Less Words Wednesday

Last night, I laid Carson down for bed very much against his will. I threw the blanket over him and walked out like I have done many nights. He usually cries for a few minutes, or even seconds, and then lays down and goes to sleep. Instead, last night we heard foot steps and then his door opened. He walked out and joined us in the living room. Darrin and I just stared at each other in disbelief. He must have climbed out gracefully b/c we didn't hear a thud.

So, we took the springs off the crib and put the mattress right on the floor. It's not ideal for changing sheets or laying him down in the crib, but if it keeps him in there at night, I'll deal with it!

He slept all night and went to bed without a whimper tonight. I think one key is not laying him down until almost 8:30pm. In my opinion, that's too late, but if you try to lay him down any earlier, he doesn't seem ready. Hopefully lowering the mattress will continue to do the trick, but if not, the next step is a lightweight sleep sack. Darrin doesn't like that idea but I simply cannot put him in a toddler bed yet. Our house is not ready for that!

Weekend Wrap Up

We had such a fun weekend and I took so many pictures, but the methods I use to get my pictures from my phone to the computer are all failing me. So, I have just a couple to share from our busy, baseball-free weekend.

Saturday morning we went to Safari Park. The biggest part of it is a drive thru zoo. They do have a section that you can get out and see a few animals like a regular zoo. We thought Carson would love it. I think he liked it, but he wasn't overjoyed or anything.

We went with some of our best friends from Martin, Rachel & Travis. They have a 2 & 3 year old, so that means between us we've had 3 kids in the last 3 years, which = we never get to see each other. It was fun to spend a few hours with them and our boy herd. The boys were all so good. Carson had a come apart on the way out, but what are you going to do???

Marmee came up to spend the weekend with us. We went to church on Sunday.

Then, Granny & Pa came over on Sunday to hang out. They bought Miles a BB gun and Pa taught him how to shoot it. It was fun to watch. I think they both thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Miles is so responsible that I had no reservations about letting him have a BB gun. I'm pretty sure Carson will only ever shoot water guns on my watch.

Marmee & Granny did a great job entertaining Carson while we worked around the house. We've had baseball for several weekends in a row. It was time to take care of some projects.

We cleaned out our garage and shop, did lots of yard work, and pressure washed pretty much every outdoor surface. It was a productive weekend! I'd love to say that Carson helped, but he didn't :)

My mom bought the boys a swing. It is so much fun for kids and adults! It's a round rope swing. We put a blanket on it to make it comfortable and it was so relaxing. Carson got clipped one time and fell straight back on his head. In true Carson fashion, he shook it off very quickly. I'm so happy with this addition to our yard. I know it will get a lot of use.

We also ate lots of good food over the weekend. Carson approved. His appetite is really picking up these days.

We were sad to see the weekend end, but I think we needed to go back to work to get some rest!

Less Words Wednesday

I went back and added a post for Mother's Day. You can check it out here.

They had a petting zoo at daycare today. From the looks of the pictures, Carson might be a veterinarian or a zookeeper one day :)  He moved up to the next classroom this week and I think he's loving the activities and space that his new, bigger room provides.

The Last Day of 2nd Grade

I watched Miles walk up the ramp to his portable for the last time today! As I've mentioned before, I don't love the portable for security reasons, but you can't beat the convenience. You get to bypass the car line every morning and drop him off steps from his room. I like waving right before he walks in. Many mornings he totally forgot me if he was walking and talking to a friend :) His school is moving to a brand new building next year. Hopefully they built it big enough and won't need portables for a very long time. Although, at the rate our town is growing, we shall see.

It wasn't my favorite year and that's all I'll say about that. Bye bye second grade. I like to plan something fun for the last day. They dismissed at 11:30am and I couldn't take off, so I planned for Mason to come home with him. Darrin picked up two happy boys.

They played around the house, went to Mason's baseball game, went to a pool party, came home and crashed. They are the sweetest friends.

Life doesn't change that much for us in the summer. We all got up at the regular time and Miles went to summer camp at the school. Thankfully, Mason goes there too in the summer, so he's okay with going. Happy summer!

Weekend Wrap Up

Carson spend this weekend with his Aunt Crystal and Uncle Steve while we went to Mississippi to play baseball. They squeezed him and took great care of him all weekend.

They said he was a little angel all weekend, which is what everyone says about him. How does a two year know to behave when he's away from his parents, but not so much when he's with them? I'll never know. He behaved in a restaurant, stores, at their house, and didn't even cry in the car. When Darrin picked him up on Sunday evening, he screamed and cried the entire way home, and pulled the steri strips off of his face. 

While Carson was away, we managed to cram in three baseball games & three birthday parties, all for teammates. 

It was a disappointing weekend as far as baseball is concerned, but they are 8 year olds and they are working hard. They are learning so much about baseball and some life lessons. It's fun to see them all beg to pray after a game.

Miles rarely sleeps in the car, but he was completely worn out. We all shared this sentiment. Playing several weekends in a row is tough on everyone. We have off next weekend. It will be a welcomed break, especially since we have a 3 day weekend.

Peace Out 2nd Grade

Miles had Awards Day yesterday. Academically, he had a great year. He learned to read fluently and so fast. His favorite subjects are math & science. Literally every paper he brought home was a 100. His favorite day is Thursday b/c that's PE day. He loves the PE teacher, Coach A. Coach A makes Miles feel the most seen of anyone in the school. I appreciate him so much. Socially, it wasn't the best year. He didn't have any close friends (boys) from previous years, no baseball teammates, and no church friends. He struggled to connect with his teacher, Ms. Audrey, and her with him. It wasn't my favorite year. Definitely, peace out 2nd grade.

His teacher did recommend that he be tested for the excel program, which is the gifted program. He will take tests next year to see if he qualifies. School is very easy for him. We do nothing at home in the way of studying or homework and he still flies through everything.

He makes us proud every day. We love his quick wit and his adult conversations.

They made plaques with a picture from the first day of school. When he showed us on the way home, I realized that the outfit I picked out for Awards Day was the exact same outfit that he wore on the first of school :)

We survived 2nd grade. We are all glad it's over. His last day is a half day next Tuesday and then he will go to the summer camp at school, all summer, with his best friend, Mason. Bring it on.

Tough Boy

Just a few minutes after getting to work on Monday, my cell phone rang and it was daycare. I immediately thought he was out of diapers or his eye was goopy. His teacher said hi and then said she was giving the phone to Ms. Tammy, who is the director of the daycare. She proceeded to tell me that Carson had run into a sharp corner of a bookcase and cut his face, on his cheek, below his eye. She said that she thought it might need stitches but would feel better about it if we would come take a look.

I jumped in the car and called Darrin on my way. After a few calls to his pediatrician and a nurse practitioner friend, we found a clinic that does stitches. Darrin met us there. After an evaluation and an x-ray to make sure nothing was damaged structurally, we decided to opt for a couple stitches instead of glue. We were afraid he would pull the glue off since he pulled the bandaid off on the way there.

I'll make a long story short by saying that the experience was awful. The doctor was able to get one stitch and then tried unsuccessfully to get the second one in for quite a while. I finally asked if she could glue the rest. Carson was swaddled tightly so he couldn't move his hands and legs but his head was still shaking from screaming and crying. When we took the blanket off at the end, he was bright red and drenched in sweat. She said yes and we were done. I asked in the middle of it if he was numb and if he needed to be sedated. The doctor didn't answer either question. I'm guessing because she knew I wouldn't like her answers. She kept telling me to talk to Carson (which I was but it's impossible to talk constantly and it wasn't doing any good) and asking Darrin if he was going to pass out (he was sweating because it was 100 degrees in the room). We just wanted her to quite talking to us and finish the stitches. As I said, it was awful. Darrin and I were both worried that the other was going to go off on the doctor at any moment. We held our composure and got out of there without a scene.

He fell asleep on the way home. I was able to transfer him to his crib and he slept for several hours. The whole experience had worn him out. He woke up in a great mood and acted like nothing ever happened. Granny and Pa came to visit that night and brought him a minion balloon which he really liked.

In hindsight, we probably should have gone with the glue from the start. He has never touched the glue or even acted like he knew it was there. We had no way of knowing if he would try to pull it off or not, but considering how tough he is, we should have guessed that he would carry on without missing a beat. It's been healing nicely all week and the glue is already starting to wear off. His black eye is healing quickly too. All in all, he looks pretty good, especially since we are only 3 days out. Unfortunately, I'm sure this isn't the first and last for Carson.

Mother's Day

After going back and forth a bit, our coaches decided to schedule a tournament on Mother's Day weekend. They figured there was no place we'd rather be than watching our boys play ball. It was hard not seeing our moms on Mother's Day and not getting to honor them in person. We do love watching our boys play baseball, so it was hard to argue with their logic. They surprised us with pink jerseys to wear on Sunday.

I think the boys were just as excited as the moms.

We played some tough competition all weekend and managed to go 5-0. Miles had a great day on Sunday and even drove in the winning run, in the bottom of the 6th, in the semi-final game. It was an exciting moment for him and us. He has surprised me in clutch moments. I don't know if it's good timing or if he knows the magnitude of the moments. I'd like to think it's the latter.

He sure loves playing baseball.

We bought him some new sunglasses as an end of the school year gift for doing such a good job  in second grade and doing it all on his own. That's something my parents did for me sometimes and I think it's a nice way to reward and to encourage him.

His hitting lessons are continuing to help him. His stance looks a lot better...more consistent.

And this one here....I can't possibly brag on him enough. He surprised the heck out of us. He woke up at 7am, traveled a total of 3 hours in the car, played in the heat all day, didn't take a nap, stayed up until after 10pm, and was near perfect all day. I didn't think he had it in him, but he did it. I tried to be prepared with things to do and snacks. One thing I did, was make a sand box in a Rubbermaid container. I buried cars, Army men, and sand toys. I was hoping to get to watch one game out of it, but he played with it almost all day. It was excellent.

Winning the championship on Mother's Day was a perfect gift. We were sweaty, dirty, and tired, but it was well worth it.

Crazy Hair Day

Yesterday was crazy hair day for Miles.

Unfortunately, every day is crazy hair day for Carson.

6 Pics & I Guess He Learned His Lesson

This picture sums up why I don't blog much anymore....Carson is always in my lap and there's always a mess to clean up.

I can't believe how grown they look in this picture. It's so apparent every day how much Miles is growing up. He's capable of so much and conversations with him are fun. And that baby boy is growing up too. He's talking and understanding so much these days.

Last night, we ate our first meal of the season on the patio. That's one of Miles' favorite things and I think it's going to be one of Carson's too. He sat in his own chair like a big boy and ate his entire dinner. We did the same thing tonight and he's 2 for 2. I'm learning that he wants to be big like his brother. He'd much rather sit in a chair than a booster seat or a high chair.

Miles starting taking hitting lessons. He has great coaches, but they can't spend the amount of time with him that he needs. He's been a little bummed lately b/c his hitting doesn't seem to be progressing like the others. Hopefully this will give him a little added confidence. He sure did great in the lesson I watched tonight.

Just waiting for "Daaaaad-dee" to come back up from the bottom of the hill on the mower. He loves to be outside and LOVES to see his Daddy.

Crying in the car is still a thing.

As I've said before, as much of a challenge as Carson is (I have made that perfectly clear haven't I?) he has sleep going for him. He goes to bed easily and stays there for 12 hours every night. Last night, he decided to protest bedtime. I tried to lay him down twice and he wasn't having it. After two hours,  Motrin, gas drops, teething gel, and Benadryl, I threw him in his crib and walked out the door. He needed sleep even if it meant he had to cry himself to sleep. He threw a little tantrum and threw everything out of his crib, which was the second time of the night, and proceeded to scream for a while. We stuck it out and he finally fell asleep in an empty crib. I felt kind of bad that he didn't have a pillow or blanket, but we weren't about to risk going in there. No thank you! He cried in the night, but got himself back to sleep and stayed there all night.

Tonight, I pretty much threw him in his crib again and walked out b/c I could tell that he was about to repeat last night. He cried for a few minutes and then played for a while until he went to sleep, but he didn't throw his stuff out tonight. Hopefully, he learned his lesson last night and remembered that didn't work out so well.

Yum!

Carson is a pretty good eater, but he doesn't eat as healthy or as much as Miles did at this age. One thing in particular that we seem have a harder time getting him to eat is grilled chicken, which is unfortunate, because we eat it a lot. He likes it, but he only eats a few bites and then he's over it. He moves on to everything else on his plate. Yesterday, I remembered how we got Miles to eat grilled chicken....ketchup!

It was like magic. He cleaned his plate. Sadly, he also dipped a few pieces of watermelon in the ketchup too, but it didn't bother him. We laughed so hard at this picture. He looks like he's giving me the stink eye.

Darrin and I were just looking at each other in disbelief as he shoved one piece after another in his mouth. I told him that we definitely won at dinner last night.