four.

These past four years have been the best of my life. I couldn't ask for a better husband, he truly is my perfect match. He has given me so much happiness and joy in life I didn't know existed. We have a wonderful son together and are a happy little family. I still can't believe four years ago I said "yes," it seriously feels like last week we were hurrying to the temple in a blizzard of snow, surrounded by friends and family we couldn't have been happier, the day was perfect. I got what I wanted- my man for eternity. Love you babe......many more amazing years with you to come.

Happy 4th Anniversary

Getting Crafty....

So in the summer I bought this tile for $1 with the intention to do my favorite quote in vinyl on it. Five months later I finally got around to it! Super easy and cheap craft! Although taking the vinyl off and onto the tile was a little more tedious than I thought it would be, but it turned out so good! I found this quote on one of my favorite Mormon Messages and knew instantly that I wanted to have it displayed in my home. I think all of us at some point need to be reminded of its message. Thanks to my sister for showing me the most amazing craft store ever, I was able to get the vinyl for a good price. I have so many crafts I want to do on my pinterest boards, guess I need to get started on more of them!

Oh Hair!

You know those days when you just don't wanna mess with your hair? Or you have those other days when you wanna do your hair up all nice or how you're always looking for new hairstyle ideas? Well thank you wonderful world of pinterest for all the amazing hair ideas! Here are some of my favs now thanks to pinterest.

One Year.....Six Months

One year ago today Hermana Lewis left for the MTC to serve in the Paraguay, Asuncion mission...

December 8th, 2010 (yes I was prego)

And in SIX MONTHS she will be home!!!! I have a feeling six months will feel like a lot longer....

(she's in the pink shirt/gray skirt and so tan!)

miss her... can't wait to have my best friend home!

GIVE THANKS

Our Thanksgiving was a blast! It was so nice to be with my family this year instead of being in Rexburg. We had so much fun eating, chatting and playing games. I think I ate way too much pie. There are so many things I am grateful for, I have an amazing husband, precious son, wonderful family, and the gospel, these are the most important and precious things in my life.

I'm so grateful for the blessing of a baby in my life. This time last year I was pregnant with Carson and I remember thinking how excited it was going to be to have a baby next year for the holidays. I have learned that things happen on the Lord's time and not our own, this has taught me to have faith in the Lord's timing and trust his plan for us not our own. I'm so grateful for my loving husband who is so good to me and such a wonderful Dad to Carson. He really is the perfect fit for me and I love him so much. I'm so blessed with many things and grateful to my Heavenly Father for thinking of me.

Penrod Thanksgiving Photo

I even braved the crazy black friday crowds to get a few things at the mall...50% off yes I'd say worth it!

Now.....Christmas time!!!

Finally!

After two photoshoots, printing off many pictures, buying frames, hanging pictures, and looking forever for a "letter P" I finally finished my picture wall in my living room! Here's the finished look....kinda dark lighting

Little Boys

So a week ago I had the privilege of watching my best friend Emily's little guy Deklan. He was born in July so he and Carson are only about 6 months apart. Since Emmers and I are besties I'm sure these two little guys will be inseparable once they are old enough to really play together. He was such a good little guy for Keith and I and it made me miss a having a little baby that didn't sit up, roll over, or crawl. Man, they grow so fast....here are a couple pics I took of the two little boys.

Randoms....

love love love Hobby Lobby

Thanksgiving is in 6 days!

my workout rocked me today

don't you love getting discounts at the register when you didn't even know it was on sale?

trip in WA in two weeks

it snowed today....made me happy. I love the snow around the holidays!

it is very hard to resist a buffet when someone else is treating you...

Out of Shape!

So I really haven't put much effort into working out since I had Carson last January. Sad I know. I used to workout five days a week for 30-45 min. a day up until I had Carson. I was working out even when I had a big belly. I guess my lame excuse is that I've been nursing so it helps burn a lot of calories but I've decided I can't continue to use that excuse because I won't be nursing him forever! So today I committed myself to start my work outs again. Since I don't have a free membership to a gym anymore (bye bye byui gym) I have resorted to at home workouts. My sister gave me this workout dvd and it actually gives me a pretty good workout. It combines cardio and toning together which is just what I need! I used to be able to do this workout no problem, no sweat before I had Carson because I was in pretty good shape, but now wow let me just say this workout really worked me today! It definitely felt good though to sweat and workout hard. I'm committing myself to doing this 6 days a week. There is something about having a commitment in writing or in my case posted on my blog, it helps me to stick to it better. So I'll keep ya posted with how well it goes. Also, I'm making  a sweets diet....1 sweet a week this sure is a big cut back but yikes I sure need it. k here goes.....

starting weight- 117 lbs
goal weight- 110 lbs (if I'm feeling ambitious 108)

Nicole's before and after....

Our NOT so LITTLE man

So it's been awhile since I last blogged about our little man. Well our little man is not so little anymore! I can't believe he is already NINE MONTHS!

Carson is everywhere and into everything! He loves everything he’s not supposed to have…cords, phones, breakables etc. His new obsession is doors and cabinets. He’ll shut a door and cry because it’s shut so you have to keep opening it for him it’s so cute. He loves to follow mommy and daddy everywhere they go. He stands up like a pro and will walk from one end of the couch to the other with one hand on the couch. The other day he took TWO steps on his own! He hasn’t done it since but we might have an early walker! He hates having his diapers and clothes changed, he thinks he’s missing out on playing or something.

As you can see he has four teeth and is getting some more. Getting bit by him is not fun. He loves his solid food…crackers, bread, fruit, and jar food but still loves his milk! I love being able to feed him solids now and not always having to nurse him, it’s so nice at church or in the car to feed him bananas or some bread.  His 9 mo. Check up is this month so I’m not sure how much he weighs but I’m pretty sure it’s over 20 lbs! Time to get a new car seat!

I can’t believe his birthday is in less than 3 months! I’ve already started to semi-plan it, since it is at the end of January it will have to be indoors. I’m excited for him to turn one but that also means he is growing up so it’s sad a in a way.

Here are some pictures I took this morning, still in his pjs, w/his messy hair, eating a banana and playing in his walker.

As for Keith and I nothing too new or exciting. I fill my days w/Carson, cooking new recipes, family, and home décor shopping. Oh I can’t get enough of home décor shopping I could spend hours doing it! Can’t wait to go to a new store I heard about, I’ve already found one favorite maybe I’ll find two!


We had a little mini-mini photo shoot a couple weeks ago just so I could get a family shot where Carson is looking & smiling for my wall...I was so happy w/how it turned out we even got a couple really good shots of Keith and Carson.

 We had an awesome Halloween with Keith’s brother and fiancé and my sis and her husband at our ward trunk or treat and on Halloween we went trick or treating w/my sis and her four kids. Oh the flood of memories it brought back going trick or treating w/the kids.

We are getting excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and Keith’s brothers wedding in December. There’s a lot to do here in Boise around Nov. and Dec.—parades, tree lightings, festival of trees, Christmas bazaars, lights at the Botanical Gardens, holiday expos, plays, Christmas Celebrations and parties oh I can’t wait!

Sweet Addiction

Love this stuff. I call it my SWEET ADDICTION. I may or may not have already eaten half the carton in 2 days. Yikes. My mom knows me too well, I come to stay at her house so she stocks her freezer with some of this just for me. Thank you Mom for helping me to lose the baby weight. :) Well I've lost it already but this sure won't help me keep it away. Oh well it's addicting what can I say.

bears and fall

 

Isn't he just the cutest lil' bear you've ever seen?

Our Family Halloween party last Friday.

Some of the kids all dressed up.Fun party full of food, fun, games, sweets, and sweet costumes

 Last Saturday, Keith's sister Catherine  came up from Rexburg for a visit. Like usual we went to the Farmers Market downtown, then had lunch at Ann Morrison Park. O my goodness the fall weather in Boise is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was such a nice day! Later that day was followed by some shopping at Platos and relaxing. I love days like this where you can just enjoy the fall weather and relax w/the fam. Sunday, Keith and I went on a drive to Kathryn Albertsons Park. We took a nice walk around the beautiful park. I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful place. Kathryn Albertsons is one of the most popular places to have family/wedding/engagements etc. pictures taken. There were probably a bazillion people there taking pics. It was nice to just have the three of us taking a walk and enjoying the fall beauty. I came up w/some of my favorite things about fall.

FALL FAVORITES

the perfect weather
crisp air
changing leaves
football (boise state)
cozy clothes
wood stoves
scarves
boots
pumpkins
pumpkin flavored everything
apple cider
my birthday
halloween
trunk or treats

carmel apples

hoodies

homemade donuts

corn mazes

pumpkin patches

hay rides

haunted houses

halloween movies

                                              Kathryn Albetsons Park

The world's largest Ponderosa at Kathryn Albertsons in Boise

                                                        Blue-eyed Beauty

                                                           Swinging at Ann Morrison

 

Oh I just love the fall...my favorite season for sure, I just wish it was longer.

New Love

Keith and I found our new FAVORITE RESTAURANT! Seriously why have we not been here before? Went to Tucanos today for lunch and fell IN LOVE! Thanks SIL CATHERINE for the wonderful birthday treat! We will definitely be going back esp since it's literally two minutes from our apartment!

(No this is not us)

oh for the love of endless meat....

Some New Favorites

I recently purchased some new products to try out that were recommended from a make up blog that I follow. I'm always skeptical to purchase something new that I've never tried before in fear that it won't work or I won't like the results and I've wasted my money. I loved every one of these products and will definitely be buying them again. Different things like skincare seem to work different for everyone so I guess you just have to try and see what works for you...but here are some of my new favorite products!
P.S. And the best part is all of them are under $10 (except the foundation)

I have been looking for a new foundation because I didn't feel like my old one was cutting it. So thank goodness for Sephora letting you get samples of makeup to take home and try to make sure you like it before you buy it. I tried this one and LOVED it. It's been the best foundation I've ever had. Worth $34??---YES!

I love love love this cleanser! You can use it as a daily cleanser, exfoliating scrub, or purifiying mask. I use it every night and it makes my face feel so clean and smooth. And it smells yummy.

Since my hair is natually curly it tends to frizz easier, I use this baby after I wash my hair to help maintain smoother and more sleek hair.

Good moisturizer is not cheap. I like this one because it's not super expensive but it still does a good job and it feels light and not sticky or oily.

Discovered this lil' gem while shopping at Rue 21 with my sis. Perfume is not cheap unless you want a sample size, but this one smells so good and is only $10. I love a good deal.

I'm still looking for a hairspray with good hold but that isn't stiff. Is that possible? Let me know if you know of some!

Not Fun

You know what's not fun???

Getting the stomach flu.....yech yesterday was not fun. I think it was a 24 hour thing. I still feel kinda blah and have no appetite after not being able to keep anything down, but I think it's over for the most part. Keith was such a big help taking care of both Carson and I  and went to work this morning after little sleep, he really is amazing. Thanks babe.

But you know what is fun?? Or should I say exciting? Getting e-mails from your best friend in Paraguay every Monday. I look forward to every Monday morning and that e-mail from Hermana Misti Lewis. Miss her sooooo much.

You know what else is exciting? My hair is finally getting long again! I love it! I can't wait for it to be even longer! I miss my long hair, although it was more work than short hair I miss the length and the endless possibilities of things you can do with it. Misti and I used to straighten and curl each others hair cuz we didn't want to do our own and it was just easier to have someone to get the back for you.

My hair....this isn't even how long it is cuz it's curled here, when straight it's longer.

Ok ok one more exciting thing! Keith is being transferred to McCall for the week! I really wanna go still haven't decided yet though because we have our Lewis Halloween Party on Friday and I don't know if we will be back in time for it....but I haven't been to McCall in YEARS! I wish we were going in Jan. or Feb. whenever the McCall Winter Carnival is because I remember that being the bomb! It would be fun to go again, I think the last time I went was in like 5th grade with my best friend.

 Goofin' around....ignore the messy bed we just got back from a trip.

 Growing so fast....

precious bebe