4th of July

  I LOVE the fourth of July! It is one of my favorite holidays. I love getting together to have a BBQ and watch fireworks. This year a lot of our family was out of town. I wanted to go on a hike but Carter's naps that day messed that up.
   We went down to the Riverton park but they didn't have anything going on but a few booths. We left to get a good spot for the Sandy parade. Carter had so much fun at the parade! They passed out flags that Carter loved to wave around (and eat)! As floats and cars passed by Carter would squeal and clap. Later that night we met up with some friends to watch the fireworks. We got a great spot to watch the show. I was excited for Carter to watch them, but he didn't like them. He started crying and three minutes into them he went to sleep. I can't believe he slept through them, but it was better than him crying!
 

one year pictures.

  We just had Carter's first birthday pictures taken and I'm obsessed with how they turned out! We have gone to http://fotoflystudio.com for all of our pictures with Carter and I love the pictures more every time I go. They are so amazing with kids, have so many different backgrounds, and the photographers are all very talented. Plus you can't beat the price! And the best part is, they give you all the edited pictures on a disc for you to take and print where ever you would like. I highly recommend them. 
   Carter is a very active boy so most shots are of him moving, and thats ok!I made a smash cake for him and was hoping he'd dig in and he did not disappoint! Here are some (okay maybe a lot) of my favorites:

A week in paradise

I was very nervous for this trip as I have never traveled with a baby. I was most nervous to fly with him, especially since we had to wake him up at 4:30 AM to catch a flight. Much to my surprise he was amazing on every single flight! He did not cry one bit. He loved looking at all of the people, pulling the tray table down, and opening and closing the window. He was a champ.

  I am finally getting around to writing about out trip to Akumal, Mexico. Guys, this place is quite possibly the best vacation spot ever (in my opinion). We stay in a house which I love because it feels like a home and with a baby it was even better because you are not confined to a hotel room. This house is beautiful! It is called Casa Mariposa.

The front of the house

The back

This house is amazing! We love to come sit in the hammocks and read a good book. Because the floor inside gets so slippery it was hard for Carter to crawl around, but we would take him on the roof so he could crawl around and get his energy out! It was perfect! Plus we had an amazing view up there! 

The view off the back patio

This was our own private beach and water access

When we got there is was actually the tail end of a hurricane and I was very nervous about the weather. It was crazy getting to the house as the roads were flooded and trees and power lines were blown over. Over night though things cleared up and we had PERFECT weather from then on!We couldn't have planned it better. Although, because of the storm all of the crabs found their way inside and I did not like them there! haha they were so fast and looked like huge spiders. Richard would call them Mexican spiders. They would scurry as you got close and scared me every time. This was the first time Carter and seen sand and he loved playing, and eating, it everyday!

We were there with my husbands parents and his grandparents. It was so relaxing and everyone loved having Carter entertain them. He is a big dancer and they loved that anytime he heard music and would stop what he was doing and dance. Carter, this trip, also learned to pull himself to standing position, and crawl up the stairs. He also loved to chase the iguanas and play with the hermit crabs. 

Carter wasn't a fan of his sunglasses although we did get him to leave them on long enough for a picture!

One day we ventured down to the public beach so Carter could see/play in the waves. Well, he hated it. They scared him and the water was too cold that day. 

Although he was sad, it didn't last long when he got ahold of my ice cream!

Carter loved to splash in the water and feed the fishies:) We also took him on a kayak ride.

So glad we were able to make some amazing memories that week. This was the first time in the three years I've been that I was able to see turtles there. It made my trip!