April Photos: Day 15

After the last two days I knew it was time for us to get out of the house today. We have a big home project planned for the weekend (......YAY!) so we took off this morning to go buy paint and supplies. Then we went to the mall, walked around, spent quite a while in the play land and had lunch. We came home for nap time and cleaned up the house some while we waited for Carl. Tomorrow we are finally going to paint the office walls which is one of the very last places not painted in our house, other than the laundry room and guest room. I always thought I'd want it a different color, but finally came to the realization that it should match the rest of the level. I'm just ready to have it painted. We have so much work to do tomorrow and then the carpets are all getting cleaned Monday morning.

Carl came to get us after work and we headed out to the furniture store. Before hand we grabbed some dinner. We were right next to a Sonic so Carl asked Carson if he had any room for ice cream. Carson answered, "I'm really full, but we need ice cream!" Carl asked him if he had an ice cream pocket too and Carson just nodded his head. Ice cream it was. I love being to the point where I don't care if he's messy because I can tell how happy he is in the process. 

This was just the beginning of the cone, as you can see. It got much worse from here.

And this is also what we call "cheese face" because when you tell him to look at the camera he makes the most fake smile and says, "CHEEEEEEESE".

 

Because the office will be shiny and new, I finally decided that it was time to buy the desk I've been wanting. I spend SO much time in this office and it's been the biggest eye-sore of the house. I have had no way to organize the desk, hide computer equipment and cords etc etc etc. The new desk unit will show up on Tuesday and I'll be in business! I'm so excited to get it done the way I want so I actually want to be in here. I have photos to hang and so many ideas that have gotten shelved because the big stuff wasn't done. It feels like Christmas is coming!! :)  We also ordered a dresser for the new changing table. I've shopped high and low for one that matched and was the right size without much luck. Finally we found something that is technically a media cabinet, but is a piece that is part of the dresser set in Carson's room. I hate all the actual "nursery" furniture that's out there, especially since it looks like baby furniture. I'd rather spend the money on a piece we can use in our house for the long run. The bad part is that it was back ordered until the end of May, but that is still enough time.

Okay, now I'm tired from thinking of the next three days..........

April Photos: Day 14

Today was supposed to be fun, but ended up being lots of work instead. We were supposed to go play this morning with Erin and Ava, but not only did my work go nuts, we woke up to it snowing. We are bidding on a government contract for a new study and the paperwork to fill out is absolutely ridiculous. It took two full days just to get it all completed and my head is spinning from staring at nonsense and little check boxes. 

Carson was so good for me though. He played and I took lots of break to play with him. He took a great nap just in time for me to make some phone calls too. Unfortunately by the end of the day he was getting restless. We'll for sure be going somewhere to get the sillies out tomorrow. When I knew Carl was on his way home we went out to sit on the front porch and wait for him. Carson thought it was too cold to play in the backyard today when he was bundled up, but if he's out looking for Daddy he doesn't need a thing. 

 

And I'm 30 weeks pregnant today! 3/4 of the way there...

April Photos: Day 13

Carson has been begging to make cookies for a week now. I finally had to oblige and we got stuff for oatmeal cookies when we were at the store yesterday. When I went to get him out of bed this morning he first words were, "Mommy, are we making cookies today?!" He was fairly excited. I never have high hopes for myself when it comes to baking though. Let's not forget my last cookie incident.

He sure thinks he is such a big helper. Carl lets him sit on the counter while they make breakfast every weekend so he wanted to do it this time too. It just makes me so nervous though! He is so squirmy. And as if baking isn't already messy enough....we were both covered in flour by the end. But the only thing that matters is that I didn't screw up the cookies and they were actually good!

April Photos: Day 12

What a day. I'm pooped. Seriously, just running errands right now is so physically demanding that by the end of the day I am spent. We took off early this morning to go buy new sand and stuff we needed at Target. We got done around 11:00 and it was all I could do to get it home. I lifted way too much heavy stuff over and over again which didn't help at all. Carson crashed in the car, but Carl was close to home so we took him to play at McDonald's for lunch. It was so cute to see him wake up as we pulled in, ask if we were at "BicDonald's" and then see Daddy's work van. Let's just say he was pretty excited. We've been playing in the sandbox and doing chores for the rest of the day. These are the days I am so thankful for the crock pot! 

We took a break to sit down and watch a cartoon. Carson refused to actually look up at me so I worked with what I was given. Poor kid got my short eye lashes.

 

I have waited and waited for his belly button to turn into an innie, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Actually it's sort of a hybrid outie-within-an-innie. I puffy heart it though.

April Photos: Day 11

Carson went to daycare this morning so I could get some work and a teleconference done. He came home and took a really good nap until almost 4:00. But when he woke up he turned into a demon child. He screamed and yelled and nothing could make him happy. I tried and tried, but he eventually threw himself on the kitchen floor and had a good tantrum. I figured that was a good time for photos of our sweet sweet angel.

 

Look at that pouty face!

He still has so much congestion, it's hard not to feel bad for him. He finally at a really good dinner tonight. And then....he was down riding his bike in the basement while Carl worked out and lost it all on the floor. He coughs so hard from the phlegm that he'll eventually start gagging. That was fun to clean up! Not.

April Photos: Day 10

Sooooooooooo............there is no day 10 photo. We had such a rough night on Saturday that I was sort of a zombie on Sunday. With Carson being sick all of last week neither of us got much good sleep. Plus, even when he does sleep I keep waking up for hours in the early morning with my pregnant insomnia. Saturday night he did not want to sleep at all. He cried and rolled on the floor and just yelled for so long. By Sunday I didn't want to do anything. I didn't even get dressed until mid-afternoon. By bedtime I realized it never dawned on me to pick up the camera. Oh well!

April Photos: Day 9

Technically I didn't get to take any photos of Carson today at all. Carl wanted to go take a four-wheeling trip for the day, but I decided to stay home. I have been with him on the trail they were doing so I knew how rough it was. Honestly, I didn't think my bladder could make it at this point in my pregnancy. Sorry if that's too honest. :) Plus I hadn't tackled our taxes yet. This seemed like a perfect day for the boys to play and I got lots of peace and quiet. I actually got quite a bit accomplished even though my back is now paying the price from sitting in my horrible desk chair all day long.

They took off at 7am and didn't get home until almost 7pm. I just don't have it in me to take any photos at this point tonight........ Carl gets to own today's photo. It makes sense though; this is what Carson did today!

April Photos: Day 8

I was a little preoccupied this afternoon just in time for Grandma to come home. Carson went upstairs with her to watch a cartoon in her bed and then they had a little art time. He is loving the watercolors right now. And colored pencils are a little less dangerous than crayons...... He is getting good though! :)

April Photos: Day 7

Carson still wasn't 100% today. We spent most of the day relaxing....which I'm totally not opposed to in my beached whale state. He took a three hour nap and we took our baths in the afternoon. Then we met Carl for Mexican food which was beyond yummy. Holy cow am I full right now though. 

This afternoon Carson helped me clean up. The good thing about the stage he's at with the new baby coming is that he looooves to help us do everything. Any time you give him a task to do he is right on it. Today he vacuumed the living room and then got distracted by the kitties. That gate is the one thing that protects them from "him". You can just tell how much they get annoyed that he is there. But he totally loves them and just stands there beckoning them to come play. Lily does take naps on the couch with us all the time though. She slept on us for a while today and he said, "Mommy, Lily is my kitty, huh?!"

April Photos: Day 6

The bad news is Carson developed a fever last night around dinner time and it lasted all through the night. I only had one dose of Advil left for him so we had to head out for more this morning. I ended up sleeping with him for most of the night because I was awake listening to him cough anyways. He was trying to sleep on the way home from the store in the car and it was early so he was obviously still feeling bad. I got him to eat something and he wanted to lay down to watch Wall-E. It was about three minutes into the movie when he was totally zonked out. Lucky for me it is one of my busiest work days of the month so I got a good quiet period to work! (Not to say that I'm happy his isn't up to par....)

 

The good news is that he woke up feeling much better and doesn't seem to have a fever at all right now. He got some energy back and ate some more food. He wanted to paint so it was spring picture painting time! I am not a very good influence on his artistic skills though. I did think the umbrella turned out impressive. :)

 

He's out back squealing and riding his bike now in the cold so he must be feeling better. It feels like it's going to rain any minute out there.

April Photos: Day 5

Unfortunately, today hasn't been very much fun for Carson. Yesterday morning he started coughing out of nowhere and threw up all over in our bed. It was all mucus because he is still so stubborn about blowing his nose. He seemed to be fine for the rest of the day. Then after his bath last night it seemed like the steam broke some of it up and the cough started back up. We were getting him in his pajamas and he threw up again. He was obviously upset, but slept fine. But as soon as he woke up this morning the cough was right back on. It's one of those ones that you can hear coming from deep in his chest. The poor kid just doesn't feel good today. With all the energy he has on a daily basis it is fairly easy to tell when he isn't himself. He has moped around all day with a blank stare on his face. I took us out to walk around some shops and he slept the whole way there and back in the car, then just sat there in the stroller without much fuss.

After nap time he said he wanted to play in the back yard. I got the camera and he was laying on the edge of the sandbox.

 

Then he went to the garage and said he wanted to ride his bike. (I can't go with him alone out front to ride his bike anymore. He is literally so fast that you have to run with him and that is totally impossible for me at this point!) He rode for a few laps and came right back inside. He didn't even know he was still wearing his helmet. He was standing in the kitchen for a while just staring at the TV. 

 

We've at least had lots of snuggle time today...

April Photos: Day 4

I knew when I saw the following scene that I should grab the camera before investigating further:

Nothing good can be happening when Carson is hiding somewhere without theatrics to go with it. We had some leftover Valentine's suckers that he stole and I eventually found in the seat of his dump truck today. Apparently he got one open and thought he had to go hide to eat it. I loved the "I'm busted" look he gave me when he peeked through the opening.

April Photos: Day 3

On our way home today from running errands Carl stopped to get a Jamba Juice. Logical since yesterday we were grilling with 80 degree weather and today it is snowing! I didn't think I wanted one at the time so I didn't get one. Big mistake! Carson loved it too so I made us a batch when we got home for a snack. I've been craving fruit like crazy lately, especially melons and citrus. Carson sat down with his, but decided that Teddy needed the first taste. I love that he has finally started to play with his stuffed animals and role play with toys.

April Photos: Day 2

Today we had our hospital pre-registration and tour so Carson got to stay home for lunch and a nap with Grandma. We switched insurance since having Carson so I wanted to go check out where we'd be going this time. I came home and decided the photos I wanted for today would be of little man's tiny fingers and long piggies. He's playing outside in this 80 degree weather and we're grilling! Ahhhh, spring.

We left the hospital and were planning on just heading home. Then I spotted a sign that said "desserts". I looked closer and saw it was D-Bar Desserts so we flipped around and decided to stop. The only reason I knew what D-Bar was is that it is owned by Keegan Gerhard from Food Network Challenge. I figured it was worth a trip in. Carl got a brownie sundae and I got a fancy banana split.

April Photos: Day 1

It is a gorgeous afternoon! Yesterday it was so windy that Carson could hardly stand to be out back (and that's saying a lot). Although, he has sternly reminded me that we need new sand for the sandbox. We'll be getting the backyard going again next week. I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time out there very soon!

The view from above:

A little catch up...

So we went on vacation, I posted when we came back and then I fell off the planet. Let's just say the last two weeks for me have been difficult. We came back from Carmel that Sunday night and I casually went through my photos for the next couple days expecting to post them by that Friday. No big deal, right? 

Wednesday night it was about 10:30 and we were already in bed. I realized I was dying of thirst all of a sudden so I came downstairs for some water. I noticed Sophie, my cat, pacing at the back door. I went over and turned the patio light on and there was another cat sitting out there. Sophie's tail was puffed up, but she was meowing with her playful meow so I thought nothing of picking her up. After about 10 seconds I went to pet her head and as my hand got in front of her face she snapped and bit me. For real. Let me tell you, I've had cat bites before, but I knew instantly that this one was different. I ran upstairs to see the damage and was shocked to see two gaping wounds. One tooth went right in the meat of my palm and the other went in my wrist under my thumb. The one under my thumb was so deep it was just purple and didn't even bleed. Being the smart girl I am I consulted with Dr. Google. "Wash the wound and bandage." I did exactly that and figured I'd just see what it looked like in the morning.

By 1:30am I was wide awake and in agony. Oh, did I also mention this was my RIGHT hand?? I tried to go back to sleep, but that wasn't happening so I ended up on the couch with it elevated. When I got up that morning and took the bandages off (and felt the extreme pain and swelling) I knew I should probably call the doctor. They didn't hesitate and wanted me to come in immediately. The doctor started looking at it and pretty much gave me the third degree about not immediately going to the ER when it happened. Apparently it was more serious than I expected. She wanted to clean the two wounds out which didn't sound like a ton of fun. Annnnnd it wasn't. The numbing shots at each spot were so painful. She then dug the wounds out and they had to irrigate them with a TON of solution and a big pointy syringe. There was already a fairly large purple section growing up my arm so within 12 hours it was for sure infected. She made me come back the next morning with a promise that if it felt any worse over night I would go to the ER. The next morning she did think it looked a little better, but wanted to go through the entire cleaning process again. Man, that hurt so bad and keep in mind I can only take one 500mg Tylenol every 4-6 hours right now!

So now it has been 16 days and I'm still only about 90% better. I had to keep my hand elevated 24/7 with a brace on it for 10 days alone. The pain that I felt was as bad if not worse than when I broke both of my wrists. For days I couldn't do anything! I couldn't get Carson strapped in the car seat, couldn't do sippy cups, couldn't even dry my own hair! I couldn't put any pressure at all on any of my fingers so I quickly found out how hard it is to just have one hand. My wrist still feels bruised, the wounds haven't even healed yet and my thumb gets really achy by the end of the day. 

Needless to say, I haven't been on the computer much at all for two weeks! Oh, and I couldn't even look at my poor camera. Thank goodness I had my iPhone so I wasn't totally out of the loop. I'm just now getting back into the swing of things. I'll hopefully have vacation photos ready to post soon. Here are a couple cell pics for the time being:

Sleepy dude

SpaghettiOs!

LOL - See my arm up in the air in the corner? haha

____________________________________________________________________________

Okay, the other thing is that today is April 1. Somehow that means this is the month that my little baby is turning 3. I've also had some serious camera withdrawl so I have decided to do a little photo project. I am going to take a photo of him every day in the month of April to post, aside from any other stuff I would shoot or post regularly. (Honestly I want it to force me back on the blog-wagon too!) I'm not making any promises that I won't mess up, but I'm really really going to try.

Today is also the last regular day of Carson going to daycare. He'll still go there when needed, but we've had a good 6 month run and I'm ready for him to be home with me. This is good timing with the weather getting nicer, getting serious about being totally potty trained and not being tied to a schedule right now. I am excited to spend the next three months just with my little man before the inside baby decides to come out and play. Yesterday was 28 weeks so I literally only have three months to go!

Double digits!

I looked at my pregnancy app yesterday and saw the statement "100 days left" staring back at me. It feels like I've been pregnant forever, but seeing my ticker today say 99 days is sort of frightening and exhilarating. I made a list of the things I need (want) to do and get before the little guy comes along and I still have some work to do. It is a great feeling to not have a stressful pregnancy this time though. The first time is so nerve-wracking. You worry about every little thing that happens, or doesn't happen, and it can be hard to enjoy at times. I don't do well with the unknown and that was what the first time felt like to me. This time I feel like I can take on any of it and I'm not worried at all. If anything I worry about dealing with Carson after his birth more than anything to do with the actual birth or new baby.

We had an absolutely awesome time this weekend at the beach for four days. I'll have lots of pics to share very soon and all the fun details. For now, here is a quick 25 week photo from Carl's phone. He gave me crap all weekend about my stripes accenting the belly. I can't help it if they love to design maternity T's with stripes!! :)

24 week update

Yesterday was my 24 week appointment. I was freaking out a little about the weigh-in because last time she lectured me for only gaining 5 pounds and I knew I had gained plenty this time. Luckily I came in right where I am supposed to be so it wasn't a big deal. I need to stay off my home scale!

The baby was kicking away and had a heartbeat of 140, which is the same as Carson always had. All our genetic testing and ultrasound results came back totally normal. That's always good to hear even if it isn't foolproof. The baby is so low again too! When the doctor was trying to find the heartbeat yesterday she was looking around my bellybutton. I told her to try lower, which she reluctantly did, and then was really surprised how she got the resutls. I measured right at 24 weeks and the baby measured one day ahead of the due date at the ultrasound. Everything is good so far!

I have had some really intense pains this time around still, but everyone assures me it's "normal". Maybe so, but it is annoying nonetheless. The new fun thing is that for a couple weeks my left leg and ankle have been going numb. It seems to be getting more frequent and lasting longer too. Obviously the doc said something is being pinched in my lower back, but didn't have any real advice. She said I might be able to try physical therapy which I hadn't though of. The back of my thigh goes totally numb and then my ankle feels like when your foot falls asleep and is coming out of it. It hurts and tingles at the same time. I've tried exercise, stretching, walking etc. and nothing has seemed to help. At least it's just an annoyance right now and nothing that is threatening to the pregnancy. My back hasn't been too bad so far so I'm trying to stay positive.

I keep forgetting to have Carl take my picture so a couple times I've tried to do it myself. Better than nothing, right? I'm pretty sure he is popping out a little more in the last week or so because the upper part is starting to catch up. I had to go grab a few maternity t-shirts the other day because my normal shirts were too short all of a sudden! I think I might have to shelve this dress for now.....the buttons won't be laying flat for much longer.

23 weeks

A masterpiece, right?!?! hehe

24 weeks

My crafting bug is really kicking in now. Since now I have a real reason to make some stuff I've been having fun. With Carson I didn't have to buy hardly any clothes for him in the first 4-6 months. My friend Jeanette gave me an enormous bag of clothes that were awesome and then we got a lot as gifts. This time around I went through everything and picked out what I'd want to reuse since it's kind of a different experience. I'm amazed at how small everything seems when my baby is so big now. I can't wait to put the new baby in Carson's old outfits and do the comparison shots. :)  I have bought a few things that I really wanted and then I am making some other stuff. Once we have a name picked out I'll be personalizing some things waiting in the wings. 

I had a few of these onesies that were in really good shape so I'm doing something different on each one. I made this yesterday. I'm really over the "cutesie" graphics in the stores so I'm just going to do my own thing. I've notice almost everything I bought or made new has been gray so far...

My dad gets to come out on Sunday and then we go to Carmel next weekend. Yippee!

Stop. Blogger time.

We've had a lot of randomness going on...nothing too exciting to write home about. On Saturday it was a gorgeous day (65 degrees!) so we decided to take a last minute drive up to Evergreen. We have only driven through this little town on our way to our pals' wedding and I have wanted to come back. It is actually one of the closest mountain towns to go to so it was an easy drive. Man do I love being up there! Carson's joy came in the form of a nice day and a playground. The snow is finally melted off of everything so he was going crazy. He threw quite the protest when we actually had to get back in the car and leave. Give him a slide and he's content for hours!

On a side note......I have been wanting to paint him a shirt for a few weeks. I asked him what he wanted on it and his response was "a hammer!". There was only one way to go (and it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself). Don't forget about the end of THIS post!

Other than that, just more of the same. 

Here is a cute video of Carson playing Wii with Dustin. This incredibly annoying game Dustin is stuck on works for Carson because he just has to push every button and his character jumps all around (not that he watches the screen much). He thinks he wins EVERY game he plays, but it's cute to see him so excited.

A couple weekends ago the Jazz were in town to play the Thuggets. Ugh, I do not like that team. I cannot wait to plan a trip out to Utah and take our boys to a game in Salt Lake. The energy was so lame at the Pepsi Center. Anyways, at the last minute we decided to find some tickets since it was on a Friday night so Carl, myself and our date-buddy Luke went to the game. I can call Luke that because the three of us have been on so many "dates" in the last seven+ years that I can't even count. haha Plus it was Luke's first pro sporting event ever! We also ended up getting to see Sloan's second-to-last win as Jazz head coach. That's just bittersweet. At the game we were saying there is no way he's ever going out unless it's from a stroke right there on the court.

We did get a single cell phone pic!

Now we have a trip to Carmel in three weeks to look forward to. I am counting hours, not days at this point! The baby is getting more active every day. I have had a little bit of an issue with my lower back already and lots of really low pains/pressure. This weekend I felt real kicks on the upper and outside parts of my belly instead of only internal and low parts. Carl got to feel a kick of the first time the other night too. I hope I can hang for four days of walking around! Luckily we'll have a car so I can guilt the boys into driving everywhere. :)  The worst part is that last year my favorite things were the espresso machine at the house and the local cheese shop. I won't be able to do either of these! Boo.

It's a boy!

Luckily we didn't have any closures or anything to deal with yesterday and made it to the appt just fine. It was definitely one of the best days I've had in a while. The good part is even if it isn't your first child, seeing them in their glory never ever gets old.

When we had Carson's ultrasound at this point he literally slept through the whole thing. The tech kept shaking my stomach trying to get him to move and she had a hard time seeing everything. Well, this guy, not him. He looked like it was Dance Party USA up in there. He was rolling and stretching and it looked like he was trying to jump somehow. This in turn made it look like my stomach was jumping. That was the cool part since it was our first real outside movements and Carl got to see and feel them. I thought that I'd be able to feel movement much sooner this time around and was wondering why I hadn't. I got the answer....I have an anterior placenta again which means my placenta is attached right in the front and blocks the small movements that normally I'd already feel if it were in a different place. 

Anyway, everyone (including Carl) thought this one would be a girl. I had been leaning more towards boy, but really didn't care either way. I was just so happy to be there to see that everything was ship shape. Once again like with Carson the tech put the first view right on the bum and I yelled, "it's a boy!". Carl looked at me like "WHAT?" and the tech was really hesitant to agree. She moved it over a little and sure enough said I was right in what I saw. I'm so excited to have two little boys. At first I thought I might be disappointed or sad either way it turned out, but I'm not at all. I thought I'd bawl my way through the appointment and instead I couldn't stop smiling. There isn't a better sight to see!

I snapped a few shot of the print outs with my phone to share (the prints weren't nearly as clear as seeing it on the screen).

This is the profile with his fist in front of his mouth:

The little tootsies:

And the money shot: :)

In the afternoon I actually got to take a nap with Carson. Heavenly at this point! Then to make it even better Carl brought home something from my 3 boys:

For ten years now I've told Carl I love flowers, but would rather not have them at all if they only come at Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. I don't want flowers because someone else tells him it's time. They mean so much more if they come out of the blue and just because he wanted me to have them. These were such a welcome surprise. I think I'll keep him.

And no, we have zero names picked out. I didn't even want to think about it until I knew if it was a boy or a girl. Now the work begins!