Phillips Family

Colin, 6 months

2012-02-17T15:48:00.001-05:00

So my baby boy is 6 months old, 1/2 a year. It really seems like just yesterday I was leaving the hospital. The journey from the hospital to home after giving birth is a bittersweet one for me, yes I was ready to go home and I really missed Carson, but I knew that leaving the hospital is the first step to the "baby days" just flying by. And they have.......

At 6 months Colin:

Can sit up all by himself! He just started doing this the past couple of weeks, and he loves his new found independence.

Has been rolling over some as well.
We stopped swaddling him, I can't believe we made it this long, but I could tell it wasn't the right thing for him anymore.
As far as sleeping goes, there is never anything constant. We pretty much do what is needed for everyone to get sleep.
Colin loves a blanky when he is sleepy, he likes to snuggle it to his face and it calms him down. So sweet.
He still loves playing with his feet, on weekend mornings when we all just want to lay in bed and Colin is ready to wake up and play, we put him in the bed and un-do his sleeper so he can play with his feet and he will do that for at least 30 minutes.
Loves taking baths and showers.
Grabs everything in sight.
Loves the jumperoo, no longer a fan of the exersaucer. I put the bumbo away, he almost slides his way out when I put him in, so I don't like it anymore, it was good for helping him gain some body control though.
Loves this little book that makes noise like paper, loves balloons (v-day), and loves to chew on his sophie giraffe. He also chews on his fingers constantly.

Loves baby food, he has had sweet potatoes, peas, applesauce, pears, bananas, cereal and oatmeal. He eats in the highchair and likes sitting there so he can see all of us.

He eats about 6 oz of formula ever 4 hours.
His blonde hair is getting thicker.
Loves that big brother of his, if he hears Carson's voice he MUST find him.
He got to swing outside on the swingset for the first time and LOVED it!

He wears 6 month (little snug) and 6-9 month clothes.
He weighs 18 pounds.
In a size 3 diaper, and has started to leak during the night, so we will have to change him in the middle of the night or get some night-time diapers.
He takes about 3 - 4 short naps per day.
Is the happiest baby, lately it doesn't take much to get him to laugh and smile.

Happy 6 months sweet baby!

Brothers.......

2012-01-23T23:25:00.000-05:00

I love my boys.....

They have such a sweet relationship already....

The first thing Carson says every morning is "oh! I need to see Colin" and he showers him with tons of hugs and kisses.

This is just one of the most adorable pictures I have ever captured......

On nights when Colin needs a bath, I ask Carson if he wants to take a bath too, and he says no. But once I put Colin in the tub, Carson is right there begging to take a bath too! He loves to pour water on Colin.

Colin already thinks the world of Carson, he watches him constantly and is always smiling and laughing at him....

Colin, 5 months old

2012-01-20T21:31:00.001-05:00

Sweet Colin is growing like a weed! He has changed so much in the past month, and it is going by too quickly.

Here is what he is up to lately:

He is loving his exersaucer that he got from Santa (I have not even had time to do a Christmas post, but I will get that up at some point, even though it is super late!)
He loves his big brother, his eyes follow Carson all over the room.
He is super close to rolling over on his belly.
He is really babbling and experimenting with new sounds, and he loves to stick his tongue out.
He is not an independent sleeper anymore....I have just decided I am doomed in this area of raising kids! My kids love sleeping with us. I don't fight it anymore, I would just rather get some sleep no matter who I am sleeping beside! So I am gonna start saving up for a King size bed. :)
He is so ticklish everywhere!
He loves his showers with Mommy and Daddy and Carson.
We still swaddle him, but he is starting to get out more and more.
He slobbers constantly, and chews on everything he can get his hands on.
He grabs whatever is in front of him now, we really have to watch him!
He is drinking about 6-7 oz every 3-4 hours, and we started to introduce some cereal and oatmeal, but he gags and cries most of the time, so we aren't pushing it. I just give it a try almost every evening, and when he gets upset I just stop. This is very different than Carson, I remember it being much easier with him.
He is still in a size 2 diaper, but we bought some size 3's b/c its time to move up as soon as we finish the last pack of 2's.
He wears size 6 months clothes, there are just a couple of 3-6 months outfits he can still wear, but not for long.
They are putting him in the jumperoo at daycare and he is loving it!
His hair is getting thicker and lightening up.
He still sleeps a lot in the swing, we are wearing that thing out this go-round!
He loves to play with his feet, pretty sure those are his favorite toys. He also is really liking the little fish aquarium in his crib.
He is constantly kicking his feet.
He can pass objects from hand to hand. And he is very aggressive grabbing his passy and bottle.
He weighs almost 16 pounds.
He is starting to pinch and grab hair. If you get your face close enough to him he HAS to grab it.
He has the sweetest little quirks: when he drinks his bottle his likes to rest his hands on his nose/between his eyes. When he is being rocked to sleep he wants to be holding a blanky to his cheek.

He has started to notice the dogs, and he follows them with his eyes.

First time to try solids, it was a family affair; I was feeding him, Daddy was taking pics and Carson was cheering him on. I let Carson try Colin's oatmeal and he gagged b/c it tasted so bad to him.

He likes the bumbo ok, but he doesn't stay there long before he gets uncomfortable.

Such a cutie, I love his little dimples!

Happy five months Colin!!!!!!!!!!! We love you!

The Boys Lately...

2011-12-20T09:44:00.006-05:00

Carson (at 2.5 years old) :

Counts to 20, skipping from 15 to 19 :)
Sings the abc song, take me out to the ballgame, twinkle twinkle, are you sleeping, Barney song, Jingle Bells, and some other songs he learns at school
Wears underwear every evening, will be wearing them to school in January
Is constantly asking "Mommy, what you doin?"
Loves yogurt like its candy
Loves lollipops and gummies
Loves his chocolate milk
Loves to help us cook
Has not had a passy in about 2 months! I was so proud of how adaptable he was, I can't believe I waited so long to take it away. We just clipped the top off one by one, night after night, telling him that the dishwasher broke them and he had to throw them in the trash and the garbage truck took them away. He STILL talks about how the garbage truck took his passies.
He is in 2T clothes, size 5 diapers (hopefully not much longer), size 7 shoe
He calls his underwear "ummywear"
He loves to do everything by himself
He loves his brother so much, and he tells him he loves him without any coaching, that makes me so happy; he loves to help me carry Colin's carseat to and from the car at school
He can name his friends at school, and he tells us what he does at school
His favorite toys at the moment are trucks, tractors, trains, balls, and his little people, and these tiny pencil toppers called sqwishies - he calls them his animals
He absolutely loves the show Caillou and is starting to imitate Caillou (he told me there were Monsters in his closet, and it took me a while but I figured out that he learned that from Caillou)
His memory surprises me every day, he remembers trick or treating at Halloween, remembers his Birthday, and he knows the route to daycare, and many other things I can't think of....
He is absolutely hilarious!

Colin (at 4 months):

Loves to stand up assisted and sit straight up so he can see what's going on.
He is drooling like crazy and chewing on his fingers constantly
I still swaddle him and he sleeps much better that way, still wakes to eat after about 6 hours of sleep
He coos up a storm when he is "playing"
Loves his passy
He eats 6 oz about every 3-4 hours
He weighs 15 pounds
He wears size 2 diapers, size 3-6 months clothes (some 6 month stuff fits but is a little big still)
Loves to grab his feet while laying down, he tried to get them in his mouth
Loves to roll his tongue like a hot dog bun while he is cooing/babbling
Is very close to rolling over
Moves his knees and legs while he is on his belly trying to crawl
Thinks he is 6 months old already, he will not be content lying down playing for long, he prefers to sit up or stand. The bumbo seat has been really helpful lately.
His hair seems to be getting more blonde
He is the happiest baby and is usually smiling, such a sweet little thing

This will probably be my last blog before Christmas......So...........................

Merry Christmas to you all!

Holidays....

2011-12-02T14:58:00.000-05:00

I love the Holiday Season with little ones around....its magical all over again :)

Carson loves the tree, the 1st night he kept crawling under it, he also like to put his toys in it and watch them fall through the branches.

We had a great Thanksgiving in AL with our families...

Colin, 3 months

2011-11-18T17:47:00.003-05:00

Colin is 3 months old today...

My precious little baby has the sweetest smile, and it doesn't take much to get a smile out of him, he is always so happy. He is usually in such a good mood, and is usually a very laid back baby.

Colin eats about 4-5 oz every 3 to 3.5 hours during the day and he goes 5 hours in between feedings at night, and he sleeps in his crib.
He has become strong enough to get out of his miracle blanket swaddle, won't be long before we need to use the sleep sacks.
He just started to roll from his back to his side, won't be long before he rolls over completely!
When he is really tired, and we give him the passy and rock him, he will hum himself to sleep.
He still loves to nap in the swing.
He loves the floor gym, and is ok with the bouncy seat sometimes.
He will lay in his crib and watch the little aquarium, Carson would never do this!
His new favorite thing to do is stand up in our laps.
He coos and makes other loud noises at the TV, it is hilarious.
He is SO ticklish pretty much everywhere.
He has his first week of daycare this week and is doing well.
He has grown out of his 0-3 month clothes and now needs 3 months or 3-6 months.
Still in size 2 diapers.
He weighs about 13 pounds.
His hair has gotten kind of long on top, and looks to be lightening up.
He loves his showers with Carson and Dada.
He loves diaper changes.
He loves when Carson looks at him, talks to him, and sings to him.

He started batting his hands at toys a few weeks ago.
He has really been focusing on getting his hands and his toys in his mouth.
He likes to have his passy when he is sleepy and likes to be rocked to sleep.
He has started to protest the carseat....I hope this is just temporary b/c we have to travel a lot during the holidays.
He likes to look at books, he starts kicking his legs when he sees the pictures.

I absolutely love having Colin here and being a family of four! Happy 3 months sweet baby!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T23:39:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! We started off by visiting a local church pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin. Carson had so much fun running around and trying to lift the pumpkins, he also wanted to sit on as many as possible.

Cory did such a good job carving!

Carson had so much fun trick-or-treating with his cousin Zoe, and they did such a great job! Halloween this year was such a blast since Carson "got it".....I can't wait for Christmas!

Here are some pics from our fun night!

A Princess and a Lion:

Me and my boys:

There are not enough words for the adorableness of this one :)

The babies did so good tagging along in their strollers:

Sweet......

The best house ever! This lady gave chips to the parents, toy cars to the boys and pink balloons to the girls.

The pretty Princess!

Lion and Daddy:

2 months

2011-10-18T22:08:00.000-04:00

Colin turned 2 months old today! So bittersweet, I love watching him grow and do new things, but I hate that time passes too quickly and he will be a toddler before I know it.

What is Colin up to now:

Cooing and smiling a ton showing those adorable dimples
Looks just like his Daddy

He is very ticklish on his ribs, cheeks, back and neck
He is kicking and punching the air constantly, I call him an octopus
He has been traveling a ton and sleeps most of the time
He loves his swing, and has started to smile and coo at the hanging toys on the bouncy seat

He had his check-up today and got some shots, and he weighs a whopping 12 pounds, he is in the 75th percentile for weight, height (23 inches) and head measurements. His Dr. said he is very strong and solid, good to hear.
He eats around 4 oz every 3 hours.
He is wearing 0-3 month clothing, and size 2 diapers.
He now sleeps really well being swaddled, he will sleep anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time in his crib, I love having the video monitor this time around.

Happy 2 months Colin!

Lately......

2011-10-17T20:30:00.000-04:00

We have been a busy family lately......

We went with Cory's family to the beach and got some great pictures!

Carson went to the fair and had a blast:

I had my High School Ten Year Reunion:

And my precious baby turned 2 months old, I'll do a separate post for that of course (his check-up is tomorrow):

1 month

2011-09-26T23:43:00.000-04:00

My little baby turned one month old on September 18th, time has flown by and before we know it we will be at the 2 month check up, so surreal.

He is doing awesome with the exception of some night time fussines, around roughly 11-2 ish, it is pretty tough to get him to sleep; I have gotten brave and have been trying him out in his crib in his room.
He has started to be more alert during the day, but still needs to eat every 3 hours at night and every 2.5 - 3 hours during the day (he eats 3-4 oz). This is the most exhausting thing for me since I am still breastfeeding and supplementing with formula. Its just a lot of work, very often, and Carson gets frustrated with the round the clock feeding. I keep telling myself to be patient and every baby is different.
He can lift his head really well while being burped, I need to start some tummy time.
He has the sweetest little smile and dimples, it just makes my day.

Carson loves to talk to him and hold him, kiss him etc....Carson only gets frustrated when I need to feed him, b/c I can't really do anything for Carson during feedings, and he continues to bring me toy after toy wanting to play....

Colin likes swinging and the bouncy seat still, but he won't stay in there too long unless I rock him to sleep first (many times he needs to be swaddled).
He likes to sleep swaddled a little more now, but some nights he has a fit to get his arms loose so we just have to ride it out until he finally gets tired enough to sleep.
Part of me thinks he might have some reflux issues b/c I can rarely lay him flat on his back for more that 5 minutes, I can't remember if that is typical newborn behavior or not. I just keep telling myself that he eats well, keeps his food down, and is generally very happy so he is fine. He has a few fussy feedings here and there, so we are trying some sensitive formula. I think he just has some fussy time at night which is normal but I am starting to see some improvements.
He loves to be held and rocked, but that doesn't bother me, I just wish I had more time to devote to cuddling him.
He is doing better keeping the passy in his mouth, so glad for that!
He is in size 1 diapers and his newborn clothes are starting to get tight. In another week I will probably drag out some 0-3 month stuff. I think he is about 9+ pounds now.
I love rubbing his little head, feet and hands and of course he smells like heaven.
Everyone said he has big hands for his age and I am starting to see that now.At his first check up, the nurse mentioned he was tall for his age - I think he might be taking after the men on my side of the family (big and tall), but has Cory's face.

CARSON

Carson is still being a great big brother as I mentioned above, and he has really loved being home with me.
He loves to help feed Colin at bottle time, and he gives him his passy when he cries and says "OK Colin" Once in the car, Colin got hungry and was crying and Carson said "it ok Colin, we almost home" HOW SWEET!
My biggest surprise is that he hates daycare now, I had planned to take him once per week to give me a break and some alone time with Colin, but he gets hysterical when he realizes where we are going, and it breaks my heart so I will only take him when Colin or myself has a Dr. apt. It is going to be a tough transition when I return to work.
I love having him home though, minus being exhausted, this is such a special time.
Carson is hilarious. He makes me laugh all day and I just wish I could remember all the silly things he does and says.
He loves our daily walks around the neighborhood, and he collects all kinds of random crap to put in the stroller basket.

He gets so excited when Daddy comes home (so do I!). He asks where Daddy is every 10 minutes each day!
He has started to try to talk me into everything. If he wants something that he knows is against the rules (candy in the morning, or passy when its not sleep time) he says "I just HOLD it Mommy" he already thinks I am stupid! He will tell me that he doesn't need to go night-night, or if he drops candy on the floor "it not dirty mommy", or if Colin starts to get noisy he knows I need to check on him and stop playing so he says "Colin not mad Mommy."
He does really well napping, thank goodness, and that's when I can either snuggle with Colin or get a few things done around the house, or a quick nap, just depends on my mood.

MOMMY:

I have my 6 week check up this week and I think I had a stitch that did not dissolve for a while, so that's probably the reason I have had some discomfort this whole time.
I have about 15 pounds to lose to get to pre-preggo weight, but truthfully I would like to loose about 30!
I am starting to get use the crazy schedule around here. I just try to get out of the house once per day for my sanity even if its just a walk outside. We also go the Kroger, Target (or Tawwwget as Carson says), and Chick File.
I look forward to a hot bath or shower EVERY night after Carson goes to bed.
I am going to need a major makeover before I go to work, my hair is SO freaking long and my clothes are so old and gross. I really can't remember the last time I went clothes shopping for myself (w/ the exception of maternity stuff) and that is sad. I need and "mom's day out" big time!

Update!

2011-09-11T22:58:00.000-04:00

We have had a pretty good few weeks so far, I love having Colin here...and I just love the newborn cuddle stage. It's like he has always been here and I don't know what we did without him.

Getting to know Colin:

He is such a cuddly baby, he loves to be held, be in the swing or bouncy seat.
He eats about every two - three hours. He is up to about 3 oz now, about half breastfed and half formula.
He has some nights where he will sleep for about 4-5 hours at a time (in our bed), then other nights where he is awake every hour, the gas medicine helps and sometimes he just wants to eat again even if he just ate and hour earlier.
He had his check-ups and everything looked great, the last weight check, he was at 8 lbs 4 oz (one week ago).
He is obsessed with his hands, I am not kidding, I need an extra hand when I try to feed him just to get his hands out of the way.
He really doesn't like being swaddled, which is so different from Carson as a baby.
He is wishy-washy with the passy, sometimes he will take it, other times he wants nothing to do with it.
He started to become more alert and looking at us and smiling :)
He loves to be rocked, to ride in the car and any motion really.
He enjoys the warm bath water but doesn't like getting bathed.
He is still in newborn clothes and size newborn diapers although I think the size ones would work also.

Carson:

He is such a good big brother.
He loves having Colin around and always asks where he is if he doesn't see him in the room.
He has several names for him: Cawlden, Con, and Conyen
Every morning he says (in a drawn out southern twang) "Good Mawning Cawlden" so cute.
He likes to help us by throwing the diapers in the trash, throwing the bottles in the sink and he brings us Colin's passy, and helps swing him.
Every time we even mention that Colin needs a diaper change, Carson runs into the other room to hurry and get his step stool positioned at the changing table so he can watch, it's hilarious.
When we give the boys a bath together, Carson will give Colin some toys, and pour water on his belly, so sweet.
He treats the bouncy seat like its his recliner.
Whenever Carson wants my attention all to himself, he says "put in swing" referring to Colin, so funny.

Mom and Dad:
I love being home with my two babies, Colin is so sweet and Carson entertains me all day. I even took them to chick file by myself the other day so Carson could play somewhere outside of the house, then we went to see the daycare staff to let them meet Colin, it was good to see everyone.

It took me a couple of weeks to really feel healed, I guess I thought this would be a breeze since I didn't have surgery, but I just have to remind myself I pushed out and almost 8 pound baby!

Cory and I got to enjoy a lovely night out thanks to my mom and my aunt who babysat, it was a nice break but I did miss the boys. We ate at Tam's Backstage, if you are local to my area, it is a must-try!

I am really looking forward to Halloween this year, I can't wait to see Carson and Colin in their costumes, I am starting to brainstorm for their costumes!

Here are a few pics from the first 3 weeks:

Colin's 1st real bath with big brother:

All snuggled up after the bath:

Carson let Colin rock with him one night:

Enjoying the swing:

Hanging out with Mommy:

Late night awake time:

Getting dry after a bath:

Look at the sweet dimples!

Colin's Birth Story and my VBAC Success

2011-08-22T15:39:00.000-04:00

I first of all want to thank all of my family and friends for being so sweet to us the past few days, we have felt so loved.

Our new baby boy is finally here! Here's the story of how he made it into this world....

I posted my 39 week update on Monday feeling like labor was 2 weeks away, and literally as soon as I hit "post" I started to feel different. We had the hospital tour on Tuesday and I started to get really excited for labor and delivery. So I began doing a ton of walking. I got really tired and went ahead and gave my mom the green light to come from AL. I cancelled a lunch with girlfriends on Wednesday (very out of character for me) due to fatigue...so they all suspected Colin would be here soon :)

When my mom arrived on Wednesday I took a 3 hour nap, then we ran errands and walked the neighborhood after supper. I still went to bed that night feeling like I would probably make it to my 40 week Dr. apt on Monday and began to get worried about induction pressure.

Thankfully, Colin decided to cut me a break and come early. On Thursday morning, August 18th, a contraction woke me up around 3:45AM. I knew exactly what it was and began to watch the clock, after about 3 contractions that were 10 minutes apart, I woke Cory and told him that "today could be the day". I told him to go to work that I would labor at home all day, my mom could watch Carson, but to keep a watch on his phone just in case. I of course could not go back to sleep after this.

I tried to watch some TV and surf the internet in order to "ignore early labor" but by 6:30AM, I began needing to breath through my contractions that were then 5 minutes apart. At that point I called Cory's parents and let them know, and my mom called my Dad since they all had to travel from AL. I got in the bath tub to see if the contractions would stop b/c I didn't want everyone making the drive from AL for false labor! But the bath only sped things up. Contractions were then 3-4 minutes apart and I even had some come every 30 seconds or so...but still manageable.

I called my Dr. and she suggested I head to the hospital. So I called Cory and told him to come home and at that point contractions were still about 3 minutes apart. So I continued to labor at home with a toddler who wanted only me that morning and not Nana.....very hard. I started to really feel the pain after that and began to get everything together for the hospital, I put on some make-up but could not do my hair.

Cory got home around 7:45 and by 8:15 we were on our way (in morning rush hour traffic) to the hospital. I was warned by my sister-in-law that the ride to the hospital would be very painful, and that was so true, I needed to move around and squat and bend over for contractions and being restricted made the pain worse. Contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and Cory made some more phone calls on the ride over, he was so excited. Thankfully we weren't caught in any traffic jams and arrived at the hospital at 9:30AM.

They checked me and I was at 3cm, they offered to give me pain meds and break my water, but I declined and said I wanted to walk the halls. But before I could do that they had to make me lay on the bed and monitor me and the baby for 30 minutes or so. This was excruciating, at no point in my labor was I able to lay down, I just couldn't manage the pain, and I insisted on sitting on the edge of the bed and leaned on Cory during contractions.

Contractions were coming constantly then, I felt a gush and my water had broken, I knew there was no way I could handle the pain all day, so I insisted on getting an epidural. In order to do that they had some forms for me to sign, they had to get 1 liter of IV fluids in me, and had to do some blood work before I could get it. They offered me some narcotics while I waited on the epidural, but I declined that for fear of adding vomiting to the chaos. It felt like forever waiting on the epidural and I began telling Cory I wanted to die, and that I couldn't do this; the L and D nurses were very helpful in reminding me how to breathe. Cory was so calm and tried to help, but there was nothing he could do except fan me with a pillow, let me squeeze his hand, yell at him, and dig my claws into his arm every contraction (I still feel terrible about this). He was able to apply some counter pressure to my back and legs that helped a few contractions. He tried to help me make it through w/ out getting the epi, but I just couldn't take another second of pain and at that point I wasn't really getting any break between contractions, I couldn't do anything with my body anymore to manage the pain, nothing helped.

I had to sit still during contractions to get the epi, which was unbearable, then they made me lay down for it to take effect. I kept asking why it wasn't working b/c with my c-section it took effect instantly...but for the c-section, I was given a spinal block and this was different. It took about 15 minutes to work, then they checked me and to my surprise the nurse said I was COMPLETE (10 cm). I was in complete shock, I had no idea that I had made it to the end, and shocked that they didn't check me before giving the epi, and that they didn't notice the signs of me being in transition. But they probably just went ahead and let me have it since I was being so demanding (I apologized to every nurse for being rude after it was all done, they all laughed at me and said it was no big deal).

They called my Dr. and she gave the green light for me to start pushing. I pushed for about 15 minutes with just Cory and one nurse and then my Dr. arrived and a few more pushes, I was able to feel Colin's head emerge and then after about 8 hours of labor he was here; Colin Alexander Phillips was born at 12:24pm weighing 7 lbs, 13 oz and measuring 20 inches long.

Cory told me all during the pregnancy that he didn't want to see what was going on down there, but when the action happened he was glued and when they asked if he wanted to cut the cord, I answered YES for him, I would have let Cory catch Colin if the rules would have permitted that! We didn't get any video footage...this all happened so fast. It was such a whirlwind and I can't believe my labor progressed so quickly. I attribute the speed of it all to the fact that my body went into labor on its own, my water broke on its own and I was able to wait until the end for the epi.

I am so happy that I educated myself and got the birth experience I wanted, and most importantly my sweet baby boy is here safe and sound. It is still surreal that I got my VBAC, I am so happy to be a part of the growing number of VBAC's out there, and it would not have been possible without the many birth bloggers out there that sparked my birth curiosity and education, my supportive hubby, great friends and family, supportive Dr., and an amazing hospital...when I got checked into my room, the nurses were going over my chart and they were so excited for my VBAC, North Fulton Regional Hospital was just wonderful, I can't say enough positive things about their staff.

We stayed at the hospital for 48 hours and then we were released. I am pretty sore "down there" and I was given an episioteme, which is no fun but much better than having a c-section! Breastfeeding is going ok, we have a few challenges but I am committed to trying as hard as I can this time. I lost about 10 pounds so far and have MANY more to go...

Carson is doing amazingly well, he loves Colin and wants to touch, hug, kiss, and play with him every time he sees him. So far he hasn't shown any jealousy, he is genuinely happy to have Colin around which makes me so happy.

Cory went back to work today, we miss him so much. I am so blessed to have such a sweet husband and such an amazing father to my boys...that feels so good to say "my boys". :)

And excuse me while I brag......I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

39 Weeks

2011-08-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

I am trying to be very patient! I feel fine and don't really feel like labor is around the corner, of course I am ready to meet my new baby boy, but I am very at peace just waiting right now, I know the more I do to force labor, the greater my chance is of having a c-section.

Dr. Apt this morning:

No weight gain, so still +32
I honestly don't remember if she measured my belly or not, I had Carson with me so I was a little distracted
Colin's heart rate was 146
All my other stats were good
The Dr. offered to strip my membranes, but I declined. I will be more willing to try some natural induction tactics after my due date has passed, I don't want to do anything too early.
I am 1cm dilated and cervix is very thin she said. A lot of what I have read says that cervical progress is no indication of when labor will start, some women can be dilated as much as 2-3 cm for 2 weeks before labor starts, and some don't dilate at all until they have real contractions....so I am not getting too excited, just being patient. I haven't seen or felt any other signs of labor coming.

Other preggo news:

I also remember feeling just HORRIBLE at 39 weeks with Carson, but I don't feel that way at all this time. Maybe its because I haven't gained so much weight and have been chasing after a toddler during this pregnancy, or I am not as swollen...who knows. At this point I have no idea when this baby is coming. But we are prepared in case he does come on time.
Heartburn is still bad
Sleeping is getting tough, SO hard to roll over and even though baby is head down and dropped, its hard to breathe well while laying down.
I encountered a horrible hillbilly in Kroger the other day, and for once I put one of these "rude strangers" in their place. She basically yelled at me in the check-out line asking when I was due (I guess I didn't hear her the first time she asked), I replied "one week" and she said something like "yeah it looks like it". So I just smirked and shook my head to sort of let her know that was inappropriate. Then she said "well you're just not a happy camper are you?" That really annoyed me, so I said "Actually I don't prefer to discuss my pregnancy with strangers" and then she finished with "well, we just good ole country folks trying to share the joy that's all" ..................I did not respond, I was so pissed, I have been so happy with this pregnancy and simply because I don't spill every detail to strangers doesn't mean I am not joyful about my new baby, I just happen to believe in boundaries and MANNERS. This baby is still in MY body and I don't welcome comments about MY body from strangers.

So here is my JOYFUL belly picture at 39 weeks, 2 days, please excuse the hair this was at the end of a busy day:

38 Weeks

2011-08-08T11:28:00.001-04:00

Dr. Apt:

I lost a pound, so that makes it +32
Belly measured 39cm
Baby's Heart rate was 150's
No dilation or progress (not surprised since I am still 2 weeks from due date, and I didn't really see any "labor signs" with Carson until around 39 weeks)
Head is still down

Other pregnancy news:
Well, the discomfort has officially set in!

Colin's movements have become painful on me sometimes, and he loves to rest and move his head on my urethra (ouch).
Every time I stand up, I have to stand there a minute to get use to the pressure down there.
The groin pain is really bad and it still stops me in my tracks and I have to reposition my legs or hips to help the pain.
Oh the heartburn...there are no words.
Can't go in public with out some sort of comment from a stranger.
I am driving myself crazy trying to keep my house "presentable" in case I go into labor (for my friends and family that will be caring for Carson), I am the type that must clean if anyone is coming over no matter who it is.
I am also trying to stay stocked up on all of the food, drinks and essentials for Carson just in case.
I question every single feeling I get in my stomach and south of there, its really annoying not knowing when I will go into labor. I am a big planner and I love being OVER prepared, so this is the hardest part for me.
I haven't really seen any labor signs, other than some cramping here and there.
I signed up for a hospital tour (will be 39 weeks at that point), I am hoping Murphy's law will kick in and I will have the baby before the tour! No such luck :)

Our Hospital Bag:
We are pretty much packed for the hospital, we are taking:

Camera
Slippers/house shoes for us both (Cory's feet froze last time, and I was constantly sending him for apple juice and crackers, so he had to take off his socks to put on his flip flops, it was annoying for him)
Cory's pillow - he has a certain one that he sleeps on every night :)
Toiletries
Couple of outfits, pajamas, undies and socks for Cory
1 outfit, socks, grandma undies, a couple of nursing bras and 4 gowns for me in case I have a C-section (longer stay)
I will probably throw my hair straightener in my bag in case by some miracle I feel like looking nice, I also am keeping my make-up in my purse, I did manage to put some on last time for the hospital pics
We just need to throw our phone chargers in our bag and grab Colin's stuff and we are set.

Colin's Bag:

4 gowns (much easier for diaper changes) and hats
1 blanket
Brush and comb (they wouldn't give us anything in the hospital to tame Carson's crazy hair!)
Cute outfit for the hospital pics/going home (I will order some of these pics so I want him to look cute)
Breast pump, I had to wait about 24 hours to see a lactation consultant with Carson, so this time I will have my own pump in case I need it.
His carseat and base are all clean and ready to go.

Just now noticing I wear this outfit a lot! I do love this shirt, I am going to be sad to put it away in a few weeks!

Carson is 2 years old!

2011-08-02T09:00:00.002-04:00

My sweet little boy has turned 2, I don't think I could possibly explain how adorable he is, but I will try!

At 2 years old:

Carson's favorite songs are Wheels on the bus, Bunny Foo Foo, Twinkle Twinkle, Hickory Dock, and some different versions of the ABC song (which he can mostly sing on his own)
His favorite foods are blueberries, mac n' cheese, cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, m&ms, spaghetti, green beans; he has been such a good little eater, we are very lucky!
He loves to drink chocolate milk every night and morning, then during the day he loves capri sun or any juice, and gatorade. Sometimes at dinner he gets to drink sweet tea.
He loves to be outside and loves to play in water (which he now calls it "wogger")

He speaks mainly in sentences now, and can say pretty much any word you ask. He is our little parrot! Its funny when Cory and I are having a conversation and he repeats everything we say and says our "real names".
He is very generous with his hugs and "I wud you's"
His very favorite thing to do when we are home is play in "Cossin room", he goes straight for his little play kitchen to cook, and he pretends to make coffee, sweet tea, and soup. He also likes to put his little dishes in the sink and run the "wogger". He has really gotten into playing pretend this past month.
He also loves to play T-ball and is pretty coordinated with hitting the balls, he is a little dangerous!
He loves to pretend that he is going night-night in his bed.
He got some new books for his birthday and there is one about animals that he loves, we read it over and over.
He still gets his passy when its time to sleep, I am not really in a rush to take it away just yet.
We don't do much potty training, he isn't really interested, we just talk to him about it and get excited with him when he does inquire about the potty, I don't want to force it and it be a negative association.
He is quite bossy, he told me the other day "sit on me beanbag Mama, I be right back"; he wanted to watch his you tube videos the other day and he said "gimme phone Mama".
He always says good morning to the desk person at daycare, even if no one is sitting there :)
If he sees a balloon, he goes crazy and has to have it. He can spot them anywhere!
I am so pumped that he will sit still in the mornings and watch some cartoons for a little while, I have waited a long time for this!
He loves Braves baseball, and he is always the 1st to know if there is baseball on a TV in a restaurant.
He is in a huge Daddy phase right now, he loves to take showers with Daddy, he prefers that Daddy rocks him to sleep, and he copies everything that Daddy does. I am quite jealous :(
Speaking of showers, when he is all clean, he knocks on the wall for me to come get him and when he hears my voice he likes to "see Mommy"......

I just love him so much!

Happy 2nd Birthday Carson!

37 Weeks

2011-08-01T15:39:00.001-04:00

I am very excited to meet my new baby boy soon! Hoping he won't be late :)

Had a check up today:

Weight Gain - + 3 pounds! Total +33
Baby's Heart rate - 140's
Belly measured - 38 cm
Head is down
Blood pressure was good
Progress - zip, I asked to begin cervical checks so that I can find out asap if he turns breech (abdominal exams aren't always correct) that way I can try some techniques at home to turn him instead of scheduling a c-section. They said if I was really worried next week they could do an ultrasound to give me piece of mind.
We also discussed options for the scenario of me not going into labor at a certain point. She said at 39 weeks they can strip my membranes and do the same at 40 weeks. At 40 weeks they will do an ultrasound to make sure he is ok, then they will let me go one more week after that. They don't like VBAC patients going to 42 weeks, and from what I have read its hard to find caregivers who will let you go that long.

Other pregnancy news:

I am definitely feeling a ton of pressure when I stand up, I can tell he has dropped. Sometimes when I walk, I get these groin pains and I have to stop walking to reposition my hips, or squat down, or lift my leg or something to get it to go away, strangers get very concerned when I do this :)
People keep asking me if I am "done" and the truth is that I am a little sad this pregnancy is coming to a close. I have been fortunate to have pretty easy pregnancies (although not without their challenges), and I must say I have loved being pregnant. I love the whole process, and the best part is right around the corner! However, I am concerned about Carson's feelings and reactions to the new addition, I just hope I can show him enough attention still and that he feels as loved.
I can sleep pretty well, just have to get up a few times to go to the bathroom, turning over in bed and getting out of bed are tough.
I have some swelling, but nothing compared to my pregnancy with Carson.
Felt some cramping this morning and an occasional Braxton Hicks contraction day-to-day, other than that no labor signs. My guess is that Colin will come right around his due date. Looking back at Carson's pregnancy, at around 39 weeks I began to see many signs of labor coming soon, I will spare you the details. I am hoping this is the case with Colin.
I got all of the breast pump stuff, bottles and passies washed and put away in the "baby cabinet", that is such a task..I forgot how much crap a baby needs if he has to be bottle fed (and bottles are a must for daycare babies).
I have a plan in action for someone to watch Carson until my mom can get here from AL.
I am waiting to see what kind of success I have with breastfeeding before I buy all the storage bags, nursing accessories, etc....
I don't think there is anything left to do except pack, I have a couple of gowns, nursing bras, undies, etc...and my toiletry bag set aside, but I need to get some new slippers (mine are so old, stained and chewed up), and I need to get some hard candy, juices and snacks for the hospital bag.
Colin's bag is packed, for him I am taking a blanket, hats, some sleeper gowns, and a nicer outfit for his pictures. I am also taking his comb, brush and nail clippers.
I need to find my big yoga ball for labor, but if you know my son and his obsession with balls, I won't be able to utilize this until he is sleeping and when I go to the hospital!

Belly Pictures (feeling a bit more plump and whale-like these days):

Maternity Pics (DIY)

2011-07-29T21:05:00.000-04:00

My sweet friend Kelly took pictures of me when I was pregnant with Carson and we met today at lunch to try and capture some of the same poses. Here are some of my favorites:

Thanks again Kelly!

Carson's Yellow Bus Birthday

2011-07-27T12:01:00.001-04:00

Carson's birthday party was a huge success. I must say, this one was SO much fun b/c he was so excited about the decorations, presents and cake! It was well worth the hard work to make him so happy! Thanks to everyone who came and helped make it a special day for my sweet little boy!

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law made Carson's cake, and it turned out so cute, Carson couldn't wait to eat a piece.

Carson kept pointing out all of the yellow bus decorations and he loved the yellow balloons and yellow balls everywhere. I ordered these cardboard bus cut-outs from oriental trading and strung them one by one to make these bus banners.

Playing with Zoe!

I saw this little jumper at Kohl's a couple of months ago and I snatched it up! It was perfect for his special day!

I got some school bus name tag stickers from a school store and put them on the cups. I had everyone write their name on the bus in order to keep track of their cup.

Yellow utensils, napkins, plates, etc...

Yellow treat bags (this theme was super easy!)

He was so quiet and still while everyone sang Happy Birthday to him, he loved the attention, and he even blew out his candle!

His actual birthday is on August 2nd, I can't believe he will be 2!

36 Weeks!

2011-07-26T11:30:00.000-04:00

We are almost there!

Dr Apt was today:

Baby's heartrate was in the 140's
Belly measured 36 cm
No weight gain since last week, still at +30
Everything else looks good too
Colin is head down
I will go back on Monday

The most exciting part (pregnancy-wise) this week was the arrival of Colin's diaper bag set. My mother- in- law makes them for family members and close friends. I must say, she has out-done herself this time, they are even cuter than I imagined. I can't wait to use them!

Backpack for small outings or when he gets older and we don't need as many compartments:

Duffle bag for traveling:

Main Diaper Bag:

Other pregnancy news:

We had a big weekend, it was Carson's 2nd Birthday party (another post to come) and I wore myself out cleaning, hosting etc...I felt so awful on Sunday that I called my Dr. to make sure everything was ok, I felt like I was getting the flu or something. But after much needed rest, and some tylenol, I was back to myself on Monday.
I finally convinced my hubby to get the car seat down from the attic, he was going to wait until I was in labor, ...men........
I can definitely tell that Colin is dropping, feeling lots of pressure.
I have a little cramping here and there, nothing alarming or painful though.
I hope to get mine and Colin's bag packed by this weekend, just in case. I feel much better when I am prepared.
I am pretty exhausted, at the end of the day yesterday, it was like a switch flipped and I HAD to lie down on the couch.
I have lost my appetite in the evenings, I think its b/c I am so tired and I don't have the energy to think about or cook what I want to eat, so I just rely on Cory to throw something together and once I start eating, I just loose interest.
The heartburn is all day now, not so much at night anymore.
Not much swelling (especially compared to my pregnancy with Carson), just depends on the day.
DIY Maternity pics tomorrow!

Colin's Room

2011-07-21T07:00:00.006-04:00

Everything is done in the "baby room" as we call it, with the exception of a wall hanging that my mom is making for me to go above the crib (to match the bedding). I originally thought the room would be an owl theme, but I decided to keep it simple and frankly I thought a lot of owl stuff would be scary to Colin when he got a little older. Something about the big eyes...not sure...

So the only owl thing is the bedding and the rest is just stuff I liked and thought would look nice. I just wanted a calm/ relaxing theme, and I love sitting in there in my glider already :) I actually was able to use a lot of things from Carson's room since we are making his room more of a play room. Carson now showers with one of us each night, and I dress him and do diaper changes on our bed, so I just cleaned out a couple of drawers in my dresser for him until Cory gets his dresser made.

I love gingham patterns for babies, the valance and the ribbon for the letters are gingham, I just picked colors that matched the bedding.
I got a decal from etsy for above the changing table.
Everything else was migrated over from Carson's room.

This cradle was given to me by a good friend, it will go in our room when Colin arrives and serve as the bassinet.

I loved going through Carson's baby clothes, I can't wait to have a baby that tiny again! All of the newborn clothes, blankets, burp cloths, bibs, towels and rags are nice and clean and put away!

Other preggo news....

Had a check up yesterday and everything looks good, will go back in one week and continue going weekly.
Heart rate was 140's.
Belly measured at 35cm.
Weight gain is +3 lbs since last apt, so I think that totals it to 30 lbs.
Colin is still head down (fingers crossed)
I am hoping my MIL has finished the diaper bag that she is making for Colin and can bring it this weekend so I can show it off! And take it to the hospital (I had no idea how much baby stuff they send you home with last time!)
I am so scatterbrained lately, July is such a busy month and that doesn't help this preggo brain.
I bought a few things for my hospital bag so I can get started packing in a week or so.
All we need to do for Colin now is get the carseat and swing down from the attic (wtg on hubby for this - he thinks we have all the time in the world!)
Have a haircut scheduled and hopefully can do some DIY maternity pics next week.
I picked up my hospital forms today!

Carson Lately

2011-07-20T10:13:00.000-04:00

We took Carson to the Aquarium on Saturday and he loved it! He kept talking about the big fishies the whole way home. I am loving this age, he is just so precious.

Please excuse the way I look, the weather was nice outside that day, but it was hot inside due to it being SO crowded. But we still managed to have a good time.

We talked about the penguins on the way and he liked seeing them, I think his favorite animals were the sea otters because they had balls and other toys to play with...

He thought the eels were caterpillars :)

Carson has his 2nd Birthday coming up. I love spoiling my baby, so when his gift arrived Cory and I both knew we had to go ahead and give it to him! He loves to jump on the furniture so I thought a little trampoline would be perfect and he loves it! We also have fun playing with all of his cars and trucks on it.

We also tried some big boy underwear the other day and I must say that toddler underwear are the cutest things on this earth! He will be transitioning soon to the toddler room where they will do potty training during the day. He loves his "unnerwear" and he cried when we had to take them off!

35 Weeks

2011-07-18T09:55:00.002-04:00

Where did the time go? It is weird to think I will be a mother of 2 in a matter of weeks. I am SO looking forward to maternity leave and spending time with my babies and family.

I am not sure of weight gain (have a Dr. Apt on Wednesday, the 20th, will see then). Its insane that I will be going every week after this apt.
Heartburn/Reflux has gottten really bad during the middle of the night, I am have been drinking a ton of milk to try and help relieve it but as soon as I wake up to pee again, its back. I am going to ask what else I can do for that at my next apt.
I am feeling lots of pressure when I stand up in the lower regions, its hard to walk around or stand for a long time. We took Carson to the Aquarium and after all that walking I swear I felt the baby drop!
Carson doesn't understand why he barely can fit in my lap when I sit in Indian Style, he keeps trying to back up against my belly, so I just have to sit him on one side, or sit him in the floor between my legs.
Turning over in bed and getting out of bed are super fun tasks, Cory just laughs at all of my grunting.
My ankles are starting to swell a little.
The exhaustion at the end of the day is tough, I used to have a "sweet snack" after Carson went to bed, but now I am even too tired for that. I also get a big rush of exhaustion after lunch, I feel like I have been hit by a truck or something, but all I want to do is go home and take a nap..not an option :(
Baby's movement hasn't really slowed down, not much room in there anymore, his hiccups always seem to come when I want to sleep.
I need to get registered for the hospital! And in a couple of weeks get packed.
It is really hard getting Carson in and out of his car seat every day since my car is so low, speaking of carseats, after Carson's birthday party we will be getting the 2 bases and Colin's car seat cleaned and installed. WOW.
I get a lot of comments from strangers everywhere I go, people ask the same things, how much longer? And what am I having? Then they follow with their comments and opinions...that part I can live without.
When I was pregnant with Carson, my friend took some pictures of me behind our work building (beautiful scenery), they turned out really good, I am hoping to get the same pose in the same spot for this pregnancy as well.
I can't wait to hold Colin and see what he looks like!

July 12th

2011-07-12T12:07:00.001-04:00

Today is mine and Cory's Anniversary, we have been married for 3 years! What an amazing day that was! I had so much fun looking through our wedding pictures!

We had a short and sweet ceremony at my home church in AL...

The reception was held at the local country club, where I worked for a few years...

The day went by so fast, but what I remember was how good my man looked in his suit, how yummy the food was, and how much FUN I had at our reception!

Oh yeah, I also remember how HOT is was!

Cory loves golf, so it was quite fitting to have the reception on a golf course...

I knew I wanted a major dance party at the reception, we had such a good time and by the end of the night my hair was in a pony tail and we were all covered in sweat!

And we lived happily everafter!

HONEYMOON:

We went to Jamaica for our honeymoon, and it was nothing short of spectacular! I would give anything to be back at that resort!

Happy Anniversary Cory, I love you so much!

Many updates!

2011-07-06T14:25:00.002-04:00

Colin:
Time is really flying, it has been a very busy week at our house. Last week my husband changed jobs, we are changing insurance, and we bought a new vehicle! At my Dr. apt today, she asked how I was feeling and I said fine as usual, I also said that the pregnancy was the least of my drama these days! :) While we have had some significant changes over the past week, I believe these are good changes and we will all be much happier.

Dr. Apt Stats:

Colin's heart rate was in the 150's
I measured at 33 weeks, right on track (I will be 34 weeks tomorrow)
I only gained a pound these past 2 weeks since my last visit, so that totals it to +27
Today Colin was head down, and I am hoping he stays that way!
Everything else checked out great, and I will go back on July 20th

Other than just exhaustion at the end of the day, I really can't complain. Cory even mentioned to me the other day how relaxed I am with this pregnancy. I explained how the 1st pregnancy is very hard b/c so many changes are occurring and you don't know what to expect, its just a whirlwhind. This one is more like "been there, done that". After I gave birth to Carson, I loved having him here but I also missed being pregnant and I swore I would never take it for granted again. And I know that if this is not my last pregnancy, it will be at least 3 or 4 years before we have another one. There is no way I can pay for 3 daycare tuitions!

As for other symptoms:

I haven't had any swelling yet on my ankles, I can tell a slight difference in my fingers, b/c I can wear my wedding rings, but they are not very comfy like usual, so I went ahead and put them away. I have always liked my rings a little loose.
I do have to pee often, but that's just part of the game.
Turning over in bed is difficult, but I sleep pretty well.
I have a few Braxton Hicks every now and then.

Other preggo news:

I am trying not to lift Carson as much so I can avoid any pulled muscles or back injuries, etc...but when he looks at me with his hands up and says "Mommy picky up" I just can't resist. More on Carson below.
The strangers are really starting to comment, its hard to be the "bigger person" and not tell them how rude their comments are.
I am getting nervous about the labor and delivery..simply b/c I have not done that part before, Carson's birth was a planned C-section.

Here I am at almost 34 weeks:

CARSON!

Adorable just doesn't do his personality justice!

He turned 23 months a few days ago! I can't wait for his little party. He needed some new sandals so I ordered him some squeaky ones, he is gonna be so excited! And his little outfit has a yellow bus on it :)

Carson is talking so well, I am amazed every day at the sentences he can put together. Our dog, Haley, stole one of his stuffed dogs, and he told her "no, no Haley" and then later looked at us with a very serious face and said "that not Haley's dog"
He still eats great and sleeps well in his todder bed (knock on wood).
He loves having visitors, Nana is visiting now. He gets so excited to show people his room and toys.
He still loves birds and other animals that he can see from our windows, we saw a rabbit near the woods and he still talks about it. He will sit in front of the window and watch the birds eat at the bird feeder and he says "Don't fall bird"
He watched a parade on the 4th and is still talking about how the "choo choo trains went bye-bye" (they had old steam engines, etc... in this parade)
He is a little bossy :) He will take my hand and say "walk, walk" then lead me to his room and say "Mommy sit down" so we can play is his room.
He can say his name much better, it went from "Carkin" to "Cossin"
Every morning when we brush his hair and teeth, he likes to "put on his cologne" and he makes the spray noise, it is hilarious to watch. After we brush his teeth, we brush his tongue and he laughs - I guess it tickles.
He adores watching toddler songs/videos on you tube, he likes to pick the videos out himself. His favorites are twinkle twinkle, wheels on the bus, and if you're happy and you know it.
He discovered what money is, he found a quarter and dime the other day and would not part with it for a while, I was very nervous the entire time, but it was so cute hearing him say the word money. We might need to get him a piggy bank, I think he would enjoy putting coins in it. There is a baseball piggy bank at hobby lobby that I am considering getting for him.
He can put his crocks on all by himself.
His favorite books at the moment are the ones about dogs and another about dinosaurs, I love the way he says dinosaur, sound like "dine-a-saw"
He knows many of his letters and all of the basic colors.
He will now tell us he loves us w/ out us asking him to, talk about your heart melting when you hear "I wud you Mama"
I wish I could remember all the cute and sweet things he does, he brings so much joy to our lives.

Holiday:

Our Saturday consisted of shopping for Daddy a new truck, Carson was a trooper all day, he had to nap in the car and I was so glad we had this little pillow for him, he looked so cute.

We went to the park on Sunday, but it was just too hot to stay for more than an hour!

Reaching for a balloon, the kid loves balloons!

Then on July 4th we went to the local parade, Carson loved it! He was a little scared of the loud steam engines at first but he got used to it.

Eating breakfast at the parade:

Holding his ears, his earplugs would not stay in.

They handed out flags during the parade, and I was hit by Carson's flag in the face a few times :) He got a little excited.

Hope everyone had a great Holiday!

32 Weeks

2011-06-27T15:06:00.001-04:00

Only 8 or so weeks to go!

I feel very prepared for Colin's arrival, all we need to do now is get the car seat installed, wash everything, register for the hospital and pack our hospital bag. My goal was to have all of this stuff done by 36 weeks, so I have a few more weeks to do these "finishing touches". I am not too worried about the dresser getting built in time, I only use a few drawers in Carson's dresser, so if needed they can share, no big deal, that would just mean more room for Carson to play in his room and more room for the many toys he will get for his Birthday coming up! Nursery pics to come soon.

I am starting to waddle - I was told today by a co-worker :)
My tailbone and lower back are sore, and I am dealing with the usual pressure where Colin's head is.
I am SO exhausted, I go to bed pretty early, usually very soon after Carson. I toss and turn a lot.
I have been noticing some Braxton Hicks contractions, very weird feeling, I never had these with Carson.
I don't really have any cravings these days...I really am just craving a personal chef and a maid to do the work for us :) I just look at the dishes in the sink, the laundry piling up, realizing a meal time is approaching and I could literally cry...I just don't have the energy to do any of it.
I would give anything to have a week at the beach right now!
I was a loyal follower of babycenter.com, but I am now into a site called http://www.baby-gaga.com/. Check it out if you are pregnant. This site is much more informative than the others in my opinion and it gives you pros and cons of your decisions in labor when you read about the last few weeks of pregnancy. Love it! I am still amazed at all of the procedures hospitals do for their own convenience at the expense of the mother and baby wellness.
My next Dr. Apt is next week on July 6th. She said we would discuss what to do if I didn't go into labor...I wanted to say "Thanks for the vote of confidence lady!" Anyway this should be an interesting conversation.
I have no idea what my weight gain is this week, I haven't thought to check it.
Movement is consistent, even though this is the 2nd pregnancy, Cory is still amazed at the crazy shapes of my belly when he moves.

Fathers' Day 2011 and Carson's new room!

2011-06-20T21:33:00.002-04:00

For Fathers' Day this year we took Da-Da to a Gwinnett Braves game, we love the Atlanta Braves, Cory is a huge fan (he watches nearly every game, Carson as well). But, I wanted to see how Carson would do before we spent a lot of money on ATL Braves tickets. We went Saturday night, I don't think I could have handled the heat at a Sunday 1pm game! It stormed right before the game, so there was a delay, but the weather was quite pleasant when everything got started. The food was to die for, and Carson was very excited to see "beeseball". He did really well staying in one spot for a long time and he loved watching all the life-size Warner Bros. characters walking around. He was obsessed with the foul balls that went "gone-gone", and he kept clapping and saying "YAY Beeseball! Go Braves!" So sweet..........It was definitely a success, and we will definitely have to take Carson to Turner Field in the future.

He called Tweetie Bird "Big Tweetie"

He looks so cute in his Braves shirt:

Just having a good time...

Headed home, he made it until 10:30pm, 7th inning....and still walked the entire way to the car! He was a trooper, and such a big boy.

Speaking of baseball....we changed up Carson's room to make it a little more like a big boy room. He loves balls, so he was beyond excited when he saw the updates to his room. He still shows us the balls everywhere when we go into his room to get him in the morning. He is doing good sleeping in his toddler bed, knock on wood :)

Here's the view from the door:

A close-up of the sports fan and his bed, he loves those ball pillows:

He had fun helping me put those decals on the wall:

I just stuck with a regular fleece baby blanket for now, he is pretty hot-natured and doesn't like covers a ton:

Valance:

Since we moved the crib and changing table to Colin's room, we now have room for his bean-bag in here, Carson loves all of this space, he just hops around constantly...

He looks like he's 5 in this pic :(

He is so proud of his new room, he loves playing in there:

I changed his light switch cover:

And got him a new night light:

Now he has a big boy room!

31 Weeks

2011-06-20T15:19:00.002-04:00

Wow...this baby will be here before we know it!

Signs that the end is near.....

My rings no longer fit comfortably
My shoes feel a bit tight
Pretty sure I will need a belly band in a couple of weeks, my belly feels so heavy already, I feel like I need to hold it with my hands to be comfortable.

Other pregnancy news....

Some nights I sleep well, and other nights I am awake every hour trying to get comfy
My lower back muscles are starting to get achy from time to time - I am trying not to pick up Carson as much, but that is so hard for me :(
No cravings really...just love having sweets around; I did love all the "ballgame food" we had this weekend - hot dog, nachos, funnel cake....YUM (need to get my pics uploaded for the Fathers' Day post)! My little family is in for a rude awakening after this baby is born...in order to "be good" and eat right, I just can't have any temptation in the house :)
At my check up today everything looked good, heart rate was 138. I go back July 6th.
I was telling Cory that this baby hardly ever sleeps anymore...he is constantly moving!
Weight gain is +26, Baby Center mentioned a growth spurt coming, so here we go! I remember toward the end with Carson I just quit keeping track b/c it was so depressing gaining so much weight so fast! This time, I really don't care, I know that most of the weight will come off, my body will NEVER look the same and I am ok with that, there are worse things in life than not having a perfect body. My babies are worth it!
I cannot wait to get some final items checked off my list, and then get the nursery "set up" and take pictures...this is such an exciting part!
Carson loves playing in the "baby room" he loves to look out the window at the birds, etc...and then we sit in the glider and he jumps to me from the foot rest, not sure how long I will be able to keep that up! I swear that kid is always on the look out for a place to jump. He also enjoys throwing balls in the crib for me to fetch.
Must get registered at hospital! As long as I get this done by 36 weeks we should be fine, I will probably go during lunch one day and then just poke around instead of taking a formal tour - they only offer the tour at 4pm on weekdays and that just doesn't work for us at all.

30 weeks!

2011-06-13T13:28:00.003-04:00

I am little late getting this post up....things are crazy right now, work is very overwhelming and I feel like my house is never clean; these days I just make sure my kid is clean and fed and I am doing good!

My last check up was a week ago and everything looked good. Next apt is Monday the 20th.
I passed the glucose test, thank God!
The baby gets the hiccups quite often, just like Carson did.
I am SO exhausted by the end of the day.
I feel like I have to pee all the time, especially when standing, just so much pressure on the bladder.
We put the crib together in Colin's room now that Carson sleeps in his toddler bed. Carson enjoyed helping Daddy "fix" the crib. I don't know what it is about moving furniture, but Carson loves it when we do this, he screams out of excitement and hops around...so funny. He now knows that Colin's room is the "baby's room".
Although I look and feel huge, my weight gain is only +23, I think this will increase greatly when the swelling begins. Oh how I dread the cankles...you have no idea how much I hate that part.
Still able to wear my wedding rings, but I am sure that will pass soon too. Last pregnancy, when my rings got too small, I went and bought a fake big bling ring, I'll probably do that for fun again...I feel so naked without a ring on my left finger. Last time I did that, all my friends thought I got an "upgrade"...but I could never part with MY rings...I love them so much. I still get compliments on them from strangers all the time...mostly from men...odd.
There is really not much left to do at this point, just getting Carson's dresser made, order my sling, get all the baby gear and clothes cleaned, buy a few small toiletry things closer to time, and we are all set! Oh yeah, we need to register at the hospital and take a tour...I keep forgetting this.
When I get closer to the end I will get the bedding washed and put in, then post some pics of the nursery.
I have been thinking a lot about the delivery lately and just like with everything else in the pregnancy, I am much more relaxed and ok with whatever. My "birth plan" is very similar to Carson's: wait to go into labor spontaneously, stay home as long as possible so I can eat/drink, relax in the bath and keep moving if I choose to; avoid IV narcotics, if I need the epidural I am ok with that, and I want this birth captured on VIDEO. Yes, you read that correctly. The only trick is finding that person (I don't want Cory worried about the camera) who I am comfortable enough with to video it for me, and keeping the staff from knowing we are videoing (most hospitals prohibit this b/c they are terrified of being sued). I have completely changed my outlook on the way I view birth and to me it is very sacred, so I am really hoping I can achieve this. My sons will never see this, it is really just for me to remember those divine moments of giving birth. I just really hope I don't have to have surgery this time, I just want to have an active role in the birth of my baby.

Here is the belly update, and these days my hair is usually on top of my head. :)

My baby...22 months old

2011-06-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

Oh Carson...what did we do before you? You are so hilarious and are constantly cracking us up.

At 22 months Carson...

loves to sing along to his toddler music, it is the sweetest thing I have ever seen
is obsessed with balls and cups
really started to get into "playing pretend", his favorite pretend thing is cooking
imitates faces that we make
loves to take showers
only has passy when its time to sleep, I thought this would be much harder than it actually is
sits (I should say stands) in a regular chair at dinner time and puts on a show for us while we all eat
loves when the dogs give him kisses, he laughs and yells "a kiss!"
can speak in sentences, he says a new one each day; everyone is always commenting on how smart he is...makes me so proud
minds his manners: when he burps he says "cue me" and when we leave a drive through he says "thank you, bye-bye!"; and when we sneeze he says bless you or achoooo!
loves to eat "see-roll" (cereal) for breakfast, I don't mind b/c its easier on me!
when he sees me use hairspray or perfume, he wants me to put some on him, so I pretend to and attempt to make the "spray noise"...he believes me..for now. He also likes to pretend to put on deodorant.
He says shooo-weee when we take his diaper or shoes off.
is learning Spanish at school, he says awa (aqua) and olo (hola), I think he kind of mixes English and Spanish together :)

This is him "cooking"...... in the new dog bed.

Showing me his teeth.

I went shopping for Colin the other day and found nothing...but I spotted this stuffed Barney that played the "I love you" song and couldn't resist getting it for Carson, he loves it. He sings along with it.

Loving on Barney...

And...he had a big 1st this weekend.....he is sleeping in a toddler bed! We are just doing a trial run to see how it goes.

29 weeks and our Memorial Day Vacation

2011-06-01T14:16:00.002-04:00

Colin:

I really hate Murphy's law right about now! Last week I stated that I wasn't experiencing very many leg cramps or carpel tunnel symptoms. But since then I have been having more leg cramps (more often and more intense) and my hands have been falling asleep more often while I am sleeping, so annoying.
This kid prefers the left side..a few times during each day there is a big knot right beside my left rib and Cory and I play the head or butt game like we did with Carson (basically just try to figure out if its the head or butt...duh)
I can not get enough chocolate these days! Over the weekend I was specifically craving babe ruth and snickers ice cream bars. I think its b/c we were at the pool for 4 days and when I was a lifeguard I would eat candy bars on my break :) Good times, have to give a shout out to my friend Cyndee, those were some good summers weren't they Cyn!
I haven't done much in the way of preparation, but we still have some time, I just want everything done by 36 weeks that way I can focus on Carson's birthday party and my friend's baby shower. And then attempt to relax in this heat until Colin arrives. I plan on many pedicures from 37-42 weeks. I don't think I will see a pedi for a long time after Colin arrives, daycare ain't cheap, and now that bill will double for us!

On to our "vacation"...we won't be going to the beach or anything like that this summer, since we need to save some vacation days for Colin so we made the best of a 4 day visit to Grandparents' pools in AL. We had so much fun since Carson loves the water and we had some time to relax now that Carson remembers his Grandparents, we get to sleep in and let them take care of him.

The water was pretty cold and I was worried he wouldn't want to play in it, but once he got used to it he had a blast playing with balls and cups on the stairs. He loved throwing his balls into the water and then "swimming" to go get them. He would say "kick, kick, kick" while we would help him swim. He also learned not to run beside the pool, he kept saying "walk slow, walk slow" it was so funny.

He wasn't a huge fan of floats or swimmies. He kicked around the swimmies like they were footballs! Typical Carson.

This is what he called "big jump" where Cory would let him "jump" off of the diving board. He loved watching Cory do cannonballs and getting splashed! I have never heard him laugh so hard!

He LOVED the slide, pretty sure this was his favorite thing. It made me super nervous at first, but Cory was tall enough to keep Carson above the water when they hit the water. Carson kept saying "more slide, more slide"

Then while we were at my in-laws house, my MIL dressed Carson up in a 33 year old outfit (cap, overalls and boots that all of her children and grandchildren have been photographed in) and we did a little photoshoot. We got some really good ones. Carson is so hard to photograph these days. He will rarely look at the camera. If I had a penny for every picture of the side of his face I would be rich!

We ended our trip by visiting my new nephew, Crewe. He is SO tiny and as I predicted, this made me very ancy to have MY tiny baby here soon! Carson was jealous, but not too bad. We will see how he does in August!

28 weeks

2011-05-26T17:15:00.000-04:00

There is no better way to start the 3rd trimester than by lounging around a pool! That's where I'll be for the next 3 days! I can't wait!

Pregnancy Highlights:

+21 pounds
Took the glucose test on Wednesday, wtg to hear back. So glad that is over, its really tough getting up with a toddler at 6AM, running around the house for 2 hours trying to get him fed, ready for school, and get myself ready without eating a single bite or drinking a drop of anything until 9AM!
Had my Rhogam shot on Wednesday as well since I have a negative blood type
Colin's heart rate was in the 150's this time
Nurse said I was measuring a little ahead this week
Will be going to prenatal apts every 2 weeks now, I enjoy getting to hear the heart beat and all, but when you have a job, it gets old explaining Dr. apts all the time and lets face it, Dr. offices don't have very convenient hours for people who work full time.
The movement is insane...this kid is very active, I can't really remember if Carson was this active. I also started to feel him having some hiccups.
My lower back and hips have been a little sore, probably from sitting at my desk a lot.
I am tossing and turning much more at night and finally started using the full body pillow.
I am so happy this go round that I have not experienced the annoying carpel tunnel symptoms, I also have not had as many leg cramps yet as I did with Carson.
Still take my zantac everyday so I can eat whatever I want! I have really been wanting some of my homemade lasagna, but it will take an act of God to get me to cook a meal that requires that much time these days! We go through chocolate milk like crazy around here, all 3 of us drink it everyday! I always want sweets after a meal. And as usual, I could eat Japanese every day.
My energy level is completely shot by the evening time, it is very hard on me with Cory working late these days (his busy season). If we have a 3rd baby, I will try to plan where the end of my pregnancy will be in the winter where Cory is home earlier!
My rings still fit, I haven't really noticed any swelling yet (I don't miss that part at all, cankles are the most unatractive thing in my book)
As far as the nursery and Colin's arrival preparation goes, I can't really do too much right now. Whenever Cory gets Carson's new dresser built, I can starting washing baby clothes and putting them away. Lately I have just been buying a few items here and there for Colin. I did get the letters for his name, just need to paint them white and hang them. Mom bought me the breast pump, so that is a huge relief!
I can't believe that in just a few weeks we will be in full prep mode...b/c by 36 weeks I will be useless!

27 Weeks, Carson Lately, 2nd Birthday Plans

2011-05-18T12:04:00.001-04:00

It has been one heck of a month for our little family, home improvement projects, pregnancy exhaustion, sick toddler, insane work stress.....all of these things do not go well together. We could really use a week at the beach right about now, but Cory needs to save his vacation days for Colin's arrival, and I need to save up my days for when my kids are sick in the future. Its tough being an adult sometimes. We are however going to visit grandparents over Memorial Day weekend, and thank goodness they both have pools!

COLIN:

I will be 27 weeks tomorrow.
+19 pounds
Colin moves a lot during the day, especially after I eat and drink. Its a mixture of kicks, jabs and the rolling feeling. He will usually wake up after my night time bathroom runs too.
I am definitely feeling the exhaustion from getting bigger and with the 3rd trimester approaching, its no surprise.
I still get heartburn, I usually know when its Carson's bath time, b/c that is when the heartburn starts to occur every night.
I love checking things off my list in preparation for him, baby shopping is the best! I just have a few things left: sling/wrap, breast pump, bath seat (won't be using a bulky tub this go round), the letters for his room, hamper, his baby book, curtains/curtain rod, and a few small items/toiletries closer to the end of pregnancy.
I have been thinking this whole time that I wouldn't purchase a single clothing item for him, but I just realized, I want to put the boys in matching outfits of course! So I will get a couple of those, probably at my favorite store...KOHL'S!
My cravings lately have included: chick file' chicken minis, always japanese, and pretty much anything sweet.

CARSON:
It is so exciting to see what each new day brings with Carson. This is an amazingly precious age where his language is just exploding! I love hearing him repeat everything we say even when we think he isn't paying attention, oh he is. The funniest thing is when Cory and I are having a conversation and I might say "um", Carson will say "um" too. He also does this when we say "sooo". Its almost like he is making fun of us.

He has found a love for baseball lately. He calls it "beeseball". Cory taught him to say "go braves!"
He asks to watch baseball almost everynight when we rock him to sleep.
He loves to get on his little step stool and wash his hands and make faces in the mirror.
He refers to his shoes sometimes as "cute shoes" he heard me say that a few times. When he wants to play outside, he say "sooz on" and "outshide"
The child could literally eat yogurt for every meal, he loves it!
He loves to put bandaids on his boo-boos, and he says "bye-bye boo-boo"; he used to call my freckles boo-boos :)
He loves to get the tupperware out of the cabinet, and he says "I cook"
He finally will try to say his name, he calls himself "Carkin"
He finally tries to say "I love you" and it sounds like "I wub woo"
He gets so excited to see birds hopping in the yard, and when we are outside he tries to chase them.
He loves to pick out his shirts in the morning, he always choses something that has a ball or a truck on it.
Every morning after he gets dressed, I have to wet and comb his hair, and I tell him how nice he looks and he says "me nice"
He loves the Wheels on the Bus song, especially the Barney version, he calls him "Bonkey"
I think its about time for some 24 month pj's, he is getting taller, and for night time I am moving to size 5 diapers.
We have been letting him sit at the big table with us when we eat as a family and he loves it. I still need the highchair in the mornings for his breakfast so I can get ready for work.
We have been starting to wean him a little from the passy. I no longer let him have it in the car, and at home he only gets it when its time to sleep. We have done good with this for about a week now. I think it helps that he understands what we say now, we tell him that passy is at home (if we are in the car) and if we are at home and he asks for passy, we tell him that passy is "night night". And he just goes about his business.
He loves flowers, he always says "pitty wower" for pretty flower.
He loves to sit on, and bounce on Chase....poor Chase, he just sits there and takes the abuse.
Its about time for a hair cut when he wakes up with this hair:

And..........Carson has his 2nd Birthday coming up! I have debated a few different places, but I think we will just do something small at our house. Probably cook out and have a fun baby pool and sprinkler for the kids since it will be so hot outside. I have chosen a Yellow/School Bus theme. He just loves the color yellow and he still is obsessed with yellow buses. He remembers where the buses are parked on our route home every day. Before they are in sight he talks about them! This has turned out to be a super easy theme, thank goodness!

Here is the cake pic I sent to my MIL and SIL so they can make it for us, I can't wait for Carson to see all these plans on his party day!

The Holidays Hate Us.

2011-05-10T09:24:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but it seems every time a holiday rolls around, Carson gets sick. We actually had a nice Mother's Day but yesterday I got the dreaded daycare call that Carson was running a fever. He has a Dr. apt today, so hopefully its nothing serious. I hate seeing my baby in pain, I hope whatever this is clears up soon.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Sunday. That was the only thing I told Cory I wanted: a decent picture of me and Carson. We also ate breakfast at IHOP, and Cory had some chocolate covered strawberries delivered to the house for me (yummy!), and Carson made me a picture frame at daycare.

New Kitchen and Living room floors! And some other updates...

2011-05-05T10:44:00.002-04:00

I couldn't wait until we were completely finished to post pictures (still need to put down the new molding strips and finish the laundry room), so here is a peek of what Cory has been up to the past week (he has done such an amazing job and it was hard work!):

Old LR floor:

Old Kitchen Floor:

NEW:

Kitchen entrance from the garage:

View from Dining room to kitchen:

View from Dining room to LR:

Hallway to boys' rooms and extra bathroom:

View of LR from Dining room:

View of LR from front door entrance:

To-do:

We are so glad to be on the home stretch of this floor project! Cory will finish the molding and laundry room (I have a feeling we will be painting the laundry room walls) floor this weekend, and we will place another carpet order (we decided to do our bedroom now) this weekend to be installed on May 14th.

Colin:
We now have a full name for our new baby boy:

COLIN ALEXANDER PHILLIPS

-He will have the same initials as Cory and Carson.
-I am 25 weeks pregnant today! WHOA!
-I lost 2 pounds this week, that started my day off amazing! I am now +17 and not complaining at all!
-Had a check up yesterday, everything looks good. They gave me the glucose drink for when I go back in 3 weeks. Yuck.
-Heartrate was 141.
-Colin and Carson's rooms look so nice with the new carpet, I will post those pics later on, probably after we get our bedroom carpet done.

Carson:
Apparently all I need to do to correct a problem is blog about it! Carson finally got his appetite back, and has been in a much better mood this week! I guess he is finally feeling better and being back to his regular schedule probably helps.

21 Months!

2011-05-03T10:20:00.000-04:00

I wanted to do a Carson post, because this month has been huge in terms of new things! I really don't think he could get ANY cuter!

He repeats everything we say and it sounds so sweet and innocent when it comes out of his mouth; he does really well with sentences and phrases and remembers things very easily. If he doesn't know the word for something he calls it "dat" (that).
He is the biggest copycat, he wants to do everything we do, especially Da-Da.
Still loves the color yellow, but now knows blue, green and purple. Can't get him to say red.
Every time we ask him to say "I love you" he just laughs, he knows that it means something special and he gets so embarrassed when we tell him to say it.
He will not say his name at all!
He gives the best hugs. :)
He loves to chase Haley around the house, he just laughs and laughs when she runs.
The past few weeks he has been wanting to cuddle with a stuffed animal and blanket before he goes to sleep, so sweet. Sometimes he wants ALL of the animals and its hard to rock him to sleep with all the clutter!
He LOVES to go bye-bye.
I have been trying to let him walk and hold my hand in public more often, he is getting heavy to carry.
He is starting to pay a little more attention to TV shows, he loves Cat in the Hat and Curious George.
He likes to look at the flowers and the bumble bees outside.
Still obsessed with balls.
Still loves to swing and slide. He has to hold a ball while swinging.
He has started to not like his hands, feet, and passy being dirty, he wants them all keen (all clean).
He got new carpet in his room and loves to roll around on it.
He has become a little more picky about his food. It started a little before he got sick last week, but being sick made it worse, so now we have a very picky toddler!
The terrible two's are among us. One minute Cory and I look at each other in disbelief of how precious he is, then the next we are looking at each other thinking "whose kid is that!"
He loves to play in water outside and he loves to wet the dogs. This summer should be fun!
He still loves to dance.
He still does pretty well in the car seat, he points out every yellow bus, big truck, and big tree that we pass.
He is quite the climber, he has started to climb onto the rails of his crib from the outside and now tries to climb the fence outside. Lovely.
I never thought I would say this but I may buy a Barney DVD and CD. I think they listen to Barney music at daycare. He gets so excited when I play a Barney song on the computer for him. But whatever makes him that happy, I will do!

Long Update...

2011-04-29T11:24:00.002-04:00

Easter and Carson:
We'll start with Easter weekend. Saturday was awesome, we just spent time together as a family and I was trying to decide on a nice meal to have for the holiday, and we also purchased our new carpet and floors for the boys' rooms, kitchen and living room. Cory got started ripping up the kitchen floor that afternoon and we were well on our way to new floors!

On Easter morning we gave Carson his Easter basket (I sadly did not get any pics, my camera was in the car and Cory had already handed Carson his basket, so I didn't want to miss out on him discovering his goodies). My big plan for pictures was during his little egg hunt outside. But we never made it to that point, Carson started running a fever that afternoon, so we just focused on taking care of him.

I did get one phone pic of him eating some of his chocolate bunny:

I took him to the Dr. on Monday and his symptoms were a cough, cold and fever. They said his throat was red, but the strep test was negative. They sent us home saying it could be the start of the hand-foot-mouth virus. There is nothing you can do for that except give ibuprofen for the pain and fever.

On Wednesday he was still running a fever so I took him back and he was finally diagnosed correctly with a sinus infection. The poor thing could barely get 5 minutes of sleep at a time because he was coughing so much. So now he is on an antibiotic and they said I can give him benadryl to help with the cough while sleeping. I hope to see some improvement soon, this has been a tough week for us since no one is really getting any sleep. My mom came to town to help us with him and so we could get some more work done on the floors, it is very frustrating living in a house with half of the floor ripped up. But Cory is working as hard as he possibly can, and I am trying to help where I can but there is just not much a preggo can do when it comes to this type of stuff. But hopefully we can make some progress this weekend, and I will definitely appreciate these new floors much more after living like this for a week.

New Look:
I had my blog re-done, I am loving the new look!

COLIN:
I am now 24 weeks pregnant, which is so hard to believe. I was telling Cory the other day that its bizarre to think we will be in the 3rd trimester soon! He just looked at me with a "deer in the headlights" look.

I am so glad we started early on Colin's room b/c this pregnancy is going by very fast. The new carpet in the boys' rooms will be installed tomorrow!

We picked up the cradle last weekend and I bought some little cradle bedding for it. I also bought a moses basket stand for our bedroom. Carson did a lot of co-sleeping, and I will be fine with that for Colin as well, but I realize that each baby is different, so we will have the moses basket as a bassinet in our room if Colin wants to sleep by himself. I used it a little for Carson but didn't know that you could purchase a stand for it, so I was always moving it around trying to find the best/safe place for it, not this time!

Colin loves to tickle my uterus on the left side these days..so weird. I don't know what he is doing but it is the funniest feeling and I laugh out loud. We can see him moving from the outside now which is fun, and Cory is always asking if he is awake so he can see/feel him.

I am not sure how much I weigh now, with Carson being sick this week, I haven't really thought to weigh myself.

Don't really have any cravings....I just like having food prepared for me, whether we dine out, or whether my mom makes a good home-cooked meal for us. I just have really not felt like cooking at all during this pregnancy.

Belly:

Tuscaloosa

2011-04-28T13:58:00.000-04:00

My blog is mainly all about Carson........not sure if many of you know I graduated from the University of Alabama in 2005. I spent 5 wonderful years of my life in Tuscaloosa, AL. I have some friends and family who still live there and seeing the footage of the tornado damage from yesterday is devastating. 15th Street (where I once worked, lived, met my husband and made so many memories with my friends) has been destroyed.

I will be donating to the Red Cross and tonight I will clean out mine, Cory's and Carson's closets and send donations to the victims there. If you would like to help, here are some ways you can:

http://www.lambertslately.com/2011/04/ways-you-can-help.html.

Monday....

2011-04-18T17:25:00.001-04:00

Oh how I hate Mondays. Carson thought this would be a fun way to start my morning!

Most times I really dislike Sunday b/c I know what it leads too :)

We (meaning Cory) made some good progress on Colin's nursery. YES, his name is COLIN. I love it. We still have not decided on a middle name and I was just dying to announce his 1st name, so I did!

We have painted, put up the chair molding and installed new blinds. Next on the list is a few touch ups to the trim where the painters' tape took the white off (UGHHH). (side note:The lady who lived here before us thought it would be fun to paint the trim a rosy pink... in an oil base I might add)

Soon we will order the carpet and get Cory started on Carson's big boy dresser. I can't believe that in a matter of weeks, we will be in the third trimester. This is why I like starting early, we can take our time and then enjoy the nursery as sort of a "zen" room later in pregnancy.

Here is the paint job:

Carson had a fun weekend playing outside, he had his first insect encounter. A caterpillar tried to crawl on my foot and I made a high-pitched "whoo" when I saw him. So Carson and I watched him crawl around and Carson kept saying "whoo!" Hilarious. Then Da-Da joined us outside and of course picked the thing up and let Carson hold it. NOT me! I don't do well with critters! I have a long life ahead of me with all of these boys!

(I was letting him play in some water puddles and he got soaked, this is why he is in a t-shirt and diaper!)

First he said "hi" to the caterpillar:

Then he examined him for a minute:

The he fell in love! It was so cute. He didn't want to let him go, so Cory told him that the caterpillar needed to eat, then Carson told him "bye-bye". So sweet.

22 Weeks

2011-04-15T13:54:00.000-04:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the actual birth of this baby. I had such a good dream about the perfect birth the other night. I know I can have all the plans I want, but it still won't happen the way I envision, but I will try to continue to think positively and continue to gain as much knowledge about the birth process as possible, I firmly believe that knowledge is POWER.

I am currently still reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and am finding it pretty helpful, a lot of these birth books touch on the same subjects, much of this information I am already familiar with. I like how she explores the mind-body connection and its effects on labor, she gives helpful info on situations that can stall labor and how to get labor started back up, the husband/partner's role to help with a smoother labor, to name a few topics.

I have gained a total of 15 pounds.

We can feel the baby move on the outside now!

We have decided on a 1st name for him, and I am hoping to decide on the middle name within the next week.

We are in full nesting mode, the nursery is painted and we will get the chair molding up in the next couple of days and then I will post a picture. This little guy enjoyed playing with the paint supplies....He rolled this paint roller around for a while like he was vacuuming, so cute!

And here is Mama at 22 weeks:

What a week!

2011-04-12T16:24:00.002-04:00

Anybody up for a random Tuesday post?

Hallelujah, the Masters' tournament is OVER! I know my husband enjoys working there each year but 7 days is too long for me to go without my sweet hubby and way too long for Carson not to see his Da-Da. I am so glad to have my life back to normal! Cory bought Carson some cute shirts while he was there:

Cory and I both took the day off yesterday to spend together. We slept in, ate some yummy Mexican food, and went to Home Depot to look at paint and flooring. We purchased the paint for the new nursery and got started yesterday. We had hoped to finish painting last night, however we were derailed a little: Carson fell down some stairs at daycare and couldn't move his arm for a couple of hours without crying. We took him to an Urgent Care place, and he was back to normal by the time the Dr. examined him and the Dr. said there was no need for an x-ray. I guess he just fell on his hand/wrist/shoulder the wrong way and was in pain for a little while. Better safe than sorry though!
Here is our progress on the paint so far, the top is green and we will add chair molding under the green and paint a sand color under that to give it a little accent:

Things are really moving along with the planning for the new baby, my parents will take the bed from the guest bedroom soon, and we are picking up the cradle this weekend. We should be finished painting by the weekend. Then we can schedule the re-carpeting for Carson's room and the nursery. I have seen SO much cute owl stuff on etsy. This theme is going to be super easy to find decor to match.
Carson is talking so much now, he repeats everything. After I comb his hair after his bath and get him in his PJ's, I tell him how cute and nice he looks, and he just repeats over and over the word "nice". He is obsessed with the small bouncy yellow ball that fits in his hand. He will only put it down when he eats and when he goes to daycare. The other night he took a bath with it and held on to it until he fell asleep. So funny. He has another one just like it, but it's blue, he lets Cory and me throw the blue one, but he will NOT let go of the yellow one. He loves yellow for some reason. He has also taken to spinning in circles to make himself dizzy...never a dull moment.

Diaper Bag Material

2011-04-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

My mother-in-law was here visiting this week and I picked out the material for baby boy's diaper bag set. I wanted something completely different from Carson's brown and blue. It was difficult, because there is SO much cute brown and blue fabric for little boys. I just want things to have a different look for this baby. The main part of the bag will be white quilted material and the accents will be the yellow with red dots fabric. The name will be monogrammed in yellow on the bag. I can't wait to see how it turns out. She will also make a duffle and a backpack for him with this material. I love having all cloth, its so easy to just through it in the washer and dryer when it needs to be cleaned.

Baby Bedding

2011-04-06T16:39:00.000-04:00

We have a decision on the baby bedding for baby boy's nursery! I ordered it today, and we are both off of work on Monday, so we will be painting the nursery then. So excited to get the ball rolling!

Carson is 20 months!

2011-04-03T21:44:00.001-04:00

In 4 months my baby will be 2! And will be a big brother!

He loves his wo-worm (glow worm) and in the mornings, he carries it around for about 20 minutes until he is ready to play ball.

He LOVES chocolate milk, every night and morning he asks for his “mut mulk” and when he finishes any drink, etc…he loves to say “all gone” he will say that for the next 5 minutes.

He is learning his colors, he loves the color ya-yo (yellow) and is obsessed with yellow school buses and trucks (he says cucks). His new favorite song is the “Wheels on the Bus”

He loves to feed himself (especially yogurt) and he always says “big bite” when he can get a lot on the spoon.

I always keep Capri Sun around for him now, it’s so much easier and saves some dishes from having to be washed. He loves to take the straw in and out once he has finished the juice.

He thinks it is the most awesome thing to give the dogs treats, I have no idea why!

He just learned how to hop on both feet and also catch a ball in the air. He gets so excited when we clap for him.

His happy dance starts out with a stomp and a clap, sometimes he will do this when he sees me in the window coming to pick him up at daycare, so sweet.

Whenever he loses his passy we tell him to look around for it, and he calls for it like a dog, hilarious!

He loves riding in his car:

Has known the word hot for quite some time, but more recently he loves to point out when things are cold. It has been chilly and wet outside lately and we haven’t felt like playing in the yard so we told him it was cold outside. And now when he stands by the window he says “cold out-dide”. He lets me know that every drink is cold.

He is still petite, in 18 month clothes, size 5 shoes and size 4 diapers.

He aks for Mama every morning when he wakes up, warms my heart.

This kid LOVES cheese, when he sees me take it out of the fridge, he shouts “my cheese!”

He is now a climber, he can climb the slide latter all by himself, and he loves to climb onto the kitchen chairs, makes me very nervous!

He has such a funny personality.

He thinks his Da-Da could rope the moon!

I can still see a baby in him sometimes:

He is always trying to make us laugh:

His favorite ball:

Picture overload, I know! But these were all so cute, I couldn't resist!

It makes me so sad to see him grow so fast, I am holding on to all the baby-ness he has left! We still rock him to sleep and let him sleep with us if he is having a rough night. I know one day he won't want to snuggle with us, so I am just holding him and snuggling as much as possible!

As far as birthday #2 goes, I am not sure of what the theme will be yet. His interests change every so often so I will wait until probably June or so to decide. I know one thing is for sure, this party will be much more low key!

20 weeks!

2011-04-01T15:30:00.004-04:00

Yesterday marked the halfway point of my pregnancy!

At 20 weeks, here is what is going on:

Cravings:

Craving and loving my seafood! For my birthday dinner, I picked up some shrimp to boil and it was SO good! We had a work lunch a few weeks ago at Pappadeaux and another one yesterday at Atlantic Seafood Co. I would love to go to the beach soon and get some Gulf seafood, YUM! And as always, I could eat Japanese every day!

Aversions:

Every time Cory mentions chicken breasts for supper, I want to hurl. I like pork chops, but I am mostly wanting red meat these days.

Weight Gain:

+13 pounds

Gender:

BOY! I can’t wait until the third trimester to get all of Carson’s baby stuff down to clean. Especially the tiny newborn clothes. I will probably cry thinking of Carson being so little once upon a time. Still no name. Just can’t agree on anything, so I am taking a break from searching.

Symptoms:

I get winded pretty easily: The mornings are particularly tough on me, getting Carson fed, changed and presentable for school, while also trying to get myself somewhat presentable is such a task, it is very exhausting. He is an early riser, and there is no such thing as napping at work, so by the end of the work day I am DONE. Still have heartburn, and am sure it will only get worse.

Baby Movement:

He is finally making his presence known! At 18 weeks, I was still not feeling him everyday and got a little worried. But the day before our big ultrasound, he started getting busy. Now I feel him all the time! I have only been able to feel him on the outside of my tummy once, so we are still waiting for Cory to be able to feel him.

Clothes:

ALL maternity, it’s been that way for a while. I must say, I love maternity clothes, they are just so comfy! However, I haven’t been able to recycle everything from my 1^st pregnancy. For some reason the first time around, I thought everything had to be loose fitting, so I have a bunch of moo-moo shirts and I hate them! So I have been updating my shirts a little bit here and there to feel a little more trendy. I love visiting Motherhood Maternity store on my lunch break!

Planning:

Now that we are half way through this pregnancy and we know the baby is a boy, let the planning begin! I love having a checklist and I LOVE getting things accomplished. I want everything DONE by the time I am 30 weeks. Cory and I do everything ourselves, so we need to get things done before I get too big and uncomfortable (and useless!)

Next week:
Pick out fabric for mother- in- law to make diaper bag set.

APRIL:

Pick out cradle bedding and crib bedding/decor. I have decided to do all new bedding for this baby and keep the farm theme for Carson until he is old enough to pick a theme for his big boy room. I want to change as little as possible for him, his life will change enough! My friend is giving me her cradle which will serve as the baby bed in the nursery, mainly for naps during the day (the baby will be co-sleeping with us for most of the time any way so we don’t need the big crib until Carson is ready for his toddler bed. His farm stuff will fit the toddler bed we have)
Paint Nursery

APRIL/MAY:

Replace carpet and padding in Carson’s room and nursery. We are also putting tile in kitchen and carpet in the living room. Many people would advise to get hardwood floors, but after much discussion we have decided to go with carpet, it’s just more cozy in our opinions.
Move glider into nursery (we really don’t use this anymore with Carson), I want to get it out of his way where he has more room for playing with his toys in his room.

JUNE:
Cory will build a new dresser for Carson. We will move the baby dresser that he built and the changing table into nursery.

JULY:

Get the final touches and decor set up in the nursery.
Get the baby gear and clothes down from the attic and clean it all.
Purchase breast pump, sling/wrap, and other small necessities/toiletries.
Take hospital tour (we will be delivering at a different hospital this go round, the one with the lowest c-section rate…YAY!)

AUGUST: PACK HOSPITAL BAG! OMG!

Oh yeah! ONE more thing….NAME THIS BABY! We just can’t agree on anything right now. L

AND….the BELLY. Here I am Large and In Charge!

Stay tuned...my big baby will be 20 months tomorrow, I will post all of cute Carson-isms next week! I hope to take some good pics of him this weekend outside to post..wish me luck!

Carson has a......

2011-03-22T11:19:00.000-04:00

Little Brother!

We had an ultrasound this morning and our new little baby is looking great! I can't believe we will have another sweet baby boy here in a matter of months! I can't wait to see Carson hug and kiss his little brother!

I joked with Cory that we just saved a TON of money :) But in all seriousness, we are thrilled to have a healthy baby boy on the way and can't wait to have him in our arms!

We are still deciding on his name. I think we will have a decision very soon. :)

Until then here are a couple of pics!

Here's the money shot:

And his sweet little face:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T09:22:00.002-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here are some pictures of my cutie from this morning, it is also picture day at school. He looks so handsome dressed up!

He loves to play peek-a-boo behind the curtains.

Just being goofy....

Here is one of the videos I mentioned yesterday. I have started to teach him the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider, and it is the cutest thing every time he tries to do it. He is starting to get a little shy if other people are around, he will do a couple of the motions then run away...so funny!

18 Weeks!

2011-03-16T14:15:00.000-04:00

Symptoms:

Can you believe I already feel like I am carrying a bowling ball between my legs! So strange to experience this so early, I talked to my Dr. about it and she said its fine, many things happen earlier in the second pregnancy. Its pretty bad when I stand up after sitting or laying down for a while.
I am having very vivid and strange dreams, I remember them right when I wake up, but forget them 5 minutes later.
I have been really thirsty lately.
Got my first leg cramp the other day :(

Weight gain:

+9 pounds, Mama is eating well :)

Dr. Apt:
I have an ultrasound on Tuesday! And we will (hopefully) know the gender!

Best moment of the week:
By far the prenatal massage!

Movement:
Still pretty random, I don't feel him/her everyday. :(

Random:
I am very excited to pick up my book from the library today. Its Ina May's guide to Childbirth. You'll know who Ina May is if you have ever seen the Business of Being Born documentary. I read some clips from this book and her breastfeeding book on Amazon, and found it extremely helpful; her breastfeeding book is next on my list.

People have been asking me to compare Carson's pregnancy to this one, and as far as symptoms go its about the same. As far as my attitude goes, its night and day. With my 1st pregnancy, I was spoiled and it was all about me. I was always moody b/c I could be. But now I have a son who deserves a happy and fun Mama, and I have realized that my positive attitude toward this pregnancy makes it so much easier. Everyone told me I would enjoy the 2nd pregnancy so much more and for me they were right. I am so much happier and feel so much more confident. It took having Carson here on earth to realize what a beautiful miracle and privilege it was to be able to carry a baby. (Anyone who would have told me that statement 2 years ago would have gotten the finger) :) What can I say...being a mother has changed me for the better!

Belly Pic:
I definitely see a change, I look thicker this week!

Stay tuned....I have some cute videos of my big baby to upload soon!

What we did this weekend...

2011-03-14T14:24:00.000-04:00

My day out on Saturday was wonderful! I got a long overdue haircut and I enjoyed my spa visit very much. I also treated myself to a new Vera Bradley!

Carson and Cory napped in the recliner, ate jelly beans and played in the mud while I was gone...no surprises there :)
Saturday night we went to eat Japanese, Carson really enjoyed the chef's tricks this time, the last few times he was a bit scared, but he's fine with it now.
Sunday was a lazy day as usual, we slept in, played outside, and did some grocery shopping.
The time change really threw Carson off, he wasn't really sleepy until 9PM! We ended up just putting him in bed with us and he eventually got the point. Hopefully tonight will be better.
This week is going to be the longest ever! We find out the gender of the baby next Tuesday! I am so ready to just KNOW! I really don't care either way; I have loved every second of having a baby boy and would love to have another, and I would also welcome the new adventure that a baby girl would bring. I just can't wait much longer! Must plan and nest!
Carson has picture day at "school" this Thursday! I love having a reason to dress him up. And his pictures always turn out SO cute, I can't wait to see how they turn out this time!

Have a good week everyone!

Happy Friday!

2011-03-11T08:58:00.000-05:00

Mine certainly is! I can't believe I am 17 weeks pregnant as of yesterday :) I am feeling more and more movement from the baby and in about a week (March 22nd) Cory and I will know if this baby is a boy or a girl! I am trying to think of a cute way to announce it to family and friends. Any ideas? I also want to have names picked out for when we announce the gender so I can introduce the baby by name.

Anywho....I am so excited for tomorrow. I have a much needed and well deserved Mama's day out. I am getting my hair done, getting a massage, and a pedicure! I can't wait!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

16 weeks

2011-03-07T17:17:00.000-05:00

As of last Thursday, I was16 weeks!

Symptoms:
My symptoms are really not that bad, I got rid of mountain dew :( I figured the citrus flavor was not helping my heartburn and I have switched to Gingerale instead of sprite and noticed a huge difference. I still take my Zantac every night just in case :)

I have also been able to stay up a little later at night and had more energy, which is helping the headaches, I think I was getting too much sleep, if there is a such thing! I watched the Social Network this weekend, and I loved it! I also took Carson to Monkey Joe's for the 1st time, and needless to say he had a blast!

I am finally out of the hibernating phase, all I want to do is get out of the house and when I am home, I am cleaning it! Yesterday, my sweet husband didn't complain one bit when I asked him to rearrange the bedroom simply b/c I found a lovely wall hanging to go above the bed, but the bed and dresser needed to be moved in order for it to look right. :) I love rearranging, it just makes everything feel so new and clean. We also swept the floors, vacuumed and did some much needed dusting, Carson was so interested in what we were doing all afternoon, he doesn't see us cleaning that often! He doesn't care for the vacuum, he is constantly saying "all done" wanting us to put it away. :)

With all of this nesting I am DYING to know what this baby is (will know in 2 weeks)! I am so ready to prepare the nursery, etc...Cory still thinks its a boy, I am just so unsure, the chinese lunar calendar said GIRL. Also, I ate at PF Chang's with some friends a couple of weeks ago and this was my fortune...

Front:

Back:

I have a girl name that I really really love, and Cory and I don't agree on any boy names, so it will probably be a boy :)

Weight Gain:
I have gained a total of 8 pounds so far, I am happy with that, I gained 10 during the 1st trimester with Carson. I worried about my weight the entire pregnancy with Carson, but this time it doesn't bother me, I am eating what I want when I want! And today..this is what I wanted - tuna sandwich, pickle, macaroni salad and fruit! I love Fancy Pantry!

Movement:
I am still feeling random alien movements, I can't wait for Cory to be able to feel and see the baby move. We always loved laying in bed watching Carson do his tricks!

Dr. Apt.:
Heart rate was 141, everything else looked good as well!

Belly Pic:

Here is a recap up until now...

10 weeks:

12 weeks:

14 weeks:

16 weeks:

I don't see much of a change from 14 weeks. I think there is a big growth spurt coming according to babycenter, and 18 weeks seems to be when I remember having the basketball belly for the 1st time with Carson.

This is what Carson is usually doing in the mornings while I am getting ready...digging in the bathroom drawers.

French Fry

2011-03-04T20:33:00.000-05:00

I never thought that "French Fry" could sound so sweet.......

He is such a character.

He always shares his food. :)

This pic is just before we left for daycare the other day, he just looked like such a little boy instead of a baby, I had to take a pic. He is so little, I got some of his 12 month shirts and shorts that were a tad big on him last year, and they fit like a glove this year. Isn't he handsome!

Sweet Carson

2011-02-28T15:22:00.001-05:00

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

2011-02-28T10:16:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-22T08:01:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-21T11:45:00.002-05:00

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

2011-02-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-14T08:04:00.000-05:00

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...

2011-02-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-02-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-06T22:17:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-03T12:15:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-02-01T15:01:00.001-05:00

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:

10 weeks!

2011-01-20T10:54:00.000-05:00

How far along: 10 wks

Symptoms: I am quite moody…poor Cory. Its hard to decide what I want to eat, I can’t let myself get too hungry or I will get really nauseous. Once I eat I am fine…for about an hour J

Cravings: Good homecooked meals like chicken and dumplings, Brunswick stew, spaghetti, pot roast, love my soft drinks and Gatorade, and of course I love my Reese cups

Best moment of the week: The trip to Slopes BBQ and the Brunswick Stew that came with it were wonderful! Really hit the spot.

Challenges this week: deciding whether to stay with my current OB, giving Carson his bath - I am so exhausted by that time…oh and I ran out of Reese cups J

Belly watch: Ok, this shot looks more like my 12 week pic with Carson. This is my usual work attire – stretchy pants and an oversized shirt! My regular jeans don’t fit anymore b/c I have gained weight this fall, so I got my maternity jeans out, but they are too saggy in the butt and crotch still. So…stretchy pants it is! I am so ready for it to be "ok" for me to show, then I can let it all out!

And here are some pics of my sweet little guy lately:

Spaghetti!

Playing in his boots

So much to say...

2011-01-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

I have had such an extremely busy week, but I hate when my blog posts get old, it just annoys me...so I MUST post something new. Pregnancy news anyone????

This pregnancy is going very well so far (knock on wood). There are a couple of things weighing heavily on my mind:

1) Changing caregivers and hospitals:

While I had a happy experience (what I thought was perfect at that time) with Carson's prenatal care and birth...I am now a changed person, a more informed, educated, and outspoken person when it comes to the birth of MY babies. What was "perfect" then is nowhere near the experience I want this go round. I was the perfect patient back then, I had my list of questions, read through them quickly as to not waste the Doctor's time on little ol' me. I took his answers to be the only truth without batting an eye. And I was oh so wrong.

My attitude back then was "induce me as soon as possible" and "give me every drug available" and "maybe I will breastfeed". After Carson was born I became a mom - I grew up, I realized that there is nothing convenient about birthing or raising a baby. This time, my own convenience will not overshadow what is best for my baby and my health.

My first order of business is to ensure that I will birth in a place that fully supports a VBAC and doesn't just say they do. My current practice says they support it, but their actions and body language don't suggest the same. My first few appointments during this pregnancy I expressed my want for a VBAC and I was made to feel like a student in detention...I was quickly reminded of the rules that are associated with it. They seemed to focus on the negative (which is an extremely small portion). It was almost like I was inconveniencing them by wanting something that they can't control. You see, with a successful VBAC, labor must occur spontaneously, no induction of any kind, no speeding up labor, etc...just wait on labor to take its natural course......imagine that! The only appointment where I felt supported was my most recent visit, this Dr. actually asked ME about VBAC, not me initiating the conversation. He gave me some information on the subject and was very kind...but he is the only person that has made me feel that way....and there is no guarantee that he will be overseeing my labor and delivery on the big day.

One of the main give-aways of the staff's true opinions on VBAC (besides the looks on their faces) is the "right of passage" to get a VBAC. For example, they ask me why I had a c-section with Carson and they sigh and say ok, breech presentation is a good reason to try for VBAC. On the contrary people, unless this pregnancy/labor suggests that a c-section is medically necessary (not conveniently necessary), then women should be allowed to try for VBAC no matter how many c-sections they have had, and no matter how their labor progressed during the last delivery (every, pregnancy, labor, delivery and baby are DIFFERENT). Just because X,Y,Z happened in the first labor, doesn't mean X,Y,Z will happen again. Especially if you change your game plan. Statistics show much better outcomes when labor begins spontaneously rather than when induced (that induction begins a snowball effect of unnecessary interventions).

Multiple c-sections are very dangerous (placenta accreta), but no one discusses those risks with you when they sign you up for this ridiculously routine major surgery.

So..... I am in the process of assessing a supportive birthing team to get the best outcome possible.

2) Ultrasounds:

Among my research of avoiding unnecessary surgery...I have come across many other helpful warnings. Be careful not to have too many unnecessary ultrasounds. This is something else I wish I had known while pregnant with Carson. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my growing baby, but at what cost? No one really knows...many years ago, women received routine X-rays while pregnant, and they thought that was safe.

Just google ultrasound risks, and there is plenty of info. The FDA said that it is still unknown what effects ultrasounds have on a fetus, they advise against having them if they aren't necessary.

Guess What!

2011-01-14T11:20:00.000-05:00

We are so excited to announce that we have another sweet baby on the way! We had an ultrasound yesterday and everything is looking great!

Here is wee Baby Phillips at 9 wks.

Playing in the Snow

2011-01-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

This snow was a little more brutal than the last one. Poor Carson could barely walk, the snow came up to the top of his boots. The wind and the sleet were very hard to bare, so we weren't out there too long. I was able to snap a few pics on my phone. We got about 6 or 7 inches!

Goodbye 2010

2011-01-03T16:41:00.001-05:00

Wow, what an eventful year. Cory and I were watching the news and they were recapping the worldly events that happened this year....unbelievable!

As far as our lives go, for the most part 2010 was great.

We rang in the New Year with Becca, Zach and Zoe in their new house!

Carson got his very 1st haircut.

We celebrated Carson's 1st Easter.

We went on our 1st family vacation to the beach.

My precious baby turned ONE! He has since grown into such a smart and funny little boy.

Sadly, in November we said goodbye to Charlie. I still think about her and miss her everyday, she holds a special place in my heart that can never be filled by another dog. I would give anything to have her back.

I typically don't make New Year's resolutions, this is more like a list of things I would like to do:

Take better care of myself. It is so hard as a working mother to eat healthy and exercise. After I work all day and deal with traffic, I want to cook something easy if I cook at all, and spend time with my family and relax...not spend an hour preparing a meal then working out. And after Carson goes to bed, that is when I do my household chores. Maybe when it warms up outside I can get Carson out in the stroller in the evenings...we'll see.
Spend less money. When I think of all the money I waste on everyday things it makes me sick, I really want to buckle down and put more towards retirement.
Treat myself a little more...my last mani/pedi was the day before Carson was born! Unacceptable.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2011!

Our Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T21:44:00.000-05:00

We spent the entire Christmas weekend enjoying a cozy fire...

Eating yummy food....

Wearing our PJ's...

Checking out what Santa left...

Playing with toys...

Reading new books...

Watching the snow fall...

Playing in the snow...

Building a snowman...

And more playing in the snow...

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T14:47:00.000-05:00

Songs

2010-12-21T21:11:00.000-05:00

So if you know my child, you know he LOVES music. I sing to him and he claps after every song, it is so sweet. He loves all of the intro songs to the PBS shows, Thomas, Super Why, Curious George, Word World, Dinosaur train, Cat in the Hat, and I am sure there are more! But he also loves any song that mentions a doggie, BINGO is becoming a favorite very fast. But the current MOST FAVORITE is Old McDonald. He lives and breaths the E-I-E-I-O part. I have a toddler tune CD for the car and he dances and claps to each song, but after every song he says "E-I-E-I-O?" wanting me the play his favorite.

Old McDonald from Kimberly Phillips on Vimeo.

Christmas Decorations

2010-12-16T09:28:00.001-05:00

Our tree is fake and very "old school", its one that you put together branch by branch. I had a smaller pre-lit tree last year, I kind of missed putting the lights on. Next year I want a real tree!

One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is pick out my wrapping paper! I used to work in retail and gift wrapping was my favorite task of all! Still is :)

As far as ornaments go, I have a couple of matching sets to use as fillers, however I am very sentimental with ornaments, so most of mine are gifts, family heirlooms, or souvenirs from our travels. Here are a few of my favorites.

Chase and Charlie:

Cory loves Auburn football so we have a few of these :)

Probably my most favorite ornaments when I was little and still to this day are the ones my Grandmother hand-made. My mom let me have a few when I moved out because I loved them so much, and one day I hope to inherit them all!

A friend from work gave me this wooden, hand-made ornament for helping her out while she was on vacation. Its from Canada and it has really made me want more wooden ornaments, I love them!

Of course Carson's 1st ornament is on my favorites list. We will have a tradition of giving him an ornament every year.

This is Carson's little night light his Nana (my mom) gave him. It is so cute, and very fitting since he loves doggies!

Our stockings don't match either, I like how they represent our personalities. Mine is the green velvet one, Carson's is the dog and Cory's is the Auburn one. I really need to get some stocking hangers!

I put a tiny tree and some figurines on our DVD shelf, but then realized that the Nativity Scene must go up high this year, so I moved them to the kitchen table.

We got a free Santa photo at the Picture People Studio when we did our photo session there, it turned out so well! We have it displayed in the center of all of the Christmas Cards we receive.

I added a touch of garland with lights to the fireplace.

And the most important part....the Nativity Scene. I can't wait until Carson is old enough and I can tell him the story of baby Jesus!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas Season! We certainly are!

Wordless Wednesday: Chase

2010-12-15T10:29:00.001-05:00