Just Some Randomness

I was doing so good about blogging and then bam....it's been 2 weeks. I wish blogging could be my job. I would promise to be a good blogger and blog every day :) Since no one is going to pay me for that, I better type my randomness so I can go to bed and wake up early for my real job.

We've been carrying on the theme of the last couple months...sickness. Carson had strep...got better...and then started running a fever again. I must randomly note that he handled the strep and flu test without a single whimper. The boy is tough as nails.

Granny & Pa have visited two times to help while he's been sick.

There has been lots of snuggling and watching TV. We have found the one show that holds his attention without fail. America's Funniest Videos! He loves it and will sit perfectly still while it is on. He even pointed at the TV the other day to ask us to watch it. It's such a win, win b/c I would rather watch that over a kids' show any day.

Pa took Miles to his basketball game while Granny & I stayed home to watch Carson. I was so thankful that Miles had someone there to cheer for him since Darrin was out of town.

Did I mention there is a lot of snuggling going on? You basically can't put him down right now. Ever.

Miles went to a Nerf gun party and decided that he wants another Nerf party for his 9th birthday. Just no. I have basically 8 months to push him in another direction and I will be doing just that after the chaos that was his 7th birthday.

The funniest thing happened last night. Darrin's parents spent the night with us. Carson started crying during the night. As I always do, I turned off the monitor and set a timer for 10 minutes, in case I fell asleep (which I always do). When I woke up to assess the situation after 10 minutes, I couldn't find Carson on the monitor. I thought he might have been buried under his blanket or nestled in a corner, but it really didn't look like he was in the crib. I woke Darrin up, showed him the monitor, and asked him where Carson was. He decided to go check on him. We both thought he might have jumped out b/c I feel certain that day is coming. When he got to his room, the door was open. Darrin's dad had gotten him in the 10 minutes we thought he was crying himself back to sleep.

This is how a house full of boys plays together. I'll never understand video games, so I don't get invited. It's totally fine.

It's been a hectic couple of weeks with crazy work schedules, recruiting, basketball games, baseball practice, sickness, and my mom had surgery. Life is not slowing down any time soon, but I'll be ready when it does!

This Confirms It & a Good Recipe

We took Carson for his 18 month check up yesterday. It was a family affair since Miles was still out of school for snow.

I was so curious about his height and weight since he hasn't been since his 12 month check up. He is 31.5" long (19th percentile even though he looks so long in this picture!).

He weighs 27.5lbs (84th percentile). Quite a difference from our 3lb 14oz preemie!

Miles was not happy at all about Carson getting shots. Carson is such a tough baby though. He jumped when the shot went in and cried for just a second. Then he was on his way. Miles took good care of him and offered to rub his leg on the way home.

At times, I have seen resemblances in the boys and other times I have seen none. Lately I've been of the thought that they favored each other, but didn't really look alike. After yesterday's visit, I am convinced that they look nothing alike. At 18 months, Miles was in the 84th percentile for height and the 48th percentile for weight. Their body types, looks, and personalities are all very different. I used to want them to look alike b/c Miles was so cute as a baby. Now, I see that Carson is just as cute in his own right.

After his appointment, I went back to work for an hour or so b/c I am so busy right now. There literally aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. When I got home we played with Carson until he went to bed and then played a board game with Miles. Snow days = games in our family. We have played games every day since last Friday.

Thought I would share a new recipe that I tried tonight, Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup. I was starving when I go home from work, so anything would have been good, but this got good reviews from all three boys. I mixed everything in the crock pot last night except the chicken. Darrin added the chicken and started the crock pot at 10am since he was still home with Miles and Carson. I topped mine with Fritos and sour cream and it was really good. The boys left off the sour cream, but I think they missed the boat on that one. We only had one bowl of leftovers so that tells you how much everyone liked it. Let me know what you think!

Wordless Wednesday

Photo cred: Eventide Photography by Carrie Cantrell

Snow Day with Daddy

I sent Darrin a text when he was almost home that said "Miles and I are ready to have some snow day fun with you, games and playing outside. Please drink some caffeine before you get home."

I've learned that a little advance notice goes a long way. I knew he would be tired from a long weekend, but it was one of those 'sorry not sorry' texts. I was sympathetic b/c I knew he would probably be tired, but I also knew Miles needed him to push through and enjoy the snow with him.

About 10 minutes after he walked in the door, we were getting ready to go outside. That's a good daddy for you. He handled it like a champ.

I'm not sure how long we stayed outside, but I would guess a little over an hour. We had so much fun. It was so nice to be able to sled down the hill and then get pulled up by the 4-wheeler.

Carson liked sledding down the hill with me, but I think getting pulled behind the 4-wheeler was his favorite.

Miles had fun sledding.

Selfies with my boys when my camera would work.

It got so cold every day that the touch screen quite working. I found after I came back inside that it still took pictures...you just didn't know what you were getting until you looked through them on the computer.

After playing in the snow, we had junk food for dinner b/c that's the proper thing to do when you are snowed in. The boys and I ate good snacks all weekend, so it was only fair that Darrin got to have some too. Buffalo chicken dip and smores for the win.

We got more snow last night. I'm not sure how much more, but I think it was 2-4". That is so much snow for our area. My office closed at 3pm, but instead of coming home to play in the snow, I had to be a responsible adult and go to Walmart. We had a few prescriptions to pick up and we were down to one roll of toilet paper. #priorities. It's currently 5 degrees outside with a wind chill of -7. The high tomorrow is 21. I'm already strategizing how warmly I can possible dress for work. In true Tennessee fashion, the temperature is supposed to get up to almost 60 this weekend. This snowy week has truly been one that our family will never forget, but I'm ok if the snow melts this weekend. It's been great, but I'm officially freezing.

Weekend Wrap Up

Our long weekend is coming to an end. I had off today for Martin Luther King Day. Darrin is on his way home from recruiting in Atlanta. I used to dread this time of year b/c Darrin has to be gone so much. Now, I actually look forward to it. We miss Darrin and would much rather he be home, but if he has to be gone, an upside to that is the downtime we get. I make it my mission to stay home as much as possible especially right now while Carson is little. I try to run errands during the week and make sure we have all the groceries we need. In a couple years, we will plan a few fun things and venture out some, but for now we stay home. I think little babies and toddlers are meant to be home in the peace and comfort of their homes and cribs. Miles doesn't mind staying home at all either. We play games, watch movies, play with toys, and I catch up on little projects around the house.

This weekend forced us to stay home b/c we got 7" of snow! That makes it an even better weekend, in my opinion. My mom came up on Thursday before the snow came and left on Saturday even though the roads were still very messy. She made it home fine by taking it slow. She's like me, we like to go, but we like to be home too.

The snow came on Friday. I needed to go into work for a little while. My office ended up closing at 2pm, but I left a little sooner. Darrin was already gone and I didn't want to run into any problems especially since he was out of town. I knew it was going to be a rough drive home as I walked to my car.

Definitely the worst driving conditions I've ever driven in. It didn't help that my windshield wipers need to be replaced. I couldn't see. I had to stop several times and lean out over my windshield to scrap my wipers. They kept refreezing. 

I was very happy to pull onto my street.

My mom was still there to watch Carson, so Miles and I headed outside to play.

The next day we took Carson out for a little while. I need to be to more prepared before it snows again. He needs a proper snowsuit and some gloves. He's wearing Miles gloves just to keep the snow off of his hands. Despite his expression, I would say he kind of liked the snow. 

This is his "I'm happy but shy about it" face.

This picture made all the effort of going outside worth it.

 

 

 

Mason came to spend the night with Miles on Saturday night. Miles was more than a little excited. These two test the limits of personal space at all times.

 

The rest of the weekend was filled with junk food including a failed recipe and an oven catastrophe. The last time we used the oven something spilled out onto the bottom. I preheated the oven to bake a pizza for the boys. When I opened the door, smoked came out and filled the kitchen. We had to open doors and windows. I had to let the oven cool completely and then clean it before reheating to cook the pizza. What a pain. It was so bad that I had to wash my hair afterwards b/c it smelled like smoke.

The weekend also saw great sleeping and nap times by Carson. He actually didn't sleep that long either day, but he played in his crib for hours after waking up. Yesterday, he played for almost 2.5 hours before crying for us to come get him. I almost felt bad for leaving him in there that long, but it was clearly where he wanted to be. He just laid on his back and kicked around.

We played several games including Pokémon and Monopoly Deal.

And, I dried the snow clothes and straightened the laundry room over and over and over again.

The roads are still very slick and it's calling for more snow tonight. I'm pretty sure the boys will be out of school and daycare all week. Darrin and I will have to figure out a plan to take care of them. I like the snow a lot more when I get to stay home. Getting out to go to work tomorrow won't be much fun. Back to reality!