Carson month 3: November 2 - December 2

I've read a lot about colic over the past few months and one thing I've read consistently is at 3 months, most colicky babies are magically better overnight. Of course I've been cautiously optimistic that he would get better over time and sure enough he magically turned from the "I want to throw you out a window" baby to "the most perfect baby EVER." Of course I am kidding but any mother that has had a colicky infant can relate. I still can't believe the drastic change in this sweet little guy. I am so thankful that Carson is doing well. He is an absolute angel. He literally throws a pep-rally every time you look at him. It doesn't take much to get a huge grin. And, he has precious dimples like his daddy when he smiles really big. Ahhh, I can't get enough!

A few highlights from weeks 8-12:
*He has doubled his birth weight and now weighs 14 pounds. His pediatrician said "He's a moose like his daddy. He will be a football player for sure." He's already in 3-6 month clothes so we like to say he's advanced.

*Sleeping- he is sleeping consistently 8-9 hours now! Of course it seems like he is also in a growth spurt constantly (we've given him the nickname spurt), so we still have plenty of sleepless nights. But overall, he is an amazing sleeper and takes naps every cycle of his 3 hour schedule. Heaven!

*He loves his play mat. He can grab on to his toys now which is big fun. Has very intense conversations with his giraffe, monkey and rooster.

*He's quite the conversationalist. He coos all the time. He will look into your eyes and just tell you all about his life. It is so cute. Picture at 12 weeks...he loves his paci and so do we.

Alex has been the most amazing big sister. She calls Carson "her little fella." She will go over to him when we aren't looking and give him kisses on the forehead. She actually said "Mmma, he's the most precious baby I've ever seen. Can we keep him forever?" WOW! I knew that Alex had a nurturing side, but she's blown me away with him. I've never had oned moment with her. I really thought she would treat him like Macy. She thinks putting sand and bubbles in her eyes is a good idea. Whew, thank you God!
Here is a pic of mommy and Carson at Anna's birthday party. He is 9 weeks old in the pic:

Our biggest highlight was of course, Thanksgiving! We were blessed to celebrate with both sides of the family. We went to the Wagner's house (Moran fam) in Farmersville, Texas to eat the meal and watch the Cowboys play. I think there were 30 of us in one house. The food was terrific and Carson got to wear his first Thanksgiving outfit. What else do you call it for boys? I know outfit isn't the right word but Mariah Carey's "ensemble" is even worse.

Over the actual holiday, Nathan, Mel, Alex, Carson, Emmy & Macy all packed up and headed to the Darby cabin. I'll post all of the pics from our trip soon. I was SO nervous thinking of all 6 of us in the car for 8 hours. I am so proud of Carson. He NEVER cried. I sat in the back most of the time keeping the kids entertained, but it was soooo much better than expected. I was holding both of their hands- it was precious. A few of Carson's highlights from Thanksgiving:
Lots of lovin' with Pops:

Cuddles and love from DeDe:

Family members had to fight Aunt Onnie for Carson time. She loved on him a ton:


Uncle B was amazing with Carson and stole him a few times too:

And, Carson got to meet the Darby cousins: Caden, Dru, & Eston. Here are all the cousins together: Dru giving Carson bunny ears:Carson was hardly ever put down. In fact, Aunt Onnie gave him the "best baby she's ever met" award...and she doesn't give awards lightly. That was a big compliment! Yeah for a happy and healthy SPURT!

Happies

*The obvious: gas prices. Praise the Lord! I remember actually spending $100 to fill up this summer. Yesterday it was $42.48.

Thank you, Costco!

*Turtleneck season. Totally kidding.

*Having a mother-in-law that is brave enough to keep Alex while Nathan is gone. Her husband is out of town as well AND she is watching our nephew, Eston. It's official, I have the coolest MIL. Stud!

*Portable potty seats. Thank goodness we had this on the drive to Texarkana. Alex had a phantom "schwooie" aka "poop" and we used this several times along the country roads. Lovely.

I really hope she doesn't see this as a teenager. She would kill me!

*Only having one kiddo. It's amazing how easy it feels just having one little one around now. There is no alone time yet, but I know that will change. I'm so happy to get some great quality time with Carson this week. We've named him "Spurt" because he is constantly in a growth spurt.

*Heidi getting fired from Bolthouse. Spencer's evil plot is working. Yes, I watch the Hills and I love it. "MAYBE YOU'RE THE PROBLEM!!!!!"

*Chick-fil-a is getting me through this crazy no dairy, no rice diet. Thank you for nuggets! I'm pretty sure we are there at least 4 times a week.

*Sleep: we are getting real sleep. Overnight. It's heaven.

Halloween Fun...a little late

We celebrated Halloween several times this year. It was so much fun dressing up my two little cats! Alex was a "french maid cat?"...not really sure what she was exactly, but it was adorable. Carson was the cutest 1 month old tigger I've ever seen :)

Here are a few pics from our Pumpkin Carving day at the Monasmith's home:

Alex, Ethan, Grace, Tyler, Mason, Sam and Abbi all had a blast carving pumpkins. They did a great job! Click on this picture- it's hilarious.

We also went to a fun Halloween play date at Jaime's house:

Mommy & Carson "Tigger"

Alex & Kaitlyn. Our adorable cats!

-------
I HATE this!!!!!!

Ahh...that's better!

---
Do I HAVE to hold him mom? UGH!

A sweet picture of brother & sister after bribing with candy

Finally, we finished up at BB & YaYa's new house for Halloween night. They now live in Tour 18, which is an unbelievable neighborhood on a golf course. These people went ALL out! I can't imagine what Christmas will be like, but we will definitely be over for a visit. Alex had so much fun trick-or-treating. She would go up to the door and yell "Happy Happy-Ween!" and "Where's my prize candy treat?!" So cute! She ran from home to home and her little tutu was bouncing all over the place. She was in heaven! We really enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with my parents as well. Here are a few pics from the evening:

Check out my loot

Cutie trying to reach the doorbell all by herself. She is Miss Independent!

Alex & YaYa

Almost 3 weeks later, and Alex is still asking us "Is it trick-errr-treat ta-day?"

Carson month 2: October 2 - November 2

October was a very busy month for our family, especially considering we just had a baby! We were brave and got out a LOT this month! It's really so different the second time around. Poor Carson is just along for the ride, but he seems to love staying busy. The changes this month were really evident. I can't believe how much he's grown and developed in just one short month. Here is a pic at 5 weeks:

During his 5th week, we started putting him down for naps and to sleep at night in the crib. He did great with the transition. We all started sleeping better...except for mommy the first two nights as she was basically glued to the monitor :)

By his 6th week, we started getting smiles all the time! Ahh-- it's the best! Your baby goes from a sweet blob to a smiling little guy! It makes you feel a bit more appreciated. HA! He weighed 11lbs., 8 oz. already at just 6 weeks old. What a big boy!

He is so precious and truly smiles anytime you look at him.

We got out for several play dates and of course for Halloween (Mom still hasn't posted those pictures. What a slacker!) Here are a few pics from our October adventures:

Sweet bath time picture

At the Monasmith's for pumpkin carvings

At the Basden's for a fun play date. Carson was the only guy! Poor thing!

A sweet pic with mommy

At 8 weeks, he started his 5-6 hour sleep stretches. YAY! He's doing a great job with that, we just wish it was overnight rather than 8pm-1am, but we will take what we can get!

Carson also had his first round of shots at his 2 month check-up. He weighed in at 12lbs., 1oz. He is in the 68% for weight, 35% for length, and has been feeling SO much better! The chiropractor has been amazing and the dairy elimination has really seemed to help with his breathing and reflux.

Here is a picture just moments after his shots....what a rock star :)

Pics of the Kids-- Rachel & Sally visit

One of my best friends, Rachel, came to visit October 15-17. Rachel was the maid-of-honor in our wedding, we were roommates in college and we cheered at Baylor together. We have quite a history. She just had her son, Elijah, in April. For ten years we have talked about becoming mommies and having our kiddos play together. We finally got that opportunity! And what's great is that we both have sons that are so close in age. Rachel was such a huge help. She bought groceries and cooked us meals, brought gifts for the kids and watched Carson while I took Alex to the Pumpkin Patch. I am SO thankful for Rachel!!! A bonus...she is an amazing photographer and just started her own photography business. She brought her entire studio up to take some pictures of the kids.

On Friday, Sally, another one of our best friends came in with her son, Jackson. Sally also lived with us in 3-D at the Centre :) She and Jackson drove all the way from Waco and brought us lunch. Jackson is 2, so he and Alex had a blast together! It was so much fun being with my best friends and their kids. A bit surreal that we are all moms! Here are a few shots from Rachel's photo shoot.

Jackson & Alex...are they CUTE or what?!

What's so funny?
---------------------------------------------
Alex-- 3 1/2 years old

Carson-- 6 weeks

What a "crack" up!

I love the innocence of children. She had no idea that her complete hiney was hanging out for the world to see-- she was too busy coloring. I just had to post this because we fell out on this one! HA!

Kellah, the amazing butterfly!

Our family had an amazing experience this weekend! Nathan brought home a Live Monarch Chrysalis (butterfly) that he got from a co-worker. We received the butterfly in the Chrysalis (cocoon) phase. Alex is such an animal lover, we knew she would freak! Over her bed, we have butterflies floating in the air, and butterflies have been her theme since day one. Her preschool is even named The Butterfly School. You get the drift.

Here is what it looked like when Nathan brought it home.



Of course we had to enforce ground rules as Alex would have immediately taken the butterfly away, hidden it, or fed it to one of our dogs.

Alex was amazingly patient. She wasn't allowed to touch any part of the butterfly. It about killed her, but she sat at the table and patiently learned about the process of metamorphosis. A very cool thing to teach as a parent! She decided to name it Kellah (?!) As in the city of Keller in Ebonics? We have no clue where she came up with Kellah, but that is what we named her!

On the card attached, Kellah's due date was October 26. We had Kellah for three days before she hatched. On Saturday morning, we knew she was about ready to go because the Chrysalis turned from a Jade green color to a dark black.



Sure enough, within 12 hours, Kellah was born! (As if this was our child)- ha ha! She was born on October 25, so just one day early. We couldn't believe how big she was! She was absolutely perfect and so beautiful.




Alex was hysterical! "Kellah HATCHED, she did, she did. Momma, the butterfly is heeeerrrreeee." All of us were amazed. Even baby Carson observed the new family member. It's never too early to learn about nature. Check out that huge grin he gave mommy!



Even Macy, our Yorkie, got in on the action. That poor dog has been put through the ringer.



Kellah flew all over the house and played with us for quite a while. We knew the inevitable was coming....the release. The problem is our child has MAJOR separation issues with anything she loves (as all 3 year olds do). We told her over and over "When Kellah hatches we have to let her fly away to find her family." She seemed totally fine with that idea. Note the pouty face picture below. Here are a few pics of us interacting with Kellah outside. We expected her to immediately fly away, but she didn't.




Finally, it was time to say goodbye. We decided to place her on a leaf on the tree in our backyard. We watched her until it got dark and she still hadn't left.

There is quite a bit more to this story.....the video explains everything. Enjoy!

If you are unable to view the video, check it out on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4Y1sa0dd4