Carson Lately

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!

Many updates!

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!

Fathers' Day 2011 and Carson's new room!

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!

My baby...22 months old

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

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!