Memory Lane

A couple of my friends have done this tag and it was really fun for me to fish through so many of my memories of them. And then to read other people's memories that they had of that same person. So if you want to humor me play along...

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog (if you have one) and see how many people leave a memory about you. HAVE FUN! (you don't have to have a blog in order to leave me a memory!)

Independence Day

Here in Pittsburgh they always throw a huge Regatta for the Fourth of July and it is totally free. We went with our friends the Hecks and had a great time. That night we watched Pittsburgh's incredible firework show that they do over the river. The fireworks are set off from a barge and they also put it with a laser show. The lasers were on the side of the river, on the bridges, and on the big sky scrapers. It was quite the to do. One of my favorite things about the fireworks was the "pre-show." Like I said we were there with the Hecks and their little boy who is just older than Carter and they play great together. They were dancing to the Army Band that was playing live in front of us and my personal favorite was their wrestle mania match. They wrestled and wrestled. I guess that is just innate in little boys. After the fireworks were all done we had several people come up to us and say our little boys were their favorite entertainment of the night. I don't blame them, they were pretty stinkin cute!

Matt is doing a National Guard obstacle course that is raised high up in the sky.

We also saw a BMX bike stunt show. This guy was really awesome and pulling some impressive stunts, but the crowd was really lame and hardly even cheering for him. So of course Matt was cheering extra loud to make up for the rest of the crowd. Because of that Matt was called out of the crowd to "help" with some of the stunts. This guy was jumping over Matt's body and hopping all around. Matt at one point actually felt one of the tires brush up against his arm or thigh as it landed and it kind of freaked him out.

Matt definitely knows how to put on his own show. What a brave boy he is.

For a second I thought I was at the Iowa State Fair when I saw this guy. But alas it was just his t-shirt.

We had a rainy fourth, but Carter didn't mind because he loves his yellow rain jacket and he loves the rain.

Carter zonked during the middle of the huge, loud firework show. It was after 10:00 and I think he had enough of all the noise and stimulation so he cried himself to sleep in my arms poor guy.

Our original plan was to do big fireworks the night of the Fourth and then small neighborhood fireworks the next night. After keeping Carter up so late the night before I was starting to dread doing that again. But it was totally worth it!! The kids loved having the fireworks up close and personal. It was so fun to see their faces light up right along with the fireworks.

Thanks to all those incredible soldiers who are serving now and have served in the past so that we can continue to celebrate this wonderful holiday!!

June Catch Up

I know, I know June has long past but my mental dwellings of it have not. I keep thinking of these few pictures I still want to post, so I will slip them in here. June was a fun month full of gardening, family, friends, and old flames.


On this particular day I had some gardening that I had to get done. Our vegtable garden that we planted in our front yard ( I know it's little bit WT, but if you saw our front "yard" you'd understand) was being overtaken by weeds and my family was coming into town. It had been raining all week so I decided what the heck rain or shine (seeing as Carter loves the rain) I am weeding that garden. So these are Carter's after shots. He loved the rain and mud!

I also had an old boyfriend come into town. We met in London as we were both in the same study abroad group. Anyway, we have stayed friends over the years and just attended his wedding last February. His wife is adorable and I am so excited for the two of them. They live in Columbus, OH and came out this way for a Triathalon. They stayed over night and it was so fun. Matt is not a fan of my x-boyfriends but he really likes this guy a lot. It was sure fun to get to know his wife and to get to know them as a couple. We wish them the best and are excited to hangout with them again. While they were out, we did a few Pittsburgh things including going to the top of the Duquesne Incline to get a fantastic view of down town Pittsburgh. For some reason we didn't get pictures of all of us just our little family.

What a Hottie Patottie married!!!

Yummy Popsicles!!

A couple weeks ago Carter enjoyed his first experience with a popsicle. This particular day seemed like a good one for Carter to have his first go with a popsicles for several reasons:

1. Why not? It's about time the boy got to experience a popsicle.
2. It was a HOT day.
3. He was in the middle of his Hand, Foot, Mouth epidemic and with his sores in his mouth he wasn't eating anything else. So something cold I think felt really good.
4. He was ornery so I was hoping that something new would distract him for a while and thus hopefully keep him alive one more day. :)
5. While he was covered in red spots why not cover him in red streaks as well?
   

UMM BOY!!

Gotta love that cute tongue!

This picture shows his red streaks that were literally stained that exact color on his arms, legs, and face for two days!

Caught red handed!

This video cracks me up because he is such a little boy in it!

The Herzog Family Comes for a Visit

June 17-25 2008

Matt, Carter, and I were so very delighted to have my family come into town for a week. It was a whirlwind trip filled with fun. We toured some posh neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, ate at our favorite treat establishment Ritas, went to our ward, had a big birthday bash BBQ in our backyard with fam and friends, took a boat tour on the three rivers, walked through our gorgeous Allegheny Cemetery, went to Niagara Falls, Palmyra, Gettysburg, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater all in eight days. Pretty impressive huh? That's my mom for ya, she loves to pack it all in and we have fun tagging along. If you ever want to see a place to it's fullest just bring my mom along and let her plan the trip. More than the sites, we loved just being with them and having them build a stronger relationship with Carter. Carter is an extremely blessed child to have such amazing family on both sides that love him so much. I thought I would post a few highlight pictures from their visit...

Big Timmay and Carter sharing Snuggles and Laughs.

The Family in front of Niagara Falls.
(Dad, Nicole, Timmy)

In Gettysburg on top of Little Round Top.

Mom was trying to sneak out of the pictures.

Our Family of green.

As you can see Carter is at that age where he loves to take pictures (wink, wink). For my birthday I made it quite clear to Matt that all I wanted was a birthday cake with candles and Matt came through for me!! Way to go Matt, he made my favorite cake from scratch - Crazy Chocolate Cake. It tasted fantastic. Also, thanks to my Mom for making a ton of her signature Terriaki Chicken for my big Birthday BBQ Bash.

This is Fallingwater - one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous houses that he designed.

As you can see these two boys have quite a love for each other!

Grandpa Craig is the cutest, sweetest man. I love my Dad!! You can see in this picture he is such an awesome grandpa.

Thanks family for making all those sacrifices to come out and visit us. We appreciate it so much!!! We can't describe how wonderful it feels to have our loved ones in our world. We love you!!

Click, Clack, Click

So I am sitting here at the computer and all of a sudden I hear Click, Click, Clack etc. from Carter's bedroom (Matt just put Carter down for the night). I was thinking could that sound really be Carter rubbing his binky along his crib bars? Oh no, Matt let Carter take his plastic shovel to bed with him!! So here's to sleeping with a plastic shovel.

P.S. Here is a shout out to the Arrhenius's. Matt and I had a nice suprise today when Dan came up to us at church and said hi. He is here in Pittsburgh on a rotation for the month. So he came over to dinner and it was such a great evening. We miss Iowa so much and it is like a breath of fresh air to see friends from there. So thanks Dan for spending an evening with us, we hope to do it again!

Hand Foot Mouth

Carter has just finished suffering from a case of Hand Foot Mouth and let me tell you it was FUN! AHHHH!! It all started on Friday when we went to the Science Center and he was screaming over every little thing. This was not like him at all and it was very frustrating especially in public. Then on Saturday he cried, whined, screamed, arched his back, etc all day long. I thought I was going to go crazy. He wasn't sick, he had a slight fever (never higher than 99s), but even that was questionable. I thought my boy was hitting terrible twos early. He wouldn't even let Matt look at him for most of the day much less touch him. Then on Sunday morning, I went to get him out of his crib and low and behold:

He had a rash everywhere. It was the worst on his face. This picture was still early on Sunday and it just got progressively worse throughout the day. He was covered with big oozing ulcers. Luckily I already had a wellness visit scheduled for Monday morning. Right off the bat the doctor diagnosed Carter with Hand Foot Mouth. He also said Carter's sores were so big and nasty that it was one of the worst cases he has seen. Carter had ulcers all throughout his mouth and in his throat. Poor guy didn't want to eat anything for days. He drank enough to get by. I felt horrible for him. But now we are on the mends. Yesterday was our first day back into society and it felt good. His spirits are back but we still have our moments. But here is a question for you all: Carter is still not going to Matt very well, he won't kiss him or let Matt hold him and will even run away from him. Do we just ride it out or is there something we can do? Matt is always a great dad and very kind and loving to Carter. He isn't around a ton, but enough that Carter knows his Dad. What can we do?!?