carruthers: November 2012

She has a Name!

I am super indecisive when it comes to naming our kiddos. John and I both like short, easy to spell, "look good on a resume" type names - but with both James and Nate, we waited up to the last minute to completely decide.

James Ryan - I've always liked the name James, and we have at least 4 family members with James in their name. We tell each one that James is named after them! And we just like the sound of James Ryan. Other than that, Ryan has no specific meaning!

Nathan John - Nathan goes well with James, and again, it's another easy to spell/easy to say name. Middle name, John, is of course after Walter John the 4th (or 1st, 2nd, and 3rd!).

Baby Girl will be Bethany Michelle

Bethany - We had never talked about girl names before, but apparently both John and I have always really liked the name Beth. That, and I all the lovely ladies named Beth that I know are just awesome women.

Michelle - That's my middle name. Simple as that!

So that's that. We actually decided on a name WAY before baby's birth-day!

Can't wait to meet this wiggly little girl.

Is it too early for Christmas?

I'm usually a person who hates anyone who speaks of Christmas before Thanksgiving is over. It seems like sacrilege to skim over such an important holiday and skip to Christmas time.

This year is different for some reason. I can't wait for the Christmas season to be here.

Partially because we're headed to the mountains right after Thanksgiving... because I've actually gotten a head start on shopping for gifts... because I'm doing an Advent Calendar similar to my friend April's - that I'm so excited about... because I saved my Christmas Pandora station from last year and very soon I can break it open... because our awesome friends are coming to visit the week after Christmas... And because it's just more fun as the boys get older and understand the season and what's going on!

So, not to blow through Thanksgiving

- it's SUPER DUPER -

but I'm really excited for Christmas. :-)

New Toys for the Boys

Remember this picture from a couple months ago?

Well, surprise!

When my husband - whom I love and adore - gets an idea in his mind, he doesn't stop until it happens. That means at age 2 & 3, James and Nate have their first dirt bikes! (Insert subtle eye roll here. ;-)

In the last week, John got some great deals on the exact same bikes. The boys were shocked - and love riding, looking at, "working on", being pushed on their new bikes.

The past few months, John and I have really looked at our hobbies and activities and narrowed down what we want to do and who we want to be as a family. Dirt bikes and the camper fit in that plan (along with cabin rentals and time shares for yours truly!), so I guess we might as well start 'em early with the bikes.

We've already had at least 3 "accidents" on the bikes as they just sit in the garage. The boys are learning not to climb up on the non-kick-stand side. ;-)

We're thinking this spring/summer James will be ready to drive himself (with training wheels and safety gear). John will probably have to ride with Nate - but if you ask me, I don't think he'll mind AT ALL!

Pancreatic Cancer Walk 2012

The Carruthers family did the Pancreatic Cancer walk again this year. It was a lot of fun and not nearly as cold as last year! The boys did great and James even walked most of the 5K!

Part of the Sea-of-Purple. Hi Katie and Beth!

Nate held Gwamma's hand the entire walk!

Look who even got a ride.

My sweet new sis-in-law, Katie and ~~her~~ our friend Beth. Reed had army that weekend, so Beth filled in for him. :)

Poor Aunt Kim and Uncle Dave got a good arm workout. They must have swung James a million times (give or take!).


Me and Alexa - Alexa is a sweet family friend who is SO good with the boys and I think she's the best! On a side note, how big is that belly!?! I really don't feel that big and most of my clothes still fit. Ah, child #3! :)

Halloween 2012

As I'm going through my pictures, I just realized I didn't take any pictures of Halloween with my good camera! Thank you Keri for catching these at preschool!

Boys were Batman and Robin this year. James wasn't super into dressing up so I tried to get him excited about being Batman - I told him Batman can fly and save people and drive a really fast car. After he thought about that for a little bit he said: "But Mom, I don't know how to fly..."

We started our day with PrePreSchool with friends. Everyone was dressed up so cute!

Then, we visited Grandma at her school. The boys loved playing all the instruments and getting some chocolate.

After naps, we headed to our church's Fall Bash. I had to be there to help with food before John was off work, so I took the boys and they sat so perfectly in the corner eating their dinner. When they got rambunctious, Pastor Steve would scoop them up and go for a walk or let them check out the games. (Don't worry, this picture is deceiving. Nate didn't eat all those fishies - he just likes to make a mess. ;-)

When John came, we headed out to play a few games. The entire sanctuary was filled with those blow-up bouncy houses, but it was a little crazy so we stuck to the game rooms!

After the Fall Bash, we headed over to trick or treat at Gwamma's house. I didn't get any pictures of the boys with her, but she gave the boys great treat baskets and they had lots of fun.