Life

I have decided these two precious little people are amazing! My thoughts are always on them and pretty much my every move caters to their needs (and wants). I love it! It's so special to think these little people are dependent on me...and they LOVE me!! It's good to be loved, especially by such sweet children.

This Christmas season has been the most fun so far as a parent. Carsen is so excited about EVERYTHING. (I don't know what we are going to do when Christmas is over, because we won't be able to use the 'Santa Clause threat' anymore.) Time goes by too quickly! I can't believe it's the weekend before Christmas and we are wrapping (literally) up the holiday! This is such a special time of year, and I am sad to see it go by so quickly.....

In case I don't make another post before the big day--Merry Christmas to all my blog friends!

The Lights

My favorite outing this time of year is to venture down to Temple Square and see the lights. This year was no exception.....It was bitter cold, but we still loved it! (When we got home Myka's little toes were frozen! Oops. Bad mommy.)

A day in the life of.....

Just another day in the life of Carsen Scott Peck.....One minute he's a pirate, the next minute he's a super hero. You've gotta give it up for the creativity! (Lucky for me, I'm the one left to clean up the messes!)

Chad took Carsen with him to the Jazz game Satuday night. (At least they finally won.) Carsen had on his D-Will Jersey and was cheering on his team until about half time and then he said, "Let's go home." (There was no way Chad was leaving, so luckily Carsen is a super-sport and made it through the entire time!) While the boys were away, the girls played...I put Myka to bed at 7:30 and worked on my lesson for Sunday! (Such fun!)

Climbing to the Top

Myka has decided crawling is just too boring (and probably a little rough on the tender knees). She is climbing up onto everything! We often have to rescue her from under the kitchen table where she is wedged underneath the chairs....standing.....Her favorite is when Carsen is taking a bath she saunters into the bathroom and climbs up onto the bath tub to see what's going on. I keep waiting (and dreading) the day when she discovers the stairs. So far we are gate free......

Freezing Family Photos!

'Tis the season for Family Pic's. We are a bit late getting them done this year--which is why we were in the FREEZING cold! Our photographer said it was her shortest (and coldest session) yet! Our kids were absolute troopers! Despite the frigid air--I think we came away with some great photos!!! I am still waiting to get the ones back of my just my kids, so stay tuned for more......

Thanksgiving Festivities

Even though it is a week gone by--Thanksgiving is worth posting about. I love Thanksgiving because we get to see family we don't see often--and we get to eat foods we don't eat often!

This year was a "Nordfelt" year so we all (and I mean all 80 something of us) gathered together at the Institute building for food and festivities.

Here are the younger kids having a little foot race! Go Carsen go!



Next was the "older kids" turn for a potato sack race....Chad and I won! (I mean, kicked butt!)

On Friday evening we were invited over to my sister-in-law Kelly's parents house for some gingerbread house making where a surprise visitor was a hit! Carsen was so excited to see Santa. In fact, he couldn't wait to tell Santa what he wanted.....and he didn't. When Santa walked into the room Carsen shouted, "Santa, I want a gun!" (Not sure where that one came from...as we all know, he already has a gun.)

Carsen sat on his lap and was even confessional in telling Santa, "I don't sleep in my big boy bed all night." (It's something we've been working on. He keeps wandering in to our bed in the wee hours of morning.) It was adorable!

Myka was quite taken with Santa's beard. We decided next year she will be frightened of him!

Carsen with his cousins Katie Bug and KC listening intently to every word Santa had to say.


Carsen and I making our gingerbread house. Okay, so I did most the work....He was content eating the candy.

Move'n Myka

I am a huge slacker! The days keep slipping by and I want to update my blog, but I don't want to take the time to do it....Here we finally are!

Myka has been crawling for about 2 1/2 weeks now. She went from sitting up to putting her hands in front of her and then moving. She won't sit still and is into everything! Her new thing is pulling herself up onto stools and other small objects. The "chill on the lap" days are long gone....she's too busy wiggling out of our laps and onto the floor so she can go explore (and put everything in her path directly into her mouth!) The other day I scooped a piece of popped popcorn out of her mouth! (What a heart-pounding moment!)


Myka loves to sit in her high chair and eat crackers....(The majority end up on the floor and she crawls around later and nibbles them up!) Guess which one is Myka and which is Carsen! The bottom picture is Carsen when he was Myka's age! (Don't they look so much alike!)



My bathe'n babes! Every time I put Myka in the tub Carsen wants to join her.....


Myka's new thing is to scoot the bars of her crib and press her face against them and cry to be picked up. She is ruining her cute crib bumper because she keeps laying on it and misshaping it!


This video was taken right when she first started crawling....now she's cruise'n around! Where did my baby go? (I realize I sound ridiculous on this video after hearing myself being played back...but that's just the way moms sound! At least this mom!)

TAG, I'm It....

Okay, fine....Kelly. Here is your request. Now everyone can see my terrible habits and the 'things' that make me ME.

1. I am a very schedule-oriented person. I have my own personal schedule (those of you who know me...know this to be true). I thrive on knowing when the next event is going to take place. My days are very scheduled and I like to follow this schedule. My kids are on a schedule, which gives me my sanity. You could say I am routine-oriented. I like to create a routine and stick with it--it works for me and helps me time manage everything.
2. I am a nail biter and have been since as long as I can remember. I must say, for a nail-biter my nails are not too bad. I will go through stages (right now is a good stage). I am trying to get them to grow, so I am concentrating really hard on not chewing at them. (I have painted them a sheer pinkish color and I really like it!) It's a nasty habit and I wish I could stop...
3. I actually really, truly LOVE to work out..... Chad thinks I am crazy, but I really do love going to the gym or just going for a nice jog outside....I am not sure where this obsession began, but it is in my system. I will wake up at any hour of the morning just so I can make it to the gym. (Luckily, I have my gym gals to thank for the support, but there have been times when I have flown solo in the 4 a.m. hour just to get my work-out in and make it home in time for Chad to be on the golf course by 6 a.m.) I love the way I feel after I have worked-out, and psychologically I don't feel as good on days when I have to skip a work-out for some terrible reason!
   
4. Popcorn is my pal! I love popcorn and have loved it since I was a tiny child (even Carsen loves popcorn)! Lucky for me, I think I married someone who actually eats popcorn more than I do. (I used to out-eat Chad in the popcorn department, but I have become more "conscious" of my intake so he and Carsen have me beat). My favorite popcorn is with my hot-air popper. When I was 12-years-old I received my very own popcorn popper for Christmas! I can eat popcorn anytime of day....it's so delicious! I have found it is difficult for me to sit down in front of the TV without popcorn in my lap--so I have had to cut-out a lot of shows just to cut-down on my popcorn intake!!
5. I love to be comfortable. I have two sets of clothing--comfortable and not-so-comfortable. I am willing to sacrifice being comfortable to go out and about...But when I come home the first thing I do is change my clothes into my comfy sweats. I also cannot stand to wander around my house wearing jewelry. I wear jewelry (along with my not-so-comfy) clothes out and about..but the minute I walk in the door I take off my earrings, necklace, whatever it may be just so I can be comfy.
6. I am a super-cautious driver. (I would actually prefer to call it "a defensively safe driver.") Either way you look at it, I am not a crazy driver. On occasion I will speed up on a yellow light (if I am late for something). I have never had a speeding ticket (knock on wood) or been in a wreck (knock on wood again). I figure that when you speed you get to your destination about 1 minute sooner than if you just slow down and go the speed limit (or a little over)!
   

Okay now....I am tagging (I don't think I even know 6 people who blog that haven't already been tagged....)
1. Natalie
2. Keri
3. Stefanie
4. Kate
5. Kami

Superhero Halloween

Lucky for us, Carsen stumbled upon our Halloween box last weekend while we were organizing some boxes in the basement.....Carsen pulled out the Superman costume of Chad's (from last year's Halloween party...we were Superman and Supgergirl) and said, "Put it on Dad." (Carsen was so excited that his dad had a costume to play in too. He was so insistent Chad put it on and keep it on) So, we decided to make it a fun-family Halloween and all be Superheroes! (Except little pumpkin Myka.)

For our ward trunk-or-treat Carsen was Batman. He was going to be Batman for Halloween until we all decided to be "Supers". Then we had to go find him a Superman costume (much to Carsen's liking!) Now he has another costume he gets to play in (everyday).

Precious Pumpkin....We had to ditch the pumpkin part about 30 minutes into the evening....Myka couldn't move very well! I couldn't believe Carsen wore this costume two years ago....It seems like yesterday....

A group of us in the neighborhood went to the Olson's house for dinner and pre-Trick-or-treating pictures....(thank you Olsons for delicious Navajo tacos and 'healthy' Halloween treats!) There are so many cute friends for Carsen in the neighborhood.

My Supermen after trick-or-treating. Carsen was freezing cold and ready to come home. He was so adamant that he not wear anything under or over the costume--which resulted in the sun going down and him freezing! Oh well, I didn't want a bucket full of candy anyways.

'SUPER' FAMILY! Carsen loved that we were in costume and was disappointed when the night was over and we shed the costumes and gladly put them back into the box. Although, we did decide it made the evening more fun to be in costume! I guess that's why we have kids---to keep us young!

Our Tigger pumpkin.

Sitt'n Pretty

It's official as of Saturday--my baby is sitting up! It seemed like it happened over night. We would work with her on sitting and she would keep wobbling over. On Saturday morning I just plopped her down and she stayed put! Not only is she sitting, but she also has two budding little teeth (and a fun little runny nose to go along with it!) AND she's on all fours doing the rock back and forth......My cupboards are not going to be safe for long!

I have been so excited about the "chillier" weather because I can finally put Myka in all the cute leggings! Having a girl is just too fun! (Look at those cute boots too! What a cutie!) She's not a big fan of headbands...so at least the leggings are "girlie."




So, littler story behind this adorable face...I was sitting at the computer doing my thing (probably blogging or looking at a blog)....I hear Myka down on the floor growling and having a grand time. I'm thinking, "Sweet, she's entertained...." I had no idea what she was entertained with! She had found a colored pencil on the floor and was trying to get it into her mouth--which of course ended up all over her face! At least she's smiling about it! (I was too!)

Like, So Totally Rad!

We have like the raddest neighborhood. On Friday night, we like had a Murder Mystery party at the Richard's house. The theme was like, "Murder High Class of '85 Reunion." There was totally like 15 players and everyone was totally 'bad' (but good) in their character. Of course I was like the head cheerleader, Natalie Nebraska, and everyone like totally loved me (at least I thought so.....). I like totally wore my old uniform with like my double-layered socks and was like fer sure cool! I like totally curled my bangs and used like lots of hair spray (that hair style was just a little too familiar! I had no trouble remembering how to get my bangs way up there!) Chad was Joe Nebraska (my husband) and he was like the totally cool high school jock (turned PE coach!) He like totally wore his tapered denim with his like totally rad braided belt, and a custom-made t-shirt that like totally told all his accomplishments....(MVP all the way!) It was super rad! Our friends were all totally cool in their hip 80's wear---Like, there was lots of crimped hair and like totally rad blue eye shadow with like super cool lipstick. Like, it was fer sure a smoke'n party with like the coolest kids ever!

Like, look how totally cool we are! Fer sure! (Like, totally look at my rad bangs! They are so awesome!) I asked Carsen if he liked my hair and he shook his head and laughed!

Like, look at all those totally rock'n 80's guys. My fave is totally that bad guy in the front with the like hot mustache! (What a stud-o-rama!)

Our friends are like the bomb!

Oh my gosh! Like, what a totally rad group of girls. We are like fer sure way fly!


THANK YOU JILL AND JARED FOR WATCHING OUR KIDS! WE OWE YOU BIG TIME!

Festive Fun at Cornbelly's

Perfect fall fun at Cornbelly's! We had heard this place was a great place to take the family (so much more than just a simple corn maze) so we went with our neighbors the Olsons and checked it out. The kids loved it (and I'm talking about the BIG kids!)

Most handsome boys ever!

Carsen loved playing this water game.....He really got into it and didn't even mind the fact that he was standing in water and his hands were getting wet......(When you're two and having a blast you don't really worry about being cold or wet)!

We went for a wagon ride through the cornfield and saw some amazing pumpkin carvings....At first we thought there was no way they could be real, and then we realized some people have talent in the area of pumpking carving (definetely not us).

Deer Hunting

Pa telling Carsen some story about "shooting" deer. As you can see, Carsen was totally enthralled.

Carsen didn't quite know what to think of the deer. He was a little nervous.

Oh boy! Carsen was so excited to go to Moab and the cabin. He kept saying, "Tomorrow we go to the cabin and see Pa...and look for deers." (This was last Monday). I knew I shouldn't have ever told him we were going until right before we left (his concept of time is not quite there yet!) Of course he packed his gun!

Carsen was right there when Pa shot his deer--but he didn't quite know what to think about it. His favorite part of the entire weekend was his Spiderman boots. Our neighbor gave them to him and they have been too big until recently. Carsen found them when we were packing to go to Moab and I thought, "why not." He wore them every waking minute--and then even dreamed about the darn things.... He woke up during the night and said, "Where's my Spiderman boots?" Fortunately, they were put to good use when it snowed Saturday night!

We had a great time eating "cabin food" and talking "cabin talk." (We missed ya Kye and Kelly...Carsen was wondering where his cousins were?) Next year, right Kel!

Halloween Howls

This song is actually quite cute when he slows down....He was a little wound up and excited about his skeleton jammies. He has really been excited about Halloween this year. Everytime we go to the store we have to walk down the Halloween isle--and he begs for everything boyish. When we get the Sunday newspaper he finds the ads with the costumes in it and wants us to "read" the story to him. He takes after me--fall and Halloween are my favorite time of year!

Growly Girl

Myka's latest thing is this really low growl....it's hilarious! (Don't mind Carsen talking in the background.)

I took Myka to her 6 month check-up and she is in the 90th percentile for height! (I know...she gets that from me :)

Florida Here We Come!

My parents bought a time share a year ago (a one-time thing) and they had to use it within a certain time frame. About 6 months ago they decided they had better finalize some plans. They had some different places to choose from, so being the shy and non-aggressive child that I am---I told them they should go to Florida and we would come with!

So we did!......

Thanks Mom and Dad for an awesome trip! When are we going again????

Day 1: Disney World

I did a little research before we came to Florida. We didn't really know what to expect or really what to do. We asked friends and did some Internet searching. We decided that we would just do Magic Kingdom at Disney World. (There are 4 different parks inside Disney World and you have to pay an entrance fee to each one. We decided one was enough for us.)

It was a magical day!

Firs things first...When we woke up it was pouring rain. While we were watching the news the weather man said, "For those of you on vacation here--you picked a bad time. This rain is going to stay around all day." PERFECT. What a way to start the day.

We had to make the best of it though. We decided to put on our rain gear and head to Disney World. As we were getting out of our car the rain clouds parted and the sun came through....and the humidity knocked off our socks (..I mean our crocs!) We put our rain gear in our bags and headed for a day of fuzzy hair! (I decided to just put the blow drier back in the bag...no use for the flat iron either. It would've been an absolute waste of time. Pony tail weather!)

It was a great day! The lines were short and we were able to ride all the rides we wanted too. We ate lunch with Tigger and Pooh (which made Carsen's day!) While we were strolling through Frontier Land Carsen spotted his dream 'a gun'! We bought it for him and he didn't let go of it the entire trip. (We had to convince him on the airplance that it had to go underneath or they would take it away from him. It was the first thing he asked for when we got in the car in Utah).

Carsen's favorite was driving the race cars with his Daddy. The funniest thing happened at lunch...It was about 3 o'clock by the time we finally ate lunch. We had been roaming around the park for several hours by that time. After we were finished with lunch we were deciding what to do next. Out of nowhere Carsen looks at all of us and puts his fist on the table and says, "Okay....I'm tired." We all started laughing because he finally was able to admit he was winding down.....(a miracle!) My parents took he and Myka on some train (for a bit of a cat nap) while Chad and I went and rode some bigger rides.

Everyone had such a fun time! It was also Chad's first time ever experiencing the whole Disney theme park...(he and Carsen were able to experience it together)!