A Few Things ...

A Few Things I've Learned About Williston and North Dakota in General

~Practically everyone drives a new 4 wheel drive pick-up, usually with a camper or boat attached

~Every young person I see has about four kids in tow and are pregnant as well (don't worry, I am avoiding drinking the water)

~The population in Williston is outgrowing the town, you have to wait in lines everywhere

~The accents you heard in the movie "Fargo" are for REAL

~Sunsets in the plains are way beyond what we see in the mountains

~As well as the thunderstorms

~I've yet to find a place that serves fish tacos

~People still smoke in North Dakota, and even smoke inside public places!

~The mosquitos aren't as bad as I initially thought...but, we'll see what happens now after it has rained for two days

~It's hard to stay awake while traveling across the state. Even Tage could not keep his eyes open, and he NEVER sleeps in the car

~The sun stays up until almost 11:00 in July

~There is awesome bird watching in ND, not only birds of prey, but huge water birds too

~Everyone has immaculate flower beds with unique yard decorations, like old trikes, desks, watering cans, chairs, wagon wheels, ect. (I've got alot to learn and some major work to do)

~People must love to eat liver and onions, it is on every menu and even was a lunch special at the grocery store deli today

~Dill Pickle chips are the bomb!

News on the street

...is that we're moving....
Away from Bozeman, away from our friends, and out of Montana all together...sniffle (honestly, I almost got choked up when following a car with 406 on the window and the realization that I'm leaving my home state for the first time ever)

So I thought I would make a list of the things that I will miss most about beautiful Bozeman:

~First and foremost, of course, Miss Chandra Fellon, really I'm not sure how'll we'll live without my best friend and the kiddos favorite daily visitor. Tagey exclaims "RARA, RaRa" as soon as he sees her car and Huntlie just exclaims!

~Herbie! Our go to babysitter and Justin's best friend. We're really going to miss him. One of Huntlie's first words is "Joel" for goodness sake!

~The Cozy Nest therapy center....I mean really, how can we replace the best!

~Highland Montessori School~the best preschool ever and my all time favorite job. I was SO hoping my kids could go there and that someday I could go back to work there. Leaving Bozeman without being able to give my kids that type of early education is heartbreaking.

~Dr. Hansen and her nurse Kass~I seriously talk to these people practically every week about the most important thing...Tage's health. It is going to be so tough to find someone we trust as much.

~The awesome and spectacular views! Driving around town today doing errands, I could not get over how beautiful this place is. Bright green valleys, super big blue sky, and the most magnificent snow capped peaks. Love that~!

~The Bogert Farmer's Market

~Norris Hot Springs

~Bridger Bowl

~the Madison River

~Hyalight Canyon

~Dave's Sushi

~LaParilla

~all of the beautiful walking trails around town

~and not to forget to mention all of our other many, many friends in the area. We'll surely miss this place and all of you~!!! Hoping to be back someday :0)

A Few of My Favorite Memorial Day Moments

We're so excited that cold and flu season is over and that we can safely travel with Tage! Over Memorial Day weekend, we traveled to the Flathead Valley to visit Justin's brother, his wife, and their 3 boys (an 11 year old and 12 year old twins). What an awesome trip, despite the rain! I wanted to share a few of my favorite moments...

~As Huntlie and I were eating breakfast one morning, Lukas ran by and Huntlie spontaneously did the sign for "friend." Melt my heart cute!

~Tage went into Courtney and Jen's room one morning to visit them while they were waking up and signed "Uncle" for Courtney.

~Tanner called Tage and Huntlie his "best little buddies" and helped them put their sockies on.

~We loved hearing Logan play his violin for us.

~It was so funny to pack up the van with all 5 kids and listen to the goofy big boys singing songs from Tage and Huntlie's Signing Times video.
~I loved the familiar roads, sights, and smells of Lakeside.

~It was great to see my husband and his brother hanging out together again, acting like geeks and doing man stuff like splitting logs and building fence.

~I loved seeing Huntlie rest her head on Uncle Courtney's shoulder.

~Jen made her delicious taco salad, yet again! :0)

~It was so great to see Justin's aunt and uncle and cousin and laugh around the bon fire.

~I absolutely LOVE backyard bon fires.
~We had so much fun talking about and getting excited about another nephew on the way!

~It was great to see the hubby playing with Lukas, Logan, and Tanner...even if they were playing Slap Pong and came upstairs with welts on their backs. Super cute to hear them call him "Uncle Justin."
All in all, we had a fantastic weekend and it remineded me of how important family time is. We love our Flathead family and can't wait until the next get together. We decided try to make a Memorial Day Weekend an annual Carrier family event!

Now I'm 2, Look what I can do...

Gross Motor...

~ I love to crawl all over and I really love to crawl FAST!
~It's so fun to crawl through little spaces like under tables, benches, and toys. I crawl under and around everything until my cannula's are pulled tight on my nose and then I have to holler for help to get untangled!
~ I'm getting pretty strong now because when I crawl crazy Huntlie always trys to ride on me or climb all over me. I think she likes me, but man she makes me angry sometimes.
~ I can pull myself up to standing.
~ I just learned how to 'cruise' around the furniture! I still need to get a little stronger and work on my balance, but hopefully I'll be walking soon! I can't wait to get that Huntlie back!
~ I love to walk while someone holds my arms. I also like to walk to push my trucks around, but need an adult to stay close to help a little.
~ I can push anything around while on my tall knees.
~ I like to play catch with a big bouncy ball. I can actually catch the ball all by myself sometimes.
~ We have a basketball hoop just my size and when I'm standing next to it, I can slam dunk it! I have the hugest hands and can 'palm' all our basketballs!
~ I'm working pretty hard these days and usually have a few bruises on my forehead to show for it. (if not from face plants, they're from my sister.)
~I work with the best physical therapist twice a week.


Fine Motor and Tactile...

~ I still love to play with blocks and can make even taller towers now.
~ I can put all of the rings on my Melissa and Doug ring stacker.
~ When someone shows me the right spot, I love to put the shapes into my shapes sorters.
~ I have a new race track and it's so fun to put the cars on the track and watch them race to the finish.
~ I love to write on my Magnadoodle!
~ I still really enjoy looking at books, pointing to the pictures, and turning the pages. Some of my favorite books are touch and feel books and books with flaps to peek under.
~ I have awesome occupational therapists who come three times a week. Sometimes I play in dry rice and beans with them. I'd rather pick up each bean one by one than stick my hands in too deep.
~ I also like to play in squishy stuff like shaving cream, pudding, cool whip, and Birthday Cake!
~ I love bath time and think its so fun to splash mommy and daddy.
Speech...

~I'm trying to talk all the time now. Sometimes, I have to yell really loud to be heard over my little sister.
~ I know about 20 words in sign language and can say 20 or so words with my voice too. I can even say Hunt and Hannah, and just today I said Tage pretty darn good!
~ I can say some two syllable words like 'yellow,' 'purple,' 'amen,' and 'bubble.'
~My friend,(I just learned the sign for 'friend' last week!) Jill, comes over to play and do speech therapy twice a week.

Eating...

~Eating is tough, but I'm slowly getting better and better.
~ I usually eat yogurt or oatmeal with applesauce for breakfast and that is my favorite meal. I like sweet and fruity foods best!
~ Mommy and Daddy puree lots of good food for me to try so for lunch and dinner, I usually eat pureed chicken, turkey, or pork, a pureed vegetable, and applesauce. I just discovered that sour cream makes everything better!
~ I've recently been trying lots of new things like cottage cheese, avocado, hard boiled egg yolk, mom's pasta with marinara, and homemade split pea soup. I don't mind trying new things as long as mommy and daddy smash it up really good.
~ I love to drink water or milk with my bottle, I'm not too sure about juice yet. I can use a #3 nipple now and I'm working on drinking from a cup too.
~ A couple weeks ago at the doctor, our nurse gave me my first lollipop and I sure liked licking that.
~ I'm also getting much better at brushing teeth. Mom brushes before each meal to desensitize and before bed. Just this week we tried a spinning brush and I love it! I even like to brush my own teeth with that. (by the way, I have two molars now!)

Well, that's about all I can think of for now! I'll check back in when I have more exciting new things to share! Thanks for reading.... TAGE DANIEL

Our fifteen seconds of fame in the blog world!

I just saw that Tage and Huntlie's photo is posted on pretty much the most "famous" blog that we follow! How Exciting!!! Nate's blog has had over 11 million hits! This is an incredible family that has endured so much and continue to keep such a great attitude. It is definitely a blog worth following.

Check it out...

www.cfhusband.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Tage!!!

On January 9, 2010 Tage turned two! Tage loved celebrating with friends, family, balloons and streamers, lots of gifts, and a homemade dump truck cake! What an awesome day to celebrate the Miracle of Tage.

A look back! Wow!

coming soon

Actually going to make a new post for the first time in months! We'll blame the down time on the holidays...

Happy Fall !

I'm 8 months old !..... ( by Huntlie Carrier)

I am now 8 months old and I'm learning to do many new things!

~I am about 18 pounds 10 ounces! My brother forgot to tell you that he's about 26 pounds 8 ounces.

~My hair is blond now and sticks straight up on top. It's soft and fuzzy and feathery. Even Tage and I like to touch my hair. (Sometimes I pull Tage's curly blond hair:0)

~I can sit up all by myself and you better watch out because nothing is safe around me! I can reach REALLY far in all directions and once I find something, I will immediately chew it like a beaver!

~I have two teeth, and I love them!

~I can now eat baby crackers all by myself. (Baby Mum-mums are the best!)

~I also have eaten a little bit of ice cream, a french fry, toast, avocado, and a slice of homegrown tomato.

~I like to try to hold my own bottle.

~Tage JUST taught me how to clap my hands yesterday!

~I love to dance to music!

~I can sing too! and scream, yell, growl, and blow raspberries. (sometimes I like to blow my food all over the place too :0)

~Sometimes, I can sit still enough to make it through a whole book when mommy reads!

~I'm getting pretty good with my hands, and am good at grabbing stuff with my feet too!

~I like to make changing my diaper a challange for mommy and daddy. I squirm, wiggle, roll over, scoot, and pull on my diaper with my hands and feet!

~I really want to learn how to crawl. For now, I think the best way to get from one spot to another is to scoot, on my back with only my head and feet touching the ground.

~When Tage is on his hands and knees, mommy puts me on my hands and knees too, and now I can hold myself up almost as long as Tagey.

~I kindof like to torture my brother. I really love to pull and chew on his oxygen tubing. Sometimes we have oxygen tubing tug of wars.
~Tage always finds the coolest toys to play with so as soon as he gets a toy, I try to rip it from his hands.

~ I love jumping in the jumparoo or the baby bungee! I finally learned how to actually jump now. I've been intently watching Tage do it for months.
~I still love to stand up as much as possible. I can stand by myself against the couch, ottoman, or wagon for quite a while without falling.

~I love to go places with my family. I even squeal and get excited when mommmy and daddy fill Tage's travel liquid O2 tank. It's loud and when that gets filled, I know we are going on a feild trip! ~My favorite things are...Tage, my metal bowl of golf balls, my pink teddy bear in jammies, Tage's fire truck, my baby dolls, and our blocks. I also love my cold 'chewies' for teething.

Brutus the Grizzly