my little beach bum

I think Carson has really taken to beach living... Here are just a few pics of him lately =-)

Our daily stroll to the beach... he loves pulling the wagon "by self"....he sure loves that expression!

I learned very quickly that I can't walk down to the beach without a bathing suit.... Carson doesn't care what he's in, he just runs right in the water!



Rod's long board has also become my toddler's favorite activity.... He's actually really good, and has amazing balance!! It's so dang cute to see him on it!

What is life without ice cream? I'm so glad Carson loves it just as much as I do!! For once in my life I really don't care how messy he gets with it... It just makes me giggle!! =-)

Our latest houseguests...

So we absolutely love our beach house, and adore living here. HOWEVER, there have been a few minor, okay, to me they have been major "bumps" in our stay so far. Everyday for the past few weeks we had seen a raccoon, walking along our deck, jumping from our roof, and around the yard. It worried me because I've always thought they were vicious, and attack quite easily... since Carson and I are ALWAYS outside... I was a little stressed about it. Anyway, we were laying in bed one night and all of a sudden I hear LOTS of noise up in our attic. I wake Rod up and tell him to listen....I'm super freaked out and start to panic. "Can it get in, is it going to eat Carson, it's going to get us!" I'm a little paranoid to say the least. The thing was running around and scratching so loud, that I slept in our spare room. So next morning I'm on the phone with my landlord... she tells me she'll call an animal control company and have them out ASAP. So they show up later that day and just guess what they're called? "CRITTER GITTERS".... no joke! It is so hillbilly out here sometimes! Not to mention, the guys truck is painted like an alligator! HA HA... He sets 3 traps and says he'll be by in the morning to pick up the raccoon.... well the damn thing outsmarted the traps every day! It managed to get the food out, and set off the trap without getting caught! This lasted for 6 days.... and for 6 nights I heard it running around in our attic, above our master bedroom... so guess where Lindsay slept? HA HA... So finally our lovely critter gets trapped.... YEAH!! I'm so stoked. The guy comes the next morning, seals off all the entrance points to the attic where it would've gotten in and he leaves. I'm so happy. I get into bed that night just beaming that I can have a good night sleep!!! Well, that ended all too quickly when at 3 am I start hearing this awful crying and scratching... Of course I wake up Rod and his response is, "What do you want me to do about it?" ... so back to the spare room I go..... So our little house guest made a nest up there and had some babies!! AH!! I call the animal guy in the morning and he comes back. This time he brings his,"little lady" as he refers to her, and he is ready to go up in the attic and get them. Of course the attic above our room can only be accessed through my side of the closet... so I have to take all my clothes out so the guy won't get them dirty. He goes up and looks for them, of course the babies are in a spot in the attic that he can't reach.... ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!??!! So he tells me that he will have to cut a hole in our ceiling in order to get them out! Yep, a hole. So he gets his ladder, cuts a sweet hole in our ceiling and starts reaching his paws up there to find them.... (keep in mind this guy has NO GLOVES ON!!---- must be a hick thing....) He pulls the first baby out... it's so tiny and he hands it to his "little lady"... she puts it in her sweatshirt pocket! I'm dying. Where's the kennel, or box, or something? Your POCKET? Wow.... the next one he pulls out poops down his arm and as he hands it to her, it poops all over her sweatshirt! At this point I'm ready to have a heart attack.... for those of you who know me well, I'm quite obsessed with germs and being clean... raccoon poop=nasty=a very disturbed Lindsay! Anyway, she tells me that she has to wash it off and goes into my bathroom, where I brush my teeth and wash my face! She puts the raccoons in my SINK to get herself cleaned off!! I thought at this point I might pass out. I kept asking her, " Do you want soap? Disinfectant? BLEACH? The things are in my sink and she's just wiping the poop off with a tissue! YUCK!!! Doesn't even wash her hands! Anyways... I'll make my very long story, short. He gets two more "coons" out, I give them a towel and box to put them in, and our "critter" problem is finally solved! Come to find out these people actually raise raccoons and have a few for pets.... that really does explain so much! (grin).... Needless to say my nights are very quite now, and that's just how I like it!


*** side note--- I've disinfected my bathroom and bedroom several times now... It still somehow feels kinda dirty!***

*****Oh and Mckel, Andrea? Why didn't this happen to you guys? And Katie, ha ha... at least you won't have to worry about it this summer!! =-)

Happy New Year...New Home.... and then some!

I can't possibly update everything that has taken place over the last month.... but I will say this... Happy New Year!! I'll try to catch you all up with some pics!

For starters, my sister-in-law, Janet and I ran in the Walt Disney World Marathon last weekend in Orlando! HOLY S***!! It was harder than childbirth!! I'm not kidding!! What an exhilarating and exhausting experience! I pushed my body to its absolute limit! I hit such a wall at mile 18... I really didn't think I could keep going for 8.2 more miles... but somehow I made it! And honestly couldn't be happier... I have always wanted to do a marathon, and what an amazing place to do it in!! Shoot, we ran through Cinderella's castle... incredible! I'm proud of us! San Diego here we come, we are so running another marathon at the end of May! I'm hooked!

Oh and I forgot to mention that we wore spandex... yep... we actually wore them!! Ha ha, I felt a little on the naked side, at least nobody knew us!!

Because I have been so bad at blogging the past few months, I'll just post from Halloween on... I know, lame! My little Carson was a Vampire for Halloween...(yeah, I'm a little obsessed with Twilight too!, I just thought he would make a cute mini Edward!) So my mother-in-law made him his little outfit and I must say he looked dashing =-) I even slicked his hair back, ha ha, by the end of the night it was sticking straight up!

Next came Christmas and my mom bought him a little Santa outfit, "Carson Claus" was precious! However, his hat didn't quite fit... this childs' head is off the charts.... literally! His height and weight are in the 90th and 95th percentiles respectively... his head... not so much, it's way off the charts!! Maybe that's why he talks so much and is so smart! Anyway, the hat didn't fit, we cut it and tried to make it work, I think it stayed on his head for 3 mins! He loved Christmas, it was nice to be home and share it with both of our families. The best part of the holiday for Carson was "The Polar Express"... he watched it everyday. He is such a boy because trains are his new obsession. It is so cute how much he loves Thomas and his little trains!

I know there is so much more to tell and show... I don't want to overwhelm anyone though!! I do have a little more time on my hands now that I am not working until March!! Oh yeah, and we moved back to Florida, and are living in a beach house. We have plenty of room, so if anyone wants a vay-cay.... come on out!! I'll have to take some pics of the beach and post them... WE LOVE LIVING HERE!!

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Okay, So I didn't mean to let two months go by without blogging, but I really don't even know where the time has gone? I can't believe it's almost Christmas!! I am so excited! Carson is loving everything about this holiday so far. He talks about "Santa Caws" and "snowman" and "the tree of lights" all day long! He asks to put the Christmas lights on in the house first thing in the morning... I'm pretty sure our next door neighbors are related to the Griswold's because they go to town with decorations. As soon as it gets dark, Carson is begging to go outside and see "pretty lights"... It's so much fun. Last year he was just a blob for Christmas, and now he is really into it!! Best part of the holiday, NO WORKING FOR LINDSAY!! Yeah! I'm done with teaching until March!! YEHAH!!! I'm so thrilled. I'm taking a leave of absence while Rod finishes up his last semester of grad school in Florida. We're leaving right after the New Year. I'm so happy... Now I can be a full time mommy again! I'll post some Halloween pics a little later... I just had to post something so you all know I'm still here!

Loving Prescott

Last weekend we went to a wedding up in Prescott for Rod's cousin Tasha. The place where she had the reception was so beautiful. Between the sunset, mountains, lake, and crisp air, and log cabin, it was the perfect setting for an awesome reception. We figured why not try to get some family pictures in.... yeah right. Carson would not, could not, cooperate if his life depended on it!! There was a million little kids running around and all he wanted was "down, runnin"!! We couldn't keep up with him. He just thinks he is a big kid now and just wants to play with all of them!! As you can see below he was being impossible!!

Finally we have him still, but of course he won't smile!! So much for a Christmas Card picture!! I guess we'll have to make another attempt for that some other time!!

Ahh... to be 13 again....

Honestly, you couldn't pay me enough to go back to Junior High and be a seventh grader. It's bad enough I have to teach them, but holy cow, I could never go back!! I am just astonished at how awkward it is to be 12/13 years old!! I come home with funny stories every day, but this one definitely makes me giggle! The other day I get to school and as my first hour comes in I was blown away by one of my students. I'm going to just call her "Jane", I don't think it would be right to use her real name... Let me just begin by saying that "Jane" is a bit strange... she is just one of those socially awkward, alright... I'll say it, she is a freaking weird child!! As I'm greeting my students and say good morning to her, she looks up at me. She had shaved her eyebrows off and drew them in with a black sharpie marker. And it wasn't just a small line, she drew a THICK line from one corner of her eye to the other!! NO EXAGGERATION!! She looked like a deformed raccoon!! I had all I could do not to laugh... well, my laughter was stifled for only a few seconds, because then the P.E. teacher came in and just lost it!! "Jane" said she did it because it looked "cool"!!! Yep, she liked it!! I laughed so hard I had tears flowing and I think I may have even wet my pants a little!! My students were roaring along with me... yeah I know, way to set a good example!! Well, the P.E. teacher took her into the bathroom and scrubbed her "brows" off, and she returned to my class with no brows!! I proceeded to lecture then on the importance "less is more"... and I told my girls, if they need advice with makeup, please come talk to me! Oh I just about died of laughter that day!!

Gotta love the fall!

Carson loves to "sit by self". This is his new obsession... I'm not kidding! We walk by a bench, and if he sees it, he has to sit in it! It's turning into a slight problem because if we don't let him sit, he throws a mini tantrum... (I finally gave in this time, and look how excited he is! I'm such a bad parent... I need to work on not giving in!)

This past week I had October Break!! YEAH!! Which means no teaching for exactly 10 days... (yes, I'm including the weekends) So my mom, Carson and I took a little trip back to my hometown of Branford, Connecticut, to visit my grandparents and let Carson spend sometime with his great grandparents! It was SO COLD THERE!! The high was in the 50's during the day and it got down to the high 30's at night!! It was a welcome change from Arizona's heat! It truly felt like the fall!! I really miss having four seasons. Anyway, we stayed with my grandparents for the week. My Papa is almost 90 and my Nanie is almost 89! YES, that is OLD! They have been married for 66 years!! HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!? Carson was the light of their lives! He was such a good boy the whole time! He and great-grand-papa instantly bonded! He loved Papa. It melted my heart! It was so cute to watch my grandfather interact with him. For being almost 90 he was picking Carson up and running (well, walking briskly) with him. My Nanie on the other hand has Alzheimers Disease and forgot that Carson was in fact my child. She really thought he was my little brother and belonged to my mom... it was sad. She kept asking, "Now how is he related to me?" Nevertheless, she just adored him... We went to this place that I used to love going to when I was growing up called Bishop's Orchard's. They had a lovely pumpkin patch and a hay maze. CARSON WAS IN HEAVEN!! He loved the pumpkins and the whole time we were there he just ran, ran, ran!!

Every pumpkin he would get near he tried to pick it up! It was so adorable, because he was literally grunting and straining to lift them!!

Carson loves trucks and tractors! He again had to "sit by self tracker"... he just said it over and over again. We spent at least 20 mins on the darn thing! =-)

Look at these beautiful mums... I love these flowers in the fall!

On the hunt for more pumpkins to pick up!

Carson in a sea of pumpkin!

Carson and mommy! I just love my little boy!!

At the airport coming home! We had a 3 hour layover in Baltimore.... I could've died!! We were in Maryland for so long! Carson was getting so silly at the restaurant. He wanted to feed himself, and I couldn't break him away from his fork!


Look at this precious little man! He konked out just before we got on the plane. I love watching my baby sleep, he just looks so sweet and innocent! We really had a fun trip.

My big boy...

Our last frolic at the beach, "My little surfer"

So Carson is already 15 months old! Not too sure how it happened... He is getting so big and I just love him so much. I really didn't think I could love this kid as much as I do, but I do! He has such a little personality! He says EVERYTHING!! He makes little sentences and strings words and phrases together. And not only does he make sense, but he completely understands what he is saying. For instance, he tells me "Momma go (out)side, pool, swimmin, suit" He strings all those words together, and knows exactly what he is saying!! It's amazing. And he always says, Momma, kiss... after he kisses me, he says "wove you"... oh, melts my heart! Yesterday at church was the cutest, someone sneezed in Sunday School and he looked up and said without any prompting, "Bleess Youuu"!! Everyone started giggling around us, because it was so unexpected. It's amazing what kids pick up on! They hear and see everything!! It makes me really want to be a good example. It also makes me realize that we have to constantly watch what we say and do around him!

Look at this mischievous grin!

Oh how the time flies....

Where did the last two months go? Let me just give you all a run down of our crazy life so far! The last week of July, Carson and I moved from Florida, back to Arizona. It was a crazy couple of weeks before the move. We had to pack up the whole house and get as much of it into our storage unit as possible. I had to be back in AZ, because while Rod completes two internships out in Scottsdale, I'm teaching 7th grade Reading and Writing. I'm back in Tempe, working at the middle school I used to work at, same job, position, and even back in the same room! It worked out perfect actually. Anyway, teachers had to report back to work the last week of July, and I've been back at full-time work ever since. As soon as Rod finished finals at the end of August, he made the lovely, quick, little journey across country. We are all living with my family, which is awesome for us, because it's free, and allows us to save up a lot while I work. Not to mention my darling mother watches Carson for me while I work all day! However, it's so hard to move back and go from small family of 3, to family of 6! HA HA... good thing it's temporary. We'll be in Arizona until after Christmas and then we head back to Florida to live in a beach house for four months!!! We've been having so much fun but boy have we been busy!

Ready for a learner's permit?

This was seriously the best investment!! Carson absolutely adores his car! Everyday he asks for "ride car". He points at it and grunts until he gets his way. We go at least twice a day around our neighborhood. He honks his little horn and waves at all the neighbors. It's too cute! Our driveway has a slope in it and we'll put him at the top and let him "drive" down to the bottom. Somehow this never gets old to him. He always asks for Rod's scooter helmet or "hat" so we thought we'd put it on him. Funny thing is... it's not really that big on his head! Last time we went to the doctor, she measured his head and it was off the charts! HA HA....must mean he's going to be a smart kid!

Everyday my child somehow manages to get stuck under the kitchen chair. He gets so frustrated because he has no clue how to get out. I know it's mean but I always laugh hysterically at him. How can you not laugh... look at that face!! (p.s. I only leave him there for a second, I'm not that bad of a mom!)

Does anyone else struggle to get their kids dressed? I swear it's an enormous project to take clothes off and on. Sometimes I just leave his p.j.'s on until the afternoon!! Or sometimes he's only sporting a diaper...that is until we go somewhere! I think Carson left his p.j. top like this for about an hour.. I think he forgot it was there!

A Year in the life....

Happy Birthday little man...

How is it possible that my little Carson John Walker is a year old? Where the heck did the year go? I swear I was just pregnant and dying for him to come out, and now he's already been here for a year!?! It's so scary!! I feel like my little peanut is getting so big so fast!! I just adore him. My whole world has changed since he has come along. I can't believe how much motherhood changes you. You go from being this selfish person... and bam... EVERYTHING you do, everything, revolves around your child. It sure changed me. I really wouldn't trade it for the world. We had a lot of fun for Carson's birthday. We actually had two parties for him. The Saturday before his birthday we had a BBQ with all of Rod's classmates. We had like 30 people over at our house and I made a Lego cake! It turned out pretty cute, Rod even helped me frost one of the Lego's... it was pretty funny watching him with the frosting. His hands are so big, lets just say it was awkward!! Then on Carson's actual b-day, June 26th, we had a bunch of our friends from church over, and all of their kids... that ended up being like 20 people. I did cupcakes with a beachy theme, they turned out way cute. Carson was so funny both times with the whole eating the cake thing, he just didn't know what to do with it! I've really been a stickler with NO SWEETS before a year, so sweet to him must have been weird! At first he put it in his mouth and made a face, then he kept putting his hands in it and handing it to me. I was dying. If I can figure out how to upload videos, I will for sure put it in! Carson's most favorite gift was his Elmo chair. HE IS OBSESSED WITH ELMO!! Our friend's Elizabeth, Beau, and Buddy gave it to him and he squealed with delight when he saw it!! He just kept saying MEL-MO!! MEL-MO!!! He loves his MEL-MO... it is so precious how he says it!! AHH... Happy Birthday my little guy, WE LOVE YOU TO PIECES!!!

Carson's girlfriend!

Last week we went over to our friend Tabitha's beach house to layout and let our babies play. Her daughter Paige is 7 weeks younger than Carson and she is precious. They are so adorable together. I've never seen two babies interact the way they do!! Even at church this past Sunday, they were playing games together and chasing each other around the bench. They laugh at each other, it seriously is the cutest thing! It's his first girlfriend =-)
We were trying to get Carson to pose against the rock, he wouldn't for anything look at the camera!
Look at that water! Can it be any prettier? I seriously love Florida beaches!!!

The big two seven...

mmm....

Carson loves to be on Rod's shoulders!

Happy Birthday to me!! Holy cow I'm 27!! How is that even possible? I swear I was just 17 graduating high school... college... now I'm married and have a kid?!? Where the heck does all the time go? I really enjoyed my birthday. Rod was way stressed out because he had two tests that day and he really wanted to make my day special. He did once he got home at 5!! My friend Elizabeth took me out for lunch at my favorite place to eat in St. Augustine, Flavors. It's so delicious =-) Then for dinner we headed up to Jacksonville to dine at The Cheesecake Factory!! Our good friends from Alabama, Beau and Elizabeth and their son Buddy came with us. We had so much fun. Buddy and Carson are best friends and only 12 weeks apart! Dinner was great, however, my only complaint was my birthday dessert! They came over with a piece of cheesecake, sang and I blew out the candle, we all took a few bites from it and then the waiter charged us for it!! HA!! Who does that, seriously? I thought birthday desserts were supposed to be for free!?! Oh well. I got a new camera from Rod and I love it. I desperately needed one because my other camera kept dying on me. It's so little and a cute plum color!! It's amazing how much camera's have changed in the last couple of years... they are so much better! After dinner we came home and two of Rod's classmates Angie and Aileen came over and surprised me with a cake!! It was so thoughtful!! Rod was able to get out of baking me a cake( I was offended at first that he didn't, but he knew they were making me one!)It really was such an enjoyable day!!

Me and my hubby

Beau, Elizabeth, and Buddy

Best Buds