"Can you just stay this small Forever?"

It's been so bittersweet watching my little man grow up. He has gotten so big and so smart. It's seriously the most amazing thing to watch him explore, grow, and develop, and do new things. These past few days he has done some things that have just melted my heart and made me want him to stay this small forever. I love every stage they go through, newborn, infant, toddler, there's fun things about each stage and at each stage I remember thinking, "I just want him to stay this small."

Anyway...so the other day Carson was playing with his train and he would go sit on it and then run back to me and give me a big hug and rest his head on my shoulder and just hug me for a little while then go back to his train and playing for a about 30 seconds then would run back and give me a hug again and rest his head on my shoulder, he did this about 3-4 times. It was the most precious thing ever, I sat there and thought just how lucky I am to be his mom.

He is also so particular sometimes, he loves both me and Keith, but since I spend 24/7 with him and feed him most of the time he sometimes just wants his mom, so he's started to actually say, MOM. I love it! When I first heard it I got so excited! Now whenever he wants me or wants to eat he'll say, MOM, MOM, MOM. It's sooo cute!

The other day I asked him if he wanted to go outside and he said, "YEAH!" oh he's my little boy!
He also says, OW, WoW, and Thank You. OW is is new favorite word, I think he says that the most besides MOM.

Yesterday, I took off his shirt to change his clothes and he immediately runs into his room and into his bathroom to the tub and put his leg up getting ready to put himself in, I had to hurry in there and let him know I needed to do that, and take off his diaper too. It was just so cute to me that he immediately thought, since I was taking off his clothes it was bath time, he sure loves his baths!

He also is so particular when it comes to eating dinner, he wants to eat our food instead of his. He somehow believes that our food is superior to his and therefore wants to eat ours. We have figured out how to trick him though by putting his food on our plate and acting like it's ours. He will eat it if it's on our plate, he's hilarious.

He has this train that he got from his Grandma Penrod for Christmas. He is big enough to where he has figured out how to climb up on it and sit down on the seat. He loves to play with all the buttons that make noise. It's so cute to see him figure things out on his own.

so baby picture perfect. I can't believe he used to be this small!

Simple Joys

It's funny how simple little things can sometimes bring the most joy to your day. I made a new drink that I absolutely love- it's so simple but so yummy that I've already made it twice today! haha Once for breakfast and once for dessert. I can't wait to make it again tomorrow. It has all my favorite things! PB/Choc/Bananas.

1 Banana

1 TBS of Cocoa

1 spoonful of peanut butter

1/2-1 C Milk

(Mix all ingredients in blender, add more or less of whatever ingredient depending on how you like it- thick or thin) Ooo man it's my new favorite!

Today was also such a nice day that I decided little man and I should go on a walk. I walked to hamburger/ice cream shop just down the street and asked my sis to come meet us. It was fun to get out and enjoy the nice the weather! We had fun hanging out, eating and chatting, once our husbands got home we went to the nature park for FHE for another leisurely stroll and let lil' Carson and Brielle play at the park. It was so fun to see Carson really play for the first time since last time it was warm enough to go to the park Carson wasn't walking yet. Afterwards we went to the SUB on the BSU campus and got some Chic-Fil-A for dinner. yummm I love their sauce. All in all it was one of those simple, but really enjoyable days that also makes you want summer to be here quicker so you can be outside more. Can't wait for all the summer activities especially swimming since Carson is a fish!

Bear Bum

oh he's growing up too fast!

Little Birthday Boy!

Our little Carson man turned ONE on Sunday the 29th! I can't believe I am a mom to a one year old already! We celebrated his birthday with my family on the 28th, with a big dinner, cake, ice cream and presents, along with celebrating my Dad's birthday which is acutally today. He got so many great gifts from all my family and we had such a fun time celebrating with them. Yesterday, (the 30th) we celebrated his birthday again with Keith's siblings and our good friends in Rexburg since we came here this week for Keith's work. We had a pool party, pizza, and cupcakes. It was fun to see old friends and family again. It's still so crazy to me that one year ago our little bear came into our family. We are so blessed to be his parents and are excited for many more birthdays with this little man.

My dad w/his banana creme pie.

eating his cake w/daddy

birhtday boy

some of carson's cousins

sippy cups from aunt shae

mommy and carson on his birthday

Carson, Sam, Khalib-at the pool party

getting ready to go swimming

Khalib--isn't he gorgeous?

Some of the boys

Getting ready to sing to lil' bear

loving his cake

saying hi to his friend jake

yum

sharing with the boys

mckay, brandon &kathleen, sam &helio

sam!

swimminn

football boy

catherine and kolton

rj love the water!

Thanks to all who came to both parties! We had a blast celebrating with you!

11 Penrod Events of 2011

 Our family highlights of 2011....

1. January- Carson's birth!
Our first little bebe came into the world 1.29.11. This was one of the best days of our life (next to our wedding of course)
6 lb. 11 oz. of pure preciousness

2. March- Our big move to Boise.
We finally left good ol' Rexburg for my hometown of Boise, Idaho. Love this place and am so happy to be here once again. I mean it was time to move on...both of us graduated from college & still in a college town....yah we weren't feelin' it anymore. We love love love being around family and in a bigger city.

Carson and his two cousins Skylee and Brielle--the day we arrived in Boise.  First time the Lewis family met Carson.

3. April- Trip to New Jersey
We took a three week vacation to New Jersey to visit Keith's family in April. We got to do a lot of fun things...once the kidney stones passed, Carson was blessed, we went to Philly, Atlantic City, the beach, the bay, and the Cape May Zoo.

                                            Carson's blessing 4.10.11

Eating a philly cheesesteak at Pat's in Philly

In the Mall on the Atlantic City Boardwalk

4. May- U2 Concert!
So Keith and my favorite band is U2. We had the opportunity to see them in concert in SLC and it was AMAZING! Love them even more now...if that's possible.

Add caption

5. June- Keith started his new job.
Don't ask me what he does because it's very complicated stuff I don't understand, but he enjoys his new jobs and it keeps our life interesting and entertaining with all the trips we get to take!

6. June- Keith's Alaska Trip
So for Keith's birthday/fathers day gift he took a week long trip to AK. He has always wanted to go and I have three brothers that live there so he thought it was the perfect opportunity before he started his job to go. He had a blast and we want to return hopefully sometime soon as a family.

Fishin' on the Kenai in Alaska

7. July- Trip to Jackson Hole
Our fun little trip to Jackson Hole for a week was a perfect little getaway. Jackson is such a fun touristy town!

8. August- Trip to Phoenix, Arizona
Loved loved loved this trip! Even though we went in the summer to an already hot place it was so fun to relax by the pool, cheer on the Arizona Diamondbacks at the baseball game, and hang out with my awesome newlywed niece Chelsea and her husband James. I would love to go there again!

9. September- Trip to Helena, Montana
This was the longest of our trips for Keith's work. We stayed a month in Helena and did a lot of exploring. I even made a new friend and her little boy, Carson and I all hung out. What a pretty pretty state! It was nice to also have no sales tax. :)

10. December- Our 4th Anniversary.
12.28.07----Has it seriously been 4 years already?!!! Wow it has flown by so fast! I love Keith more and more each day and am so grateful for him and his patience with me. We had fun celebrating our anniversary with a little P.F. Changs. mmmmm yummy Chinese.

Four years.

11. A year of Firsts
This year was a year of firsts for all of us...but mostly Carson. Carson's first Valentines, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And of course mine and Keith's first fathers and mothers day.

The 4th

Trunk-or-Treat

Family Halloween Party

Christmas morn

And the first event to start off 2012 will be Carson's first birthday at a cabin in McCall! So excited!

Oh what a wonderful year 2011 has been! I'm so grateful for all my blessings and the wonderful experiences 2011 brought, especially my little Carson bear. Here's to a wonderful 2012!!!

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...

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!