Winter Walk

A few days ago we received what is hopefully our last snow of the season. It was wicked cold in the morning and was snowing and freezing rain. The result was ice everywhere. We usually stay indoors but I got motivated to get out and shovel our driveway while Carson napped. The wind had calmed and it finally warmed up to 30 degrees. Never in my life did I think I would be happy about a "warm 30 degrees"!



We all get cabin fever being cooped up and while I was out shoveling Rhett happened to put himself down for a nap at 3 in the afternoon. Not cool. I came inside and roused him and we had a very grumpy, whiny and crying Rhett on our hands. Not cool either. In effort to chase away the grumpies I suggested a winter walk in the nearby woods. We all geared up and headed out into the cold. It had gotten a bit colder since my shoveling but we carried on. And lugging around a snow bunny baby helped keep me warm!



Winter is beautiful, especially when it is quiet and you can appreciate the lovely white snow. Now that it is March it is high time to get a move on Mr. Winter! We've had our fill and fun. Forecast says 40s from here on out! Woohoo!! I am so excited for spring, sun, warmth and park days again.

Carson's Cake Smash

For Carson's 1st birthday I wanted to do a little cake smash photoshoot and usually I do one on my own, and have for the other kids. Living in AZ I had access to various props and backdrops thanks to generous photographer friends. The light is iffy in my house here and with the gloomy winter days I decided to hire it out. We have a lovely friend who specializes in babies and she did a wonderful job. It was fun to sit back and let her handle the details too. Carson did great and repeated his cake crying performance for the camera. Ha!



After cake Erin, the photographer, had a fun idea to do a bath scene. Carson was not so sure about that but after she gave him a toy he warmed up to the idea and had some fun with the water.
I am thrilled with the photos and am so happy to have this sweet time captured.


We sure love this little nugget. He definitely reigns supreme as the baby of the family.

Happy 1st Birthday Carson!

Today Carson is ONE. We celebrated with a simple family party primarily consisting of singing, cake and ice cream.

The day weather wise has been gray and gloomy so light was not at optimum levels. I waited until Carson had napped and eaten lunch and then seized the daylight coming from our front window and I set up extra lamps to coax as much light as possible. I hung a little decor and had everything just so. I shouldn't have bothered!

I brought out the cake, the kids gathered around the table and Carson wanted nothing to do with happily sitting in his chair while we sang to him. He wanted cake and he wanted it NOW. Even his beloved mini M&Ms didn't abate his crying. I called it off and was going to wait until tomorrow to try again. I wanted my Happy Birthday pictures dang it!

Phil took the grumpy baby downstairs and we disbanded. After 20 minutes and my checking the forecast we decided to try again; cloudy and gray for the next 10 days. Carson was happy and playful until he saw the cake. He leaned towards the cake mouth wide open and started crying again when I put it on the table and not in his mouth.

We just went with it and let him call the shots. After all, it's his party, right?

He sampled his chocolate cake with whipped cream/cream cheese frosting and saw that the rest of us also had ice cream. Well, all he had to do was "ask" ie: yell and his dad complied.

All Hail the King!

It is good to be one. And the Boss.

I am a jumble of emotions. I've been lamenting to Phil with each milestone that Carson passes how it is our last one; last gummy smile, last 1st birthday, last crawling baby, last snuggly bum that we get to rock to sleep, last, last, last! Phil usually expresses jubilation that easy(ier) street is around the corner kid-wise but tonight he did say that it is going to be lonely when the kids are grown. Yes, we have a good 18 years to go but I know it is going to be here in a flash. I'm not ready for that. So I am going to drag out this last baby business as long as possible. 

Happy Birthday Carson! 

Max loses his first tooth

Waaaaay back in November, before Thanksgiving Max mentioned that his tooth hurt. This caused my hygienist ears to perk up and upon further examination I was relieved (and surprised!) to see that it was just a loose tooth. Ah! My big boy has his first loose tooth! So exciting. I told him to start wiggling it and that all was well. 

During my time working in the dental office there a two camps of loose tooth kids; the "wiggle it out in 2 days" or "don't touch it! My tooth will erode by itself thankyouverymuch". Max was in the latter group. 

When I took Carson's 11 month pics I sat Max down to snap a few pics of his smile before it was forever changed. Dramatic much? Yes, I am. My babies are growing up and these things make me melancholy. Which means pictures to document.

January 1st, roughly 6 weeks later, after some rough housing and jumping on beds, Max finally lost his tooth! I was thinking we were going to have to take him to the dentist to get it pulled since he wasn't working on it. Plus his permanent tooth is coming in behind and crooked. Little shark.

Due to aforementioned rough housing the famous lost tooth was literally lost. Somewhere in his bedroom rug, under the bed, in his covers, who knows? We were both bummed. I wanted to see it and he wanted to leave it for the tooth fairy. I assured him that she would understand and to start looking!

Miraculously it was found while Max was in time out. Then when he was putting it on his dresser it fell again into the carpet. He found it again though and we put it in a little cup for safety.

The tooth fairy left a $1 bill in the shape of a sailboat with a shiny and sparkly blue quarter. 

 

One satisfied customer.

Carson: 11 Months

11 of the fastest months have come and gone. The countdown is on until Carson's birthday and I am simultaneously thrilled and devastated. He continues to grow and learn new things each day.

This morning I was tying Rhett's shoes and one shoe was just out of reach. I asked Carson to get his shoe while making a gesture of my reaching for it. He grabbed it and handed it to me and said "coo-coo", his way of saying "thank you". Last night I started cleaning up the clean plates off the floor-- he likes to "help" with the dishwasher AKA toss everything out on the floor-- anyway, he saw me picking up and crawled over and started handing me plates. I just love him.
One more example: Carson was drinking from his sippy cup on the floor next to the water cooler. After he finished he placed his cup on the little shelf. It just continues to amaze me how much he picks up just from observing our seemingly minutia and daily tasks. Babies are incredible little sponges.



He loves to point and we "buzz" when our pointer fingers connect. He stands on his own and balances quite well. He will walk assisted and with a walker toy. He babbles all the time.

Carson knows the jingle of the candy jar, that cookies live in the cookie jar and that the advents on the mantle contain chocolate. Any treat you have you must share. Immediately. Non-negotiable and shrieking demands are involved if you do not comply. When you do share he does a full body happy jig and rewards you with copious amounts of full grins and baby love.

He is obviously very spoiled. #LastChild

He retires to bed in the 7 o'clock hour. He enjoys all types of food but doesn't care for milk in his sippy cup. I am not pushing that and he mainly drinks water and nurses just once a day now, upon waking for the day. He still naps twice a day pretty consistently with the odd ball day thrown in for good measure.

He shrieks and cries incredibly loudly, ear ringing decibels. It's terrible.

He loves his siblings and bath time and making messes where ever he goes. Which is every where.

In size 12 month clothes, size 2 diapers (because I ordered too much from Amazon...).

He is still obsessed with his Wubbanub binky, it is a cute giraffe and I found the perfect Christmas ornament to match it.

We still call him the Velcro Baby; separation anxiety is in full force and weeping and wailing is involved when someone other than Phil or I holds him or if I walk into another room. It's great. Not. On the flip side, it is nice to know I am beloved.

He's pretty dang awesome and I sure hope I gushed this much about my other kids when they were this age. I am sure I did, this is such a fun age.

Carson: 10 Months

Someone is growing up! 10 months already and I'm kinda sad about it.

 He's not though! Mr. Big Stuff.



At 10 months Carson is scaling furniture, standing on his own for longer periods or time. He eats mostly table food and prefers to feed himself.  He has earned the nickname "Velcro Baby" from my friend Tara; separation anxiety is in full force. Phil has been working Sundays the past month so I have been conducting music in Primary with a baby on hip. Super fun! My arm is numb.



This little nugget is starting to mimic words and sounds. He can "shhhh", sign "all done" and is a pro now at "uh oh". Complete with dropping his binky over and over as he repeats "uh oh". Stinker.



He is always on the move and loves to be in the mix with all the big kids at our house. He loves to play with them and shrieks in delight when they crawl after him. He has the best belly laugh and loves to give open mouth kisses and love bumps.

He wears size 2 diapers, almost out of those!, 9-12 month clothes due to length and a size 2/3 shoe. He weighs roughly 18 pounds.



He finally cut his first tooth and the second isn't far behind. He nurses 3-4 times a day still with a good "I'm too busy" nursing strike thrown in the past month for good measure. He drinks from a sippy cup and loves all things food. Sharing is mandatory, don't even think otherwise.

He is a great sleeper; two long naps a day and a good 10 hours straight at night but still wakes in the 4 or 5 o'clock hour to nurse. He is not a fan of me ignoring his cries and is relentless. I always give in anyway, it's easier on all of us. Plus when I go to get him he is trying to eat my face and smacks his lips, so I think it is safe to say he is hungry. :)

There are so many other things to say about this boy! We love him to pieces and I can't imagine life without him. It is fun to see the older kids interact with him and I am glad they have the opportunity to enjoy having a baby around.

First Snow

Thursday morning brought the season's first snow flakes. We arise early in our house and usually breakfast is done by 7:30am. The kids didn't have school and were already downstairs playing after breakfast. As I was cleaning up I noticed it was snowing. I quickly hollered down the stairs to the kids and they all came clamoring up. They were so excited! Clearly captivated with their first look at snow. They peppered me with questions about going outside to play, building a snowman and if Christmas was coming now that it was snowing. And after a few more seconds of snow watching they ran back downstairs. Ha! 

Rhett is at the window too, just out of sight beside Kate.

I've been prepping for snow since we found out we matched to Michigan, gathering snow bibs, jackets, boots, the works! The kids think they need to wear it all the time since it is so cold here.



Rhett found a jackpot "pile" of snow accumulating and had to have a taste.




Annnnd another taste. Funny kid.



At this point Rhett started stripping down, off with the hat, hood and snow gloves. A few minutes later and they were all back inside. I had spent a good 30 minutes getting them all put together for less than 10 minutes of play. They 'll get pretty good at dressing themselves with all the practice we are going to get in the next 6 months.



This is how Carson felt about being left out of the snow fun. I don't have a snow bib for him yet.