration and just what I needed! I couldn't be happier and more in love than I am today! I am so happy with where our life together is today and I love how much joy my best friend and husband continues to bring into my life each day! I love you sweety! Happy Anniversary!

Of course we forgot to take ANY pictures and only got this ONE!

And of course we need a little flashback!

As a side note, on our actual anniversary we did take a break from moving and my mom, sister, and C took us out for an anniversary dinner --haha--we looked so crummy so we just picked Chipotle, but it was yummy!

Disneyland!!

Rob's parents got the most fabulous idea to take all of their boys and their families on vacation this summer and guess where they picked our destination to be?!... only the happiest place on Earth.... Yes, Disneyland! We seriously were so lucky and excited! Rob and I love Disney and we were totally excited to take Carson on his first adventure there and to see the new Cars Land! Cars Land was busy busy busy, but totally looked just like the movie. Disney, yet again, did NOT disappoint!  Since I have been in the family, we haven't taken a trip like this with ALL and JUST Rob's family and it was tons of fun! We love spending time with his brothers and our sisters-in-law... we don't get to do that enough now days! They are fun people and their kids are SOO cute! Can you tell they are all Cook babies in the picture below?! So funny huh! We owe a HUGE thanks to Craigo and Kath for taking us on this awesome vaca. and helping us make such fun memories! You guys are the best!!

And I have to admit, we were a little nervous about how our little guy would do on the trip. He hadn't been the biggest fan of being in his stroller very long and 3 days of stroller-going around Disneyland made us scared, but much to our surprise he did an awesome job and even took a few naps in his stroller (for the boy that won't sleep anywhere but in his crib, not even on Mommy or Daddy, this was HUGE)! By day 3 he was begging to get in his stroller.. he loved people watching! He even was a trooper when we kept him up late! He was a super-traveler too and didn't have ANY crying fits either way. AND he rode backwards the whole time. (yes, paranoid parents that watch You-Tubes on the dangers of forward facing too soon... but he doesn't mind)! Of course he had a few moments when he let his tiredness get to him, but OVERALL he was an AWESOME little guy and Disney Go-er! We can't wait to go back...someday!

Picture Time!! 

All the cousins in their matching shirts

Carson's all time FAVORITE ride this trip. We seriously rode it like 6 times!

 

Mickey Mouse House Club LIVE!! His face says it all!

This Man LOVES Meat... so of course he got a turkey leg!

THANKS AGAIN YOU TWO!!!!

One year Photo Shoot!

Carson had his one-year photo shoot today! One of my really good friends also happens to be an awesome photographer and when Carson was born I suckered her into taking his pictures on the big months of his first year (3,6,9,12 months)....totally should have talked her into documenting him for his whole life ;)!! But I am so happy she agreed to it and was friendly to our student budget :)! They are the best pictures I have of him and I will cherish them always... PLUS, I loved that I know her so well and she knows me. She knows what stresses me out and I felt totally comfortable being goofy around her to get a smile out of the little guy AND she was MORE than understanding and flexible when Carson decided to wear his grumpy pants to a photo shoot (bad flash backs at the El Conquistador)! Thanks Natalie!!! Check out a few (by few a mean 12 :)) of my favorites from his latest shoot!

Splash Pad

Since we celebrated C's birthday the Saturday before his birthday we didn't have a lot planned on his actual birthday, which was kinda nice! After Rob got off work we decided to take him to a Splash Pad. He wasn't too sure what to think at first because he didn't love that the water bounced off the ground and little drops hit his face. But after we discovered that his sunglasses were the perfect shield he was all about it till his lips turned blue!!

After the Splash Pad we went to Firehouse Subs for dinner, swimming again, and then took Carson to get his first Shaved Ice for a birthday treat. Needless to say he loved it! We had such a fun day together!

Birthday Boy!

Our little guy turned ONE!! We can't believe how fast one year went by. It has been soooo fun watching him grow and learning and become the little guy that he is today! I feel so extremely lucky to be his Mama and I love being able to spend every day with him! I know I always say this, but over the past month I really feel like he has grown up so much and is less and less a baby every day :(. But he is totally loving becoming a toddler and following all the older kids and cousins around and I will admit it has been fun to watch!

Anyway, in honor of tradition here are a few things about Baby C (I know I just got done finishing saying he isn't hardly baby anymore, but I will call him that till he tells me no!!) from this past month leading up to his 1st birthday (May 19- June 18)

• Loves to talk baby talk to himself as he walks around and plays
• Has become an excellent walker and even attempts the run. He is surprisingly pretty dang fast.
• One of his new favorite things to do is escape from Mama when he first gets out of the bath and I lay him down to put on his diaper. He thinks is it SOOO funny that he is running around with his little bare bottom. He giggles the whole time as I chase him around. Then he goes for the second lap around the house after I put his diaper on and before I put on his PJ's.... silly boy!!!
• He loves loves loves to be outside and doesn't care if it is 100+ degrees! (We so need a backyard with grass)
• We finally moved C to a big boy car seat! Poor guy he was getting too big for that little baby carrier. I should have made the switch sooner, but he still was within the weight limit so I was putting it off. He is so much more comfortable now though!
• He has a funny obsession with stealing my brushes every morning while I am doing my hair and tries to comb his hair or carries them around the house and bangs things with them. 
• He puts anything up to his ear and acts like he is talking on the phone (shoes, remotes, phones, etc)
• His favorite snack is goldfish and string cheese and one of his favorite things to eat is grilled cheese (notice his love for cheese) and any and EVERY fruit.
• He has become a pretty good fit thrower and flings his head on the ground and cries when we bring him inside from playing outside or when someone takes a toy he is really enjoying away. (I think this is too young). He has also become a little sensitive and gets the sad face when the dogs bark scary, or people raise their voices, or cheer loudly right next to him. Basically whenever there is unexpected loudness. 
•  Says Mama, Dada.. and his version of Doggie, go, duck (a few times), hello, and most often says car! Not sure if he trying to say his name or talk about his love for cars--maybe both!
• Points at things he is looking at
• Waves
• Surprisingly he has become more snuggley has be has become older... YAY!! Mama loves this!! 
• He still LOVES when we sing to him and he will clap in the appropriate places when we sing "If you are Happy and you know it!".. it is the cutest thing ever!
• Size 3 diapers
• Size 4 shoes
• First trip to the beach (Rocky Point)
• Has loved going swimming this summer (big pool, kiddy pool, hose, splash pad... he doesn't care as long as there is water involved!)
• Stops and listens very intently whenever he hears an airplane or train going by and tries to find them, which usually means he looks up in the sky! 
• Favorite game to play: PeekaBoo Farm
• First taste of ice cream, cake, shaved ice, and Eegee's!
• One Year Stats:
• Height 31inches (87%)
• Weight 20.10lbs (37%)
•  Head 48.5 (97%)--he must be a total smarty! :)

We love you Little Bubba!