So, this is the whole group that came for Thanksgiving. This is in front of the Bellagio Fountains. We had a great holiday break thanks to our wonderful company.

When we were up in Alaska, Grandma Carlson told Heidi and I the recipe for her frog-eye salad. So, for Thanksgiving I braved trying to make it as good as Grandma. It wasn't as good, but it tasted right and it was yummy. I hear that this officially makes me a Carlson now!

While Jared and Heidi were peeling the mashed potatoes, Kelsie was eyeing one of them and so Scott let her chew on it. I took this picture because I was impressed at how far she could get it into her mouth. Also, it was amazing how much she enjoyed gnawing on a raw potato.

Our adorable cousins suprised us with our own little baby shower. This is a 3 tiered "cake" made out of diapers all rolled together and it has bottles, undershirts, a bottle washing thing, and cute little cowboy boots on it! It's so cute, I didn't take it apart, I just put it in his room so I could enjoy it longer.

This is in front of the Luxor, it's dark and a little blurry, but you get the idea. It's cool looking.

This is the group that went up to the top of the Stratosphere and rode all of the rides. Looks like they enjoyed it.

Heidi helped me make a balloon turkey for Thanksgiving. It turned out pretty good.

We were so glad to have so much family come for Thanksgiving. They were the best guests! And we had so much fun and so many adventures. You guys are all the best! We miss you already!

The little guy's new room

These are pictures of the baby's room.

This is the baby's crib and nightstand. His giant teddy bear is holding his place in the crib for later.

Here you can see the two dressers and the changing table pad. I just noticed that there is a serious lack of wall decorations. I'll have to fix that.

This is a shot of the crib quilt that Jared's mom and Jared and I made. I finished the bumpers just a few days ago so that it would all be ready for when we have a little guest (namely Kelsie Carlson) for Thanksgiving.

Halloween Pics

For Halloween we twisted balloon animals at the trunk or treat. I made this vulture balloon on a cactus to decorate our trunk and advertise the balloons!

Jared dressed as a karate man and my costume in this picture is missing my balloon twisting apron because I went as a balloon twister. That's a balloon flower in my hair. You can also see my tummy at 29 weeks.

Jared's Tag

So, Hans tagged Jared too...

The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I love Mexican food. I could eat it every meal for 2 weeks and not get sick of it at all. I am semi-addicted to chips and salsa. Having it in the house is a huge temptation and once I start eating it, I can’t stop.
2. So, there are some things that will put me in a bad mood really quickly. For example, having to wear glasses, not being in shape or not having time to work out, or when my hair is longer than I like it.
3. Living in Vegas and working for a construction company, I hope that I never have to build a casino... unless they decide to do something really cool like the pyramid, then I would be tempted.
4. Some things I love are coming home to a clean house and dinner ready, having a drawer full of freshly laundered underwear, and working out with my exercise machine. Oh, and my wife.
   
5. I feel cars’ pain. Any little noise that a car makes hurts me and I have to figure out what it is and get it fixed or it will keep hurting me.
6. I love to feel the baby kicking even though sometimes it might be painful for Christine. I like poking him and getting him to kick back and also trying to identify body parts that he is poking back with.

I don't know who else to tag, so we'll go with Steve, Jesse and Marie (when they have a second), and it doesn't look like Holly has taken a turn yet.

Tag

So I guess I was tagged. Here goes nothing!

The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I love having guests. I love it when people come over and I get to play host and cook and take care of them and make them feel at home. It makes me really happy. Along that line, I love having tons of “new” cousins my age. I love all of the relatives that we have everywhere now.
2. My favorite food is frosting. (Although it has been too sweet to me since I got pregnant, but still I love it). Jared says that it’s not a food, that it’s not even really a dessert by itself, but it doesn’t matter. If there was one thing I could eat all the time and not even worry about, it would be frosting. I like it with cake under it, but it’s not necessary because really the cake is just a means of eating the frosting to me and I can eat more frosting if I just eat it without the cake. Although, I must admit that I know this is a bad habit, so I have not eaten frosting without at least graham crackers or cake for almost 2 years now, which is quite an accomplishment.
3. I love making balloon animals. I make them for kids every chance I get. I look at the sculptures online that some balloon artists make and I want to be that good someday. I have been slowly improving my technique and I’m hoping to keep expanding and learning at least one new balloon a day until I’m super good.
4. I really like that it’s still summer in Vegas, and I think it’s going to take me a really long time to miss winter. Well, I might miss it at Christmas, but other than that, it’s a beautiful sunny 75 degrees everday and I just can’t complain!
5. I love country music. I love how it tells a story and can evoke emotions. I know that other music can do that too, but it’s country that speaks to me baby!
6. I love to dance. I just love it. I’m sad that now that I’m away from BYU, there’s just not as many opportunities for a married and especially pregnant woman to bust a move and get her groove on. I just do it in the house now when no one’s around. It’s just a good way to expend energy and feel good!
   

So, I guess I don't really have anyone to tag. I think everyone I know has been tagged, so I'm going to tag Chrystal, because that's the only person I see who hasn't done it yet.

New Car.... to us at least!

So, this is our "new" car. We went and picked it up tonight. It's pretty sweet. It has a huge trunk and tinted windows and it's in really good shape. It's a 99 Oldsmobile Intrigue, which sounds a little grandpa-ish, but as you can see, it SO isn't. It's a nice ride. Tomorrow it's my project to get it registered so I can actually drive it legally!

Ultrasound pictures

We had another ultrasound, I guess the last one until he comes. He's pretty cute looking.

This one is of his little profile, like it says. This wasn't the best shot of it that she got, but the technician didn't print a picture of the best angle.

This one is looking directly at his face. The big black spot is one eye and a little harder to see is the other eye directly below it. He kinda looks like a skeleton, but I guess that's what happens when you're xraying him. He's doing great and he's pretty much right on schedule, so we still have a while!