You're older than you've ever been and now you're getting older and now you're older still..

So every day Jackson does something new that makes me realize how fast he is growing up. Two days ago Ike and I were wondering out loud when he would start to pick up food and feed himself. He could pick up things with his whole hand but not with just his fingers. Yesterday out of the blue he reached over to some banana crunchy puffs that spilled on the carpet and just started picking them up and eating them. He must have eaten close to thirty in a row. It was awesome. It is so cold right now. Even though we keep our thermos set at 70 degrees all the time I feel freezing if I am not wearing a bathrobe around the house over my clothes. I may look frumpy but I feel warm. On Mondays and Wednesdays I watch a friend of mine's baby while she and her husband are in class. I realized this past Monday that the next skill I need to try to teach Jackson is to be gentle. He is about twice the size of the other baby and a hundred times more excited to see him. He likes to crawl as fast as he can toward him and kind of tackle him with a hug. Jackson is in seventh heaven but I think it will give the other kid a heart attack if I don't figure out how to calm him down. He really loves being around other kids. I wish we could start looking for jobs right now. But we have to wait a little bit while Ike gets his Student Teaching underway. I guess what I should say is, "I wish we could start applying for jobs right now." because I sure do a lot of looking.

Happy New Year!

Can't believe 2010 is over and done! Christmas and New Year's were busy but great. Christmas was nice because we did absolutely nothing...except eat a huge turkey and watch movies. It was so nice. Jackson has changed so much in these past nine months. Every day I see him do something new and I realize that I really need to get on the ball about teaching him things because he is learning so fast! Ike is student teaching, which is awesome for two reasons: 1. He is getting valuable teaching experience that will no doubt help him find a job. 2. He looks so nice every day! Teacher clothes = cute clothes. So now that I am almost a full time mom I thought I would have tons of time on my hands...wrong. Jackson keeps me so busy! He moves so fast and always wants to play. I have found That I have three hours during the day ( during his naps) that I can get things done for myself. I have realized that I can't do everything but If I can do a few things every day I feel good about myself:

1. Take a shower! This is sort of pathetic that I have to put this on a list to do it but you would be surprised how fast this one gets bumped to the back of the list when you have a million other things to do.

2. Work out for 30 minutes! So I think like 99% of other new moms I am really missing my old pre-baby body. But, even if I am not totally happy with what I have at least I am doing something so I can't beat myself up too much! I have these Susan Powter videos from the 90's that are actually really awesome and I do one a day while Jackson takes his 1pm nap. Dorky, yes. But chunky, hopefully not for much longer!

3. Clean one thing! So maybe I will have time throughout the day to clean more than one thing but even if I only clean one thing I know that I accomplished that thing and I feel good! Today I re-organized the pots and pans cupboard and yesterday I cleaned the key board on our computer.

4. Play with Jackson! I never regret playing with him and he is so cute it is hard not to enjoy singing patty cake over and over for an hour.

So there are lots of other things I do that make me feel good like trying to get my scriptures read, saying prayers, putting on makeup, doing something nice for Ike, going on a walk, sewing, etc. But I really try to get those four things done every day and when I do I feel like I have really had a productive day! Lets make it through the next three months, OK? life is usy busy busy but sooooooooooooooooooo good.



Mom with Jackson: Less than a week old.



All of us on Ike's Birthday (Dec.26th). Jackson is 8 months old!

No update. Just a fresh start.

So, rather than try to update you on the last eight months of my life, I have simply chosen to start fresh. My last post mentioned that I was six months pregnant. Well, that six month fetus is now a four month old baby! He is ridiculously cute. Ike has been out of town this week. This week has been an interesting one. I locked myself out of the apartment and after trying for a half hour to get a hold of the manager I resorted to popping the screen out of our living room window and jimmying it open. I was able to climb through and unlock the living room door. Thank goodness Jackson was with me when I locked myself out. I think I would have been totally panicking if he was in the house and I was locked out. I think I stayed pretty calm during the whole thing though so I feel good. I finished up my summer term and now Ike and I officially only have one semester of classes left!!! Ike has student teaching after this fall but then we both graduate in April. It is crazy when I think about how much my life has changed in the past four years. It is crazy how much it has changed just in the past two years! Sometimes I look at my sleeping baby and I have to pinch myself because this life almost doesn't feel real to me. Was I really pregnant for nine months? Did I really give birth to this baby? Its just crazy. Jackson is now 16lbs and is finally finally sleeping from 7:30pm to 7:00am. He has always been a great sleeper but for the past three months he was waking up at 4am for a feeding. Finally I decided to see what would happen if I just gave him his pacifier instead of feeding him. Well shock upon shock, he just went back to bed and the next morning he slept straight until 6:30. Ever since then he has woken up right around 7!!! Jackson is such a textbook baby. I remember wondering when he would smile for the first time and I read that babies usually start smiling around six weeks or later. On the day he was six weeks he started smiling at me. I just love him so much. Ike gets home tomorrow and I can't be more excited. We have never been apart more than 24 hours and then he was gone this whole week and will be gone all next week!!! It was hard! Anyway, life is more than good and I feel so blessed!

Finally an update!

Since the last post lots has happened in the Carr house. Ike and I had a very successful but also at times scary drive from Utah to Ohio then New Hampshire then back again for Christmas. It was really fun except for the times the weather was so bad we couldn't see two feet in front of the car. School has started again and I am now officially in my Third Trimester!!! For everyone who doesn't know, we are having a boy and his name will be Jackson. We are more excited than we can even express. I have a feeling this semester is going to go by really fast and soon it will be over and Ike and I will have a new baby in our arms.

We love you all!
April

Good news from the Good Doctor

So I had my 12 week appointment on Friday and it went awesome! Ike and I got to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time. It was a really really awesome experience. I also was able to meet my doctor for the first time and he is great! I really love the OBGYN clinic I am going to. My doctor's name is Dr. Watabe. Cool huh? He is very calming. It took him a few minutes to find the heartbeat on Friday and I was starting to get nervous that there wasn't one but he reassured me that the baby was small and it had a lot of places to hide. He eventually found it and it was such a relief. I have had way too many dreams where I'm not actually pregnant or I end up giving berth to family pets. It was nice to know the baby is real. The rest of the visit was good. All my blood work came back and it was all good. No blood pressure or sugar problems or anything like that. I did have to come face to face with a scale which was terrifying. I've gained a wopping 15lbs in my first trimester alone. I'm pretty sure I will look like a whale by 9 months. We will see. On the way home I really wanted Taco Bell. Taco Bell has been all I have been thinking about for the past few days. That and chicken noodle soup. Both of those are so good. Honestly, that is probably the reason I gained 15lbs in my first trimester. I will have to watch it. I am definitely showing which is pretty exciting. I will be starting my second trimester very soon and everyone says that's when you explode. So we will see. All and all, Ike and I are doing great!

Big News Big News...

I can't fit into any of my pants and feel like vomiting all the time!!!... That's right... The Ike and April Carr family are pleased to announce their first child is on the way! So Ike and I are pregnant! We are very excited but at the same time I am already ready to be done with my first trimester. I am sick ALL THE TIME! And I do mean all the time. Some days I am more sick than others but mostly I am just sick all the time. I am a little over two months along. I had my fist doctor's appointment today and I am very proud of myself. The lab woman took four vials of blood and I didn't even vomit! I kind of fainted when I stood up but I never threw up. I am super proud of myself. I covered my face and looked at the opposite wall and the nurse probably thought I was insane but it was OK because I was fine. I actually thought about bringing an extra shirt in my purse just in case I did throw up on myself. For those of you who don't know...I can't handle needles or blood and I tend to faint and vomit when dealing with them. Ike took me out to breakfast as a celebration of my first appointment. My expected due date is April 21st but I am PRAYING that that is just a little early because it happens to be my last day of finals for winter semester and I'm pretty sure that will literally kill me. Classes are going great for both Ike and me. We are working hard and really really really looking forward to Christmas!!! WE CAN'T WAIT!!! We will get to see Jessica and Regan and whole family. P.S Jessica and Regan: You guys ROCK!!!! I want to hear some German at Christmas time!!

That's all!
April

Back to School!

It feels so good to be back at school! Our first day was yesterday and even though it was tiring it was fun to be back in a classroom. Ike and I are both taking a full load of classes. I can tell my favorite class is going to be floral design and Ike loves his geology class. We are both enjoying BYU and it is wierd to see all the freshman around because they look so young! We had my aunt Becky and my cousin Chloe stay with us for a few days last week while Chloe was getting ready to start BYU for the first time. It made me remember what it was like when I started BYU. I lived in Deseret Towers that no longer exist. My dad drove me out and it was an awesome experience. We ate at the Subway right across from DT my first night here and went to K-Mart to get some things for my dorm. It was really a great experience. I remember there was also a snow storm coming in the night we showed up! The bakery is doing well but it is getting more and more stressfull as we get closer to the busy holiday season. Even though it is only the second day of school, Ike and I have been running into people non-stop from the past few years! It has been so exciting. The book store is absolutly crammed with people and the lines are insane. Ike will be starting intermural flag football in a few weeks and that is somthing he will have a lot of fun doing. We have made new plans for Christmas. We are going to go to Ohio and New Hampshire! We will start out in Ohio and visit my family then spend the second half of the break in New Hampshire with Ike's family. It will be so much fun. Jessica and Regan are moving to Germany this very soon and it is sad but exciting. I think it will be an awesome adventure. Oh, my dad got to come visit us for the weekend this past Saturday and Sunday and it was Awesome!!! It was so good to see him. I am so glad that he came to visit. My mom will be visiting him in Colorado this Thursday and then they are going back to Ohio by next Tuesday. It should be fun for them. Love you All!

April