Well, I have some exciting news. I should also state for the record that Emilie is not as excited about this news as I am. Anyway, it looks like the Carpenter household will soon have another little mouth to feed. Several months ago I harvested part of a leaf from my flytrap and have been nurturing it to create a new plant. It finally started to grow some tiny new traps. Hopefully the coming months will see continued growth and health as I continue to try to force its mommy/daddy to go dormant.

Emilie doesn't care about my plants. I don't think she hates them. She's just completely indifferent about them.

I'll follow up later with pictures of the new plant and our awesome amaryllis.

It is Christmas time and therefore appropriate to update you all on our family!
Well lets see...
Bryce our little one is now a one year old. Since he was born he has always been a great baby. Now that he is traveling around the house he gets into more trouble. He has graduated from the army crawl, which he did so well on the hardwood floor (he seriously looked like a reptile) to just crawling. He walks from various objects to objects but still is very timid to take his first steps. He is now also needing less nap time and we are in the middle of the "one" or "two" naps a day. It is sad for me because I really need to down time in the afternoon but don't quite get that time anymore.

Jaxon is a adventurous one. He also doesn't like to listen and knows what he is doing is naughty but will do it anyway with this slow walk and mischievous grin. He also is the one that needs the most loves or he will cry like a fire engine constantly. He also doesn't like to go to sleep but also has a hard time waking up after naps..whats up with that! I would love a nap.

Mason is in a stage where he like to do things by himself and also ways says "I do it" , or "help you". The main ones are that he needs to dress himself, and buckle himself in the car seat. IF you don't let him do it himself, we are in for a fit. We are still working on this one. He has such a fun personality,and also has a soft heart for his twin brother Jaxon. He will give any treat, fruit snack or sippy cup to his brother when asked. Mason is also very good with "please" and "thank you".

Chase is just turned four and is finally potty trained.. I thought he would go to school in diapers. He mastered this within the last month or so. Brad and I are excited that we only have to change three diapers and not four. Chase loves to play guitar, drums and quite frequently asks to watch Blue Man group or Rock band. Then he proceeds to jump on the couch and then bang his drum sticks (kitchen utensils) on the arm of the couch. He likes being dry and clean (umm ....where does he get that from) and if he gets a speck of water on his clothes.. he will change his outfit. He is known to change his shirt and pants two to three times a day.
Emilie is just at home enjoying the time raising kids.. It has been a struggle to re-train the brain and not to be so uptight about things and how things need or should be. I am getting used to the fact that one day I will use my brain for organization, cleaniness, and to be on time ...but just not right now. I have the daily chore chart , diet soda and the occasional Kohl's trips to keep my sane. I dabbling into sewing and still like to make cards. Other than that I am just there for the kids and my hubby. I plan on using the workout tapes in the cuboard soon. I have no excuse anymore.
Brad did get a job and will work their until he can find a another job that he can actually use his skills he is known for and good at. He loves his work schedule of 5am to 2pm. Not! He has started a new hobby of growing exotic plants and has a terrarium. He feeds them spiders and ants that we catch in our house. What Fun!
It has been a hard 2009 ... it is not a year that we want to repeat but it is almost over and hopefully Heaven Father will have something better in store for our family in the coming year. We are blessed that we are healthy and happy. We have wonderful extended family and a ward family that really loves us and looks out for us. It is so great to feel loved and I along with Brad are very humbled this year and especially this holiday season from all the love and service people have shown our family. One day soon we hope to give the abundant love and service that has been rendered to our family to others. Count your blessings!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chase is making headlines these days. Over the past couple of weeks Chase has been potty training. He tried training several months ago and did okay for the first day or two, but the whole plot fell apart when I took him to church. Using a toilet in a foreign place can apparently be terrifying. Anyway, we went back to diapers for a little while and this time he seems to be much more eager and prepared.

Chase continues to be wild and affectionate - a combination that can cause issues. He constantly wants to be hugging and wrestling with his brothers but they are rarely willing participants. He also doesn't like to eat much. He used to be a great eater, but not so much now.

Chase loves Christmas books, so this is his favorite time of the year. He also loves to look at Christmas lights on houses.

The first picture was taken about a week ago at the park. The second picture was taken last August in our backyard. It gives him kind of a nice Hulk-ish appearance.

Mason is currently going through an I-can-do-it-all-by-myself stage. He can become downright vicious if you try to help him when he doesn't want help. His way of telling you that he does not want help is, "I want to help you." If you help him when he says he wants to help you then you're really asking for it. In general, though, he tends to be fairly obedient. He usually stays in bed when told, shares with his brothers when asked and stuff like that. That said, he probably has the most unpredictable temper of the bunch. He can communicate quite well, which makes it slightly easier to deal with the temper.

I don't have any very good, very recent pictures. The first picture was taken in our backyard about three months ago. The second picture was taken about a month ago. He looks like a scruff, but that's okay.

Jaxon is a little bit smaller than Mason, but he also doesn't eat very much. He picks at his food, so it's amazing that he's as big as he is. Jaxon's personality comes out more and more each day. He continues to be the most daring one of the bunch. He can also be the most defiant and strong-willed. Bed time is a good example: while Mason at least pretends to try to go to sleep, Jaxon will spend an hour and a half sneaking out of the room and goofing around. He seems to be impervious to any form of discipline we've tried. All in all, he tends to be very expressive and generally good.

The first picture was taken at the park last Saturday, 11/28/09. The second picture was taken during Thanksgiving dinner.

Bryce is officially a crawler. In the past week or two he finally decided that it's easier to crawl and now uses crawling as his primary mode of transportation. He continues to be a very happy child and doesn't like sitting still. His two settings are on and off. Once he is in his crib he goes right to sleep pretty much every time; however, when he wakes up he has to move constantly.

These pictures were taken at the park last Saturday, 11/28/09.

Rather than provide a giant gob of pictures all at once, I'm going to post just two or three each day for the next four days. I'll highlight one child each day starting with Bryce. I'm including a couple of pictures of everyone from Halloween to kick it off.