Carson is 2 months old!

To celebrate Carson's two-month birthday, we took him to watch the finish of his first professional bike race, the Tour de Georgia. We saw George Hincampe, Lance's former teammate come in second in today's stage. We parked in Mike's parking garage and walked over to finished at Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta.
Collin really enjoyed watching the bikes go by but crashed on the way home since he stayed up too late last night at a friend's house while we were at our neighborhood's progressive dinner. Carson went with us and everyone got to see how good of a baby he is. He was awake through appetizers and most of dinner and deserts at the clubhouse but stayed in his seat most of the time greeting many of our neighbors with smiles.

Carson has had a few more nights where he's slept all night (11 to 6), which is very nice of him. Still, the once a night waking isn't too bad since he's so close to us and I barely wake up to feed him. I thought life would change much more than it has - so far we haven't let having a newborn slow us down too much. I'm sure once he's crawling or needing to sleep in his own crib things will change, but until then we're enjoying being on the go as usual. Last week we went to the car show as a family, and during the week we're still running and errand or two after Collin's school and playground time. Carson has days where he's awake much more, but other days he still sleeps a lot. He is definately more alert and following sounds well. We're looking forward to his two-month doctors appointment to find out how much he weighs.

Spring Break

It's kinda funny to think preschoolers have a Spring Break but it's was good preview of summer not having anywhere we had to be so we decided to make the most of it. Monday we did our usual Monday morning run and playground visit with our friends Annabel and her mom Melinda. Tuesday we went to the zoo with our new friends Alex and his baby brother Bo (and mom Erika). Bo is just three days younger than Carson. Wednesday we enjoyed a walk and lunch with our friends Katie, Shelby (and mom Kim), went to the park and made some deliveries. Thursday we took a big trip south to Callaway Gardens with our friends Cameron and Conner (and mom Stephanie). Here's a picture of Cameron, Collin, Conner and Carson (lots of "Cs"!) in the Callaway sign outside the Butterfly House. The Azaleas were beautiful but the boys probably enjoyed the boat taxi the most. Friday we were able to meet with some friends from church who had a baby a few weeks before Carson was born. The week flew by quickly and it was fun to catch up with friends that have opposite school days as Collin. We had a great week visiting with friends and enjoying the beautiful spring weather and flowers!

Six weeks

It's hard to believe how big our little baby is getting - he graduated from "Newborn" to size "1" diapers around 1-month, and now he has already grown out of several of his 0-3 month outfits which is sad. He doesn't even seem like a newborn baby to us, probably because of his hair and size. His head is still wobbly, but he's beginning to be able to pick it up and hold it for short stretches of time. Carson actually enjoys being on his belly sometimes, so we try to get in tummy time as much as we can, but a lot of the time he's in his car seat or bouncy seat, and we just got out the swing this week.

He does still sleep much of the day, but we've had a few days where he's decided to be awake, and a few evenings where we've needed to hold him. I read somewhere that an average 6-week-old baby cries for 4 hours a day, and collicy babies cry 6 hours a day. Wow- we do have it good! The amount of time Carson cries is directly proportional to the number of times I change his diaper a day and the speed that I respond to his hunger cries, since usually the only time he cries is if his diaper is off or if he's hungry - usually a total of only about 10-15 minutes a day.

Most days Carson wakes up when we do (I usually put him in his bouncy seat while I eat my grapefruit and then feed him), then he's awake while I'm getting lunches and Collin ready in the morning, falls asleep on the way taking Collin to school around 9:30 AM. Dependng on my morning he usually sleeps in his carset while I do a facial or get something done until I wake him for lunch around noon before I have to pick up Collin. He continues to sleep until 3 or so and sometimes stays awake for an hour or so and other times goes back to sleep until 5ish. He's up most of the evening - here's a picture of the boys after Collin's bedtime around 10 PM when Carson is wide awake. I feed Carson before I go to bed around 11:30 or midnight and then put him in the pack & play next to our bed. He wakes around 3:30 AM and then 6ish. One day I'll get brave and put him to sleep in his own room to see if he'll sleep even better (Collin was in his crib the 2nd night home from the hospital). He did actually sleep through the night once (midnight- 6 AM) at 5 weeks old, on March 31st.

We haven't taken as many pictures lately because he's got a bit of baby acne but he's still super cute as you can see. We're often treated as celebraties when walking through places with everyone gawking and commenting on his hair, asking how old he is and how they've never before seen a baby with so much hair. Apparently an old wives tale says that when the mom has heartburn during her pregnancy, the baby will have hair. While I don't normally believe such tales, it is ironic that heartburn was one of my only symptoms of pregnancy and both my boys were born with a full head of hair.

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.