YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!

Carol: "Erica please don't do that."
"Listen to your mother."

Erica: "You're not a mother."

Carol: "Yes I am your mother."

Erica: "You're not a mother you're my MOMMY!"

Mamamamamamama

A couple of days ago my cute little Jackson called me mamamama. He was crawling toward me because he was feeling sad and need his mama. It felt so good to hear him say it. I love him so much.

Surgery

On December 11 this year I had surgery on my left wrist. I had what is called a ganglion cyst. I noticed it back in June. I wasn't able to put my full body wait on it because it would cause to much pain. Around September I went to the doctors to have it looked at. Dr. Greenwood Sr. popped it for me. He also told me that there was a 50% chance that it would come back. About a month later it came back and hurt even worse. This time it hurt whenever I would bend my wrist. Yesterday I had the stitches taken out. It was so nice to have the wrap taken off after a week. My wrist still hurts a little, but It is doing okay. I'm so glad that we were able to get this done before Christmas. I thought that I was going to have the stitches in until the 29th of this month. We had so many people from our ward help. I'm so grateful to them for all that they have done.

Gingerbread House Winner

This years winner is house #2 belonging to the Tony and Cheryl Walser. They did a really good job. I have also posted who the other homes belong to on the Gingerbread blog. Thanks to all those who voted.

Buddies

Amanda Waters came over Friday evening to help me out. I had surgery on my left wrist that morning (more about that later). I found Ty and Jackson hanging out together. It was just to cute. I had to get a picture.

Merry Christmas!

Santa's Lap 2008

Santa's Lap 2009

I was surprised that Jackson didn't take a liking to Santa. He is usually smiling at everyone.

Daddy was nice to sit with her this year.

13 Steps

Poor little Jackson, he wasn't being watched the greatest. I was making dinner on Tuesday and thought that Brent was watching him. Brent was getting changed after work and thought that I was watching him. Well about 9 steps later I heard a bang and ran to the stairs leading the our basement. I looked down and Jackson was 4 steps from the bottom. It was so sad, poor kid. Erica had opened the gate to go down stairs when I thought that it was locked. I guess that you can't think something is safe when there is a two year old around, and you also think that someone else is watching the kids.

Gingerbread Contest

My family had a gingerbread contest this last weekend. I have created a blog so that our friends and family can go and vote for the winner. I have a link on my blog "Gingerbread House Parade" or you can use the blog site: carolkdavis.blogspot.com Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Voting will we held December 8th though December 15th

Watering the Boy

Earlier I heard Erica get on the counter to get herself a cup. She then went into the half bath to fill it up with water. Then I heard her pulling a chair (Jackson was in his high chair). I walked into the kitchen...

Carol: "Erica what are you doing?"
Erica had a cup of water with a spoon.

Erica: "I'm going to water the boy!"

I thought it was the funniest thing, and I needed to write it down, so I could remember it.

Saying Good Bye...

On Tuesday I went down to Cedar for a funeral service. My best friend Skye lost her baby boy. He was 14 weeks early. I had a really good experience being there with her family. There was such a good spirit. It made me so grateful that Brent and I have a Temple Marriage and that our family can be together forever it we live worthy. Family is everything and I'm so grateful for mine.

THANKSGIVING

Today we went to Fillmore for spend Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family. It was Brent's families year, but there were all out in Pennsylvania. We had a really good time. Erica and I went geocaching with my cousin Lance Stott and his little family. It was really fun. Erica found some treasures and had a lot of fun playing with there little girl Madilyn (they are 6 weeks apart in age). Afterwards Erica went swimming for a little bit. It was so much fun to watch her. Thankfully Jackson took a really good nap while we were there. When we got home we went over to the Demille's home with the Thalman's. It was such a good time. We had pies and the kids ran around playing this each other.

I'm so grateful for everything that we have. We are so lucky to be living the life that we have. Brent has a great job. We love our new home and ward. Erica and Jackson are happy and healthy, and we have great friends and family. We have been truly blessed!!!!

Sick...Sick...Sick

Well since Sat. I have been sick. Brent was so nice to watch the kids, so that I could get some rest. On Sunday I still wasn't doing so good, that night I think we were are hint pretty good. Brent took that day off from work to get some rest. Poor Erica, she is being a trooper. This is her first time getting a cold or whatever we have. And little Jackson, he is so cute and happy that I don't know if he has anything or not. I hope that we can get over this soon.

On Friday I was going to have surgery on my wrist. Nothing big. They canceled it that morning. The doctor was snow in in Cedar City. I hope we can get it down soon. Its really starting to hurt.

Not all of you may know Skye Leavitt Longhurst, but for those who do she had a little boy yesterday. He was 26 weeks along. Skye is fine, but they need all the prayers they can get.

Thank You!

Thanks to all of you that read our blog. Sometimes I wonder if anyone reads it; because our lives aren't that exciting. So thanks again. I really enjoy reading your comments.

Teething...

This last month has meant really long sleepless nights for me. Jackson started waking up again for a late night feeding. It has been really hard, but last night he slepts all night. I hope that he will continue (knock on wood). He has cut his two bottom front and his two upper front teeth all this last month. Its good to get it over with fast, but I would also like to sleep at night, but how could anyone be upset with this little guy. He is just to cute, and would melt away any bad feelings you could ever have.

SCARY FACE

Erica is so funny. She kept making this face one day and telling me it was her scary face.

HALLOWEEN

We had our ward carnival on Halloween. Brent is the Young Mens President so he went to help out. He was the Ref in charge of the basket ball throwing contest. Jackson Loves his Dad. Lately Whenever he see him his legs start kicking and he has the biggest grin in the world. He is a Daddies Boy.

Erica with her Friend Julia Thalman

I couldn't believe that Erica would let me get her face panted. A couple of months ago we were at a storytime fair and she would not do it. Isn't she cute. She has her very own princess crown.

Jackson was a skeleton for Halloween. He had a lot of fun crawling all over the place.

Erica Trunk-or-Treating in the Ward parking lot.

Erica was Belle. Thank You to Brent's sister Stephanie. She does such a good job with making costumes. Erica LOVES her Belle dress. She is always telling me that Belle has a dress just like her.

Sitting on the porch with there pumpkins

Erica and Daddy Eating all there Candy they got from Trick-or-Treating.
Brent took Erica around the neighborhood. They had so much fun together. Now when ever I talk about going for a walk Erica thinks that we are going to go Trick-or-Treating. She is one smart cookie!

Family Home Evening

For Family Home Evening we went to pick out pumpkins. There is a house a couple of blocks away. We were going to walk but then realized "were are we going to put all the pumpkins?" So we drove instead. Erica had such a fun time picking them out. Jackson I bet could have cared less. We all had a really fun time. I love to watch Erica's expressions. She has so much enthusiasm all the time.

Homemaking

Raspberry Jam

Applesauce

Chocolate Pumpkin Balls, I got the Idea off of Bakerella.com

This month I have been canning for the first time. It was really fun once I got the hang of it. The applesauce took about 6 hours for 16 qts. But that was all by myself. Brent was a big help. He had the day off so he watched the kids for me. The Jam was so easy. I had a bunch of peaches that I had frozen because I didn't have anything to can them with, so I made raspberry jam. Its so easy and only takes about 30 mins. After this years experience I would say that I'm going to do it again next year.

Going to Monroe for Dutch Oven in September

Jackson happy to be home after a long night up Monroe Canyon. We dropped our Camera right after this picture was taken. We were luck to get all of these pictures off before it totally died.

All of the kiddy's Erica, Jaxon, Madilyn, Adilyn, and Caleb
Making a tower out of rocks.

Judd and Katie Thalman, Jackson and Brent, and Carson and Ashley Demille
The Thalman's Invited all of us to have Dutch oven dinner. It was so much fun, and the food was so good.

Adilyn Thalman and Erica.

Jaxon Demille and Erica

Erica is the funniest little girl. This morning I heard her turn the light on down stairs. A couple seconds later I could hear her talking to her daddy....

"I'm to dizzy to sleep!"

This had been her new reason for not sleeping the last couple of nights. She comes up with the funniest things to say.


Jackson now has two bottom teeth coming in and is also pulling himself up on things. Yesterday he crawled up Brent and then on to the coach with no help. We had to put the gate up over the stairs because he is all over the place now.

Jackson Turned 8 months old on Oct. 2, We have been having a rough couple of days, but I hope that that is over for a while. Jackson cut his first tooth today. Yeah for Jackson. He finally did something earlier than his sister. Erica was almost 11 months before she cut her first tooth.

i can

Today Jackson started to crawl on his hands and knees. He still has a hard time, but he keeps on trying.

Gingerbread Contest

My family does a gingerbread contest every year. We started back in 2006. We have really enjoyed it, but don't really have a whole lot of people to vote and declare the winner. I started a blog just for voting on our houses. I hope that all of our family and friends will enjoy looking at the houses and voting on the as well. The web page is carolkdavis.blogspot.com or there is a link in the sidebar.

Blog Name Change

In case you were wondering about the change of our blog name, I will tell you. I'm not the most creative, and Brent kept asking me to change the name. He said that "Davis Family" sounded like his grandparents. Not anything against them, but he wanted something that would fit our family a little better. Last night I told him that if he could come up with something better that I would change it. So "Barol of Monkey's" was born. If you are wondering about the spelling it is Brent and Carol put together.

Happiest Girl in the World

Erica's Aunt Stephanie made this cheerleading outfit for her. Her dad is a big 49er fan and so she is one as well. I found the Belle shoes on ebay brand new and just had to get them for her. She has to wear them everyday. Her Aunt Stephanie is also making her a Belle dress for Halloween to match the shoes.

I also got a new piano that is in the background. I was called to play the piano in the primary. The bishop gave me a key so that I could go over and practice at the church, but I was going over every night, and was scared to death coming home less than a block away. My Mom and Dad were so nice to help in buying it. I love having it and play it everyday. I don't like going to church feeling unprepared. This coming Sunday is the Primary Program. I feel ready to play the songs. Pray for me though.

Final Resting Place

This is Brent with his Grandma Davis the last time that he saw her at the end of July.

Brent helped to carry the casket to the grave site. He is in the front on the left.

Erica with her Daddy after the dedication.

On September 4, 2009 We went up to Provo to attend Brent's Grandma's Funeral. She was 92 years old and widowed for over 15 years.
The viewing was Friday evening. Erica was really good except for some miner mishaps. While we were at the viewing she kept asking if we could wake up grandma. Nana (Brent's mom) held Erica up so that she could see her. Brent and his mom both saw Erica pull on grandma's hair, poked her in the eye and grabbed her hand to try and wake her up. She kept asking me why Grandma would not wake up. I didn't really know what to say so I told her that Grandma was have the best dream and that she didn't want to wake up. That night we stayed with Brent's Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth in Provo. The next morning we went to the Funeral. While we were there Erica was having a hard time staying still. About a half hour before that family pray we were walking the halls in the church and then Brent and I noticed that the fire alarm went off. We looked behind us to see that Erica had pulled the lever. They should make those things higher. The Bishop ran around trying to phone people so that the fire department wouldn't show up. Afterward was the family luncheon, and then we went to the cemetery for the grave side dedication in Spanish Fork Ut, While there Erica wanted to walk around and look. Brent and I were talking when Erica knocked over a very very very old tomb stone. I couldn't believe it was happening. Brent caught it just in time. There is always some excitement going on when Erica is around. Its for sure that we wont be forgetting this funeral.

4 Generations! Grandpa Farnsworth, Erica, Brent, Jackson and Nancy

Erica working out in the yard with her Nana

Brent Home for Lunch

At the Beginning of July Brent's mom came out to Utah from Pennsylvania for 3 weeks. Here brother was a mission president in Spain and was coming home of July 3. We all drove up to Provo together. While up there my family all got together and went to 7 peaks for a Kenney family reunion. Then afterwards went to Marie's house in Springville to watch fireworks and have some desert. Her neighbor hood had a block party and we all went and had a good time. On the 4th we went to a family get together with Brent's family to welcome his Uncle Brad home from Spain. Afterwards Erica and Jackson were so tired that they slept the entire way home. That evening were set off fireworks in out back yard for Erica. She is so cute. Brent started to set off the first sparkler and she started to sing "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.." It was so cute. Later that night we watched the city fireworks from out back yard. The show was 45 mins long. This town is so in the the 4th of July. Everyone had their own little firework party (with their illegal fireworks) going on. Brent woke up in the middle of the night and went outside and could see still more fireworks going off.
Brent had gotten sick a week before Nancy came, and while she was here she and I also got sick. I lost my voice for a little over a week. I'm sure that Nancy didn't feel so good herself.
While she was here she pretty much painted our entire main area all by herself. We love when she is around to paint. Everything gets down so fast. She also painted Erica's room a very Happy pink that Erica choose, and Jackson's room is a Tan color. She also helped with moving and killing plants in the front yard that were over grown. Thank you so much Nancy! Hopefully we wont undo all the work that you did.
Erica Loved having her Nana in town for 3 weeks. Nana bought her all kinds of princess gifts. There was a Princess couch and her very own princess potty, and a princess clock to go in her room. Erica loves the disney princesses. Her and her Nana also played in the sprinklers and in her swimming pool in the back yard. She also insisted that we all eat Popsicles every night.
We were so happy to have Nancy here for those couple of weeks. She was a really big help to me. We can't wait for the next visit, and hope that Chuck can come out with her this next time. Love you Nancy!

Cloth diapering has been and adventure. We have been doing it for about 2 months now. We started at the end of June. There are days when I ask what I got myself into. It has been really good though. I have a diaper sprayer hooked up to the toilet, so there is no dunking involved.
We still do the disposable diapers at night though and when we go out of town. I don't really want to deal with that on the road. All in all we were spending $15 a month on the disposables for one child, and know we are spending $6 about every month for Jackson. Erica has been
potty trained for over a month now. What a life saver. Now I don't feel like my days are filed with changing diapers.

Cloth Diapers, Scary!

Well about a month ago Cheryl and I decided that we would like to try cloth diapers. I finally got them in the mail a couple of days ago. Lucky Jackson gets to be the first to try them out. Wish me luck. I will put some pictures on later.

  OUR NEW HOME:

We finally moved into our home about 3 weeks ago.  I can't believe that we are really here.  We love our house.  Erica has so much room to run around in now, and also a back yard.  The back yard is fenced on 3 sides.  This coming weekend Brent is going up north to pick up the fencing to finish it.  We can't wait.  Erica does pretty good though to stay were we can see here.  On Easter Sunday we had Jackson blessed in our new ward, and all of the Kenney family came.  Brents sister Stephanie was the only member living in Utah still and here Husband Matt got a job in Virgina and so they moved the day before the blessing.  

Buying Our First Home!

This process of buying a home has taken so long. We made the offer on the house before Christmas, and were hoping that we would hear back by Christmas. We finally got the approval from Wells Fargo (the house was a short sell so we had to go though the owners bank to get approval to buy the house) a couple of days after Jackson was born. Everything was moving along and then we had some trouble with Wells Fargo. They decided that they wanted more money for the house. We told the that that was our best and finally offer. They finally decided to go with it. A couple of weeks ago we got the Final approval and the couple that owned the home were going in to sign the papers. Everything was going good so we thought. We found out later that day that they refused to sign the papers in hopes that they could some how come up with 6 months worth of mortgage payments that they were behind in. Finally on Friday they signed. Wells Fargo had told them that if they didn't sale to us that they were going to foreclose on their home anyway. We are now a week after they signed and hoping that we can finalize everything this next week. Please pray for us. It seems like we will never move into this house. We are doomed to live in limbo for the rest of our lives.

Jackson Brent Davis was born on Feb. 2, 2009 (2 weeks early). He was 7 lbs 10 oz. After he was born he was having some trouble breathing. They had to life flight him up to Prove to the NICU. Brent was able to go with him. My mom drove Erica and I up the next day. Jackson was in the NICU for about 10 days. When we brought him home he had to be on O2 and also a monitor at night. He is now 5 weeks old and has been off the O2 for about a week and a half. They still have him on the monitor for about another month. He is doing so well. Erica loves him so much. She is such a good little helper. Always trying to find things that she can do for him.

Our Family Update

Grandpa's 51st Birthday & Erica's 2nd

18 months old
First Birthday
Erica 8 months old
Erica Born Jan. 5, 2007 7 lbs 6 oz
Our engagement picture 2004