What Is It?

Did I ever tell you that Carson's first word was actually a phrase? His first words were "What is it?" He would get really excited and breathe in sharply and then exclaim "What is it?!" and he would repeat himself about 5 times. Pretty funny.

Anyway, what are these picture of?




That is what your shadow looks like if you are on a trampoline in the noon-day sun. Cameron and Parker were on the trampoline the other day and I loved the way their shadows looked on the cement below. I may revisit this idea in the near future. I bet I could get some awesome results if I was really trying to be artsy.

Here's my artsy attempt today. "Feet Frames Face" By the way, I don't think I've ever been this flexible.


I learned today that Cameron really likes to sit on the porch steps, unassisted. He also likes to chew on a popsicle stick. Whatever floats your boat buddy.


Hey Cameron, say "cheese"! We want to see your awesome gap in between your front teeth.


For the love, don't try to hide your teeth! Seriously, show us!


Those are awesome buddy! One day an orthodontist is going to love our money.

Memorial Day 2009

We had a great Memorial Day. The day started with a gourmet breakfast by my dad: omelettes, hash browns, Bacon, waffles...the works! It was so good, that we didn't need lunch! :)

After breakfast we started the search for carpet. A huge thanks to my brother Mike, because he gave me the low down on carpet so I was able to ask educated questions to the sales people. We haven't made any decisions yet, but hopefully we will soon. I want my basement back! Right now it almost gives me a stress attack when I head downstairs. Stuff is everywhere!

In the afternoon we decided to do something fun and holiday-worthy. We headed up Big Cottonwood canyon to do some exploring. Well, as much exploring as you can do with a child in a stroller. We found a cute little paved hike called "Mill B". It runs along a crazy,rushing stream. I could not believe how much water was rushing down the mountain! A bit scary for a mother of three boys!

I kept trying to attempt a cute picture of "The boys", but Cameron was a little nervous about the whole ordeal. I think the sound of the water thundering past us simply freaked him out. As long as we were moving, he was okay. As soon as we stopped to take pictures he turned into Mr. Cranky Pants


Crazy fast water!


I love to just let Carson and Parker do whatever faces they want sometimes because they are just plain wacko kids. Sam tried slipping Cameron into one of the pictures, he didn't think it was such a hot idea!






Oh look, Cameron found his happy face for a few seconds.


As we were heading down the canyon to go back home, we were trying to decide what to do for dinner. Just then Sam's phone rang and we found out we were invited to dinner at our friends house. Thanks Ryan and Natalie!

They had a fancy BBQ with all sorts of side dishes that put most barbeques to shame! I think Natalie and Amy were the masterminds behind a lot of the cooking. You girls rock! Ryan and Natalie have a great backyard for entertaining, lots of things for kids to play on so adults can relax and chat. It was a great evening!

Cameron loves this car...maybe....maybe not.




Thank goodness for net enclosures on trampolines nowadays! Cannon Ball!!!


Here we are, back to the daily grind. Hopefully my next post or two will show different carpet in our basement. A girl can hope...

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

Sam said Natalie and Laurel would appreciate this the most....

Remember Parker's preschool graduation program? Sam was the photographer and took lots of pictures in hopes of that perfect shot. When we got home, I looked through all the pictures and did a blog update. Later that night Sam went through the shots to see what he had captured.

All of a sudden Sam flipped out and said "Oh my gosh Carrie, look at this!". I was expecting him to point out somebody we knew or a funny face that somebody made. Instead he said "Look at the girl on the far right."


I was NOT expecting to see a little girl puking!!! Oh man, she caught most of it in her hand! What happened after that???



I will never know what happened because Sam took pictures elsewhere after that! Don't leave me hangin'!!! I seriously did not see any commotion at all that would make me think "huh, I think somebody just horked." Oh it's so funny and so creepy at the same time.

In other news...
We came home on Friday night to find our storage/toy bedroom downstairs somewhat flooded. A sprinkler pipe had busted and drained into the window well. The water leaked into the house from around the window frame and onto the carpet below. We had some mayhem while we tried to clean up the water and get everything out of the room, but as Sam would say....it just shakes up the day.

No, that is NOT my leg. :)


Basically, with the help of several neighbors and friends, we were able to clean out the room, haul a huge load to the dump, and another load to the DI. We pulled the carpet and pad out of the house.



Not sure what to do next. We're going to check into getting some replacement carpet, but for now I'm just thankful it's been raining the last few days because my sprinklers need some repairs and I was worried about the lawn and flowers getting too dry! Score!

Eye See You!

Instead of doing a huge novel, I split my blog updates into two sections, check out Parker's Preschool graduation in the previous post below.

Yesterday we checked in at Primary Childrens Hospital at 7:15am. They took Cameron's vitals and his lungs were clear of congestion so we were able to proceed with the surgery. The first order of business...cute little baby hospital gown.


Next step: Mark the eye so surgery gets performed in the right location! See the goober in his eye? That's what he's looked like for over 14 months!


Then we just waited for about 1/2 hour until it was time for his surgery. He hadn't had anything to eat or drink for over 12 hours at this point and he was totally happy. I was so surprised. He didn't even need the anxiety medicine. That is good and bad. Good that he was happy, bad that we didn't get to see loopy Cameron. That anxiety stuff is amazing. I remember when Carson received it before getting stitches when he was pretty young. He would almost fall over from laughing...at nothing.

Here's Cameron watching Sam juggle. Entertainment for the whole waiting room! I should have taken a picture of Sam! Sorry buddy!


Oops, Sam dropped the balls right on Cameron's forehead. See the red spot above his right eye? Oh well, he's still smiling! The lady in the background said "I can TELL he's your third child!". Probably because I didn't freak out when he got hurt (I chuckled) and I didn't wipe EVERY toy down with a wet wipe before letting my child play with it (she did!).


Before we knew it, they put Cameron in a wagon.


It's blurry, but there he goes. He had a confused look when the doctor wheeled him away, but no tears.


The surgery only took 30 minutes. Afterwards the doctor told me that it was very "satisfying" because when they put the probe/balloon down into his tear duct they pushed through a barrier and once they dislodged it the duct flowed freely. I was so happy, this has been a long journey...not necessarily a big trial, but it's just been annoying. I've wiped his eye and cheek about 20 times a day since the day he was born. I'm not even kidding. Let's see.....that is about 8,720 wipes in his lifetime!

Right when he woke up I was able to be with him. He definitely was NOT happy at this point. He cried like a banshee for about 20 minutes. They had put a breathing tube in his throat and I'm sure he was pretty sore and it made him really hoarse. The only thing I could do to calm him down was sing the ABC's to him. If you know anything at all about me, you know I cannot sing, so "singing" in front of nurses and other parents was a trip. I tried to sing just loud enough for screaming Cameron to hear. :)

Once he calmed down we went to a post-op area and met Sam there. Sam handed Cameron the itouch. On the itouch he had put Cameron's favorite game that has animal sounds. Once Cameron saw it, he forgot his misery and happily played the animal sounds. Thank you itouch!! :)


Here's a face only a mother could love. ha ha ha! Swollen eye, bloody nose (the probe went from the tear duct, down into his nose which gave him a bloody nose), and gap between front teeth. I love every bit of it!


They put the IV in his arm so they had taped a board against his arm so he couldn't bend his elbow and disrupt the needle. This part made him ticked off--removing the needle. Poor buddy!



Once we hit the road, Cameron hit the hay.


I'm happy to report that I have not had to wipe his eye ONCE since we got home from the hospital! To you, that is no big deal, to me....I just saved a bunch of money because now I don't have to buy tissues every time I go to the store!! SWEET!!!

Parker Graduates...From Preschool

Parker's school had quite an elaborate preschool graduation this morning. If I knew it was going to be such an grand event I would have had him dress up a little bit. Oh well!

They did a Hawaiin-themed party and the kids rocked! They sang about 20 songs and got to wear little graduation caps. Super fun.


Parker and his best friend Jacob entering the auditorium.


I like this picture Sam took: How many cameras can you count?? Lots of blogs got updated today I'm sure!


Happy graduate..."the future is mine!"


"Oh wait, hey Jacob, what are we going to do next year? WHAT!?! Kindergarten? Crap, I can barely write my name!"


"I'm in serious troubs my friend."


"Bleh, I'm tired just thinking about Kindergarten!"


"Hey Parker, I will pray for you. It will be okay, I promise!"


The only bummer...these two young men are on different tracks next year for school! TRAGEDY!!!

Game Over

Soccer is over for this Spring season. I really enjoyed it and I'm pretty bummed it's over. Parker's coach was really good and he had some real fire crackers on his team, which made for some nice entertainment for the cheering section.

Here is Parker getting his trophy and team pictures from his coach, Kevin Thurgood.


One of the nice things about belonging to the Sweet family: A relative is never too far away! It's fun going to a game, and then having a mini family reunion at the same time!
Parker, Hunter, Aidan, Emery, and Mason - cousins!


Cameron loves having the wide open spaces to push his stroller around. Too bad my house doesn't have wide open spaces like this, Cameron might be walking on his own by now! ha ha ha!


Last night for Family Night, we put together a care package for Sam's nephew, Zack, who is serving a mission in New Jersey. His Birthday is on Thursday, happy birthday Zack!

We were all writing letters to him and I had to capture Carson's letter because it's just plain awesome!


It reads: Zack, You have been fun and all, but now you are on a mission and that is where you are supposed to be. You have made the right choice Zack. Love, Carson Levi Sweet.

That child of mine cracks me up. I love the picture he drew, it kind of reminds me of Conan O'Brien!

You know who else cracks me up? This guy:


These are just a few of the conversations I've had with Parker in the last week:

Mom: Parker, will you go downstairs and tell Carson it's time to get ready for bed?
Parker: Okay...(goes downstairs and then comes upstairs a few minutes later) Carson says he's busy.
Mom: Oh yeah? You go tell Carson I said..
Parker: MOM! you're like "go tell Carson" and Carson's like "go tell mom"... it's ridiculous! It's annoying!

Parker got out of the tub the other night and he was really cold so his teeth were chattering.
Parker: My teeth are having a battle!

Parker: Mom, why are you dressed like that? (I had on nicer than usual clothes)
Mom: Because I'm going to work today Parker.
Parker: WHAT? Who's going to take care of ME???
Mom: Grandma Clark
Parker: Oh yeah, I was all FREAKING out!

Mom: Let's do it.
Parker: A break it down!

That kid is always good for a laugh. I wish I was better at writing down the things that come out of his mouth.

And finally, tomorrow we are supposed to get Cameron's procedure done to unclog his left tear duct. I'm a little nervous though because when they found out he had Croup a month ago, they said we might have to reschedule. If they listen to his lungs and hear any congestion (I can't hear any congestion with my naked ears) they will reschedule. I'm so tired of wiping up his goopey tears and "sleepy bugs". I'm seriously praying all goes well tomorrow. Not sure how he will handle the anethesia, but I guess I'll have that question answered by this time tomorrow night (hopefully)! :) You know what else makes me nervous? Not feeding him or giving him anything to drink from now until surgery time. Looking on the bright side, maybe he'll be so grumpy they will rush him into surgery! Ya.....right.