Carter or Carson?

VOTE FIRST THEN READ THIS
So your opinion isn't skewed :) The poll is to the right.

The two boys names I'm going back and forth on right now are Carter or Carson. I know they're very similar but I like them both, Carter is my maiden name and I really like the name Carson. We're going to use either Scott or Allan as the middle name, Allan is my dads and my brothers middle name (although they both spell it differently) but we also like Scott. Eric would prefer to use Scott as a first name so we might save that one for next time. We have a few others in mind as well, these are just some of the more prominent ones. Let us know what you think!!

Welcome Home, Elder Carter!

We got to go to Utah this weekend to welcome my brother home from his mission to Capetown, South Africa! So he wasn't really home, it was during his 2 hour layover in Salt Lake that we got to see him, but it was way fun and worth the drive! We probably won't get to see him again for a while so I'm glad we went.
There were a ton of people there, probably a bigger reception than when he got home to Alaska! He looked really good but very tired, he said he'd been really busy the last 2 weeks. He brought home some military sized Books of Mormon and gave us one covered in hippo hide! He had some covered with elephant and a few other animals, it was neat. He gave my Grandparents a pair of salt and pepper shakers made of bone that he said he traded his watch for :) It was funny to listen to him talk, he picked up a little bit of an accent too.

Welcome home Jeremy! It was so good to see you again!!! We love you and are so proud of you!
Ethan met his Uncle Jeremy for the first time!
He couldn't say Jeremy very well so we taught him to say uncle.


Jeremy with the Grandparents!

The siblings :)
Jenn and I realized when we got there we were matching, so I left my coat on. Its the same thing that always happened to my mom and grandma when they'd show up for work, it was funny.

All the family there!
There were about 15 people there to see him besides us.

Toddler Lab

A few weeks ago Ethan started a program at the BYU-I called Toddler Lab. It's hard for me to post about it because I don't have pictures to go along with it, but I'm finally getting around to it. They'll give us pictures they've taken at the end of the semester but they ask parents not to take them during. The program is really neat, its sort of a pre-preschool for kids 18 months to 3 twice a week. In Ethans class they have 14 kids and 6 or 7 early childhood development majors, and they are super organized. I was expecting it to be more like nursery, because seriously what organized thing can you make fourteen 2-year-olds do at the same time, but they manage to do a lot! The kids go in and get to play for a few minutes while everyone gets there, but then they have things like art time, circle time where they sing, and snack time (they give them real cups, not sippys! Very brave). Ethan cried the first time I left him there but got over it when he found out they have a slide. They don't like parents sneaking out, so they tell you to say goodbye and they'll deal with the tears. He hasn't cried since his first day, now all the way there he sits in his the carseat and says "Play!" and as soon as he walks in the door, he announces himself by yelling "Hi!" and doesn't give me a second look. There's an observation booth with one way mirrors that parents can watch if they want to stay. He loves it and its helping him become more social- he's usually such a passive kid around other kids. So this is helping him break out of his shell a little. Anyway, its been a great experience so far, and I think they do it every semester. If anyone in Rexburg who has kids that age hasn't done it I would highly recommend it!

Ok so I couldn't not post any pictures, so here's a recent one of the stinker. He took off his glasses and wanted to wear Daddy's sunglasses instead :)

Traumatized

Yesterday Ethan and I were running errands before Eric got home from the MCAT, and I decided to stop by Porters (a craft store in Rexburg). As I was walking toward the entrance I was carrying my purse, carrying Ethan (which is a hard task with my big belly sticking out in front) who was saying "walk!" and trying to get down, and I was on the phone with my mom. There were several other people walking in at the same time and the gentleman in front of me swung the door open wide enough so I could fit through as well. Usually when you swing a door open like that, you have to push pretty hard because the hydraulic door stop at the top keeps it from going very far. Not this door. When the man pushed it out Ethan and I were standing right behind it and it SMACKED Ethan right in the face! He was stunned for a second then started bawling, doing the don't-breathe-hold-it-out-for-a-long-time cry that I hate. I didn't know whether he had gotten the full force in the nose or where, but I was afraid for a few minutes he either had a broken nose or a concussion. I don't know why I start crying when things like that happen, but right now I can blame it on the pregnancy so I will. I started crying with him and kept asking him, "Are you ok?" (dumb I know) and his answer to everything is "Yes" so even in the midst of his crying he kept saying "Yes". We walked around the parking lot for a few minutes while he calmed down and I tried to make it look like I hadn't been crying. By the time we made it inside he had a big goose egg welling up in the middle of his forehead and another bruise forming on his nose. That's when I figured out where he had been hit.

This isn't a very good picture of the goose egg, it stuck out pretty far but this is the best we could get. Eric was driving home from Salt Lake when all this happened so after I got back in the car I called him and told him what happened. He immediately started laughing! Then he said that out of all that happened, he felt really bad for the poor guy who hit Ethan in the face! He could imagine what it would be like to not only have hit this kid with a door and made him cry, but then the mom started crying as well!
So I don't know who came out of that situation the most traumatized: the crying baby, the distressed mom, or the man whose good deed backfired.