2 Teeth

My five month old has TWO teeth!

I guess I am too stupid for this program...but the OSU picture was to be first. Anyways, grammy came to visit for the OSU party at the neighbors so here's a pictures of her and her grandkids.

We started rice because he just wasn't getting enough to eat. (*see picture above*)

The doctor said it was better to give him food than to use the formula mixed with breastmilk, so rice it is. Night two---he slept from 9am to 6 am and then grammy got him up to rock him while I pumped and he went back to sleep from 6:30 to 8:00!
:) Sorry that I have taken FOREVER to upload pictures and of course, now I am unable to find the cord that I need to upload them. :( OH, but you are saved because here are some pictures from mom's camera!

I do read all of your blogs while I am feeding, but haven't found the time to use two hands and type. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Lastly, I haven't taken Carson to get any professional pictures taken yet! :( But, here's a look at Mr. Snowman

:) I GIVE UP ON THE PICTURES!

Last.........

day of freedom was today. It started this morning by me getting my allergy shot and visiting Jenn, Nico, Gianna and Jenn's mom Lucy! It was a great visit. I am amazed at Jenn's two year old and his creative imagination! I couldn't help but look ahead and wonder if Carson would be that great. Even though Nico had a bit of an attitude (who wouldn't after a 12 hour drive to Ohio), he was so adorable and fun to be around. Too bad Gianna had to spend most of our time napping, so we didn't get any pictures of the two together. So, hopefully now that they live closer, we can see them more! Gianna is five months old (really 4 because she was born 6 weeks early) and she is sooooo light compared to Carson. Ok, she is only about 2 oz. shy of Carson, but seriously my boy is BIG! I forgot to mention that Jenn is an amazing mother. She has those kids in a wonderful routine full of learning and loads of fun! I guess it happens to be a great quality because she used to be a teacher! She's even more amazing of a wife. I wouldn't do half of the moves that she has done for her hubby! :)

3 months tomorrow--------------------------------------------14 pounds and 1 oz and he is 26 inches long. The boy is all legs when I hold him.

Did I mention that the Nico and Gianna are adorable on top of that? I had fun Jenn!! Thanks for putting up with us even after your long drive and unpacking! ;)

I should be in bed.....hey, I am not cleaning at least right?

Today was rough. Poor Carson's belly hurts. He is on a med for his reflux and it is based on his weight. I need to call the doctor tomorrow because after his morning feeding, he spent time
crying, more crying, more crying and puking, more puking, more puking...2 hour nap etc.

I told myself I wouldn't nap to prepare my body to go back to school. Um....well, it didn't work today. After the crying fest on the way home from seeing Jenn and stopping at K-mart, I had to lay down!

I felt like a terrible mother because I let him cry for about 10 min. on the drive home. He just needed to burp and puke some more. But, instead I kept driving and allowed him to sweat to death as he go so worked up! It hurts when he cries.

The evening got worse when hubby was 1 hour late getting home, supper wasn't over until 9:45 pm and oops we locked ourself out of the bedroom! LOL

Ok, on the last fun note of the day. I asked hubby to do his own load of work clothes and sweep the kitchen. I have learned that maybe he isn't able to help as much as I would like for him too because I don't give up the control??? I think I have to have things so perfect, he is scared he won't do it right or "good" enough. I was proud that I asked for help. The goal was to get me in bed early.

But, it's weird to be told you HAVE to go to bed at a certain time!

My emotions are mixed....ready to be an adult again and have more conversations than the phone, computer and texting......................ready to make a difference with 52 new 5th graders...............ready to work with a new Intervention Specialist......................ready to get out of this house.......................but not ready to leave Carson. The worries will begin wondering how he is doing for the sitter. Is she giving him a binkie too much? Is his belly ok? Is he doing ok with the bottle? I know I am a constant person who worries, so why would this situation be any different??

I am thankful she is about 5 min. from my job and I can get to see him ASAP when I have finished my lessons for the day! It will be a whole new world to add lesson plans and grading to the equation.

Ok, I have rambled...it's bedtime for real! :)

Wait...P.S. I NEED GROCERIES! Poor guy was crying so we didn't make it to the grocery store.

P.P.S. Survivor tomorrow! NIGHT!!

One more week...

I have only ONE more week until I am back full time teaching. It's back to reality.
I have learned a lot about myself over the last 2 months! :) I have enjoyed Carson (even when I had no sleep and he cried a ton!!) so much it's not even funny. I know the people at work made fun of me when I SWORE that I wasn't taking any time off. Then, I left for the Summer pretty darn sure that I was only taking 2 weeks off because people were giving me grief about it. Well, I am VERY thankful I am going back when he is 12 weeks old!!!

The boy's just sooooooooo much fun. I almost hate running errands because it means that I am missing his play time at home! He is really loving the Mat and batting at the toys. He has figured out how to grip the toys!

Today was my first day without a nap (UGH!). I figured I better get my body back into the real world and not take a nap at all! It was rather rough to say the least. However, it's amazing how much you can get done while he is sleeping. Today's Agenda: School work. I spent the entire day trying to get ahead on lesson plans, so I can enjoy him more when I get home in the evenings. Then, I won't be "planning" and only grading papers!!

Since I spent today only doing school work, no housework got done!! I still have my lunch and supper dishes in the sink. I was hoping the invisible person would put them in the dishwasher for me. It didn't happen!! :(

On a really great note---Hubby has only another two weeks to drive the 4 hours a day to work! He is going to be back to Circleville, only a 20 min. drive! WOOTTTTT I am so excited. :)
I am hoping that will mean that he will do more around the house so I don't have to run myself ragged trying to do it all!!! I guess the more time he will have at home, it probably will happen. Well, once he spends a few days just loafing since he hasn't had much relaxation since Carson was born, (wait, neither have I!)

Upcoming news: Carson's little girlfriend is turning one. He will be attending his first birthday party. Cicora is coming home and I really hope that we get to see her

Stay tuned for pictures of my little guy in his cute baseball outfit today!!!!

Oh wait---I didn't do any laundry today so I am not even sure if hubby has work clothes tomorrow, but I guess he should have checked himself! LOL

Clean or upload pictures?

Carson just born













Carson at one month

Carson at Two Months

Marie will be overly proud that I chose to upload some pictures instead of clean while Carson is napping! :)

Jenn will just be happy that she can finally see some pictures.

Cara will be happy that she has power to be able to read the post/see the pictures.

My husband won't care either way what I have done today as long as Carson is taken care of, ha ha

I may have some other readers, but I have more readers on myspace!

I will get better at posting pictures/blogging (as you can see I need practice here!)

Miracle Grow

At Carson's two month appt. he was 25 inches tall ( a growth of 2 1/2 inches in a month) and 13.5 pounds. Both are in the 97th percentile. According to the Doctor, my breast milk has some miracle grow.

It's been a huge adjustment around the house to a newborn, but I wouldn't trade a single minute of it. It's amazing how much work goes into caring and raising a little one! I am thankful for my husband being there for me. He has went through the ups and downs and been there to hear every one of my million fears and frustrations. He is a wonderful guy (when he isn't being a typical male!!!). Don't get me wrong, I had my share of tears being mad at the man, but overall he is great!

His biggest issue is that he drive two hours one way (I know he loves me!) to work. Hopefully, that situation will improve SOON and he will be only 40 min. away. Additionally, he had to do SO much with John as an infant, that because I am the one doing the BF, he doesn't know his place. When he is home, he is in charge of the burping, getting him ready for the bath and the aftermath of the bath. I am in charge of the pouring the water over him while Eric washing him and picking the temperature of the water. Ironically, Carson would SCREAM when Eric picked the water because he was trying to go with his body temperature and Carson has mine! As of last night, he has started to doing the feeding before bed. We have to work through Carson going to a babysitter, which means he has to be proficient with a bottle....something he isn't!

:) It's rather strange to be home while I have students in school. I thought at first I would only take two weeks off, until the little guy was in my arms. Then, I realized that Carson only was young once and my students could be whipped back into shape. I do have a great sub, but nobody will be as Type A organized as me. I wake up many nights thinking about my room and how much work it will take to get it put back together! Why can't I just enjoy the time that I have off??? ;)

SO, not only do I have a little man who is growing, he sure loves to talk. Hubby told the Doctor that he gets it honestly from me. Dr. Melnick said whatever the case may be, it shows that he is talked to frequently. Heck, I love talking to whoever will listen........most adults get sick of hearing it, but Carson doesn't. I LOVE hearing him COOOOOOOO. It's so fun!

I haven't been the best at updating with pictures. It seems that free time is spent getting extra sleep, cleaning, laundry, checking myspace and e-mail (but not writing people back) etc. I do check up on other peoples blogs and laugh at how much I need to update mine, especially with pictures. But, you have to be just happy with a blog for now.

I appreciate all the support that I have gotten from people who are already parents. I don't have all the time to research what is best for Carson. As a teacher, I always was told "Why reinvent the wheel". I firmly believe this more with parenting than teaching. I like to ask the friends who are parents what has worked for them.

Carson struggles with body temperature. This is evident the most in the car. The little guy goes from hot to cold to hot to cold. Again, another trait he picked up from me. My mother bought us a little fan, and that seems to help with the hot part of it. It's hard driving down the highway at 70 to figure out which temperature he is. Therefore, car rides for me are pretty stressful!!

Not only do I love hearing him coo, I love the sad face he gets when someone else is holding him, and he hears my voice! I have spent many, many, many hours with Baby Boo, so I can see why he is a momma's boy!

Carson loves to spend time in the bouncy seat while we eat supper. He enjoys seeing many lights and having us talk to him over dinner. He only likes the swing when he is really tired. The boppy pillow is used the most for our morning meetings where we discuss what we are going to do for the day. Today is a STAY AT HOME all day! I won't have many of those left, so I am going to enjoy it. Thankfully, I have had enough sleep, so I will use free time writing this blog, writing my professional goals and objectives and putting together the Unit 2 Math lessons for the sub!

Oh wait, back to Carson! He is also enjoying the Bumpbo (however you spell it). He is able to watch mommy read the books and can look at the pictures in this seat. Reading is a favorite pasttime of his father, so he is read to in the morning by me and in the evening by Eric. John is an avid reader as well. John's gotten his hands on reading to him as well. However, Carson was distracted by the Bengals playing (and losing of course). John said "Julie, Carson isn't listening to me because he is watching TV". Ha I of course had a smarty remark that said "Now you know how I feel when you and daddy are watching TV".

John has been a GREAT big brother. He will help us do anything but change the actual diaper. We have installed an allowance so that John felt he was getting something in return for his hard work and effort with Carson. Having him here that first week home was a godsend! The only time he has really gotten jealous was BEFORE Carson was here. He was upset that Carson had a "cooler" laundry hamper than he did. He thought he should take Carson's. NOT SO MUCH! So, I went out and bought him a matching laundry hamper. He told me one time after our road trip, "I don't know how you are going to do this alone, it's stressful". The 10 year old quotes crack me up! John enjoys his quaility time with his father as much as possible still, so I try to let the boys squeak in some alone time. However, that may entail Eric holding Carson in his famous football hold while they play video games and I get things done around the house, but it's the little things that John cherishes with a baby crying around the house.

Milestones: We are about 90% holding our head up, sleeping 5-8 hours at a time at night (if only mommy and daddy would go to bed earlier!!), grabbing for toys, talking a ton, kicking non-stop, standing time is remarkable, and tummy time on mommy is great. The standing time is way ahead of schedule. He has some strong legs which will make for a great catcher some day. He struggles with tummy time on the mat, but not when he is laying down on me. When he is on the mat, his legs want to move like he is crawling and he gets frustrated EASY! I am most thankful that he didn't struggle with breastfeeding.

That's all the time we have for now, Carson is stirring and ready to wake up from a nap! Hopefully soon, you will have some updated pictures!

It's all about ten dollars!

It's been awhile since I have updated this, so here it goes.

We are moved into the house. The only boxes left to unpack are in the basement for the computer room. I have a BIG computer desk and it didn't get on the moving truck because we thought he had to be taken apart to even get it out of the old house. Low and behold it didn't, however it does have to be taken apart to get in the new house. :( I wanted everything in place before the baby arrives. I have come to realize my OCD will just have to be put in check and the computer room won't be finished. Right now, the desk will look great in the garage!

Our house is four bedrooms, but I wanted a guest bedroom and then later that can be turned into another baby room. So, my brother put carpet in the basement for us, and that will be used as the computer room.

Speaking of my brother, the guy is usually a jerk to me but has been OVER and ABOVE helpful and pretty darn funny through the whole move. Let me give you his best classic funny line. So, the hottie guy next door said, "you are pretty easy going for being nine months pregnant". My brother points this out, "When you are the top of the scale of being a bitch, there isn't any room to grow". Gotta love him!!!

The title of the blog is about a bet that we have going in the family. Eric picked that Carson would be here on the 30th of June, I picked the 7th of July and John picked the 15th of July. I have a few more hours to go and I will win the bet (Price is Right rules apply). If he doesn't arrive on his own, the doctor is going to induce me on the 10th. Nothing is medically wrong, it's all for selfish reasons. First, it's her day to be at the hospital (or palace that we like to call it!), and also because of the LONG drive for my husband and mom from their jobs!

Today I had the "nesting" going on big time. I made this chicken casserole, cheesey potatoes, great salad for dinner, homemade choc. chip cookies and cream cheese bars. Oh and I gave the dog a bath as well.

I love living up here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Going to a cook-out isn't such a drag because I don't have to face the hour drive home once it's completed. :)
That's all from here folks. Next update will probably be the delivery!

I miss my 5th graders!

Today was my first day of vacation and boy do I miss my kiddos already. It's pretty sad I know! I LOVED this class and hated to let them go. With that said, they also were a great distraction to our current house annoyance!

It's Monday the 9th and we have YET to close on the house. The old homeowner's have an outstanding water bill and didn't pay their Homeowner's Association fees. So, I sit IMPATIENTLY waiting for them to give us a closing date.

My mother-in-law gave us an early Christmas present and "bought" us movers. Obviously, with me being pregnant, I am unable to be much of a help. SO, instead of relying so heavy on our friends and family to help us move, I am thankfully going to accept this gift.

The worst part is that I wanted to get odds and ends in car loads up there, and of course just throw my clothes in the car on the hangers. Right now, I am frustrated we have yet to close. ;(

I want to be in the house! We haven't been able to measure for the curtains or for the fridge. Can you hear my frustation via this keyboard???

For anybody who knows me well, they know I am a planner..........this isn't fitting in my plans one single bit!

I don't even know where to focus my frustrations anymore. Packing is only so much fun by yourself. I listen to my country music, take a break and check e-mail and myspace (to put my feet up) and go back to packing. I am out of boxes right now, so the packing is finished for the evening.