Carson is 1 month old!

Carson is 9 1/2 pounds and is in the 90th percentile in height at 23 inches, and that's not counting the two inches of hair that is usually standing straight up.

It's hard to believe a month has flown by...this is supposed to be the sleepless, hard phase with few rewards for the amount of work but it's actually be quite great. It seems to be different the second time, especially with a baby as good as Carson and as much family as we've had visit. This month has been pretty great overall, with a few minor difficulties this past week.

We're so happy not to have to put Carson in daycare and we hoped to avoid the illnesses we had with Collin but we're not off to a great start, since Collin seems to have brought a cold home from preschool for the whole family. Collin & Mike had it first, then Carson and I got it Easter weekend. It wasn't too fun to be sick on my birthday when I wanted to have fun with all the family here, but it didn't stop me too much. The hardest part was watching a 4-week old sneeze and be stuffed up. We still have some stuffiness, but it wasn't too bad. The other unfortunate thing that worsened this week was my wrist aching. Apparently "baby wrist" or de Quervain's syndrome. It's mostly an overuse syndrome so I'm trying to modify how I do things and I'm hoping it will not last long.

Other than that, things are GREAT. I'm finding it so much more fun to be a mom the second time. Partly since Collin is enjoying Carson and entertains and helps me when I'm taking care of him, and partly being more relaxed and confident knowing what to do. Of course, Carson's temperament and sleeping habits helps also. We just hope this continues!

Easter and Our Birthdays!

We had a full household to celebrate Easter and our birthdays this year. It was a little hectic to have 5 kids under the age of 3 1/2 and a low ratio of healthy, non-injured adults : kids but, it was WONDERFUL to have both Mike's sisters and their whole families here!

Collin was thrilled to have all of his & Carson's girl cousins here for an Easter Egg Hunt Easter morning. Our company wasn't here long - they were on their way down to Jupiter, FL to watch the Cardinals at Spring Training. Good Friday we got some pictures taken and had our annual Egg Hunt in the neighborhood and family arrived 1 AM that night. Saturday we mostly stayed around the house and played/visited. We decorated Easter Eggs and then went out for pizza for dinner.

On Sunday we somehow managed to all get out of the house by 9 in time for 10 AM church. We got to church by 9:20 to be able to all sit together and the kids were VERY well behaved. We came home, found the baskets the Easter bunny left for the kids and then hunted for eggs among the daffodils in the front yard. We had ham and Easter Eggs for lunch, the girls took a nap and then we had lasagna and Birthday cake for dinner. Our family left Easter night for a long overnight drive to Florida. A lot to celebrate in one day, but it will be another 160 years before Easter falls on our birthday again so we enjoyed the once in a lifetime event.

I'm not sure if Collin understands that it's weird to sing "Happy Birthday" to mom & dad on the same day yet. We were happy at his response when we asked Collin what Easter was about, thinking he would mention something about the Easter Bunny or eggs or chocolate, but instead replied "Jesus died on the cross and rose again!".

Week 3

Carson is still a GREAT baby, but this week he had a few fussy times in the early evening (what newborn doesn't?). He is so super-sweet and Collin continues to be an excellent big brother, interested in helping to change his diaper and always giving him kisses. Before Carson was born I cherished the moments when it was just me and Collin and he would talk to "Poppycorn" in my belly. For some reason I didn't think I would be able to enjoy one-on-one time with Collin or would be sad that it wouldn't be just the two of us when I read him books and sing him songs at bedtime. The one time I didn't have Carson with me when reading to him because he was resting in his crib I had to go get him because Collin wanted his little brother to hear the stories too. I know this might not stay this way forever...Everything with kids is so gradual, then you look back and can't believe how quickly things have changed.

Carson sleeps most of the day still when I'm on the go, and usually wakes late afternoon and has some good alert awake time. He usually watches us eat dinner from his bouncy seat and then hopefully falls asleep while I'm reading to Collin (sometimes he's fussy by this time). I wake him to feed him before I go to bed and he usually sleeps until 3 AM!! He wakes up once to eat and sometimes I have a hard time putting him back in his pack & play but he's not usually up long, and then sleeps until 6 AM or sometimes through breakfast. The doctor wanted him to eat more frequently (2 vs. 3 hrs) during the day in hopes that he'd sleep more at night, but that didn't work too well for us. He wasn't hungry and I was stressed about having to feed him more, so we're back to 3 or 4 hours and doing much better. I really can't complain about my sleep for having a newborn so we'll stick with this assuming he's gaining the appropriate weight at our 1 month checkup next week. It's hard to believe it's almost been a month!

Two weeks old

Carson is two weeks old today and such a sweet baby! I didn't know God made babies this good, but I sure am thankful I have one and I am hoping it lasts!! We went to the doctor today for his two-week appointment and he weighed in at 9 pounds 2 oz, so he'll obviously a good eater. Still very long and lean so while I don't need to wake him to eat at night (yippee) I am to let him eat more during the day, which I know he'll be happy about. Mike's parents were here from Monday through Sunday so I was hesitant to brag too soon about Carson's temperament, since Doris (grandma) has a magic touch with babies. But since I've been alone since Sunday (Mike had to leave Sunday also for a work conference in Las Vegas), I am confident to say that it's definitely easier the second time around, and especially if you get lucky to have a baby that's not fussy most of the time they're awake (like Collin was). We've enjoyed our week of getting together with friends and being able to sleep in during the mornings and have appreciated all the offers and assistance from friends.

Also, it makes all the difference in the world when you can actually get sleep a night, a rarity for mom's of newborns but Carson usually only wakes once a night now, and usually has a good stretch of 4-5 hours. He still sleeps in his car seat for part of the night, but whatever works! I also love that he has a good awake time in the late afternoons/early evenings where he is alert and content.
Bill & Doris were so much help during their visit. I was really getting used to having helpers here and enjoyed every minute of it. Bill got busy on Mike's "Dad To Do" list soon after he arrived, and then Mike took Thurs & Fri off so they could re-tile the back foyer area. It looks great, but I am looking forward to being able to have the use of my washer and dryer again soon.

We don't have as many pictures of Carson for the second week of life since he had an eye infection for a good part of it. Luckily it's better now, because it wasn't fun having to put medicine in a newborn's eye (I was thankful to have Mike's mom, a nurse, to assist since this isn't Mike's forte).

Collin is still a GREAT big brother and wants to show him off to all his friends and loves to help me take care of him. Carson is easy to love at this stage and I think we did enough warning him about how much babies cry that he is as pleasantly surprised as we are to have mostly a happy or sleeping baby.

Carson's Room

We chose an airplane theme for Carson's room - and I pieced things together from a number of different collections. It actually turned out pretty cute. Three walls are green, and the fourth I sponge-painted a "sky" blue on top. Mom & I made some curtains and my friend Raquel sent some cute wall hangings. We kept the guest bed in the room with a quilt Mike's Grandma made, thinking I would need to sleep in there for the first few weeks. That hasn't been needed, but it's always good to have extra beds for visitors.

The letters over his bed helped Collin guess his baby brother's name the morning before I was induced. We had prepared him that Poppycorn's name would be different after he was born and told him after we hung the letters that if he could read he would know his brother's name. He knew "C" and since "Cars" is his favorite movie now and his friend from school has a brother named Carson he was able to guess the name with just a little assistance. When he found out the name he was so excited and said, "Carson - just like Jacob's brother...Carson, Carson, same same!" We told him it was a secret (a concept he doesn't really understand). We told him he could tell Jacob & his mom but no one else. My mom had guessed the name in November with minimal clues, but she CAN keep a secret and hadn't even told my dad. When we picked Papa up from his flight, he asked Collin if he was excited that he was going to be a big brother soon, and Collin replied, "Yeah, his name is Carson." So, bottom line, if you have something you don't want others to know, you might not want to tell a three-year-old.

1st Week

It was so great to have Mom & Dad here before, during, & after the birth - they were such a big help with Collin and around the house! Mom & I got curtains made for Carson's room and various other tasks. After I returned from the hospital dad cooked me my favorite breakfasts (pancakes & omlets) and I was treated like a queen.

We mostly stayed around the house, but we did go to the park on Saturday for Collin to play soccer and fly a kite, then all went to eat on the way to take them to the airport on Sunday.

Sunday Mike's business partner (Bill) & his wife came by on our day between family visitors. After dinner we gave Carson his first bath! I think he looks older than a 4-day old in this picture.

Monday was my first dose of being a mom of two and it went relatively smoothly. Our friends Paige, Riley & Nancy Claire came over to play.

That evening Mike's parents came so I'm getting spoiled by another week of visitor helpers! I'm sure reality will set in next week when we're alone, but until them I'm enjoying all the assistance.