November

We went to the Dallas Arboretum with my high school best friend, Madeline, to see the Chuhily glass exhibit. As you can see, it was nice and warm and Carson got to give us lots of cheesy smiles.

This just made my heart happy. I found him in his igloo tent, wearing a train conductor's hat, playing his piano...I just LOVE his budding imagination!

24/25 month favorites

-He says "eeps" instead of "oops" and it makes me giggle.
-He grabs our hands and says "a walk" and takes us on walks around the house. Most of the time his end goal is to look out of the peep hole on the front door. I think he really just likes to be in charge of us for a change.
-Daddy taught him that stinky diapers are called stink balls....I hear "nink ball" about 50 times a day!
-"I did it!" is what he says when he's proud of himself.
-He loves to help in the kitchen. Cooking with him is one of my greatest joys.
-But...my biggest joy, BY FAR, is that he has ended his several month boycott of rocking with me! He now requests to "wock" almost every night! Yay!
-I've started to sneak more veggies into some of his foods. So far this week he has had fruit/veggie juice, zucchini and squash muffins and carrot puree mac'n'cheese, which I named Sneaky Mac. Since he's being picky right now, I'm getting the veggies into him any way that I can.

2 Year Pics

Our sweet friend at Lacy Vargas Photography took some amazing family pics of us for Carson's 2nd birthday. We chose a train as the background because it is one of C's favorite things right now. What'cha think? She sure did do a good job of hiding the cranky toddler's attitude that evening!!

My privilege

Sometimes Carson wants sweet cuddles. He grabs my arm, wraps it around himself and snuggles up. What a privilege! Sometimes I still can't believe that I get to do this every day. I am so thankful for my precious son and God's provision.

2

How are we the parents of a 2 year old? It seams like just yesterday I was showing Ross the positive pregnancy test, a few days after that we were bringing home a sweet little baby boy and only a few days later we celebrated his first birthday. I know it sounds cliche, but where has the time gone?

As he grows, I have said that every stage has been my favorite. This one is no different. I love seeing his personality, his smarts, his humor, his independence, his friendliness, his desire to help, his love of people, his kindness, his boy-ness, his rough and tumble play, his sweet cuddles, his excitement for life, his like of repetition/consistency/order, and his deep-deep belly laughs.

Ooooooh, sweet boy. I love you more than you will ever know. I get sad to put you down at night and look forward to your waking (as long as it's after 9).

I love you. 

Our 2 year old has a plethora of words and phrases in his vocabulary. I'm writing them out for my reference and I'm sure I'll think of more later.
Names-Momma, Dada, Sarah (way-yah), Stephen (Bubba), Taylor (Tay-Tay), MiMi, Pop, NuNu, Dude (Ross' dad), Nathan (Nay-Nay), Austin (Au-in), Kennedy (NeeNee)
Phrases- bye-bye which means goodbye, let's leave and the name of his Cozy Coupe car, help, up (also meaning open), down, amen, yes (gah and yes), no, bite, more, please, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me, yes mam, yes sir, I'm sorry, mess, it's a mess, please
Things that go- airplane is still mine-a, trains are still choo-choo, bus, wee-o (fire truck), tractor, bike, car, truck, rocket
Colors- black, blue, yellow, orange, purple, red
Animals/sounds- meow, moo, chirp-chirp, neigh, elephant sound, baaaaa, barks, rawr, growls, duck, horse, bird, snake, bear, dog, cat, goat, fish, turtle
Food-  applejuice, milk, cheese, cracker, cheese, kiwi, ice, water, banana, blueberry,
Things- star, moon, mail,  tree, bath, mole, mom-mole (the mole on my chest), poopoo, bike, dada bike, eye, boo-boo, ear, nose, mouth, hair, night night, love you, dodo (motorcycle), baseball, ball,wow, wee, bubble, shoe, hat, baby, rock, book, draw, fork, bowl, shoe, brush

He desperately wants to do things on his own.

He has a wicked little rooster tail hair thing going on. 

He is still obsessed with planes, trains and automobiles.

He says, "thank you Momma" to most everyone, but he points to everything and says "Dada's."

His favorite phrase right now is "what's this?" I promise you he says it about 100 times a day and I love answering him because it is such an opportunity for learning and conversation.

He runs to greet Daddy every day and almost always asks to go see the "moos." We have some cows living in a field beside our neighborhood.

He waves to almost all cars, parked or moving.

Daddy taught him to say hello, which sounds like "hewwo."

He has a sense of humor!

I still insist that he wear footie pajamas because they make him look like a baby.

The swing is his favorite toy at the park. Weeeeee! Weeeeeee!!

He gives good "squeezes."

He loves to go check the mail, which he says with the sweetest little Carson twist.

His best friends are Nathan (Nay-Nay) and Austin (Au-in) and he asks to see them often. "Where Nay-Nay?"

He shares his snacks and drinks with Riley (Wi-yah) and Berkley (Be-Be).

Showers and baths are one of the highlights of his day. About 99% of the time, he showers with one of us and cracks up the whole time.

He runs up to our booties, puts his hands on them and jiggles, saying "booty-booty-booty-booty." We may need to think about adjusting this behavior.

He is not potty trained. He shows some interest and readiness, but we aren't quite there.

He still sucks his thumb because Mommy is a wuss and thinks it's too cute.

He doesn't look back when I drop him off at the church nursery.

Throwing his food is still a battle, but it is definitely getting better by teaching him that he can hand us what he is finished with.

We left him with my parents for 5 days while we went to California and apparently he didn't notice that we were gone.

He gets super excited about simple things and I find great joy in this. He says, "Ohhhhh woooooowwwwww!"

Screwed.

Here's the rundown. I'm being all domestic putting 20 lbs of chicken into individual sized ziploc baggies to freeze because I hit a great sale.(aka: I'm feeling pretty good about myself.)

Carson is playing in the playroom, just adjacent to the kitchen.

I get a wave of mommy intuition imposed you-better-go-check-on-baby.

And....he is chewing on a screw. YEP, A SCREW! A BIG FAT CHOKABLE SCREW! It had fallen out of the latch on the toy box and he was just-a chompin away! Talk about giving me a heart attack. Luckily he took it out of his mouth and handed it to me like, "look what I found!" I didn't even have time to reach for it...He was so proud to show me his treasure. Well, so much for the feeling good about myself thing! I have been shaken up all morning! You know, you think that your house is safe and that you have done all that you can to protect the little one. Guess not! Now I'm thinking about super gluing all screws into their place!

I'm usually a super calm, go with the flow, don't freak out about things in the mouth type of momma....But wowzer. Not this time....I don't think that he could have passed this on his own.

brainstorm

I don't know what my deal has been lately, but here's what's on my mind....It's 3 main things. 3 huge main things.

1- Dave Ramsey. Freakin Dave Ramsey. I finished reading Financial Peace University and we are now onto the implementation portion. If you have read the book or listened to his show, you know that this is no small feat. In fact, this alone could be consuming of my thoughts.

2- Total mommy freak out. I feel like I don't teach Carson enough. I think that this stems from my teacher background...I don't do lesson plans. I don't have set lecture/experiment/activities/etc. So, I totally went internet research crazy. (which for me is stupid because it always makes me feel inadequate and less than a good mommy) I mean, I am very intentional with how I talk to him. I describe things, point them out, we read, we talk, we play with friends, etc. I just feel like I could be doing more. I don't want him to miss out on anything because of my lack of teaching and structure. What I have decided is this...I'm going to put down my phone, turn off the tv, and talk, talk, talk to him. He plays by himself a lot during the day while I do chores/cooking, and at first I was super pumped that he has learned to entertain himself. It took a while to teach him this. But, now I wonder (much to do with my current reading selection...) if he plays alone too much. I wonder if I need to be having more structured play time with him and teaching him new skills. It's just so overwhelming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He needs to learn EVERYTHING. How in the world do you start with this little mind and have to teach them EVERYTHING??????? I mean it's more than colors and numbers and shapes. It's life skills. It's social skills. It's EVERYTHING!!!! Can you tell I'm freaking out??? The other stupid thing I did was go and buy/borrow books from people. You know the best way to underestimate your parenting abilities? It's to read about other people's perspectives because they all think you're doing it wrong....and I'm sorry "Toddlerwise," my child sleeps until about 10:00 every day and under no circumstances am I going to wake him at 7:00 for the sake of keeping a schedule. No way. No how. No. No. No. Just no. The other think I'm not going to do is to tape a schedule, broken down into 15 minute intervals onto my fridge to dictate my day. Are you kidding me? Here's what I will do. I will commit to getting him up and dressed. Eating breakfast while doing a Bible study with him...you know...the kind with no tv or phone. I can read. He can listen. I can talk. He can pretend to listen. We can then have concentrated/directed play together. Maybe I'll pick a skill or activity each week...something like that. I'm not going to print out toddler assessment sheets to give him grades on what we are doing though. That's just crazy! Then, we will do lunch and nap, run afternoon errands, cook dinner and play with Daddy at night. I think that pretty much would be ideal and I don't have to conform to schedule on my fridge, I can still get Bible and learning time in, he can play alone while I cook dinner, and we can have invaluable family time in the evenings. That's my compromise. That's my solution to all that I'm reading and letting freak me out. That's what is best for our family....now...what do you do with your family? What works for you? I'd love to hear it, as long as it's not a schedule on your fridge for every 15 minutes.

3) The last thing is telling and teaching Carson about Christ. It's basically the exact same rant as #2, just in relation to his knowledge and understanding about Christ and not about "stuff." The morning Bible studies will help me, thus helping him. I also need to sing Bible songs to him and pray out loud over him at night. I think it's a good habit to start now and I don't think it's too early. I pray while I rock him before bed, but I do so silently so that he can go to sleep. I'll have to think this one over...I'll have to find the right timing in our day and for now, it doesn't necessarily have to be right before bed. I need to teach him to fold his hands and bow his head at dinner prayer. We have been working on "amen" for a while, but he's not there yet :) The other thing I could easily do is put some Christian kids songs in my car. I have a CD, I just need to use it. He can listen to those and start to learn the words now! I still remember Christian songs that I learned in the car driving around with my mom and some of those were just basic Biblical truths set to music! Voila! Perfect!

4) I need to chill. He is 16 months old. 16 months. That is all. I also need to know that I am doing a good job. He is healthy and happy and more than on track, both physically and mentally. I am just such a "check-list" person, that not having a guide for all of this is scaring me! What don't babies come with a monthly learning check list? Could someone please do that for me ;)

So.....................that's what's on my mind. It's a lot. I'm overwhelming myself with this mothering stuff. But, getting it all out there in writing has always been my #1 choice in therapy. But, using that logic, I would owe every reader (all 2 of them) an hourly fee for listening to me gripe.

mainly messes.

i've come to the realization that our days are basically filled with making and cleaning up messes. the thing is, these are what i call "productive messes" because every mess is a learning opportunity! we take things out. we dump stuff. we put it back. we do it again. we learn that things fall. things make noises when thrown. some things bounce. some things hurt. some things roll...you get the drift.


sometimes we even go to daddy's office to "learn" there, too!


the other thing that consumes our day is exploring. the kid fits himself into every nook and cranny around...the higher off the ground the better! umm...adding the ER to my speed dial asap.

he climbs.


he squats.


he falls and he repeats. but again, it's all in the name of learning....right???????


on a side note...this is most likely his last sink bath ever...mainly because of the enormous volume of water on my kitchen floor post bath.


and this was his first ever ride in my old wagon from when i was a kid! it was really special.

roughly 15 months old

i'll just say...

that some days, i don't find this mothering thing to be very fun.
some days, it's down right a chore.
some days, he is doing good to just be alive by 6:00 when daddy gets home.
some days...ugh....just ugh...
and on those days i feel bad about my feelings...i guess that no one ever promised it would be easy or fun. i had just assumed....and we all know what assuming does.
so that is all. that is where i am today as i sit with a screaming toddler who is screaming and throwing his food and doing everything he knows he shouldn't and it's just not fun. this too shall pass, but i just wonder when...and it better be soon....very, very soon.

Nothing Sweeter

Lately I have been really trying to take time to enjoy the small things...not let them pass me by. This means reading lots of books on the floor in front of the stove while dinner cooks, taking time to just sit and play, and giving in to life's simple pleasures. It also means deciding that a little messy fun now is totally worth the messy clean up later. They are only young once!

Last night I sat on the kitchen floor and Carson and I fed each other cool whip....and then took baths. It was definitely one of my top 10 motherhood highlights so far!

Not a baby anymore

I am pretty sure that he's not a baby anymore because...
-he just blew on his hot food, used a fork to eat it and then wiped his mouth with a napkin.
-he walks everywhere.
-he laughs at burps, farts and tummy growls like he's a big boy.
-he can tell me what he wants by pointing, grunts or some words.
-he knows animal noises...cow, dog, monkey, bear, and sheep are his favorites.
-he can find the toys he wants to play with and carry them across the house.
-he can identify many things by pointing: duck, fan, car, baby, dog, airplane, monkey, etc
-he is obsessed with books. He constantly brings them to me to read.
-he figures stuff out on his own!
-and...he currently is wearing a pair of my(clean) panties as a necklace :/




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13 Months

What a fun month! This month has been filled with...

-Head stands
-FIRST STEPS! He's not full on walking, but he takes little steps here and there.
-Hugging things (us, cat, toys) and going mmmmmm
-Feeding the cat....more like shoving his food in her face to share with her
-Talking to Dada on the "phone" (toy, remote, his hand)
-Brushing his own hair
-Rolling and bouncing ball
-Big boy clothes that look like little Ross clothes
-A little bit of crying when I drop him off at the church nursery
-Throwing things
-Obsessed with putting things in his mouth (still)
-Loving to watch the effects of gravity
-Pushing buttons with one finger
-Waiting out front for Dada to come home. When C sees Dada's car he gets SO excited!
-Lots of splashing during bath time
-Licking the floor, walls, cabinets...
-Climbing (read: falling)
-Dancing
-Clapping when he hears clapping on the TV or when we say "yay"
-Coughing anytime he hears coughing
-Growling at any type of animal
-Biting us and himself

-Hair that is extremely curly and in desperate need of a trim...I just can't do it yet.
-Being busy...that is the understatement of the year.
-Still nursing- I tried to quit but I couldn't. I got totally, overwhelmingly sad.
-Teething...so, so much teething. All of his teeth, including molars, have busted through the surface!
-Sickness...Baby and Dada both spent lots of time being sick this month :(
-Carson dislikes grass- If you put him on a blanket in the grass, he stays on it to avoid the grass.
-ba=ball, da=dog, bshhh=brush, bwub=airplane, mama, dada, ruff, growling, mimicking

He is eating everything that we eat. This makes going out to eat and cooking dinner much easier! I do tone down the spiciness for his portions, but other than that, he eats like us! He loves beans, tortillas, quesadillas, fruit, cheese, turkey hotdogs, Daddy's eggs, heck...the boy just likes to eat. He isn't loving sweet potatoes right now though. Those get thrown straight onto the floor.

our little punkin {patch}

We went to the most amazing pumpkin patch this weekend. It had a corn maze, hay rides and tons of great spots for pictures. Happy Fall Y'all!

1 Year

Our big boy is ONE year old!
12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days. 8,765.8 hours. 31,566,926 seconds.
What a sweet, sweet year; without a doubt, the best year of our lives.

Weight: 20.6 lbs, 10-25 percentile

Height: 30.5 inches, 75 percentile

Teeth: 8 full in front, bottom and top left molars and canines poking through

Mobility: Crawling, standing unassisted, cruising around furniture, he just doesn't want to walk yet and I'm in no rush at all for that milestone!

Vocals/communication: Dada, Mama, ba = ball, bwub = airplane, gabba, so many sweet babbles, pointing, laughing when others laugh (including on the tv), waving, pointing to sky when you say airplane, waving bye-bye and hi, clicking conversations, mimicking words (brush = bshhh), growling at anything with fur or when he hears barking

This has been the month of playing and interacting! His personality has blossomed and it has been amazing!! He is an easy, happy baby boy. He still takes two naps a day, although the morning nap is getting shorter. I still nurse 2-3 times a day.

Carson likes to...
-put blocks in our mouths and crawl around with blocks in his mouth.
-put his fingers in our mouths and my/his belly button.
-grind his teeth while he is awake....it drives me crazy!
-knock down stacks of blocks.
-stack things.
-rub the curls on the back of his head with his right hand while sucking on his thumb with his left.
-put things on/in other things.
-crunch cheerios between his front teeth.
-play with and chase Riley!
-say Dada, Dada, Dada, Dada around 5:00 every day.
-lift his legs up on the changing table when I'm ready to put on his pants.
-kick his feet with excitement. We call it happy feet.
-feed us soggy, slobbery cheerios or other food.
-bounce, roll and throw balls.
-play with other kids, any age will do!
-sit outside and watch airplanes. He points to them and gets super excited. He's also better than Ross and I at spotting them.
-fake laugh when he hears us laughing (people laughing or on the tv)
-point at interesting things.
-dance...well, try to :)
-bang on things
-explore "his" cabinet
-splash in the tub.
-talk to everyone in the grocery store and lean to them so they hold him. (I don't let them though)
-look at girls. He spots the cutest ones everywhere we go and then stares and stares.

Dislikes: canned peaches, the texture of avocados, being wiped down, being contained, staying still, water being poured over his face, that's all I can think of though. He's incredibly easy going.

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