Christmas Letter 2015

This has been a crazy but fun year for our family. In January we did in vitro fertilization and we were successful. We were so excited to find out that it was a girl. Emily Lynn Carlson was born via c-section on October 9, 2015. She weighed 7lbs 13 0z and was 20 inches long. We are loving having a little princess in our home. The boys sure love her and all her cute things. Emily is a great eater and is only waking up once per night. Yay! She just started to smile and coo.

In July we went to Utah and had a family reunion for my side. The kids had so much fun with all of their cousins. We went swimming at the beach, played at some parks and took a closed ski lift up the mountain to do some hiking. For Thanksgiving we were with Jim's family and had lots of fun making peppernuts and visiting a local arcade/amusement park. We are blessed to have such great cousins.

Jim has been busy with his business this year and trying to take care of a pregnant wife. He has taken over lots of the household chores and shopping. I am so grateful for a husband that takes care of me and our children. Jim did get one camping trip in this year in our backyard. The kids had so much fun and stayed in the tent all night long.

I had some great miracles with this pregnancy. First I wasn't sick like with the twins. Second, I was able to be an active mother due to my chiropractic visits that allowed me to walk pain free. My recovery from my c-section was better this time around thanks to my mother-in-law and mom letting me get a nap most days. My mom was able to come for 2 weeks and help with baby Emily. We had tons of projects to do while she was here. We remade my car seat cover and made many super hero capes for cousins.

Ethan (5 1/2) started kindergarten this year and is loving it. He can count to 100 now and can even read some words. Homework is sometimes hard for him but he is improving. Ethan has a few friends at school and they like to pretend to be super heroes. He is still going to occupational therapy and it is helping a lot. He now recognizes smells which has been funny when he asks who has a smelly diaper. He is growing so tall. We love our smart kindergartner.

Brad (turning 3 in Jan) is such a tease. He likes to snuggle and watch TV. He is really into batman and was him for Halloween. He likes to color and build things. He moved to a toddler bed this year and had no problems. Brad likes to dance especially to the songs on his favorite shows.

Jared (turning 3 in Jan) is our energizer bunny. He loves to dance and sing. He is always climbing and jumping and rolling on something. He says the funniest things. He talks really well. He is scared of the dark and will often end up in our bed at night. He is a daddy's boy. Superman is his favorite superhero.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas. We love all of our friends and family and wish we could see you more. We are grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ and the peace that He brings to our life. May you feel His peace and love in your life more.

Love,
The Carlsons
Jim, Marissa, Ethan, Brad, Jared & Emily

Halloween Fun!

Halloween was really fun this year. Ethan finally got the point of trick or treating. He would run from house to house to collect his loot. I stayed home and passed out tons of candy while Jim took Ethan around. They were gone for an hour which really surprised me. Ethan helped pass out candy to the kids when they got back. He would finish passing out candy to a group and then turn to us with a pathetic whine (as in where is my candy) so we were forced to feed him candy most of the night. He actually didn't eat much since he kept getting distracted.

Here is the pumpkin that I carved. I was proud of myself since it took a lot of muscle and I had to make up the nose myself.

Here we are at our ward trunk or treat. Ethan is a lion of course since he loves to roar. My shirt has 2 sets of hand prints and says "LET US OUT". I am going to wear it to the hospital when I go to deliver these boys. Jim's says Eat, Drink, Be Scary. There was a costume contest with prizes with an honorable mention for costumes. When they called out the Carlson Twins it took me a moment to figure out who they were talking about maybe because I have always heard the Housley twins.

Here I am at 25 weeks. I am showing about 6 six weeks ahead. My clothes are all starting to get very tight. I am wearing Jim's old shirts a lot when just around the house.

Our little lion all ready to go and collect his candy.

P.S. There is another new post below.

Our 2 year old

Well Ethan's 2nd birthday was many moons ago (in May), but I still wanted to post some pictures of it. We had a small family party planned with a Cars theme, but as luck would have it Ethan got hand, foot and mouth a few days before so only grandparents could come. He still enjoyed himself and loved the new remote control car that he got. We kept it simple with pizza and rainbow chip cupcakes. It is an adjustment to share a birthday so close to your child because I didn't want to make 2 cakes. So since Ethan doesn't care yet, I decided what the cake I wanted for my birthday. Here are some birthday pics along with random others tossed in.

Remote control car

The birthday boy

Random fun in the trash can

We were going through his closet to see what still fit and what we needed for fall. He decided that he needed a hat and tie also. I think it is cute that he loves to dress up.

We had a slight mishap this morning. He was all ready for church with his church clothes on when he decided to surprise Jim by getting in the shower with him. Jim turned around and yelled, which scared Ethan who then   began to cry. We quickly dried him and stripped him of his soggy clothes and shoes and threw them in the dryer. This is his outfit while waiting on those clothes. Of course the cowboy boots are a must. Halloween and pregnancy pics to follow soon.

Disney World We Miss You!

We went to Disney World at the end of March with Jim's parents and siblings. We rented a house nearby and enjoyed 5 days at the various parks. We swam and ate a ton. No sunburns, but a few melt downs. Ethan was a trooper; he didn't get a nap the whole time that we were gone. He did not like the loud shows we went to (Indiana Jones, Cars Stunt Show, Pirates), but he loved the rides like Dumbo and It's a Small World.

I felt like a kid at Disney World. I went to Disneyland when I was 5, but did not remember a thing. So I soaked up this experience and enjoyed every minute of it. Enjoy the photos.

Ethan waiting in line for his 1st ride. We went on Toy Story at Hollywood Studios.

Here we are on a tour of the back lot. Ethan was camera shy.

He was so excited to meet the characters. He went right up and gave them high fives.

It's a Small World was so cute. Ethan and I loved the dancing dolls.

About to take off on Dumbo. He loved using the controls to make us go up and down.

On Safari at the Animal Kingdom. He wanted to get off after 10 minutes.

 

No explanation needed. I loved the Castle, so magical. I was a little scared on Splash Mountain. I love how Jim is so happy in the back and I look petrified. Below is the picture of all of the grandkids minus one baby. They are in jail with Emperor Zurg after riding the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Bubba See, Bubba Do

Ethan has begun to mimic us. This morning as I was brushing my teeth, I gargled and spit. And behind me, I hear a gargle and a spit. Cute.

 Another thing Ethan loves to do lately is drive Daddy's truck or "car" as he calls it. He loves to change the radio stations and drive. He plays with any button he can reach. Of course if you are being like daddy, you need to wear his hat and gloves.

 We had some snow last week, so we bundled up and went out to play. We lasted about 10 minutes because there was a biting wind that froze you pretty quick. Ethan didn't want to touch the snow, but if I would scoop it up into my hands, he would swipe it off my gloves.

Happy New Year!!!

We have had a great Christmas season. I hosted Christmas Eve at my house. We had yummy hors d'oeuvres for dinner. Oh yum. My mother in law brought her Crab dip and the party was complete. We read the Nativity story in the bible and then watched the Grinch. Christmas day we went to church and then spent the afternoon opening presents and enjoying a Turkey dinner.

Ethan got some neat toys for Christmas. He got a slide and some noisy trucks. Man he loves anything that makes noise. Jim and I didn't get anything for each other for Christmas because we got a New Master Bathroom. It only took 2 months to complete. It is still not done. The installers who came to put in our sheet of glass for our shower wanted us to have an aquarium. They didn't leave a place for us to get in the shower. So with some minor delays (isn't this always the case when remodeling) we will have our new shower this next week. I am so pleased with how it is all coming together. I will post pics soon.

New Years eve was kind of quiet for us. Stayed at home watching our favorite shows NCIS and Bones, we did feast on Chicken Pot Pie and Cheesecake.

Ethan at our Ward Christmas Party. Does anyone recognize the shirt?

Daddy and Ethan, what a pair!

This is as close to Santa as Ethan would get. We thought he wanted to see Santa, but he really wanted to climb the stairs.

Christmas morning and he got a noisy fire truck. Every boys dream!

Ethan in his new church duds. Doesn't he look charming. All the girls at church go crazy for him.

Dress Up

These are blackmail pictures for when Ethan is older. He loves to dress up, which for him means putting things on your head or around your neck. Most mornings when we are getting ready, Ethan can be found wearing either a hat, a headband or a shower cap. He really doesn't care which. He also has a tiny scarf he took off a teddy bear that he puts around his neck. It makes me laugh. Ethan also loves to wear sunglasses, but lately will put them on his forehead instead of his eyes. What a nut!

The oh so stylish shower cap. I have several colors for him to choose from.

I just wanted to wrap him in scarves. If you look closely the original scarf is camouflage. He looks like he is fleeing his homeland.