2nd Day of Life

Carson & I spent February 28th recovering in the hospital and bonding with each other. Mike came by on his way to a lunch meeting unfortunately the time that Carson was stolen away for his Circ. Collin went to school as a proud big brother telling EVERYONE his great news about his baby brother. My parents brought Collin by to visit after school was over and went home for naps and dinner. Mike returned with Collin for our first family of four time together.

Carson has BEAUTIFUL, LONG dark brown hair with blond highlights that many women spend a lot of money for at the salon. When Collin was born we would get comments like, "I don't ever remember my child being that little" (he was 7 lbs, 3 oz he wasn't THAT tiny). With Carson everyone's first comment is "Look at that hair!". Even the nurses in the hospital were surprised and sometimes said they'd not seen a baby with that much hair. If he was older he'd definately be due for a hair cut since it extends past his collar and half way down his ears and he has sideburns. But since it's so soft and I love it, we won't be cutting anytime soon except for a scrapbook sample, since I'm sure it will fall out or turn blond in no time.

Welcome Baby Carson!!

Carson William Voegtle was born at 10:43 AM on Wednesday, February 27th (my actual due date) weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces and measuring 22 inches. He came into the world following a much quicker labor than his brother (15 minutes vs. 3 1/2 hours of pushing). As a result, we enjoyed several precious hours post birth of a surprisingly alert and content newborn that we didn't have the chance to experience with Collin. It was such a special time - we loved being able to hold him and enjoy him right away!

We were thrilled that both my parents could be at the hospital with Collin at the time of the birth and got to meet Carson while he had his cleanup and procedures done on the warming table.

After a few hours I was transferred to a temporary room since the hosptial didn't have any post-partum rooms available. With an average of 50 births a day, Northside Hospital is the busiest L&D, with Parkland in Dallas a close second (though different demographics). The family went home so we could nap and returned after dinner soon after I got settled in my recovery room.

Collin has been as good and excited new brother as I hoped! He wants to hold and kiss him and wants to help his mom. When we asked Collin what his favoite part of the hospital was, he answered "Meeting Carson" - a great response for a 3 1/2 year old! I thought it might have been something like going to hte kitchen to pick out apple juice or sharing mom's desert, but he's been pretty mature through this whole process.

We thought it might be hard for Collin to adopt a new name, but he's really taken to the name Carson, and tells us "Poppycorn" is just what he called him while he was in mommy's belly.

February 2008

February is almost over and no baby yet. It's quite surprising, since I've felt like it could be any day for weeks now. Collin was born at 38 weeks and my due date is 2/27, just a few days away. While it's been quite nice to have the family time together and quiet to get some things done on the ever-ending to-do, I feel like I'm ready for him to be here. Each weekend we've done some fun things together, enjoying our independence.

Last Saturday (at 39 weeks) we went on a hike at Sope Creek, which is closer to us than any grocery store or gas station.

The Saturday before, we went to the zoo, and Collin enjoyed their new playground.

Probably the best thing has been watching Collin bonding with his baby brother in my belly. He loves to talk to Poppycorn and tells him all the things they are to do together when he gets older. One somewhat amusing thing of this stage is Collin always wanting to have some possession with him. For weeks after Christmas it was ALL of his Cars movie Cars and Mac, but now it's pretty much a new gadget or toy each day- many times very random items. The other day it was a hole punch he wanted to take everywhere - and we got some strange looks at the park. While I'm very excited for Poppycorn's arrival, I have really enjoyed being able to give Collin my full attention for the last 3 1/2 years. I feel like great timing since he is SO into his friends, he wants to help us with everything, and he is very excited to be a big brother. Only time will tell how he will handle the big adjustment!

Getting Ready for Poppycorn

With a first baby, decorating the baby room tends to be a high priority and is done well in advance of the baby's anticipated arrival. Not as much with the second. With my school semester and Christmas, we didn't really focus on his room until 2008. I had originally chosen a gender-neutral theme (animals) for the first child so I could use it again, but Collin had animals in his room for almost 3 years that it was so him, and I needed to find something else. For Poppycorn I decided to go with an airplane theme and have pieced together.

We began painting on Superbowl weekend, and Collin really enjoyed helping. Three walls are green and the other is sponge-painted blue on top. We'll show more pictures of the AIRPLANES when we get it complete.

Snow Day Saturday

For the next 3 entries, please click on the pictures to see more.

After such warm weather the day before, it snowed for the 2nd time this week! It was the best kind of snow because it was wet enough to stick to all the trees and make good snowmen and snowballs, but melted when it hit the streets.

It began snowing around 9 AM and didn't stop until almost 3 PM. We went to the Bee Movie after lunch to let it accumulate some, and then came back to play in the snow and make a snowman. Dad, Mom & Collin had lots of fun playing then came inside to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and watch the end of the awesome tennis match - Collin's favorite player (Federer) win 9-7 in the 5th set.

Carpe Diem!

It was Friday and Collin didn't have school today nor did we have any specific plans. The weather was actually quite pleasant (45 degrees and sunny) and I'd heard the weekend predictions of sleet/snow and cold so we decided to enjoy the day outdoors. We called our friends Carter & Amanda to see if they wanted to hike with us at the Sope Creek, part of the Chattahooche National Forest and less than 2 miles from our house. They did, so we enjoyed a nice hike in the woods and a picnic by the lake.



After going to a Power Yoga class we headed down to the zoo since we're members and we probably only have a few more weeks before we have an infant with us and such spontaneity won't be as easy. It was GREAT to be at the zoo in January! There were more animals than people and we were often the only people at each exhibit. The lion who is usually sleeping was roaring and pacing to try to keep warm. Collin's favorite is still the elephants. We rode the merry-go-round AND the train and enjoyed the new playground. It was quite a fun Friday!!

Mike in Rotary Club and Collin's 1st Snow

We had an early start to the day because we attended Mike's induction to the Rotary Club - a meeting he goes to each Wednesday morning at 7 AM. I'm not sure when Collin (or I for that matter) had last been out of the house BEFORE dark - he certainly didn't remember it. It's a nice group and not too far to drive. Collin was excited to get to go and told everyone all day that he went to a daddy's meeting and that they had Orange Juice there! The things that impress 3-year-olds are quite funny.

While he was at school I went to my new Bible Study and then after I picked him up we went to my 34-week doctor's appointment. I had some deliveries to make and it began snowing on the way home as the weather people predicted. When Collin woke from his nap there was almost 1/2 inch on the ground and it was still snowing. The first thing he said when he woke and I told him it was snowing was "Is Santa coming?"

We got dressed and we went out to build his first SNOWMAN! As you can see there wasn't a lot of snow, but it was great to see him excited. Unfortunately it took Mike over 2 hours to get home in the weather so he missed the fun but were able to enjoy snow again on Saturday!