Church Christmas Party/ St. Nick’s Day

Our church Christmas party was held on St. Nick’s day this year, which was pretty cool and made for an extra special Saturday. St. Nick didn’t forget us this year – Mike and I both got Hallmark ornaments as tradition holds and the boys each got Advent Calendars and Collin got a manger book too.

Our church party is lots of fun…Santa sings, plays guitar and tells stories! Many of you may not know that Santa is such an accomplished musician, but his singing is very good and Collin and Carson both enjoyed it. How cute is Carson looking at Santa in amazement, trying to figure how what he was.
It was a pretty cold day/evening, but Santa was also scheduled to be at East Cobb Park that evening for the Christmas tree lighting. It was nothing for Santa as he is used to much colder at the North Pole, but cold for us in the south. Regardless, I chose to take the boys to the park with some neighborhood friends (Kim & Colleen and kiddos) while Mike attended his Rotary Club Christmas party. Mike enjoyed a gourmet catered meal and black tie event while I ate some of a cold hot dog in jeans and a sweatshirt. I was happy to be with the boys and friends and figured we had quite a few babysitter nights in December for various holiday parties, where we had to go late so I could put Carson to bed myself. Next year I should probably attend his fancy party, but I got a pass with the baby this year

Carson is 9 Months

Carson’s 9 month birthday was the same as Thanksgiving this year which is pretty special. I can’t even begin to mention everything we’re thankful for this year, but we’d probably top the list with having a healthy well-mannered baby and our health and that of our families.
The biggest change in Carson this month (particularly over the last two weeks), has been the onset of some major stranger anxiety. He’s always been a mommy’s boy and prefers me to anyone else, but he used to go to new people very easily. He will still smile at others, but if he has any sense that I might be leaving or that he might be passed off he gets very nervous and grabs on to me tightly. His wrists move vigorously as another sign of nervousness or excitement. This month was also more difficult because we all were a little sick, with a bad cough and stuffiness. Carson was waking much of the night and wanted to be held a lot of the day.

Carson still will not take a bottle (I’ve given up), but he drinks from a sippy cup pretty well, usually just water with meals. He has a good appetite and eats quite a bit of real food – cereal with applesauce in the morning, lots of crackers any time he’s in his high chair, and vegetables and cereal for dinner. He gets more table food than Collin did at this age, and his favorite is French Fries…he IS Mike’s son too, despite of his physical resemblance to me!

Carson really enjoys music, and likes to play with instruments, banging on his toy xylophone or tambourine. Collin has been trying to teach him how to play “Hot Cross Buns”. He loves to clap to the music and seems to react more to songs he likes when we’re driving. He also enjoys throwing objects on the floor to watch mommy pick them up.

He’s still happy sitting and not moving. He will occasionally scoot and pull himself to something he’s interested in but doesn’t seem to have much interest in crawling. I think God is waiting for my school to be over (only a few weeks left - yippee!!) before life gets more difficult.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in St. Louis this year, since we made a switch to be with my family (& Rob, Kristen & Owen) in Dallas last year. We had turkey dinner at Mike’s Aunt Sharon’s house with the full gang, Carson’s was the THIRD youngest baby boy in the family on his 1st Thanksgiving! His cousin Drew is three months old, and Mike’s cousin Marcie had a baby boy Louie just a month ago. The family is growing fast, as the last time we were here for Thanksgiving Collin was the only child, and Karen was pregnant with Sophie. Now between Mike & his two sisters, there are six kids under 4 ½ with another on the way this spring...it’s nice that all the cousins are close in age.

The day after Thanksgiving we attended the Belleville Santa Claus parade, with bands, and candy thrown, and you know who. It was a little chilly, but the kids had a blast. Friday night we had Grandma watch the boys and went out with just the adults siblings – a welcome rteat. Saturday we went to St. Louis after Carson’s nap and picked up MY Grandma and took her over to my Uncle Charles' house for a nice lunch, then my cousin Caitlin’s to visit. My grandma did great getting around and I was so happy to be able to have her out and about and spend time together, especially since she fell and broke her hip just a few days later. We are all praying for her continued improvement in physical therapy so she can be released from the hospital and hopefully go back to her Independent Living home.

We also were in town to celebrate our nephew Drew’s baptism on Sunday, and we are the proud Godparents! It made for a late arrival into Atlanta (2 AM) to stay for the party at Laura & Tim’s, but definitely worth it, and we’re sure the traffic on 75 was a lot lighter in the middle of the night than it would have been earlier on a busy holiday travel day.

Fall 2008

This fall seemed to require a little more coordinating than other years. The transition from one to two kids was easier in some ways, partially because Carson has been such a good baby. However, making time for the things I needed to get done with a baby who needs to nap, a preschooler who no longer naps was sometimes a challenge. I think God knew what he was doing by delaying my graduation until this fall even though I was so set on finishing before the baby arrived. Having my Program Evaluation course to focus on after I took Collin to school encouraged me to come straight back home to get Carson down for his nap and work on my school. There was definitely some stress associated with being enrolled in four hours of graduate work but I really enjoyed working with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on the Fit Kids program and having something academic to focus on.

I added several new Mary Kay teammates this semester, despite not spending a lot of time on my Mary Kay business. Having these sharp women on my team encouraged me to stay involved with Mary Kay, and I even did my annual Holiday Open House (with mom’s help while Mike was in Korea) for my customers.

We enjoyed watching Collin playing soccer, but weekends were definitely more busy this year as Mike also played on an ALTA tennis team most Saturdays. Collin and I both appreciated him be able to play more independently for “playdates” which we did at least once a week in the afternoons. Wednesday afternoons were soccer practice at 4 PM and then meeting friends at the “concert park”. We still made time to go to the ZOO with friends and the Children’s Museum during the week, and take trips to Phillidelphia and St. Louis to visit family.

We love the beauty of Atlanta's fall colors, and despite the dumping of leaves from our many fall trees, enjoy running around our natural yard with Collin. I am very excited to be done with school, and have more time for the boys, Mary Kay. other interests!

Halloween

This Halloween was a little different from others because we were in Philadelphia for Mike’s cousin Joe’s wedding. Collin was very excited to be with his cousins for Halloween, but he did ask a number of times, “What about my friends” as we prepared him for the trip, explaining that we were traveling for Halloween instead of our normal neighborhood parade. We got to go Trick-or-Treating in a beautiful neighborhood in NJ where the bride (Donna’s) parents hosted a very nice party in lieu of a rehearsal dinner. Collin dressed as Darth Vader as you can see and Carson was a bear. It was very special to be able to trick or treat with all the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Philadelphia

Since the Voegtle clan was all traveling to New Jersey for Joe’s wedding, we decided to make a trip out of it and stay a few extra days to see the city and visit with everyone. Mike has made numerous trips to Philly for work, but this was my first time. On Thursday we traveled into the city with Bill & Doris to see the historic sites, including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. But the first priority was to get Philly Cheese Steaks from Pat’s per Mike’s recommendation. Normally I would love the opportunity to each lunch outside, but it was pretty cold! We met up with Karen, Greg & the girls for a nice dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. The Philly’s won the World Series that night, so even though we just watched the game from the hotel room, it was kinda neat to be there.

Friday was Halloween and we decided to take the kids into the Children’s Museum, which had been recently moved into a beautiful historic building built for one of the first World’s Fairs in the US. The kids loved it of course. After lunch we drove over to a new hotel in New Jersey that was closer to the wedding. Here we met up with Tim & Laura and got to meet our nephew Drew for the first time. The wedding was very nice and the reception was at the same location, very convenient. Collin seemed to have fun dancing. He wanted to dance with his cousins, but Sophie just wanted to play “Ring Around the Roses”. He got a little frustrated and said, “No, real dancing”. He did fairly well through dinner considering his dad was sitting away from us at the head table. Sunday was our commute home, much longer than we planned due to airplane delays. Overall, a great trip and we are so happy for Joe & Donna!

Carson is 8 months

THIS is the best age – and he’s SUCH a happy baby! He smiles so much of the time, and flirts with anyone he sees. He’s DEFINITELY a momma’s boy…he gets very concerned about me leaving the room. One of the best things this month has been watching Carson bond more with daddy now that he’s so much more interactive. He gets excited when Mike comes home and is happy to see him, and may reach out for him to hold him, but then he wants to come right back to mommy.

Carson is sitting very well unsupported, and loves to flap is arms up and down. When Carson is nervous or excited he does a strange twisting motion with his wrists – usually several times a day. He still doesn’t like to be on his tummy but he does push himself up pretty well when he lets me put him on his stomach. He shows no interest in moving too much so I doubt he’ll be crawling any time soon which is fine with me…I doubt there’s any correlation between eventual athletic ability and the age of first crawling. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes straight to walking. He pulled himself up for the first time on Halloween, just a few days after his 8-month birthday when we were at the Children’s museum in Philadelphia.

We were able to expand his diet again after we got the constipation back in control. I didn’t realize I really had the perfect baby…happy almost all the time and I didn’t even have to change dirty diapers but once a week. We’re going through many more diapers now, which is normal. Carson eats much more adult food that Collin did at this age…he pretty much wants to eat everything we’re eating. One of our favorite snacks to eat together is crackers and hummus. We sit on the back porch and eat this together with his Bumbo seat on the table. He eats all his meals in his high chair now, since he barely fits in the Bumbo anymore. For breakfast he usually eats cereal and applesauce (or fruit), then vegetables and cereal for dinner plus some little table food, like pieces of bread or Cheerios. He loves to chew on apples or pears. He’s nursing much less and quicker…first thing in the morning when he wakes, then at 10 & 2 before naps & the at 8 before bedtime. He likes to snack on Melba toast which keeps him occupied pretty well – a great eater overall. He got his first two teeth (on the bottom) this month.

Carson enjoys watching his big brother and is easily entertained, laughing at almost anything, especially peak-a-boo or other such games. He still wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth, and wants to grab anything you’re holding, especially keys or pens. Carson is pushing himself up higher now, but still no signs of wanting to crawl as he only tolerates being on his tummy for a few minutes at a time. He just learned to clap which is really fun! He claps when he sees someone else clapping, or when he hears the “Happy and you know it” song.