Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our ninja & scarecrow!

We been fighting the stomach virus around here. I hope to have a lot of pictures from fall and Halloween up tomorrow. Hope your Halloween was full of fun and chocolate :)

Less Words Wednesday

Go Cubs!

So, we aren't really Cubs fans....Darrin recruits a lot around the Chicago area. They are serious about their sports and they like to outfit our boys for every sport.

Miles had a pumpkin decorating contest at school. You couldn't carve the pumpkin or cut off the stem because it made them stink. We flipped the script and bought a fake pumpkin at Target. The strategy was two fold. We were able to cut the stem off to fit our design and it was lighter for him to carry into school by himself.

It was assigned as family project so we I could help. He still did the majority of the work himself. It was a lot of fun to work on together. It took us several steps over 4-5 days. Turns out there was another gumball machine and Pikachu took 1st place. If I had know that the kids were judging our strategy would have been a little different. #competitivefamily 

A quick meal planning idea for you. When you make tacos, double the meat and have nachos a couple nights later. Spread tortilla chips on the bottom, cover with the leftover meat (warmed up), top with cheese and bake for 5 minutes at 350. Sprinkle with lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream. Your family will love you. My side is the one with the tomatoes. Darrin and Miles are crazy and don't like them.

Miles' last fall baseball game is tomorrow night. They haven't won a game all season. It's tough being a team full of 7 year olds in the 8 & Under division. We'll get them next year. {wink, wink, fingers crossed}

Darrin had a rare night off. That's a lap full of happy boys.

Today marks two weeks back at work. I've been making it ok, but I do miss Carson like crazy. After being with him and taking care of him for 3 months, it's been an adjustment to be away. I keep a picture of his smiling face on my computer to help me get through the day. Of course I miss Miles too, but I know my big boy is thriving at school.

7 Things

1) Before Carson started daycare, I said I was going to dress him in sleepers everyday. I used to think that Miles needed to be in an outfit for daycare everyday. I would usually dress him in a sleeper on Fridays but that was it. Crazy, right? I know. Well guess what, I'm still not ok with sleepers everyday. Carson wears them more than Miles did, but I still like to dress him for daycare. So, I've been doing a little shopping for some 'real' outfits. How cute is this one? I would love it more if it buttoned between the legs, but it is adorable. I love how precious his face and cheeks look in this picture.

2) Speaking of outfits...thank goodness for outfits you put away after Christmas last year b/c they were too big. Definitely came in handy on our first chilly day of the year. Miles has plenty of jeans but he had Little Dribblers basketball practice after school today and I just couldn't send him to do anything athletic in jeans. 

3) We were comparing pictures of Carson & Miles last night. Some of the pictures of Miles look so much like Carson, even more so as he continues to gain weight. It is hard to show in pictures, but Carson has some of the exact facial expressions as Miles, especially when he laughs.

4) We are all in love with Carson. Darrin and I used to sit around and stare at Miles. Now, Darrin, Miles, and I sit around and stare at Carson.

We were all saying our goodbyes to him before we went our separate ways :) Darrin and I have been trading up who takes which kid each day. As long as neither of us has anything going on, we each take one. It takes about 5 minutes longer to take Carson b/c you have to walk in, but both are easily and require us to leave around the same time, which is between 7-7:15am.

5) Carson is doing really well at daycare. I was slightly worried about him going b/c he can be a little high maintenance, but he hasn't shown them that side yet. He's all smiles while he's there. They always tell me how sweet he is. Mrs. Kristen usually sends me one picture a day.

6) Carson slept through the night last night! We laid him down at 10pm after 4 ounces of milk mixed with 4 tbsp of rice cereal. I heard him whimper at 4am but he went back to sleep and didn't cry to wake up until 5am! It was so nice to sleep, but I did stalk the monitor a little during the early morning hours. I remember with Miles, it makes you nervous at first when they start sleeping longer.

7) I don't have a picture to go with this one, but friends from our small group have been so good to us this week and I want to remember it. Last Sunday, I text a friend to ask if she could watch Carson for 30 minutes that night while I ran a few errands. She replied "yes ma'am" without hesitation. On Wednesday night, another friend brought us dinner for no reason. Today, I was in line to buy diapers when I ran into another friend from small group. She insisted on buying my case of diapers b/c she never bought us a present. No doubt the Lord has placed this group of people in our lives!

Carson's Name

I was telling someone the other day how Carson’s name came to be and it dawned on me that I had not shared that story on here. I think it will be neat for him to read one day how we decided on Carson Lynn and the other names we were considering. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, we decided on Jordan Lynn for a girl. We tossed several boy names around, including Jordan for a boy. After some back and forth, we narrowed first names down to Tanner, Carson, Taylor, or Jordan.

While at work one day, Darrin decided to write these four names on a white board on his office door for people to vote. Carson was a clear favorite.

 

After that day, Darrin and Miles started calling the baby Carson every time they would talk about him. For a while, I would remind them that we had not decided on that yet, but they continued. I just wanted to deliberate a while longer since we had arrived at Carson so easily. Naming Miles took a long time, so I guess I just didn’t think it should be that easy. Not long after that, we were driving down the road and one of them called him Carson again at which point I asked if we should just make it official. Of course, they agreed.

As for Lynn, that is my middle name. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that before. We did go back and forth on that a little, but in the end, it was very meaningful for me for Carson to have my middle name since Miles has Darrin’s. I am SO glad that we went with Lynn. I love the fact that he is my namesake, especially after all the two of us have been through with the delivery and our recoveries. Hopefully it will mean as much to Carson one day.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Wrap Up

I didn't take many pictures from the weekend. Darrin was out of town from Thursday until just a few hours ago. My mom was here to lend a hand. We basically just stayed around here and took care of the boys. The most noteworthy thing from the weekend is that Carson slept through the night....kind of. We started adding rice cereal to his bottle four nights ago and it really hasn't done much. But, I fed him at 9:30 last night and he didn't cry out until 4:15am. He's been waking up between 1-2am. Since it was fairly close to the time that he would wake up for the day, which is 6am, I decided to put him in my bed instead of feeding him. We don't let him sleep in our bed, but since Darrin wasn't there, I was able to lay him completely by himself.

I thought maybe if I didn't feed him we might be able to break him of waking up. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pacify him for 2 hours though. To my surprise, he went right to sleep until 6:15am. He moved around a little and I had to pat him a few times, but I didn't have to feed him. So, that's our little weekend success. I have no idea if it will make a difference for him, but it seems like a step in the right direction.

Welcome to Daycare

Well...he made is 1.5 days in daycare before getting sick. This is how I feel about daycare germs.

Since I'm back at work, Darrin and I are sharing the 2am feeding. He did it last night. When he came to bed afterwards, he informed me that Carson had a low grade fever. He had a couple shots on Tuesday, so we surmised that it could be from that. Since his fever was below 100.4, his teacher said we could bring him. She ended up calling around noon to tell me that his fever was climbing. I picked him up and headed home. I don't know if it's sickness or just from his shots. The highest his fever got was 100.5. The only other symptom is watery eyes. He's been less active than usual and just kind of puny. I'm hoping he will sleep well and wake up feeling better.

Miles had a game tonight. I told him this morning that Carson wouldn't be able to go to the game if he got worse during the day. My mom was coming in town this afternoon, so I gave him the option of one of us going to the game and the other staying home with Carson.

He wanted Marmee to take him to the game.

I hated to miss it, but I read a blog once about how younger kids don't need to be dragged to every game and/or practice for their older siblings, forcing them to constantly be out of their routine. I know that is a personal choice, but it made sense to me. Miles was able to stay home and have the safety and security of a routine, so Carson is owed that as well. The same blog also said that this taught older kids that everything doesn't revolve around them. Also a good lesson, but hard for a mom that hated to miss the game tonight. I'm thankful that my mom was willing to go and that Miles was very excited to have her there.

It Was Almost a Good Day & Carson is 3 Months

I started my day very optimistically. I woke up excited to get ready and go to work. I knew it would be hard to part with Carson, but I was pretty confident that I would adjust quickly. We had a little set back when Miles realized that he was not riding in the same car as Carson on the way to school. Darrin took Miles and I took Carson. I guess Miles thought he was going to get to drop Carson off again like he did on Monday. He cried big tears and then we all left around the same time.

I was holding up pretty well walking to Carson's room. I talked to his teacher for a while. When it came time to hand him over, my eyes filled with tears. His teacher looked me in the eyes and said, "You are going to be fine." I knew she was right and just shook my head and walked off. I cried a little on the way to work, but was able to avoid a big, ugly cry. I was greeted by my good friend, Ginger, as soon as I made it to the second floor. She and another friend, Jill, gave me a balloon, flowers, donuts, and a Coke. They know me well.

I hung out in my office all day b/c I wasn't really in the mood to be sociable. I decided to give myself one day and then I would visit my friends on the first floor and reach out to some other friends tomorrow. But then I received a delivery and had to go downstairs to get it. It was actually really good to chat with everyone. Darrin sent me some pretty flowers and a sweet note. It meant the world that he acknowledged how hard today was for me.

I received several texts throughout the day from friends that were checking on me. I responded pretty much the same to everyone that asked how my day was going..."Not bad. A little sad when I dropped Carson off, but I'm ok. Avoided an ugly cry." Unfortunately, somewhere around 4pm my day took a turn. I waited patiently all day to get some help getting into my computer and never got any. I knew it would be a weird day of trying to get everything working again after being off for 3 months, but I never dreamed that I wouldn't get back in at all. Then, I learned that my user was disabled and I won't be able to get any of my emails back. Picture the wheels starting to come off....

It was finally time to leave and go get Carson. I leave work at 4:45pm to have time to get Carson and then pick Miles up by 5:30pm. Carson's daycare is very close to my office, but Miles' school is not. I don't work in the town where we live. It took me longer than I anticipated to pick Carson up. The pick up and drop off system is less than ideal. It's a long walk and my heels didn't help matters. By the time, I got in the car with Carson, my feet were killing me and I felt like I was going to be very rushed to get Miles in time.

As I was driving to get Miles, I started anticipating that he was not going to be happy when I picked him up b/c he had been at school for so long. He got used to me picking him up right when school was over. As suspected, he was not a happy camper. He would barely look at me and definitely wouldn't talk. As I analyze it now, I'm sure the fact that he was worn out was the biggest problem. I listened to him complain the entire way home about how much he dislikes after school and how boring it was. He went on and on until I felt like I was completely beaten down. I was fighting the tears back as we pulled into the driveway.

I started cooking as soon as I walked in. I got about 5 minutes in when Carson started crying and Miles walked by and said it looked gross. I never should have tried to cook on my first day back.

At this point, the white flag was waving. I felt completely defeated. If I'm being honest, I still do. It was an emotional and tiring day. We all know I don't thrive under those circumstances. Here's hoping it is nothing that a good decent night's sleep won't fix. Sadly, Darrin's schedule is crazy for the next 10 days. As he said tonight, if we can just make it for the next month and a half, things will get much easier.

On a happier note, this little guy is 3 months old today.

He is becoming more and more fun everyday. He smiles all the time, even while we are trying to feed him.

He had a great first, full day of daycare. Mrs. Kristen sent me one picture and said that he had played for a while and was asleep in his crib.

She even laid him down once while he was awake and he fell asleep. I was hoping that a room full of kids, teachers, noise, and light would make him happy. Sounds like he might be enjoying it. Time will tell.

Tomorrow is the Day & Fall Break

Miles had fall break yesterday and today. I had planned to go back to work yesterday, since Monday was a holiday, but decided to prolong it one more day and hang out with Miles. I decided to take Carson to daycare for a few hours on Monday to try to ease into it. With Miles, I just took him for a full day on my first day back and it was pretty traumatic and overwhelming. We gave Carson a bath, put on some yummy baby lotion, and dressed him in one of his cutest sleepers. We have to make sure everyone loves him and wants to hold him a lot :)

This is his teacher Mrs. Kristen. I am very excited about her. She is a great communicator and seems to be a perfect mix of structure and go with the flow. I took this picture and the ones of his daycare below two weeks ago at orientation, but never got around to blogging about them.

This is his room. The blue mat in the middle of the room is fill with water for tummy time.

Soon his picture and footprints will be added to the wall with his friends. So far, there are all boys in his room. A girl is starting in a couple weeks. The daycare is in a Christian school that goes all the way from 2 years to 12th grade. This is the first year that they have accepted infants, so kids are still joining in.

The hallways for the younger kids are all designed with a theme...the ice cream shop, the grocery store, and Carson's room is the Pet Shop. There are others but I can't think of them. I need to take a picture of the hallways b/c they are very impressive.

Carson's crib is the second from the left along this wall. I told her I was nervous b/c he cannot stand to be on his back. We wedge him on his side to sleep at night. He doesn't even like to be held on his back. They have to lay babies on their backs in their cribs. Also, they can't swaddle, so we've been working hard to break him of that during the day. No more swaddling during the day...check. Sleeping on his back...not so much.

So on Monday, Miles and I dropped Carson off with Mrs. Kristen for a half of a day. I really didn't want to leave him, but I knew he would be well taken care of. I wasn't sure how he would do, but I knew that they would do everything in their power to see that he had a good day. Miles, on the other hand, was not so sure. As soon as we walked away, he started tearing up and his lip was quivering. I just put my arm around him and fought back my own tears as not to make it any worse. When we got to the car, he lost it. He kept saying, "Why do we have to leave him?" I asked if he missed him or if he was worried about him. He said, "Both." It was so sad to see his little heart break, but it was also incredible to see how much he loves Carson.

After finally calming Miles down, we did a little shopping. First up, Dick's, where we ended up putting and only buying Big League Chew.

Next, he tried on some clothes and had a dance party in the dressing room.

He also had a gift card from our good friend, Ms. Mitsie, that he spent at Toys R Us. He was so excited about it. He came home, read the directions, and put it together all by himself. It's already provided hours of entertainment.

After our running around, we went bowling. I decided to try to do something fun for his fall break. Something as little as bowling equals a beach trip in his mind. 

When I told him the night before that the two of us were going bowling, he was ecstatic.

Darrin decided to take a quick break from work and join us, which made Miles and I very happy.

 

It was fun to spend time with Miles while Carson was at daycare. I think Miles needed it, and I really enjoyed it too. I think we will always try to have some one on one time with both kids. 

 

We ran into one of my college friends while we were there. He and Miles played some arcade games together after bowling.

I received two texts from Mrs. Kristen during our day. They set up a rock and play just for him after I told her at orientation that he really liked ours. I thought that was the sweetest thing. He seemed to like theirs too!

 

I was really happy to get the second picture of him asleep in his crib. I really tried hard to work with him so that he wouldn't be too difficult for them. What a relief to see that he had a great first day.

 

We picked Carson up and went home. Everyone, including me, was worn out.

Today, Miles and I had appointments at the eye doctor. Miles was disappointed with his 20/20 vision b/c he wanted glasses. On the contrary, I was very happy that my vision had not changed :)

Then, we took Carson to get a few immunizations. We spread our shots out so he doesn't have to get so many at one time, which means we have to go more often. Even though it wasn't an office visit, she weighed him for me. He weighed just over 12lbs! For reference, I looked up to see how much Miles weighed at 3 months. He weighed 15lbs. I can see such a difference in Carson since we switched him to soy formula and got his stomach straightened out. He's eating on schedule and finishing bottles. I don't love that he's on soy formula, but I do love that I can absolutely tell how much better he feels.  

I've savored the snuggles a little more today. I am terribly sad about leaving Carson tomorrow. I'm also sad about not picking Miles up in car line and getting to do stuff with him in the afternoon. It's bittersweet, b/c I do love my job and my co-workers. I enjoy working. I love having a routine and spending time with adults every day! With that said, my stomach is in knots tonight. I remember Miles' first day of daycare vividly and I have often referred to that day as one of the worst days of my life. I also remember that I was fine the very next day, but somehow that memory just isn't helping tonight. I think the biggest thing is the anticipation about how I am going to feel with I drop him off. I expect a big ugly cry and then some fun times at work. 

Carson will be 3 months tomorrow. I stayed home for 9 weeks with Miles. The day he started daycare, he was ready. He began sleeping through the night the weekend before and was in a great routine. I have been worried about Carson b/c he's been so much different than Miles and much harder to establish any sort of routine with. I attribute most of that to being a preemie, but it might also just be that he's different. I'm so glad that I've been able to stay home for 13 weeks with Carson. Since he was in the NICU for 3 weeks, I've actually had about the same amount of time with him as I did with Miles. I think Carson is ready now. His routine is established. He's much less of a cat napper and he's sleeping better at night. He still gets up once during the night, but he goes back to sleep without a fight. Miles has my heart b/c he's our first born. Carson has my heart b/c he's the baby. He is absolutely precious and I know those daycare teachers are going to love him to pieces.