Sweet Carson

Here are a few recent sweet things about Carson's toddler days I don't want to forget.

• His word for Dinosaur is "Diny"
• He recently learned to say flowers which sounds like "wowers" but he can't say the "r" sound.
• I love that little gap in his 2 front teeth
• He loves- loves- loves stickers
• He loves to sit down on the floor and "study" his little feet
• Any spec of dirt he sees he say "ewww"
• He now sits in "Indian Style" when he sits on the floor
• He loves to hug his doggies, Chase isn't scared of Carson's love anymore, but Haley won't have it.
• When he gives hugs he says "mmm mmm"
• His word for cookie is "tookie"
• He thinks all bread is cheese toast
• He really gets into his dancing, which is mainly squatting and stomping

He is so cute sometimes, I just can't stand it! I can't believe he will be 19 months this week, my heart breaks a little more every time I have to box up his clothes and shoes that no longer fit.  

The weekend

We started our weekend with Carson's ear tube surgery on Friday. He did so well, all of the nurses referred to him as an angel :) He slept for a little while after the surgery, and woke up and drank 2 boxes of apple juice! Then he was regular ol' Carson the rest of the day. He really didn't skip a beat besides taking a 3 hour nap that afternoon, and I didn't mind that since I napped with him :)

My mom came for the weekend to bring some frozen meals, to help out with housework, and to let Cory and me sleep in during the weekend. It was a nice break. Thanks Mom! Cory had decided a few weeks ago that instead of going out to dinner for his birthday, that he would just use the $ on a new tool, but once mom was here (and she gave him some B'day $ for a tool) I talked him into a date. We have only been on 2 or 3 dates since Carson was born, so I felt like we needed to take advantage of having a babysitter. We went to eat at Firewater Chophouse and saw the movie True Grit - very good movie by the way. It's not a film I would have given a 2nd look b/c I don't like Westerns, but I let Cory choose the movie, and I knew if I gave it a chance I would like it.  I had a feeling that with Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges in the cast, it had to be good. And IT WAS. Dinner was awesome too, we had fried calamari, salad, steak, grits and onion rings....yum!

Here was Cory's sweet treat for his B'day courtesy of Publix:

Carson certainly enjoyed celebrating Daddy's birthday too!

Whenever mom comes to visit we always do some shopping. She bought Carson some 18 month clothes and couple of toys. I get all of his clothes from Kid to Kid and Kohl's. I also love the consignment shop Once upon a Child located in Alpharetta. I got Carson 2 puzzles and one of those ball machines for only $12 total!

Other than the above, we did a lot of relaxing and playing outside. I bought sidewalk chalk, and we had fun with that both Saturday and Sunday. 

And here is Carson's latest trick! Swinging in the big boy swing!

Random

• Today is my sweet husband's birthday! Happy Birthday baby! I am cooking his favorite meal (my homemade lasagna) and have a yummy sweet surprise for him. We decided not to give gifts for our birthdays this year since we adopted Haley, she was our present to each other.
• Most times, I am proud to be a southerner, except when I watch the news, you know what I'm talking about - how they pick the most ignorant people to interview....but yesterday when I read this story, I was a little embarrassed to say that I live in Georgia. Do they really not have anything better to do? 
• The pregnancy heartburn is starting to happen during the day now :( I went the the gas station yesterday for tums, and I came back with gummy bears, vinegar and salt chips, milk, and Jr. Mints, oh yeah and tums. Wow. Pretty sure the cashier thought I was crazy.
• I am really into The Bachelor this season, I am pretty sure he is going to choose Emily, you can tell he is head over heels for her. 
• Another show I am so ready for is Bravo's Bethenny Everafter. I loved Real Housewives of NY, and ended up watching her spin-off Bethenny Getting Married, and it turned out to be such a funny and heartwarming show, I can't wait to see her as a mother in the new series. It premiers on Feb 28th!

Miscellany Monday

Weekend: 

• We stayed home for the most part enjoying the Saturday weather. 
• We ate at IHOP on Sunday, I love the Strawberry French toast combo. 
• Carson learned how to swing in the big boy swing and thought he was ALL THAT! I have a cute video that I will share when I get a chance to upload it. 

Pregnancy:

• I am finally getting some energy during the day, and I cleaned the kitchen and folded the mountain of clothes that had taken over our bedroom. We can now see the carpet. I watched The Devil Wears Prada while folding, and I sure miss dressing trendy and fabulous. :(
• I am totally feeling the baby move! I know its real b/c I can't help but smile!
• With the new found energy I am having the nesting urge, I keep looking around the house thinking how I can organize and change things. I even suggested we go ahead and clean, paint/prime the guest bedroom and that way we could be ready to paint the certain colors we want when we find out if the baby is a boy or girl. We also have to put down new carpet...should be a fun project!
• Cory wants another boy by the way. I think having 2 boys would be fun, but I also would love to do the "girl thing". There are positives to both, so we will be happy with either, only 4 more weeks until we know!
• There are so many moms I know who just started their maternity leave...I am so jealous! I enjoyed that special time with Carson so much and can't wait to have 3 months with both of my babies. It's nice to have my mom or MIL doing all the housework, I can't lie! This time, I am just going to enjoy every moment, and not worry about getting a newborn on a schedule, such an impossible task anyway. I am now a firm believer that you can't spoil a newborn. I will be baby-wearing, co-sleeping, on-demand feeding...whatever makes my baby happy. 
• I am really getting the baby fever, I am constantly looking at my calendar to count down the days until we know the gender so I can begin decorating! I think if the baby is a boy, I will just recycle Carson's nursery and decorate a toddler room for Carson. 
• I registered on Amazon, just for a couple of must haves so far no matter what the gender is. 

Carson:

• Carson is scheduled to get tubes in his ears on Friday. I was on the fence about it this fall, but after December where he had the same infection for an entire month and it took 3 different trials of different antibiotics to get him better, I was convinced that he needed tubes. Keep him in your prayers please.

Hope everyone has a good week!

14 Weeks

I am 14 weeks tomorrow! So happy to be in the 2nd trimester. Prenatal massage...here I come!

Symptoms:

• Starting to get some acne on my face which makes me think this baby is a boy (we will find out for sure in about 5 weeks), but I am not sure if its the chocolate, or the laziness from leaving my make-up on a couple of nights during the week. 
• I am also starting to get some skin discoloration spots..so attractive. 
• I have been really emotional lately, in a happy way...little things make me tear up. 
• The heartburn comes like clockwork everyday around 5PM, so I drink some milk and then take Zantac and it works...for now. I remember the days toward the end my pregnancy with Carson where NOTHING seemed to work :(
• Not sure if I am feeling movement yet, there have been a couple of times where I felt something "foreign" but its just too early to really be sure.

Cravings: nothing particular really, I am just really picky about food. I guess if anything I am always thirsty and I am loving my orange juice lately!

Best moment of this week: Probably the chocolate and flowers Cory gave me for V-day. I know a lot of people don't like V-day, but I love it. Cory said he feels like getting me flowers is too easy, I told him that I don't feel that way at all. I LOVE flowers, and for so many years before I met him, Valentines day was a sad day for me b/c I wanted someone to share that day with, but now I have the perfect man and I love that there is a day that is dedicated to LOVE and showering eachother with little gifts.

Challenges this week: Not too much, I like the new practice so far, but I feel like they could be a little more organized. The 5PM heartburn is tough b/c I am also starving by that time, so it makes it difficult to fix a meal while I am not feeling great. Dishes and laundry are piling up as usual, poor Cory, he does a lot trying to help me out, he's exhausted too!

Belly Picture:  I think I have put on 5 pounds thus far. I feel so much bigger than I look in this pic. And look: I own a piece of clothing that isn't black! Look at me rocking my maternity jeans! And I totally am going to buy some maternity skinny jeans, can't wait!

Recent baby pic: Look at that sweet little face!

Carson's Valentines' Day

I decided to celebrate V-day with Carson on Sunday since we had a lazy day and could really enjoy being together, week nights are just so rushed and we don't get much time with our little man. So...Sunday was Carson's day and Monday night is for Mama and Da-Da.

I kept Carson's gifts small, we are trying to be smarter with our money, so I behaved and did not go overboard. It was so hard, while I was in Target I saw a million things that he would have loved...but I kept reminding myself this is not his birthday or Christmas.

 Checking out what's in the bag...

I knew I wanted to get him a Valentine book since he loves books, and I saw an Elmo book and thought he would like it, he loves to say Elmo, so sweet.

I also got him some M&M's and a baseball lollipop...

Mmmmmmm.......

Then we played outside for hours, it was a great day!

HAPPY VALENTINES' DAY EVERYONE!

The time has come...

To watch our language around Carson!

Let me preface this by saying that my husband has terrible road rage, and I kept telling him he was gonna have to tone it down before Carson started repeating those 4 letter words he heard us say. And of course, who do you think he got his first bad word from? MAMA. My husband is thrilled that this happened when I let a bad word slip, and I will never live this down. I must say it was HILARIOUS!

We were headed home from Birmingham after adopting Haley, and I was driving and a little distracted, I realized I was in an exit lane that I did not want to be in. So I had to react quickly, and the "s" word slipped. Low and behold, my toddler in the back seat shouted "JIT!!!!" I may have peed my pants a little. Never a dull moment with my kid. :)

A couple of Firsts!

This weekend, my little boy had his first lollipop, he LOVED it! I really enjoyed him sitting still for 5 minutes as well!

AND.....................

Last night, he pee-peed in the potty! We have been sitting him on the potty every night before bath time and reading books, he tries to sit down before I can get him undressed...he loves it! It would certainly be nice to have him potty trained before the next baby comes (fingers crossed). In about 2 months he will be moving to the next class at daycare where they potty train during the day! 

*If you haven't read my post about Haley below, please do!

Haley

This weekend, we did something very special; we adopted a dog. We have been looking at the Boston Terrier Rescue organization for months, but I was still too sad over loosing Charlie for a while. I finally got to the point where I really missed having a female dog around and Cory and I really wanted to rescue a Boston. Now that we have her, I couldn't be happier. Her name is Haley and to say she is sweet is an understatement. She weighs about 15 pounds and is estimated to be around 4 years old. She and Chase get along well and are already cuddling together on the couch. She follows us everywhere and loves to be held, she is a BIG cuddlebug. She slept right next to us all night. I knew I wanted to keep her the minute I saw her and held her. I don't understand why someone would abandon this precious dog; but we are overjoyed to have her in our home!

WELCOME TO THE PHILLIPS FAMILY HALEY!

12 weeks

Wow...I am nearing the end of the 1st trimester. Hard to believe!

How far along: 12 wks

Symptoms: I have been having headaches lately..mostly stress-induced from work...its insane right now. 
I seem to get really hungry in the middle of the night when I wake up, I just fix some chocolate milk and it helps. Speaking of chocolate milk, I introduced Carson to it, and I think he's in love! :)
The heartburn has reared its ugly head again, but I have my trusty Zantac.

Cravings: I have been super thirsty, so I have been drinking a lot more water lately. I have really been wanting some fresh fruit, but have had no time to go to the store to stock up. I was however able to have some great pineapple and grapes at Sweet Tomatoes with my girlfriends..I had pineapple all in my teeth while I was talking...but it was so worth it!

I had an entire text conversation last night with a pregnant friend about food you eat at the county fair and food you get at the movies! I am ready for some buttery popcorn, corn dogs, nachos and cheese, and funnel cakes...mmmmm.  I love pregnancy!

Best moment of the week: I am so excited that I found a new practice that I feel is a better fit for me and what I want for this baby's delivery.  I contacted the local ICAN network and Labor of Love Doula Services and both organizations recommended the same 3 practices! So I made my decision and chose a practice that they recommended and it also has great word of mouth among some good friends of mine. When I called to inquire about joining their practice I asked if a Dr. or Midwife could call and address some questions I had, and within 5 minutes I was speaking to someone who took plenty of time with me and it was so refreshing to have a Dr./Midwife on the same page as me for once.

Challenges this week: Mainly work, and the headaches. I HATE having to cook, so I don't. :) My mom will be making some frozen meals for us soon :)

Belly watch: My butt seems to be growing at the same rate as my belly! 

Carson is 18 months!

Wow this might be my longest Carson post yet! He is a very busy little boy!

At 18 months, Carson…. 

• Can feed himself with a spoon and fork, absolutely will not let us feed him unless we give him something from our plates.
• He knows the letters B, O, R, I, and E. Not sure why he likes those so much!
• He loves to color, and draw his own pictures, he likes for me to help him write his name.
• He tells us when he makes a dirty diaper, and is showing many other signs of potty training readiness, so every night before his bath, he sits on his little potty and we read a couple of books.
• When we change his diaper he likes to say “bye-bye pee-pee” or “bye-bye ewww” (ewww means poop). And he waves at his diaper. He says hey and bye-bye to everyone and everything. He likes to tell the bath water and bubbles bye-bye when they go down the drain. This morning I saw him cleaning up his crayons, and when he closed the box he waved and said bye-bye to the crayons. My heart melted.
• He likes to brush his teeth especially when he sees us brushing ours.
• He is a big helper, he thinks it is fun to help me unload the dishwasher, put clothes in the washing machine, wipe off the table, and generally clean up anything.
• With all of the extremely cold weather we had in the past few weeks, his eczema was really bad, so we had to put lotion on him at night and in the morning….now he loves to put lotion on himself.
• He constantly tests his boundaries, and it is SO hard not to laugh when he misbehaves.
• He wakes up every morning around 5:30 or 6am, and drinks his milk then he wraps his arms around my neck and goes back to sleep with me…I wouldn’t trade that cuddle time for anything!
• He will dance to ANY music…including the theme songs from Law and Order and NCIS.
• He is obsessed with books and I am pretty sure the word “book” is his favorite. He loves the “k” sound.
• About a month ago I taught him to say “please” instead if whining when he wanted something or wanted help. Now all I have to do is raise my eyebrows at him and he smiles and says “peeeze”.
• He thinks that all music in general is titled E-I-E-I-O
• He loves the show “Super Why” on PBS. That is really the only one that he will pay attention to for longer than 5 minutes, he is so cute when he repeats the letters that they ask him to. The others, he just likes the music.
• He weighs about 23 pounds, and he is still in size 4 diapers, and is finally in 18 month clothes from head to toe. He recently moved up to a size 5 shoe.
• He loves balls and he knows the difference between a basketball, baseball and a football.
• I took him to the park a few days ago and of course his favorite thing was throwing dirt.
• Has a mouth full of teeth, I am so in love with that precious smile!
• He is very addicted to his passy…I dread the day we wean him from that, which we are going to put off a little longer. He should transition into the next room at daycare in a few months and none of those kids have passies. The class he is in now, all of the kids have passies, so I am not going to take his away yet, he won’t understand and it’s not fair.
• He loves to make Chase (our dog) sit and shake hands for a treat. Every morning when Carson wakes up from our early morning nap, he hugs the dog who has moved into Daddy’s spot by that time.
• I love when I pick him up from school, his teacher is always telling me how smart he is and what a good eater he is. Makes me so proud.
• We still rock him to sleep every night, I keep saying we need to wean him from that…but it’s too hard. It feels so wrong to just put him in the crib without giving him the comfort he is so accustomed to. So I have decided to continue rocking him until he is just too big, or doesn’t want me to. Because one day….he is not going to want to cuddle with me or want me anywhere near him. I am going to soak up all the “baby” left in him that I can.

 Here are some recent phone pics of my little cutie: