Happy Anniversary!

Today we're celebrating 8 years of (mostly) wedded bliss! :-) Happy anniversary to my wonderful husband! Thanks for putting up with me. ;)

We celebrated Friday with a date day. He surprised me with 8 dozen roses! And then we went out for lunch, drinks and games. :-) It was nice to spend some time alone - just the 2 of us. Not that we don't love the kids......but it's nice just to hang out! Doesn't happen very often anymore.

Tonight was low-key - just the way we like it. Take out in our jammies. Perfect! Hope it never changes.

Bad Weekend

We had an awful weekend. :-( Carson had his first "big" fever. Miss Kathy told me last Wednesday that several people (kids and teachers) were sick w/ fevers, etc. Since Carson wasn't feeling hot the weekend before (slight fever and bad cough), I thought that maybe that was all he'd get of this "round" of sickness. Uh.....no. He woke up Saturday morning and just wasn't himself. He just wanted me to hold him. He felt a bit warm so I took his temp. 100.2. No big deal. He went down for his morning nap as usual but woke up only 30 minutes later screaming. I took his temp again and it was 98.6. He just wasn't acting right though so we went to lie down on the couch together. He just kept whimpering and twitching. It was starting to freak me out. Then he broke out in goosebumps from head to toe and started shivering.

My mom's a nurse (thank God) so I called her immediately. She said that chills usually indicate fever and to expect a spike. Well no kidding! 45 minutes later, he was at 103.1! I freaked out watching the digital thermometer climb. Of course, I immediately called mom back! So began the weekend of Tylenol, Motrin, baths, cold washcloths and lots and lots of cuddling!

That day his fever went up and down all day, finally reaching 103.7. He literally was bright red and hot to the touch at times. I called the after hours peds line and they reassured me that we were doing all the right things and not to panic unless it got to 104. I was worried to put him down to sleep that night so we kept him out in the living room and slept next to the pack n play. Or tried to. He only slept for about an hour on his own and then he wouldn't let me put him down. So I held him all night. It's just awful to watch your child miserable like that! At the same time, it's nice to be able to hold and hug and comfort. I won't lie - it's a great feeling to have them reach up to you and have them stop crying the moment you pick them up. :-)

Anyway, thought we were doing well Sunday. He woke up and his temp was right around 100. Stayed there for most of the day. He was up and playing normally. We noticed he felt really warm. And then, all of a sudden, he was burning up again. We checked his temp and it had spiked to 104.4! OMG. Okay....the nurse said not to panic unless it reached....104. MOM! Again, love that my mom is a nurse! She convinced me not to panic and we gave him a double-dose of Motrin. That brought it down fairly quickly, even though it stayed between 102 and 103 the remainder of the night.

Daddy stayed home with him today and we went in to see the doctor. He has an ear infection in his right ear. :-( No wonder he felt so horrible. Antibiotics to the rescue! He's still running a slight fever tonight but hopefully we'll be fever free and back to school tomorrow! I'm relieved to know it's at least something we can treat!

So, long story short, we survived our first major fever. I was proud of myself that I didn't panic too much :-) and we were able to get through it. Poor baby though! I'm sure it's the first of many. It's just that getting all of these "firsts" under our belt.......kind of hard and scary. And exhausting. :-) But hopefully we're all on the mend now.

Black Eye

Well, he came home with a black eye this time. Daycare's apparently a dangerous place! Miss Molly did call to warn me at least so I wouldn't freak out. I guess the little man took off walking with one of the walkers and tripped. He fell and gave himself a pretty good lump by his eye. I guess he hit the metal leg of the big table and then kind of flipped over it. :-( It's been getting darker and more swollen as the night goes on. Doesn't seem to bother him at all though. He did let Daddy put some ice on it. First "shiner"!

11 Months!

Carson's 11 mos. old today! He's becoming more of a little boy every day! He's now taking about 5 steps at a time before going down. He's pretty fearless. He stands up and just takes off like he completely knows how to walk. He always seems a bit surprised when he goes down. :-) I'm sure we'll be chasing him around the house in no time. We tried shoes on for the first time this weekend. It was pretty hysterical. He couldn't crawl or anything. We tried to help him walk around and he just kicked out each foot as he stepped. He just couldn't figure out what those "things" on his feet were but they were definitely getting in his way! We'll have to keep practicing.

He's learned how to give kisses. I love them! Those big, sloppy, open mouth kisses that only a parent could love. :-) (Even though thanks to those kisses, the whole house has a lovely cold. Totally worth it though!) He's the sweetest boy. He likes to cuddle and he's good at sharing (so far). And he's funny. He'll be playing and just stop and smile and start waving at us, and it just cracks us up. His new thing the past few week is to throw his head back and laugh. I have caught myself doing that around him a lot so I'm guessing that's where he picked it up. It makes us laugh so hard. He's getting very good at imitating what we do, so we'll have to keep that in mind. :-) It's just a total blast watching his personality develop.

Here are some pics from this week:


New shoes!

Elephant!

First Steps!

Carson took his first step on his own last night (8/16/10)! And I missed it! But Daddy was there! I have to admit, I almost didn't believe him. :-) Or maybe I didn't want to believe him. But then tonight, he did it again with Daddy! And I missed it AGAIN! (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is very distracting!) So Daddy put him over by me and said "walk to Mommy"! And there he went - 3 steps into my arms! We were so excited! Lots of cheering and clapping. He looked very proud of himself! I haven't been eager to have him start walking, but it was so exciting. And so cute! I know we're in for a lot of fun in the coming months!

Tonight was also a big step in that Carson ate a full meal with us! He had some of his "baby" bananas but the rest of his dinner was the same as ours - chicken, cheese and rice casserole and green beans! It's just so fun to watch him grow up!

Play Date!

We had a play date this morning with our friend Evan (and Logan too!). We've been friends with Brad and Laura for years and Laura and I were pregnant at the same time with the boys. Evan's 12 days older than Carson. And Evan now goes to Carson's daycare too! (He's actually the likely "offender" from the previous post, but he's our friend, so we'll forgive him).

We've been wanting to get them together forever and finally had a chance today! It was nice to see them and have the boys play for a while. :-)

We had doughnuts for breakfast! (after our healthy baby food of course)
Most of it ended up on poor Laura's floor.

They boys have certainly changed a lot! This was their very first (and actually last) play date when they were 8 and 20 days old, respectively!!

First "Assault"

Carson got sent home with another "Bumps and Bruises" report today. :-( He got bit by another baby. They noted that he was playing alone with a toy when another baby decided that they wanted it and bit him. He's got a decent bruise on his arm. Lucas joked that he was going to be taking dental impressions of all of the babies and he would then be biting the "offending" baby on the arm. :-) Based on the bruise, we're looking for a baby with both top and bottom teeth. Haha. We're entering the biting stage I guess, so I'm sure it won't be the last time. :-( A little extra TLC though and he was fine!

First Big Boy Bath!

On Sunday, Carson and Daddy made their first pillow fort. :-)


And then Sunday night, he had his first big boy bath! We've still been using his whale bath (in the big bath), but he's clearly outgrowing it. :-) It was time to move officially to the big tub. He loved the extra room to splash around and play. But he did learn that you shouldn't stand up - after several times of standing and mommy putting him back down, he finally slipped and hit his head/face. He wasn't hurt - it just scared him. Bath time over. :-)

Family reunion

We had our first annual family cookout at Miller Park in Bloomington this past weekend (8/7). It was the first time all of us (my dad's side) have been able to get together in a long time! We missed everyone who couldn't make it, but all but 3 of the cousins (out of 11) were able to come so it was a pretty good turnout! It was really nice to see everyone and all of their families. And it was the first time Carson got to meet anyone on my dad's side!! He was so good! He didn't mind being passed around at all. My cousin's daughter was especially wonderful with him!

Cousin Kaci organized the get-together

All of my cousins
We ate and then most of the group headed over to the zoo. Carson, as usual, seemed to enjoy watching the people more than the animals. They have a petting zoo there. I wondered how he would do - he loves "petting" Emma! But he was less than interested in touching any of the animals. :-)



The kids all loved the big tortoise though and Carson finally cracked a smile. The kid is tough sometimes! He's always so serious and just watches everything. I swear he smiles all the time at home! :-)


Carson and his new buddy Luisa

Luisa took Carson over to the swings and he got to swing for the first time!! I think I was more excited than he was. I've been meaning to take him to the park forever now and it seems like every weekend just gets away from us. I was glad we finally got to do it. He seemed to really like it!






(Can't figure out how to get the video to turn......oh well).

Last week

We had a big week last week (week of 7/26 - I'm a little slow in finishing and posting!!). We finally got new carpet! Woo hoo! We've been complaining for years about our horrible dingy carpet. No matter how many times we get it cleaned, it looks awful. It was that pale cheap carpet that went into all of the houses on the street when they were built. And over the years, areas were used as Emma's personal potty area. Although, in her defense, most were accidents associated with her seizures (which thankfully seem to be gone!) But anyway, the stains just wouldn't go away completely. So, we've finally replaced it with new cheap carpet. Haha! I think I was in denial with the whole process. I knew that we'd have to move all over our furniture......but I just don't think I really realized just how much work that would be!! Lucas spent time over a couple weeks moving all of the "little" stuff. And then we spent the weekend moving everything else. Everything. It seriously was like moving. But now, it's over and done with and I love it! It's darker so it will hopefully hide the stains from both children! And it's fluffier which is nice with Carson crawling everywhere and us being on the floor with him (we're getting old, you know). I think the whole family is happy with it. And everything feels so CLEAN! I loved having completely empty rooms to clean! And Carson loved empty rooms (and closets!) to crawl around in. He played for 20 minutes straight in his closet. Had us cracking up. I would post before and after pics of the carpet, but seriously, they're just too embarrassing.

Carson in his closet

They finished pretty quickly and we were able to get all of our furniture back by Thursday night We only had to sleep in the basement for one night. Carson slept like a champ though. He couldn't have cared less - he slept all night! Lucas and I, on the other hand, were very grateful for our bed back. Anyway, the big stuff is back and I can take my time moving the little stuff back in over time. I'm trying to take it as an opportunity to de-clutter! I'm a horrible pack-rat. But I think I'm really ready to get rid of stuff that we just don't need. I hate looking around and seeing crap everywhere! Especially now with all of his toys. And Emma's toys.......ugh. Since I can't get rids of the kids' stuff, I will get rid of ours. :-)

I shouldn't even waste time typing about how the air went out on the 30th as I was trying to get things back in order.........I HATE being hot........but fingers crossed, it was recharged that night and is hanging in there until we can get the coil replaced. Please, please hang in there air........ :-)

Anyway, this is supposed to be about Carson - not carpet and air conditioning. :-) Carson was awesome through the whole ordeal though, as usual. He is so laid back and just pretty awesome in general. We're awfully lucky.

But Carson had a big week too. He ended up with pink eye for what seems like the 10th time (and again this week (8/4) - yay!). So endless eye drops for him. He was pretty grumpy those first couple days, but doing better now. And he's been working on standing. He did so well this weekend (7/30). He's standing for longer periods on his own. And he finally figured out how to clap!! It's so adorable! He claps with one palm to the outside of the other hand. I love it. He's also waving like crazy! Both hands at the same time. Super cute. And he's learned how to "gimme 5". He laughs and laughs when he does it. I'll try to get video some time. So much fun to watch him figure out new things!

Just like Mommy

Well....Carson is just like Mommy in his love of......CAKE! It was Lydia's 1st birthday last week (well....the 23rd) and Miss Molly (her mom) brought in little cupcakes for the class on Monday (7/26). I debated whether he should have it or not....I always wonder if he should have various things or not before he turns one....like it's this magical date or something. So I decided to be laid-back (for once! haha) and let the boy eat his cake!! And sure enough....he loved it. He let Mommy sneak a bite too. ;) I yelled for Lucas to grab the camera - we didn't get great shots, but Carson face was hysterical - you'll just have to take my word. ;) As soon as he had that first bite, his mouth was open as wide as possible for the next one. Cutest thing.