Few more of the Car Keys.

I can't remember if I posted about how we asked Taylor to say Carson and she said Car Keys! So we've been calling him Car Keys as a nickname....it was just too cute!

Anyway, here's a few more pictures from yesterday and tonight. His hair is looking a lot lighter! It's harder to tell when the light isn't so bright!
One of his half smiles, he wouldn't give me a full one!

Resting with Dad
Sleeping with Mom
We had a rough day yesterday getting him to sleep, so I reverted back to my Baby Whisperer book (the one that worked so wonderfully with Taylor when we were struggling around 10 months old). Following her techniques (implementing a routine) for his personality (somewhat touchy and sensitive) he has been FABULOUS today! He's hardly fussed at all, he's gone to sleep by himself several times (even though his naps are short), so here's hoping for a good night of long sleeps and that things continue in this manner.

I'm off to plan meals for the week and make up a grocery list so I can go to the commissary tomorrow. Post when I can!

Pictures!

Here's a few pictures from the last few days and some video as well!!

Taylor having a PB&J
Carson was smiling when Drew tickled his upper lip, except whne I snapped the picture, he frowned...little goober.
Helping me out in the kitchen.
My first hat I crocheted.


and my little model. :)


My second hat I crocheted. It's too big though so it will have to wait a while to be worn!Drew hanging out with Taylor and Carson





Holden being goofy


Taylor at the Science Center

Taylor and Carson meeting for the first time

Has it been 8 days already?

Can't believe it's been over a week since I posted! Not sure I'll get pictures up today or not, but I wanted to give an update!

We're still hanging in there! Still a bit sleep deprived, but I get one good stretch of sleep from about 11 or 12, to about 3:30am. The rest of the time it can vary from 1-2.5 hours of actual sleep, but it's progress! Now if I can just keep from falling asleep in the glider and waking up with kink in my neck!

Carson is getting to be a chunky Monkey! He feels heavier and heavier every day! He should with the amount he eats! We had to move him up to size 1 diapers already, as the newborns were getting snug.

He's been a pretty good baby, not colicky or anything , but he will fuss if conditions aren't perfect (clean diaper, full belly, rested, etc.). He also does not like to ride in the car. Most babies fall asleep with the movement of the car... not Carson! Most of the time he is awake all along, and gets fussy often when we are driving, I know all of the good places to pull over now since we often have to stop to calm him down, re-insert his pacifier (which he still doesn't particularly care for), and get going again.

He is definitely a "touchy" baby.. meaning he likes to have contact with somebody most of the time. I've been using my Moby Wrap (sling type carrier) a lot with him because he much prefers to be strapped up against me as opposed to lying in his bucket.

Taylor is growing up too fast all of a sudden. She's becoming a sponge with words, and she knows a lot more than we think she does. When she was asking her where her body parts were she pointed to every one of them without prompting..she knows:

head
eyes
nose
ears
mouth
chin
neck
shoulders
elbow (she calls it her elmo, haha)
hands
fingers
belly button
knees
foot
toes
back

she can't say all of them, about half of them but I thought it was good that she knew what they all were! I should try and get video of it.

Her new loves are Dora the Explorer, and Elmo (she tries to sing the Elmo song, LaLaLaLa) it's pretty funny. She loves to color, thank goodness for water soluble crayons. Her new catch phrases are "Alright!" and "Oh, NOOO". She likes to build things with blocks as well.

Her potty training is going okay, we still are letting her tell us when she needs to go most of the time instead of prompting her, she tinkles several times a day, but we still aren't getting #2 most of the time until after the fact. We'll get there! In another month or two when Carson isn't quite so demanding (hopefully), we'll really start working on it, but in the meantime she seems to be doing pretty good on her own.

We had to go get her new shoes (again) the other day as the ones we got when we were in CA are too small already. Her foot measured at a 5.5, but the lady that fitted her at stride-rite suggested we go up to a 6 so we could get a little more use out of them. They are a bit big, but she can walk okay so that works. I'm sure they will fit perfectly in another month and a half! She's getting taller, but she's still a skinny minny. Her 12 month dresses and pants are too short, but her shorts are just now fitting in the waist! So she is now in 12-18 month dresses and pants (though the pants need rolled over at the waist or cinched with a tie to stay up), and still in 12 month shorts, most tops and onesies.

Drew's birthday was Sunday, and it was his day! I made him waffles for breakfast. He spent a lot of the day relaxing and playing a new game that he got with his new racing wheel, then he went for a drive for a bit, and then we went out for Chinese food. I made him some blueberry muffins for dessert (he said he didn't want a cake this time). Overall, it was a nice enjoyable day!

The weather here has been rainy for a couple of weeks. It started off nice today and I thought we might go for a walk after nap time, but it's raining again. Ohhh well.

Drew goes back to work on Monday. He had to run in to work today and help a new guy that he was sponsoring get checked in so I had my first trial run for a few hours with two awake kids. It went pretty well! I'm still kind of nervous when he goes back, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. There will be ups and downs, but overall, Taylor is pretty good and Carson doesn't do a whole lot just yet so I should be able to handle it! I think once things get going we'll work out our routine and things will be okay.

I also tried my hand at crocheting the other day. I saw these really cute hats on Etsy and I thought... I can make one of those! I even had a crochet hook hanging around. So I googled how to crochet on youtube (I've done it a little before a long time ago, but I never actually made anything), and made Carson a beanie. It's not that hat that I saw at first, but I wanted to practice something easier before I tried the cute one I saw. Hopefully I can figure that one out for a photo op while he still sleeps a decent amount. I want to make Taylor one too, if she'll wear one! It gives me something to do while I'm nursing Carson as well since scrapbooking and computer surfing are a bit difficult to reach while I'm in a chair!

Well, I'm off for now. Naptime will be over shortly. If I can get some pics uploaded tonight I will do it. I got the video off the camcorder as well, but still need to get it online for ya.

Love to you all!

-Jen

Another difficult day behind the camera!

Well, tried to take some more pics, but Taylor was full of energy and Carson was too awake, but I did manage to get a FEW shots! I'm trying to get pics of the two of them together before he gets too big, but I might not ever get the ones I'm trying to!

I wish it didn't take so long to set up and break down my equipment so I wouldn't have to try and time it when everybody is in a good mood, but oh well! That's part of the fun. :)

Caught a smile!


And a frown :(
Proud big sister.
Kissy Face
Cheeeeeeeeeeese
She looks so innocent doesn't she????

SciPort and Music Class

I know I said I'd get these up yesterday, but I didn't get to it, so here they are today!

This is from our trip to the SciPort Discovery Center on Sunday. We ended up buying annual passes so we can go whenever we want. Taylor seems to enjoy it, but definitely a bit of an overload the first time.


Grandma Debye and Carson checking out an exhibit.


Climbing the stairs!
Reading about the Bernoulli Balancing.


Our point in the world.
Sleepy Boy
There was a bunch of noodles from one of the displays on the floor and Taylor started picking them up saying "Mess! Mess! Ohh No" It was too cute!


Taylor going for a chair ride.
Grandma hanging out with Carson and guarding the stroller.
Tarantula's are cool!
Checking out the guinea pig

The kid LOVES playing in water.

Here are some pictures from Music class as well.




Carson hanging out with Dad

The dogs were hanging out cracking me up with their noses just barely touching.



I've got some video too, but I'll have to come back to upload that!

Hope you are all having a great week!!

2 week checkups

Don't have time to get pics up at the moment, but I wanted to post updates about our two week checkups!

I had mine yesterday and I'm doing fantastic. Healing up well and I go back in 4 weeks for my final OB visit.

Carson's 2 week visit was today and he's doing great as well. He is 8lbs 4oz (up 10 oz. from 6 days ago!) and 21" long. He has a bit of a goobery eye which is probably a blocked tear duct, but the ped. gave me a prescription for eye ointment to rule out an infection. His circumcision, and belly button are healed up nicely and he doesn't have to go back until his 2 month checkup and vaccines. Unfortunately I'll have to go back to base then, and wont be able to stay with the pediatrician from the hospital. I liked him!

Taylor had music class yesterday and she FINALLY participated! It took her a few weeks last time before she opened up and really started interacting but I was worried she wasn't going to come around this time. She finally did though and she had a blast. Hopefully it continues that way, I love watching her come out of her shell around other kids. I got a few pictures from yesterday so I'll post those when I get a moment.

Drew is doing good as well. I think he's enjoying the time off work, and I have enjoyed having his help as well as being able to spend some time together as a family.

Off to feed the little monkey, then going to try and squeeze in a nap. I'll try and get some more pics up tonight after Taylor is in bed!

Pics!

I'm trying to post while Taylor and Carson are both napping. I'll start with pics and post more if I have time. We're headed to the Science Discovery Museum when everybody wakes up so that should be fun.

Carson's First Bath











Hanging out in his chair


Playing with my Macro lens while he was hanging out in my lap.







Grandma Debye keeping him content at 1AM so I can get a break.




Tried another photo session the other day but he wasn't cooperating. this is the only one I managed to get out of the bunch.

Taylor sitting in her new booster chair at the table like a big girl (and covered in dinner!)



Will try and post more later!