What a sigh of relief!!

Well just an hour ago I finished my last final of the semester. I couldn't be happier! This semester has been a true test of everything I am made of because it was so hard - having just had a baby right before the start and juggling him, his feeding schedule, an off the walls three year old and home was just about drowning me. I know this sounds ridiculous but this semester was harder than last semester and I had Carter a week before finals and still got great grades. I believe though, that any subsequent semesters will be easier than this one and that gives me hope.
I remember posting something about adding videos of our recent events and I intend to do that right now - one is of me playing a duet with a friend/neighbor - Debby. She recently picked up the flute again after not playing for 30 years. She has been taking lessons and a few weeks back played this piece at a recital. About 5 days before the recital on the video, she asked me to play this with her and I think I did pretty good for having not really played in about 5 years myself and having 5 days to learn it. It was a blast and have since then been asked to play again and I'm glad - I really enjoy keeping up on it. The other video is of Taylor's birthday, we are all singing to her. She is such a sweetheart. She had such a good time and I am so glad that everyone that was there showed up - you could tell it really meant something to her.
Anyway, other than that life is going well. My much neglected home is going to get a good cleaning tomorrow ( and the next - it needs some serious attention) Now that I am out of school. Carter is doing great - he is rolling over from front to back and is starting to try to sit on his own a little. He is also getting much better at grabbing for things and holding onto them. He is also starting to show interest in food although he is still a month away from starting solids but its a vast improvement so far compared to his big sis. His hair is also getting a little bit lighter and pretty red - so I'm thinking its gonna stick. Thats great though because I've always liked red heads! He is a fantastic baby and as long as I am holding him he is super happy.
Taylor is just...well...off the walls as I said before. She is needing some constructive activities and I will be devoting more time to that for her this summer now that I am out of school. You can always tell when she is mad at me (aside from yelling at me nnnnnnnnO!) She tells me "yes yir majesty" Like off of Alice in Wonderland. Its hard to stay mad at her though - I think thats pretty cute.
Eric is doing great - he is a mad man in the back yard. Tonight while I was taking my final and after he put Carter down for the night, he headed out the garage and built one of his garden boxes, pretty impressive to me! I am so glad he is taking up a hobby - especially one that gets him out of doors and building things. I asked him to add my fireplace mantle to his list but he doesn't think he can "pencil that in" until August - we will see about that!

I feel in many ways that now that we have this blog that I am intimidated to post the daily goings-on in our lives. I am a very private person myself and it is hard to share things with others but I am going to try harder and post a new blog more frequently that once a month.
For those that do not know, life has been sort of hectic lately. I am in school as always, and am at the point where the semester is thankfully wrapping up. This semester has been particularly challenging because I am still trying to adjust to having two little ones and homework and home and everything else to take care of.
Taylor just turned 3 on Sunday, and we had a little party for her. She is turning out to be quite the little wonder. She has a bit of an attitude, which is mostly just her age and trying to test my limits, but she is also a very sweet and loving little girl. She is OBSESSED with all things princess and so her party this weekend was completely pink. It was a real blast putting it all together and seeing her face light up when she saw all the decorations and coordinated food and cake.
Carter is doing very well. While we were at the doctors office on monday I had the nurse weigh him and he is 16lbs 3.5 oz. At 4 1/2 months thats a pretty good sized baby especially when compared to Taylor who was 17 1/2 at a year, so to me he seems huge. I have gotten my diet under control and he is having fewer out breaks if any and no blisters on his face. Carter is allergic to Dairy protein and since I am nursing him, I must abstain from it to prevent a reaction in him because it passes straight through me to him.
Eric's twin brother, Cameron, is staying with us while he starts a new job and finds a home for his family to move into. Eric is very busy with work and has been working like a maniac on the back yard. He has power-raked, tilled, removed very large pieces of sand stone, removed a tree stump, weeded 11 ft weeds and turned the shed just to name a few things he has done in the last couple of weeks. Currently if you were to look outside our back windows you would see dirt, and one very weathered shed but it is exciting that we are just that much closer to having a real lawn back there this summer. We have also been back at working on the inside of the house as well. Every month we replace the old busted wood blinds with cellular blinds in an area of the house, so far we have new blinds in the living room, kitchen, and downstairs bay window. I absolutely love them! They let in so much light that Eric and I don't fight over opening and closing the blinds anymore!(I liked them open, I prefer my house bright).
Anyway, Life just seems to be a little out of the ordinary right now and in most ways it means that at the end of the day, we are a very tired bunch! Tonight was no exception, we played Hungry Hungry Hippo with Taylor and that was a blast, had dinner and then Eric had to run off to do some service for his calling as a ward missionary. I am very much looking forward to warmer days when we can go outside and play and enjoy a little bit more adventure!