A Day With the Santa Ana's

What A Year

2011-12-18T23:02:00.005-06:00

2011 has been a great year. Many things I never saw coming, i.e. having a girl or moving to a new state. This past month has been a great month, but a month of change. I thought I always would love change and then when reality set in and all my boxes were packed I got scared. I was so comfortable where I was in MY town and at MY church and with MY friends. But as a great friend once said, God didn't call us to be comfortable. Saying goodbye to our church family was like a death Nelson and I said. That night after all the tears and saying goodbye was over he and I went up to the church for something. I was trying to explain to him the heaviness I was feeling. The only time I have every moved was when leaving for college at 18 years old and that was fun. This move was leaving memories and friendships I had created as a young adult, wife, and mom. It was really hard and I was scared. Scared about this new place and not being in my comfort zone. I was about to go to a place where I was going to be watched and people would say, if the preacher's wife watches it, says it, and does it, then it's okay for me to do. I confess I watch the Kardashians and get made fun of by my family.
We packed up and headed out to our new home! When we got here and saw all the people waiting to help move us in, saw the work they had done to the house, the cards of encouragement(the week before I moved I received several cards from my new church members telling me they were specifically praying for me because they know how hard it is to move and leave the people you love), and the food they brought. They poured out their love to us and at that moment God let me know, It's okay, I'm going to take care of you here just like I did there.

I can honestly say I have fallen in love with this little "Mayberry" town and these sweet people. The sign coming into town says home of the nice people and the nice town. And that is all I have been saying. We are excited to see why God had us come to this town. Nelson has done an amazing job already as pastor and I look forward to many years to come. Today at church an old man brought me some trees to plant in the yard. He told me I'll see the full results in 30 years. 30 years, and yes he really expected us to be here in 30 years from now. If that's what God wants I'd be happy to stay here.

Sidenote, my little lady is 6 months old today. We now have us a sitting lady with one tooth. She fits right in here in Mississippi!

5 Months

2011-11-18T09:26:00.000-06:00

It is crazy how fast time flies! Last year I posted that next Thanksgiving there would be 4 new babies and Thanksgiving is already here and we have an 11 month, 6 month, 5 month, and a 4 month old. I wish time could just slow down.

I can't believe Caroline has been here for 5 months already, at times I feel like I just had her and at others it seems like I don't even remember life without her. It's funny how your heart just grows.
Miss Caroline, she is still the sweetest baby. She really doesn't' cry. When she gets tired she makes this moan, I rock her and out she goes for a little nap. She really doesn't ever cry to eat, probably cause I feed her still every 2 1/2 -3 hours I don't give her time to get hungry.

Things she loves: watching Carson, me smelling her feet, not sure why but she laughs hysterically when I smell her feet and tell her they are stinky, her baths, her Exersaucer, Swing, being held, eating, sleeping, watching Foodnetwork with me, being held, her buggy, her DADDY (wrapped is all I have to say about the two of them), just about most things she likes.

Things she doesn't like: being put down if I'm holding her when she is tired, riding in the car at night, lay at an angle (she loves sitting up in your lap), and that's about it.

Her day: She wakes around 8:30-9 for the day, eats, plays in one of her contraptions while we get ready, usually go for a walk, run our errand and she sleeps on the road around 10:30 for about 40 minutes on the dot, eats, plays on the floor or swing while I do lunch and nap with Carson, she usually goes down somewhere around 1 and sleeps til around 4-4:30(she usually wakes in there to eat but stays asleep somehow), Carson usually is up around 2-3 and we watch tv, play on the computer, or read while she finishes up her nap, we eat around five, I feed her then she might nap again for about 30 minutes or we go somewhere and she'll stay up and just go to bed when we get home around 7 and she sleep through the night until about 5-6 am, eats, and back out. I usually have to give her the paci a few times in there too.

Other things that happened over the past month but the pictures are at the top:

We went to the pumpkin patch twice

Honey, Maggie, Courtney, and Miley came for our Fall Fest

Halloween-We had a Tiger, Dog, and Batman

With only a week left on Tuesday living in Baton Rouge we have been packing and picking out stuff for the new house. We have lived here 11 1/2 years and feel like we just moved here sometimes. We LOVE Baton Rouge and will miss it, fortuantely we're only 1 1/2 away!!

Our current church has been so kind to us during this transition and really poured out love on us. I've cried quite a bit but excited at the same time. I am excited about getting the house ready, but again will miss my friends and church family SO much.

Never Say Never

2011-11-03T20:39:00.000-05:00

Never say never is something my mom tried to instill in me when I was young but I was quite the hard headed one and said the scary word never quite a bit. I have eaten a many words in my day. For example:

-In 9th grade I told my grandma I would never ever in a million years date Nelson because he was too funny to ever date (she thought we were dating when she met him and asked me had I ever kissed him)= we've been together 13 1/2 years

-I would never became a teacher= taught for 5 years

-I would never move to the country=moved to Central which is country on the outside of Baton Rouge

-And said the one state I would never move to is Mississippi=My new state

Yep we are moving to the good ole' state of Mississippi!!! I realized that MS was ranked 50 in about every poll, but my Louisiana isn't too far behind with a nice ranking of 49 and I love Louisiana. After meeting the sweet people and their amazing southern cooking I came to like Mississippi and am very excited about our move.

About 3 months ago Nelson got a call from a church asking if he was interested in being a head pastor at their church. We interviewed and visited the church and really felt like this is where God was leading us. Two weeks ago we went in view of a call (aka Nelson preached and the church voted on whether or not they wanted Nelson as their pastor). We went and loved everything about it. They are good sweet people who loved on my family and welcomed us with open arms. Their only flaw, they are mostly Ole' Miss fans so it made for lovely bantering. They voted yes and told me to pick out my paint colors and if I wanted carpet and they would have the house all ready for us when we go in a month. !

This church has a parsonage which is a house they built for the pastor and they basically just give it to you while you are pastoring their church. It is literally in the church parking lot. I don't even have to drive to church, but now I can never be late. I get to treat it as my house and do with it how I want but don't have a house note and if we move one day I just hand back the keys. Now I see why God had me stay in my apartment so long. Now I don't have to try to sell a house.
We are very excited about going but at the same time very sad to be leaving our wonderful church family here. They are all we have known since we have lived here. They watched us get married, grow up, and have children. I know God will help me fall in love with our new church, but I sure will miss it here. Fortunately we are only an hour and 45 minutes away so I'll be visiting quite often.

I am super excited that I get to hear Nelson preach every Sunday and watch him do what he was called to do. He will be an amazing pastor!

Carson is excited because he has a tree in the front yard he gets to climb and a brand new playground in the backyard. Right now is an exciting time getting to pick out new stuff for the house. God has been great to us and He won't stop now.

4 months

2011-10-18T09:15:00.000-05:00

Caroline is probably at one of my favorite ages, but I said that about 3 months too. My sister, SIL, and I are pretty convinced that after the first 3 months it gets fun. It is hard in the beginning, you don't know this little person and why in the heck they are crying!

Sidenote: My picture editing is thanks to this AMAZING app I found for $.99, Camera +

The story: This was her first time in jeans and I had rolled them so I thought she was too cute and I wanted a picture. When I told Nelson to stand her up she just looked at Nelson and dropped that lip. She never cried just pouted.Now that Caroline is sleeping at night, more routine during the day, and smiling and laughing, it makes it fun and rewarding. She is such a happy and content baby. She can some days go without crying except when letting me know she is up. She does great on the road and if she gets sleepy she just quietly falls asleep in her carseat.

A few new milestones: She found her toes, has moved to a tub that she sort of sits up in, laughs out loud when tickled, and can finally go on my hip. I love once they can hip ride, it just makes it easier. She hasn't mastered it, she will still try to lean forward, but we are working on it.

The Lord was gracious in giving such good baby. She still loves to eat every 2 finally sometimes 3 hours during the day. She usually goes to bed anywhere from 7:30-8 and wakes around 5-6 to eat and back to sleep until 9 ish (usually). We are just having fun with her.

Some other things happening:

We went to the fair in DeRidder. My parents, sister, and I can't ride things that spin so our 81 year grandmother rode the rides with the kids. My dad had to stop her from going down the zip slide, he said her bones were too brittle. She is a trooper.Climbing trees- Carson loves going and climbing the oaks and pretending to be making popcornNelson and I did get to go to the LSU/Florida game. And the kids did great, except Caroline wouldn't sleep for them.

Up next: A potential move! 5 month update will be almost Thanksgiving-crazy, but next is Halloween. We have a Captain America and a Tinkerbell this year!

Sweet Caroline...Bom Bom Bom

2011-10-16T19:55:00.000-05:00

Sweet Caroline the song we sing to her almost everyday and so grateful she is here. One year ago today I found out I was pregnant with her.It had felt like the last 14 months we had been trying so why was I to think any different. I was crampy, moody, and just waiting to start! Friday the 15th my parents had come in to keep Carson so Nelson and I could celebrate his birthday by going to our favorite-Texas de Brazil and to see "The Social Network."Saturday we woke up and decided to take Carson to the church to ride the 4 wheeler with my dad before the Dressler's got here and before we headed to the LSU/McNeese game. Nothing had happen on my side and I was just getting curious why I hadn't started yet, still not thinking it could be possible to be pregnant. We got home around noon and everyone else was outside. I needed to run to the bathroom before getting lunch ready so I figured why not just find out I'm not pregnant so I don't wonder the rest of the day.

I had a digital test in the cabinet that I had saved for when I would know for sure I was pregnant. I usually used the line ones because it hadn't gotten so hard to see the words 'not pregnant.' Something about a line not appearing didn't hurt as bad. Again, this was the only one I had so I just sort of did the "close your eyes during a scary movie with one eye open thing," maybe that would let the blow not be so bad. Typing this makes me smile again, I had the test sitting on the floor and I just waited. When I saw from a distance only one word I remember shaking, saying oh my gosh, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant, there is only one word. The next thing I remember is running out the door and shouting "I know I said I wouldn't do it this way but I'm so excited that I'm pregnant." My family just started hugging me and went nuts with me. I started crying when Nelson and I finally got a hug in. I called family and friends. It was truly one of the best days of my life.I remember going to the LSU game that night, I didn't care a lick about the game. All I could do was focus on this sweet baby in me. Trying to remember all the pregnancy do's and don'ts, trying to figure out how many weeks I'd be at different times of the year, so excited to tell people we weren't going to find out the sex, getting to make my first doctor's appointments, and so much more.

Before I ever got pregnant with Caroline and it was taking a while I told my SIL that whenever I have this baby I will understand why God had me wait for her. And as only He can do and He did was carry me through each month with my verse, "but those who WAIT on the Lord He WILL renew your strength." And month after month he did that. He also taught me humility in having to ask others for prayers, contentment in Him and only Him, trusting His voice and Word. I am thankful that He waited, my Sweet Caroline is truly a gift from the Lord!

Happy 3rd Birthday

2011-10-12T22:02:00.009-05:00

September 30th my little man turned 3! He is quite a character. Today we painted a wooden turtle for him and I asked him what his turtle's name was and he told me Furtle. "Furtle the Turtle and he needs a drink of water." If he thinks I'm going to say no he always follows it up with "That's a prelly (pretty) good idea, that's fine mommy, see I have a happy heart" and he does this cheesy grin. I must say I laugh so much when he talks. The other day he put his mouth on my stomach and said come out. I asked what he was saying and he told me he was just trying to tell Connor hey. He is convinced Connor is in there. At least once a week he asks about him. Note to self, next go around refer to the baby as baby the whole time and not what I think it will be.

We had his party at Chuck E Cheese and it turned out perfect. We showed up at 9:30 am ( I know early, but kids get up early and the LSU game was at 11:20) and we were done at 11! I left with some leftover cupcakes and gifts and no cleanup. My kind of party.

Caroline was so good. She slept a good part of the party! Now that he is 3 it is fun watching the different traits he has from Nelson and me. He is a ham and loves to perform for anyone willing to watch or listen-Nelson. SHY is no where near this child. He loves to talk, which would come from me! He is very laid back and has Nelson's temperment, not too much makes him mad.

His life at the moment is mostly just playing. Courtney does "school" with Maggie so I figured we should try. Our school is short and usually involves lots of moving and about 10 minutes. We sing, dance, puzzles, and play I Spy with our shapes and colors. He usually wakes up around 8:30, naps around noon for about 2-3 hours, goes to bed around 9. He LOVES Toy Story 3. We watch it everyday. He loves to play on our phones, dress up, reading while using the bathroom, Brady, playgrounds, and getting dirty. He is 100% boy and makes my day. I can't wait to see how different he and Caroline are. He has such a sweet heart and likes to make others happy. He tells me after Sunday School he was kind to one another and didn't push anyone. I just love this little boy!

My mom warned me that age 3 was the age I needed to keep my eye on him even closer because he is trying to do like me. Example, he needed to put daddy's tie on so I found him and he had wrapped the tie around his neck like daddy, or he pushed a chair to the counter got up there and when I caught him he said he needed medicine to feel better. Today I was playing with Caroline on the floor and he was playing with his toys, I walked out a second and came back and he was playing leap like the frogs over his sister. When I asked what he was doing he said I obeyed, I just playing with my favorite sister. Did I mention he tries to wiggle himself out of any kind of trouble. I can't wait to see what God has in store for my little man.

3 months

2011-09-20T22:06:00.005-05:00

Happy 3 months- this is pretty much what Miss Caroline does all the time, just lay and smile. She is a really a happy baby, but when she gets mad everyone knows it!!! Everyone ask if her temperament matches her red hair and I tell them when she gets mad it does.
She and Carson loves going for walks. We took Carson to Chuck E Cheese and he fell in love. We are now having his party there next week and he can't wait. I can't believe he'll be 3, how did time go so fast.

Here she is all rolly! She weight 17 pounds now, wears 6-9 month clothes, and about to be in size 3 diapers. She still eats every 2 hours, but went 10 hours last night!!!!! She went to bed at 7 pm and woke at 5 am to eat then back to sleep until I woke her at 9 am. She loves her sleep like her daddy and brother. We also gave her the boot out of our room the other night and maybe that's why she is sleeping longer, we don't hear her grunts. She is such a sweet baby!

She is a talker. I had to start putting her in the church nursery early because she talks so much and so loud. She has finally started to let others give her a bottle and it has been nice.Carson has been so fun lately with all the things his little imagination comes up with. Here he was pretending we were on a camping trip in the woods.
Nelson recovering from knee surgery. This was a crazy 2 weeks. Four weeks ago he was hurting so he went to an ortho and that day it was determined his knee was pretty messed up and he would need to have knee surgery the next week. Caroline went with me and she was great. Monday of that week Caroline woke up screaming and with a fever of 100.9. I took her to the doctor and she had a UTI that was abnormally high. Her doctor said since she is so young with high numbers she needs to see a urologists to make sure there is no reflux of the kidneys. We go in a few weeks. We are praying it was just a fluke UTI and there are no further problems. On Wednesday was Nelson's surgery and while in surgery my mom called and said she was taking Carson to urgent care because he was screaming with stomach pain. He had either constipation or stomach spasms(?). That evening when I brought Nelson home Carson was still screaming so we left Nelson drugged and out of it in the recliner and took Carson to the ER. He stopped crying right when we got there so we left and prayed he was fine. It was one of those nights. Thankfully everyone is good right now!Caroline realized that she is in love with Papaw too. For a few days she would scream when he came near, but she then started only wanting him to hold her one night.Carson was so proud of his LSU shirt and shorts like his daddy, Papaw, and Uncle CoyMeme came to BR the night before Nelson's surgery.

August 18th-September 18th brought many new wonderful memories and fun milestones. I can't wait to see what the next month brings. I'll have a 3 year old which keep reminding me every day that his party is today and I have to tell him we have x number of days left. These are truly the best days.

AWANA and Check-up

2011-08-23T15:05:00.003-05:00

Sunday night Carson started AWANA at our church. AWANA is a program for children where they learn bible verses, do activities, rec, and snack. There were 10 in his class and he was the youngest by a year and a half and you could tell. Carson has never been in a structured school like setting before so watching him walk in line, sit on the carpet, raise his hand to ask a question where quit interesting. Well actually he didn't do any of the above. When they told the kids to walk in line he kept getting out and telling me to come with him. Rug time was another one, he doesn't exactly sit still. He was spinning in circles and trying to put his feet in the air. And hand raising, well he thought that was a game and during the whole lesson he kept waving his hands everywhere. Kids are suppose to be 3 and 4 in Cubbies class and he will be 3 next month so he is definitely very young for the class and it shows, but he loved it and the teachers said he did fine. We'll see how it goes.
Monday I took he, Brady, and Caroline to see the Smurf's since it is so hot outside. We went to the 11:30 show and no one was at the theater except Senior Citizens. We had the whole show to ourselves. Caroline slept the whole time and the boys ate their popcorn and watched about 45 minutes then they started running up and down the aisles. They had a blast and I enjoyed being indoors for entertainment.

Today was Caroline's 2 month appointment. I forgot how nice it was to take a child to the doctor that I don't have to entertain or keep quiet. She slept and just laid on the table and talked. She is 15 pounds now and 25". She is a growing girl. I HATE the shots part. She was so happy and talking and smiling and then poke it is scream fest. She only cried a second and then fell asleep again. I can't believe how fast 2 months has gone by.

So content before
And out after screaming.Carson went with Nelson and the Senior Adults to sing at the nursing home while I was at the dr. Nelson said Carson was singing and talking to all the old folks until one came up to him and started screaming, "Get me out of here" and another was stuttering so badly she couldn't even speak. When Carson got home he said that a lady was screaming and he closed his eyes. We'll see if he wants to go back singing again.

Tomorrow I start babysitting the little girl I babysat last semester 2 days a week. She is really sweet so that will give Carson a playmate a few hours each week.

2 Months

2011-08-21T14:04:00.007-05:00

I can't believe another month has past and Caroline is now 2 months old. I'm a few days late but here is what we have done over the past month:

Caroline had to go with me to the church nursery 2 weeks ago and I put her in a swing and she loved it and slept and never made a peep. So I borrowed an extra swing and she is one happy baby when in her swing. Proud brother with his sister. He likes to check on her but has no desire to hold her.

My chunckster is almost 15 pounds. I looked at Carson's baby book and he was 15 pounds at 4 months. I love her little rolls.We went to my parents house last week and Caroline wouldn't ever let my Dad hold her. Every time he tried she screamed her head off. Finally as we were getting ready to walk out the door she let him. He said she finally knew who he was after a week. She does like her mama. Tonight Carson started AWANA and I went with him so I left Caroline with the nursery worker. It didn't last long, she screamed until I would come in the room and hold her. She would then start smiling and fall asleep. I would hand her back to Michelle and within minutes she was screaming again. She does this with anyone in the evenings. Poor Nelson, she rarely lets him hold her at night without screaming. Nelson and I got tickets for the 1st LSU game in 3 weeks but since she screams in the evenings when anyone else holds her I don't get to go anymore. Maybe she'll be better by the Florida game in October.

She got to meet her cousin Leah. This is Nelson's sister Andrea's little girl. Leah is 5 weeks older.Carson found his old Halloween costume at my parents house and decided he wants to be a Tiger again for Halloween. Hope it's not too hot!We tried to get a shot of all 4 grandbabies. This was one of the best we could get. This was taken at around 7:30 pm, the evening, which means Caroline doesn't want anyone else but me.Carson was so excited to ride the 4 wheeler with my dad. He is now the only boy so he was ready for some boy stuff.Caroline and Miley are also 5 weeks apart. Miley was 3 weeks here and pretty much slept or ate the whole time.Maggie and Carson wanted to pretend to shave Papaw's hairCaroline meeting her Great Gram for the first timeMy church ladies gave Caroline a Sip n See, this was heading out the door

Time is just flying and I am slowly but surely getting the hang of having two. I think around week 6 is when is started to get a little more routine feeling. Can't wait to see what month 3 holds for us.

6 Week Update

2011-08-04T22:23:00.004-05:00

Just some things through the pictures:

This is what Miss loves to do-sleep. She is a good sleeper right now. I know babies change so fast but as of today her little day looks like this:
She wakes in the 9's and eats and loves to look around and smiling more each day. Yesterday Nelson was talking to her and when I walked up she got the biggest grin. Made my day, she is a HUGE mama's girl. Which I know will probably make things harder later but right now I love that she wants me because Carson only wants Nelson and always has.
Back to her day: This past week I have attempted to go somewhere in the mornings, ie bank, playground, library, or play out in the pool. She falls asleep and then eats when we get home around 11:45. Carson eats his lunch then I lay him down then she goes in her bed. WE all take naps until around 3, she usually wakes in there and eats and then lays with me and sleeps some more. She eats again 2 hours later then will either lay in her bouncy seat or pack in play in the den. We then all four go swimming, walk, or playground (when it is around 7ish) then she eats again, bath, eats, then goes to sleep around 8:30 or 9. I wake her around 11:30 and feed her. She usually wakes around 4 and 7 to eat and then it starts over. She LOVES her baths. She can be screaming and I'll put her in the tub and she is mute.

Carson is obsessed with getting his face painted and his nursery worker at church paints him something different everytime he goes.He got back on track with pottying again and the clown wig is what he wanted this time for filling up his chart. He wore his underwear out all week for the first time and has done great. He has more problems at home than he does with others or on the road.In the evenings we have been going to do different things to burn some energy. This night we went to a spray park.She had spit up on both outfits so she had to go without. She is my chunk. She is in 3-6 months clothes, and some 6 month stuff, size 2 diapers, and still eating every 2 hours during the day.
Another playground night. We went City Park playground and Coy happened to be passing by. He hadn't held Caroline so this was his first time.
Her temperament: She is very laid back and easy going, but when she gets mad it isn't pretty. She screams so hard that she gets soaking wet and foams at the mouth. She hates so much being buckled in her carseat. I can put her in it in the house unbuckled and she is great, but buckle her and pull out the ear plugs. She also loves to be held, especially by me. I just remind myself that in a year she will be saying "down" so I just sit and hold her and enjoy it.

She got to meet my Aunt Pam

I can't believe how fast she has grown and can't wait to watch her little personality continue to come out. Also watching Carson grow up is crazy. I can't believe he is about to be 3. Time goes too fast!

Miley Claire Dressler

2011-08-04T22:10:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday Carson and Caroline got another new cousin, #10 for them. Courtney had Miley very quickly, we didn't make it in time, but we made it as they were getting in their room. We stayed in Lake Charles for a few days. I stayed at the hospital with Court during the day and Nelson, Mom, and Dad had Maggie and Carson.

7 lb 15oz, 21 1/2", born July 28, 11:28 am Best friends

Next weekend I'll get to see them again and see how much Miley has grown. I felt bad while at the hospital with Courtney I was suppose to be helping her, but instead I had a newborn of my own I had to tend to.

Happy One Month Caroline

2011-07-18T08:57:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I just wrote that title. I really feel like I just had her. Every day I am just more in awe of her and how fun a little girl is. This past month has been quite a month going from 1 child to 2. So just to help my memory down the road I'll recap some of my top moments since Caroline was born.

1. Hospital memories

- Enjoying the mini vacation Nelson and I had with Caroline in the hospital. I know many wouldn't find that to be a vacation but my only job was to rest, eat what I wanted, sleep whenever, enjoy my new baby, and hang out with my husband. That to me equals vacation.

- Recovery for Caroline was so nice compared to Carson. Woman's hospital started something new since having Carson. After my c-section I got to show my family Caroline then Nelson, Caroline, and I went to recovery together and I got to nurse her within 30 minutes of her being born. I watched her get her first bath and got to be with Nelson. This was such an unexpected treat.-Speaking of nursing, Ouch! With Carson I had no pain or problems, he just latched on and ate for 5 minutes on one side and was done for 3 hours. Not miss priss! In the hospital she ate for 50 minutes on both sides, sometimes longer when I would fall asleep feeding her. These long sessions lead to PAIN and tears. By day 5 I wanted to quit but I knew that I really wanted to nurse. All I had to do was just hold out for 2 weeks. My sister-in-law promised that if I could make it to then, then it wouldn't hurt anymore. She was right and I'm glad I stuck it out because I don't feel anything now. Carson as a big brother memories- The first time he saw her he wanted to hold and pet her. Since then he still loves to talk to her but he has gotten so protective of her. We were at the playground last week and a little boy came over to look at Caroline and Carson ran over to her carseat and told the little boy that was his sister and not to hurt her. If anyone besides family holds her he stands close by and says not to hurt his sister. It really is cute. - He had a rough first 2 weeks having to accept the fact that Caroline is here to stay. Everytime he saw me the first 2 weeks I was nursing or holding her so he sort of started acting out against me and only wanted my mom or Nelson. For awhile he kept telling me I was his baby and to hold him like a baby and sing his song. When I tell him he is a big boy he tells me, "no, I your baby like Caroline." So I'm trying to spend as much one on one time with him as I can. My mom left last week and Nelson went back to work today so maybe once we start our routine again it will help him adjust back to "normal."-He also regressed in his potty training. Last week I've been slowly working on getting him back to at least where he was, not pooping in his diaper anymore. FridayI took him for a hair cut and decided to try going in public with undies on for the 1st time and he was accident free and went at the hair place. He is trying to earn somes pieces to his Thomas the Train set. Things we have done:

We went to the mall a few times so Carson could play and mom and I could enjoy being indoors and look for some shirts for me. There is nothing more fun than to try on clothes right after having a baby:)

-I've started going back to church when Caroline was 2 weeks. I remember with Carson I waited so long to get back into some sort of routine that it was a hard adjustment, so I knew with Caroline I wanted to get back to doing my old stuff quickly. It definitely takes me about 40 extra minutes to get out of the house but I'm just doing it. As my mom always says, just put one foot in front of the other.

-We celebrated 4th of July with Nelson grilling and doing sparklers with Carson

-We all went for our 1st family walk, it only lasted 10 mintues, but we'll be back to 30 minutes in no time.

- This week Nelson and I have tried to take Carson some where each day, be it the library, swimming, the church to play, and the movies to see Winnie the Pooh.

And last but not least Miss Caroline:

-She is such a sweet baby. I know lots of people say that about there babies, but Carson was such an awful baby until about 6 months(he had colic, reflux, hated the carseat, only would fall asleep in his bed, he quit falling asleep in public at 7 weeks old so I was tied to the house for a long time.) Since Caroline does none of the above I'm just counting my blessings everyday. She really only cries if she is hungry and if she gets hot then she looks like a firecracker and screams bloody murder.

-At her 2 week check up she weighed 10 1/2 lbs and was 22", she eats every 2 hours on the dot during the day and goes 3-4 at night

She usually falls asleep in Nelson or my arms around 8pm after she eats and doesn't wake until around 2 or 3 am. I have to wake her at 11 to eat but she just stays asleep. After I feed her at 2 or 3 she wakes around 5 or 6 and eats and sleeps until around 8 or 9 am eats and sleeps again for about another hour and then she wakes up for about 2 hours.

-We are loving having a new baby in the house again. Nelson and Carson are so cute to watch with her and she will just watch them talk to her.

-I was talking to her today and she smiled twice, Nelson didn't believe me until she did it for him too. It is probably gas but we'll take what we can get.

-She loves her baths, bouncy seat, and stroller. I rock and hold her as much as I can because I know this is such a short phase that I will barely remember.

I love that she is growing and becoming more alert but at the same time I hate how fast she is growing. It will be 2 months before I know it, but the perk is she will probably be smiling at us for real the next time I update the blog. We are waiting now for Aunt Courtney to have Miley, only 2 weeks left and we can't wait to head to Lake Charles to see her.

A Day At the Movies...

2011-07-15T21:06:00.005-05:00

Well not really we only lasted 45 minutes and that included previews. Today Nelson and I decided to take Carson to see the Winnie the Pooh movie. He went 2 weeks ago with my parents to see Cars 2 and only lasted the previews then when his popcorn and nachos ran out he was ready to go. That's about how far we made it today.
The four of us got there and Carson was telling everyone he was going to the "vovie" and getting popcorn. He loved the previews. Just eating and never moving. Then once he finished his popcorn, about 30 minutes into the movie, he wanted nachos and to go to the bathroom. We just went ahead and left and took him to the big water fountain in front of the movies.

After the movies we went to grab something to eat and then headed home. Even though it cost us $20 it was really fun just doing something different.

Caroline slept from the time we left until we got home so she was great.

One Week Old

2011-06-27T18:18:00.004-05:00

One week old already? I am just savoring every moment I get to cuddle with her. So far she just sleeps and eats. She eats during the day about every 2-3 hours and last night every hour. It was a killer waking up this morning. Recovery for this section has been much easier, not sure why but I'll take it.

Trying to show her redhair, but I can't get the right lighting. Carson is still loving her. Today he told me to hold him and let him be my baby and sing his song to him. He seems so huge compared her. He is having a blast with Honey being here. Everytime she comes back from the store she has a treat for him. Walmart bags are his new favorite thing because he knows something is in there for him. My parents took him to his first movie the other day to see Cars, he mostly loved the popcorn and nachos.

Last night my mom played in the pool with him while I tried to do a photo shoot with Caroline.

Since I'm nursing I wanted to see if Caroline had gotten back to her birthweight, 8 lbs 11 oz, so we took her to the doctor to get weighed. She was 8 lb 4oz when we left the hosptial and today she was 9 lb 5 oz, so in less than a week she has gained 1 lb. Maybe me looking like Pamela Anderson has something to do with that weight gain, and I don't look like her from the waist down, waist up is more like it.

Vacation Bible School started today so Carson is getting some time with his friends and out of the house. Well I'm sure this week will fly by and I'll be posting week 2.

We Have Us A Baby-Caroline Ruth

2011-06-23T18:57:00.005-05:00

We are so excited that we have finally gotten to meet our sweet Lovebug. I was dead wrong with my gender prediction. This ENTIRE pregnancy I thought it was a boy. I was so convincing that my family, Nelson, and Carson all referred to the baby as Connor. It never crossed my mind that it could be a girl. People would say they thought it was a girl and I would just be very whatever about it. I even bought some boy stuff because I just really felt it was a boy. BUT I am above and beyond glad that I was wrong because Nelson and I have fallen head over heals in love with this sweet baby girl, Caroline Ruth Santa Ana.
Friday my family got into town ready for Monday to meet new baby. Saturday I woke up not feeling much movement from Caroline so I went to the hospital to get her monitored, while there I started hurting and having contractions about 7-8 minutes apart and 2 cm. She looked great and since I was scheduled for a c-section Monday they said to just go home and rest and wait it out. This is what I wanted since I had everything planned for Monday. Once I got home everyone was getting ready to head to the mall and Nel and I stayed home. Within in an hour of coming home my contractions started picking up 3-4 minutes and they felt like a period on crack. After 2 hours they were 2 minutes apart and AWFUL, I needed drugs. I called and the doctor told me she had a feeling I'd be back. We got there at 7 and I was 3 cm now and contracting alot. The nurse came back in after about 15 minutes and said the doctor is admitting me to labor and delivery and we'll get this started. Nelson asked her started for what, to have a baby she said. We were so excited and got the family up there. Since it was going to be a c-section we had to do our calling fast since they were about to start prepping me.We got up stairs and it all moved so fast from iv, blood work, epidural, etc. They let the family come see me before taking me back, it was just so surreal and exciting. It still hadn't sunk in I was about to have a baby. Nelson waited while they prepped me in the OR. I wasn't nervous at all, I was actually making jokes. The doctor came in and she said Nelson could call the sex. After 10 minutes she said she was about to take the head out and get the camera ready. I was telling them all that it was a boy and I would be stunned, shocked, at a loss for words if it was a girl. I hear her sweet cry and then Nelson said we have a CAROLINE? like in a question. I just went nuts. I remember saying no way so the dr showed me she was a girl. I just started crying I was so shocked. Nelson filmed them taking her out and him saying the sex. All you can hear me saying is I am shocked I am shocked I can't believe it is a girl. All I hear Nelson saying is I have a daughter, I can't believe I have a daughter, oh my gosh I have a daughter. Then the sweetest thing ever started happening, I was listening to Nelson talk to her. It was so different than when he talks to Carson. He kept telling her hey my girl, he sweetheart, I love you. It was so sweet. After the shock of a girl we then noticed her hair is RED, not a little, but a lot of red and a head full of it. Then when they weighed her, my doctor and I assumed she would be right at 7 lbs maybe a little less, wrong! She was almost 9 pounds, 8 lbs 11 oz, 21" and perfect.

All night I was in denial that it was a girl and scared someone would tell me it was a boy. It took me about 10 hours before I quit calling her a him and actually believe it was a girl. This entire pregnancy I told Nelson that since this baby was a boy he had to let us try again so I could get me my daughter. I have wanted a daughter so badly but I guess I never got my hopes up in case I wouldn't. The first thing I told her was her brother would leave me one day for another woman but she will always stick around because girls don't leave their mothers.
She is truly the sweetest baby ever. Nelson and I were so worried about loving a second, but I truly can't imagine life without her so I don't. God really does just make your heart grow. It is crazy we have 2 children. It's funny that they look nothing alike. Actually Caroline with her red hair doesn't even look like she is ours. But she does look just like Nelson with a bow. She gets the red hair from Ms. Mary's dad. Every nurse kept coming by to check out her hair. They would come say they heard there was a red head and wanted to come see. Even Dr. Lawler came one evening to see her hair. I asked why everyone was going crazy over her hair they said they only get red head babies about once every 3-4 months so it is so rare and fun to see. I love that my baby is so special even though it will probably be something she hates while in school.
She is 5 days old and Nelson and I have to take turns over who gets to hold her. It is so cute watching Nelson with her, she has won his heart. Carson is doing great with her too. She pooped and he saw it and said Holy Moly that is disgusting, oh dear what we gonna do with her. He is getting better at not looking for Connor. When he first saw her he of course asked where Connor was. Even though it was a shock I really would not want to find out again for future children. Life with 2 children is wonderful and I'm just enjoying every second of it.

38 weeks and only 7 days left

2011-06-13T12:52:00.001-05:00

Today was my last appointment and I wasn't sad at all. I figured I would be but I gladly took my orders and paperwork and smiled as I left. Dr. Lawler said he will start the section at 7am and by 7:15 I'll have a baby. This is a treat compared to Carson, I labored with him for 22 hours. My goal this week is to take it easy and stay indoors. I didn't get my 38 week picture this morning so I'll have to try later, but I assure you that it is becoming less fun to take pictures now that I am at the "om my gosh your huge" looking stage as one of the youth boys told me yesterday!

It is extremely CRAZY for me to think in a week from now I will have 2 children. I really think I'm in denial. I've been sleeping really well but last night I woke around 4:30 to use the bathroom and then started to daydream about the baby. My excitement overcame me that I had 1 week left and I couldn't fall back asleep until 6:30. So a nap while Carson naps is on the agenda today.

My parents decided to surprise us and came in Saturday night, mainly to see Carson, and stayed the night and went with us to church yesterday. It is very exciting that in 4 short days they will be back for the new baby. Saturday night we went over to Coy's house so Carson could play with Coy's turtles and then I picked Outback as our restaurant. I was really wanting some cheese fries and they worth my hour + of indigestion later that night.

Everything is packed, installed, and set up, and I've even started to lend out my maternity clothes that I just can't fit into anymore and I've started to pull out the after the baby comes clothes.

I have been watching a ton of the Baby Story the last few weeks and getting reminded of alot things I forgot about. I'm not sure someone should watch this show who is about to be going through that very soon. I don't know if it is a good or bad thing about the reminders. I also am trying to remind myself that I'm going to be sore after the surgery, but I don't at all remember hurting or anything but just being fine.That is going to be a rude awakening when I come out of recovery.

I remember when I was in recovery for Carson I kept rubbing ice on my eyes to wake up so I could be awake and alert to see him. The nurse kept promising me I would be awake when I saw him and that I need to just sleep for now. This time I'm going to try to make myself just go to sleep in recovery and know that shortly I'll see my baby.

Hopefully you won't hear from me for a few days and baby stays in until next Monday.

37 Weeks

2011-06-06T13:44:00.005-05:00

Well two prayer requests I can check off, Full term and no bed rest. I also am still feeling really good and not miserable. I'm starting to have a lot of contractions but not regular. Several in an hour, but then nothing for a few hours. Dr. Lawler said to just stay inside because the heat can make them come on harder. My appointment went good and I have only 1 left!!! Two weeks from today I will have already had a baby. I am ready. I thought it was neat to look back over my pregnancy and compare the weeks. I thought I had a big ball at 17 weeks and now I look at it and think how small I was. I look like I'm hurting in my 37 week picture and I think it was a combo the heat, cramping, and trying to get Carson in the car.

17 weeks

27 weeks37 weeksNelson and I were talking last night about how soon it really is until we have two and I think we are denial. If you walked in my house, downstairs you would have no idea I'm about to have a new baby. With Carson that's all I did was set everything up and just wait. It is going faster now that I'm down to 2 weeks and still have some things to get done. I go back next week and that is it!

Why Is He Growning Up So Fast?

2011-06-04T20:21:00.004-05:00

Nelson leaves for a week and comes home to a little boy that can swim and use the bathroom on his own. I need to send him away more often. This past week Carson went from being my baby to doing things that bump him up to big boy status and I don't like it. I think my hormones are getting the best of me because the last two days I have just started crying for no reason at all watching the baby story and realizing that in 2 weeks Carson will officially be the big brother and not the baby.

Did I mention he was fearless. Which is not a good thing,especially when it involves my curtains being ripped from the wall because he told me he was just pretending to be a hanging monkey.

He took swimming lessons and now can swim underwater without floaties, is tanned, and so proud of himself. All week the teachers kept saying they had never met a child that was so fearless in the water, again, not necessarily a good thing. She said not to put him back in floaties but to watch him like a hawk because his confidence is high and he isn't afraid. At his program he kept looking at the crowd to make sure everyone was watching him. He was so glad Meme got to come watch him.With Nelson being gone and Maggie here I figured this would be a good week to retry the underwear. I told him that Lighting McQueen and Mater (from Cars) don't like poop or pee on them so you have to use the potty and not your underwear. That was it with my "training" and he sort of did it himself the rest of the way. He told me on Monday when I put on the underwear that his tummy hurt and he needed to poop so he got on his potty and did it and he kept that up the rest of the week. We've had one minor tee tee accident and one major poop accident. He told me he needed to go poop in the bathroom and the next thing I know he is in the kitchen with it on his hands telling me it is disgusting. He apparently tried to get on the big potty while in the process of going and got off then back on. It was smeared ALL over the bathroom and kitchen floor. I spent the next hour Cloroxing everything while Courtney was outside hosing him down. I'm not going to try underwear going places until after the baby is born. I think his motivation was his sticker chart and getting a tricylce. That was not suppose to get filled until September, but I'll take being trained while at home. So he now has his tricycle since it only took a few days to fill. I think the new chart will be a treat from the dollar store.

36 Weeks

2011-06-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

I actually turned 36 Weeks this past weekend but went yesterday for my 36 week checkup. I can't believe I have less than 3 weeks-19 days! Yay- I think I'm more excited that I'm only a few days away from being full term. All is still good, just starting to hurt in my hips and having pressure, but other than that I still feel good. This time my anxiety is nothing like with Carson about when I'm going to have this one. With Carson I was so anxious about when I would have him or anytime my body did something I thought it was labor. Now I know that's just what the body does to get ready and because I have a date and time for this one.It is nice to know when I will have Lovebug, if all things go as planned. But who knows since Carson came 18 days early and that was defintely not planned.

I had my doctor appointment today and all was good. I go back Monday for my 37 week appointment and to register at the hospital. I only have 2 more appointments left.Nelson left Monday morning for youth camp and will be back Friday. Courtney and Maggie came to stay with Carson and me to keep us company and in case anything were to happen. She is 31 weeks and also has a 2 year old so we are helping each other. I plan to keep it pretty simple this week without killing myself. We got a new little water park here and figured it would be easy and not hot entertainment. The kids loved it so much we are going back Thursday.

Last Thursday was Brady's last day. We went to a spray park and had a picnic. It's bittersweet, glad to have just Carson and me, but sad that Carson has lost his best bud daily. Thankfully Brady's mom voluteered to keep Carson while I go to my last appointments and if I go into labor. Toni, Brady's mom, said I needed a break Sunday before Nelson left so she took Carson for the day to Kentwood to her parents farm to play with Brady and the family. He didn't want to come home, he loves Brady.
In Denham Springs, a new AquaPark opened so Nelson and I took Carson here for the evening Friday. He loved it, except the big bucket of water that dumped out. He seriously swam and played the whole 2 hours with his hands on his ears.
At church, our nursery worker loves to face paint and Carson wanted his like a tiger. She texted me and said he was going to scare mommy when she came in the room.Thursday night I had a girls night out at Superior Grill then in an Ultrasound room at the Lake hospital (for fun). One of my friends Mandi is an u/s tech and another friend Carrie is 16 weeks pregnant asked Mandi if we could go to the hospital and see if Mandi could tell what she was having. At 9 pm our GNO turned into a gender reveal party. Carrie's husband is in Iraq so it wasn't a big deal that the 5 of us girls went to see what she was having. When we got there Carrie and her sister Alaina tried to convince me to find out but my friend Mikelyn was getting in front of me and telling the girls I was not getting on the table. Surprisingly I wasn't tempted at all. Plus, Nelson would have killed me! Alaina and Carrie suggested Mandi look and tell them and they wouldn't tell anyone, yeah right. So still clueless about Lovebug, but my gut tells me a boy at this point and I've been on that for awhile. Luckily not much longer until I know!

My Little Turkey

2011-05-23T13:54:00.007-05:00

This weekend at church our children put on a musical about Noah's Ark and they let Carson stand up there with Brady and be a Turkey. He was a little performer loving the attention. It was for ages 4 and up but the ladies saw how badly he wanted to go on stage with Brady so they put him in a costume and let him go up there. He didn't know one song but he sure acted like he did and tried to sing with the big kids. He cried when I had to take off the costume, he was soaking wet. My mom said he gets the performing from Nelson, I hated being on stage and never would do anything that required it. It was so bad that when I was 7 I had a piano recital and the teacher had to turn the piano so no one could see me and I made my dad hide in the hall. Eventually my mom found someone to give me piano lessons that didn't make me do recitals. Needless to say Carson does not mind the stage.I have started cutting Carson's hair with clippers and as you can see we now have a hole. I had just finished the whole head and was doing his neck and buzz, he moved his head. I figured he's a boy and it will grow back quickly.

Saturday we had a benefit for a little girl at our church, KK, that has a brain tumor. Carson was obsessed with this fire dog. Poor dog had to entertain Carson for most of the day, Carson wouldn't leave him alone.We finally finished our first potty chart, grant it, it only took 3 months :). We are on the slow path apparently. And most of these stickers aren't actually from using the potty, only about 3 or 4. Most are from if he held it and peed in the hole in the shower, outside, or in the bushes, or half way pooping. He usually starts in his diaper and then says he wants to finish in the potty. Whatever! When I was teaching I was very generous passing out stickers at first for good behavior to show them and train them how to act. That was/is sort of the approach we are taking with filling his chart now. He got to get a new weed eater for completing his chart. I figure his new chart will take about 3 more months and that will be close to his birthday so our new toy goal is a bike. I think he actually likes the M&M's the most. When I go to the bathroom he tells me I can get M&M's for tee teeing.

Brucey, from Nemo, is what he thinks he is because he can swim with his floaties and jump off the diving board. He starts swimming lessons next week so we'll see if he is still Brucey.
Lastly my other love! 35 weeks and only 27 days left. My feet have started to swell really bad this time and I never did with Carson. Not sure why but it sure makes for good laughs for Nelson when they blow up. This Saturday a group of girls from my Sunday School class are going to get pedicure's and dinner at Sammy's so I figure that will help my feet and they said this would probably be my last outing for awhile without having to bring a baby along with me!

34 Weeks and Only 34 Days Left

2011-05-16T14:14:00.002-05:00

Well I am finally to THAT point in the pregnancy where I'm really ready and counting down the days- 34 to be exact. It is amazing how I am doing and feeling the same things body wise as I did with Carson at this point. This has really been an easy pregnancy and I have loved how much Lovebug moves. I am so excited and ready to see what he/she is. I can't wait to see how Dr. Lawler announces the sex and what my reaction will be.

My doctor appointment went great today and I got my paperwork/instructions for my c-section. It is getting so close!

The other day as I was leaving for the eye doctor Carson asked if I was going to the doctor to get the baby out. He is so ready for him/her to be here. I can't carry Carson anymore because it hurts too much so when he asks he'll say, "ne'er mind mommy I too heaby because you got a big tummy with a baby in nair." He is so hilarious right now with the things he says. I don't want this stage to end.

I go back in 2 weeks and then he'll start checking to see if I'm making any progress. Also in 2 weeks I'll be done babysitting Brady. Carson will be sad he is losing his best friend. Nelson is also leaving for youth camp 10 hours away. Courtney and Maggie are going to come stay with us. This should be fun, I'll be 36 weeks and she'll be 31. Hope all babies cooperate and stay in for those 5 days.

Nelson has been such a huge help giving me big breaks and letting me just rest. Friday and Saturday he took Carson to the LSU baseball game which gave me 4 hours each day alone. We also went swimming, being in the water almost made me forget I was pregnant. It was a nice relief on the body.

Leah Snowden Lewis

2011-05-12T13:09:00.000-05:00

It's a girl for Lee and Andrea. Andrea is my SIL that I have been pregnant with and yesterday she had a GIRL. She has 2 boys and didn't know so we are so excited for a girl. The last girl for the Santa Ana side was 4 babies ago so it is a nice treat for something pink. Maybe my Lovebug will make it even or continue to tip the scale in the boys favor.

Here she is, 7.4 lbs 19 inches and doing great.

Yesterday was so much fun waiting to see what she was having. It has reaffirmed how excited I am that we didn't find out. I told Nelson for our #3 I didn't want to find out because waiting to see what Andrea and I were having has been so fun. He said why don't we have #2 first before we start planning on #3. This is making me so ready for my turn.

A Few Fun Things Lately

2011-05-10T10:40:00.007-05:00

Over the past week we have had fun just trying new things and doing some of the same old fun things.

1. Last Wednesday afternoon my mom called to see when I'd be home from church because she was on her way to come stay a few days. That was such an AWESOME surprise. I didn't think she'd be coming back to stay until the baby is born since my dad is getting ready to go live with electronic medical records so I knew he needed her help. We got some more stuff done for the baby and some shopping.

2. We got to hang out with Coy at the Chimes.

3. Thursday night Nelson and I took Carson to see Disney's Toy Story on Ice. It was really great and Carson didn't move, except when he wanting my Snickers, Chips, Nachos, and Cotton Candy. Didn't I mention before that food and I, especially sweets, are on best friend terms right now. The scales are not liking it but the baby was hungry!

4. Friday morning my mom took Carson back to DeRidder for the weekend. This was the best treat of all. Nelson and I had so much fun just staying at our own house just the two of us. At night I got sad for Carson, but by morning I was a refreshed mama. We went to a restaurant downtown called Little Italy. It was really good. It is sad that we have lived here 11 years and this was the first time we ate downtown. Saturday I got a massage and pedicure then we got lunch with Ms. Mary and went to the movies. I think my favorite part was just walking around Perkins Rowe without having to rush. Sunday we met my parents half way and Carson was torn. He was excited to see us but sad he had to leave Honey and Papaw.

5. Carson had his fair share of fun getting all the attention and anything he wanted while away.

This is an awful picture, but he was so excited that my parents let him have a "grown up" drink as he calls it. He has never had caffine so he was in heaven with his sip of Diet Coke.

6. We have been playing in the pool everyday since Sunday. It is wonderful entertainment and wears him out.

7. Puzzles- Nelson could officially have us living in a retirement home with the new love for puzzles he has given me. He bought a pack of 8 puzzles thinking it would take months to finish, but we have been having so much fun doing them. I make it a competition by trying to finish more sections than him. It is a really fun way of just us hanging out without just watching t.v. 8. Lastly we are so excited for tomorrow, Carson gets a new cousin. Andrea is having her baby and we don't know what it is. I'm hoping for a girl since she has 2 boys already. I'm a little sad to be losing my pregnancy buddy. Every week we have called to compare what's going on with each other. I do still have Courtney to swap stories with.

Monday I go to the doctor and hopefully everything looks great and only 5 weeks left! A picture before heading to church.

Getting Close...7 Weeks Left...Or Who Knows

2011-05-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

I had originally typed this post last night and told Nelson how it's nice to go to appointments that are quick and very uneventful. As Dr. Lawler told me today, there is nothing uneventful about checkups. I had noticed an hour before my appointment that Lovebug hadn't moved as much as usual but I had felt soft faint movements maybe twice. I mentioned it to my doctor and he wanted to do an u/s to just check everything. Being alone I started realizing I could find out what I was having. Right when the tech saw me she remembered that I didn't know what I was having and she said she wasn't going to let me find out because I was so close.
Fortunately all looked good and peanut looked so cute putting his/her toes in its mouth. There was one thing she noticed Lovebug was around 5 1/2 pounds and measuring 34 1/2 weeks (I turned 32 yesterday). She asked if I had GD and I explained I was diagnosed but Dr. Lawler thought it was a false positive. She said for this time in my pregnancy the baby was really big. She checked his lungs to see if he could practice breathing in case he moves my date up and surprisingly he was practicing and looking great. She went and gave Dr. Lawler the stats and he met with me again and grilled me on my sugar checking. I told him that my sugars were good and so now I go back in 2 weeks to check again to see how much he has grown. I don't want him to come to early especially since I know when he was made, but Dr. Lawler doesn't want to try and deliver a big baby. So I'm praying that if I'm strict on my sugars the next 2 weeks just to see if that has anything to do with it then everything will be fine. Hopefully from now on it will be uneventful appointments. But I have to say I sure loved watching Lovebug stick out his tug and suck his toes.

Happy Easter & New Orleans Vacation 2011

2011-04-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday we went to DeRidder for Easter. We mostly spent our time outside watching the kids play in the pool. Friday we took the kids to my dad's farm to fish. It wasn't quite as fun as last time since only one fish was caught.Since the farm is dirt roads Carson got to help Nelson drive.My parents got Carson a mini Thomas the Train for Easter. He spent the whole night playing with it.We did an egg hunt in my parents backyard. At first Carson wasn't too sure what to do, but once he figured it out he squealed every time he put an egg in his basket.Maggie and Carson spent ALL day Friday and Saturday in the pool and playing in the backyard. This made for good nights of sleeping.We attempted to leave Saturday night but as we were leaving Carson said his tummy hurt so we stayed until Sunday morning and missed our Easter services.

Once we got back to Baton Rouge we repacked and headed to New Orleans for a mini family vacation. Nel mentioned that this was our first trip just the 3 of us and the last. We always go with my family when on vacation.

Sunday we went to City Park so Carson could ride the train. It closed at 6pm and we made it to the park at 5:50. Nelson dropped us off and he went and parked. Carson and I got the tickets and Nelson ran to catch the train, he made it as it was about to leave.

Monday we got up and rode the trolley or the "Charley" as Carson called it then headed to the aquarium. He was so excited but right as we walked in he walked into the tunnel with the big fish and he had his faced against the glass and a sting ray popped up and scared the mess out of him. He was pretty clingy after that. He did love the tank that had some Koi fish and anenemi(?) the stuff Nemo lives in.We grabbed lunch at the Riverwalk and some Beignet's at Cafe Du Monde. While in line, an employee was taking a nap next to where we checked out. Carson was right next to her and yelled wake up lady. She popped up and was embarrassed for sleeping, but he was so proud he got her up. We went back to the hotel for naps then headed to the zoo.

Tuesday we got up and went to the Children's Museum then headed back to City Park so he could play on the Storyland playground. With five minutes left from the house he finally fell asleep, which he hasn't done once since November.

One of the center's was a pretend eye exam center and glasses. He pretended he was at Dr. "Russo", Giarrusso's office.Nelson's week off is over and we have had a blast just the three of us, now back to reality. But before vacation is over I have to get ready to wake up and watch the Royal Wedding !!!!!

30 Down, 9 To Go

2011-04-18T13:52:00.000-05:00

I am really getting very excited for this baby to come. I am now in the big 3's- 30- with only 9 weeks left, yay for single digits. I went to the doctor and all was good. He checked his calendar and I'm good to go for June 20th at 7 am, so I have to be there at 5:30. I counted and only 8 Monday's left, the 9th Monday is when I'm having Lovebug so I don't count that as a Monday :) I'm ready, can you tell. The thing I most excited is to see Carson's face when he see's the baby for the first time. Everyday he keeps asking if today is the day. It's really bad when we pass the hospital because he tells me to go there to get Connor out now. He loves to "tickle" the baby by sticking his finger in my belly button. He tells me,"I tickling him mommy." Poor baby if she is a girl, he/she has been referred to as a boy this whole time. I told Dr. Lawler about Carson only calling the baby Connor and he said if it is a girl we can just call her Connorette. I told him I'd pass! I am now on the 2 week rotation!

Other things that we have been up to:

I took the boys to Toys R us the other day to look for something and realized this was an amazing place to take the kids to play. We literally went to each isle and they played and touched everything they could get their hands on. Leaving was actually a breeze, they both left without a tear at all, I was shocked. We'll be going back for more train time since that was their favorite thing.

Nelson has been really busy with work the last two weeks writing curriculum for some disciple nows and speaking events so he hasn't been home much, which left Carson and I to have ALOT of time alone. I really had fun with just the two of us, but really glad Nelson is about to be on vacation for a week. We mostly spent time playing outside, at the mall, library, playground, or zoo. Who knew the mall would be so fun to a 2 year old boy, but he thinks its the greatest place to play.

We cook a lot of seafood dishes around here so I'm always looking for on sale seafood items. A friend of mine told me about this seafood market at a hole in the wall place that is amazing. When I went in I was in heaven, I felt like I was in the ocean with all of my choices. I stocked up on some good stuff and we had a us a little shrimp boil. Nelson is my griller and boiler so I bought it and he cooked it and it was better than any restaurant. I plan to make it my weekly hangout.

Boiled shrimp, crab, sausage, corn, and crawfish boudin and the whole pot cost about $20, which is still less than what we would pay for a plate of this for one person at a restaurant.

Nelson had to speak at a d-now Friday night and I decided to bring Carson. I have never brought him into a church service before so I was nervous how he would do. He loved the songs and then when Nel started speaking Carson wanted to go sit with Brady's older sister that is 8, Brianna. He told me, "I a grown up, I go sit with Branna(Brianna) and hear daddy peaching(preaching)." He never moved and sat quietly. He would occasionally turn around to make sure I was going to let him stay there. He one time whispered for me to sit down and that he was good. I think Brianna was the magic trick he is in LOVE with her.

I found him this week at the church hiding behind some chairs eating a pack of cookies.

We have a fun week ahead with visiting family and the 3 of us going to New Orleans for a few days to get away.

Geaux Tigers

2011-04-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

Saturday was LSU's spring football game. We decided it would be fun to finally bring Carson to a place Nelson hopes Carson comes to love like he does, Tiger Stadium. All morning he told us he was so "cited" to go see the players tackle. Going to the game was fun, but HOT!!!!! I left with my shirt wet and some very burned skin by all of us. Carson had fun, grant it he and I spent most of the time at the concession stand getting snowcones, drinks, cotton candy, and hunting for him chips.

Coy was there and he got to come sit with us awhile. Carson was so excited to see Coy. He wanted to sit in his lap and help cheer on the Tigers. As fun as it was we are definitely not bringing him to a real game anytime soon, especially a day one. Once at an LSU baseball game, a lady told Nelson her kids had been going to LSU football games since they were babies and Nelson should be bringing Carson, um no thank you. We didn't exactly get to watch the game like we would a real one. Maybe he can go to a real one when he is a little older. He was worn out by the time we got home, he passed out by 7:30 and slept until 8 am Sunday morning.

10 Things I Am Loving

2011-04-06T13:48:00.009-05:00

1. Online scrap booking- Once upon a time in my high school days I was a scrapbooker. I was proud of what I did, but didn't love it. But I love online scrap booking. I'm creating a pregnancy scrapbook using Mixbook.com and I really like it. 2. Blog book- I have been blogging now for 3 years and figured I needed to get it all into print. I used Blog2print.com to create my book. It was 2 or 3 simple steps and it was created and mailed within 1 week of ordering. I couldn't believe how thick it was. After seeing it, I am inspired to blog more often because of all the memories in there. Nelson liked it because he said if I died he could remember me, MEN. Is that the first thing he thought of when he saw it? 3. Cravings- I had gotten back into town from being gone and we didn't have supper so I told Nel I would run to Winn Dixie and see what we could eat. This is what I came back with. Don't judge, these are some crazy cravings, some of which I've never eaten before, but they sure looked good when I was walking the isle's. Seriously, I usually hate the smell of Root Beer but for some reason it was calling my name. At least I have some fruit!4. Rodeo's- I haven't been to a rodeo since I was in 4th grade and I really had expected that to continue. We went to DeRidder a few days last week and the Rodeo was in town so we figured Carson and Maggie would like it. Carson loved it, his favorite part was the "boys tackling the bulls" aka Steer Wrestling. Maggie played on the iPhone the whole time, she didn't really care about it to much. 5. Watching Carson play with bubbles- he told me he made a fire with the bubbles and was rolling over the fire. 6. Fishing- I NEVER thought I would fish again after I turned 10. I had no idea that I would be fishing and holding fish again, but my little man loved it, so mommy did too. My dad has a farm that we took Carson to. My dad would bait the pole and Carson would reel them in. He actually caught 7 by himself. He was so proud of himself. 7. Outside time with family- We pretty much stayed outside the entire days while at my parents. Carson and Maggie had fun riding bikes together and down the hill. It's funny how the kids are enjoying some of the exact same things Courtney, Coy , and I loved doing at my house also growing up. 8. Playing with Gram- My Gram is 80 years old but still acts like she did when I was little. I have some of my best memories at her house. It is so neat to see Carson and Maggie make some with her too.9. Easter Bunny- Yesterday Carson and I went to the Mall and the Easter Bunny was there. He wanted to go sit with him. He loved him from a distance, once in his lap he told the bunny he wanted to get down and just look at him.

10. Baby bump- I can't leave out what I'm loving so much right now, my Lovebug inside. I had to get my Rhogam shot today and I took Carson with me. He told the nurse to take the baby out today. He thought we were there to have the baby. He is so "cited" he said to pet the baby.

The Past Month In Pictures

2011-03-30T13:21:00.003-05:00

Over the past month we:

Celebrated Meme's birthday. It's amazing how many people there are when we all get together. I have been apart of this family since I was 16, so 13 years. It was just the 4 siblings and Ms. Mary when I joined them and now with spouses and grand kids there are 16 of us plus 2 on the way. We have so much fun together. I am really grateful to have such an amazing in law family. Ah, our newest but slowest moving endeavor every- POTTY TRAINING. I wouldn't really call it that since I'm not doing anything except asking him if he wants to go. About 3 weeks ago I bought him a chair and some Lighting McQueen, aka Cars, undies to see if he would be interested. I have always said when he turned 2 1/2 we would start discussing the whole issue. He fortunately has been watching Brady the past year so he new the basics but just couldn't reach. I had decided I wasn't going to read any books or do any real training because I wasn't going to stress or even let this interfere with our lives just yet.

Well 3 weeks ago I put him in his undies and he peed(?) 3 times in one night and he thought it was great, but it was on the floor, in the den. So the undies are back in the drawer and maybe in a couple of months we'll try them again. I left his diaper on and would ask him in the morning if he wanted to tee tee on his little potty, he has been waking up dry from naps and morning for the past few months, he actually went. We made a sticker chart, called people, cheered, and he got candy. It was great.

That was about it for about 3 weeks. Every time I would ask if he needed to go he would tell me no. This past week Maggie was here and I was telling Courtney how he still wakes up dry. We figured with an audience we'd try again. This time he wanted to stand up and use the grown up potty. It was like a new child, he took off his diaper, lifted the lid and just went. He was so proud of himself. He and Maggie got stickers, one for Carson for going and Maggie thought she needed one for watching and cheering. He went again that day after nap time, there was a little spraying this time. He was so excited he forgot to point and we had a little waterfall spraying the walls.

Since then he says he wants to try, but then when we try he says its stuck. This is going to be a slow and long process but that's ok. He is making progress and there is no stress involved. I know everyone has their method or theories, but this is what works for us. For the record, having him aim at Cheerios doesn't work, he says donuts are floating in the potty and that they stink.

Nelson had his youth disciple now a few weeks ago. My parents came in to keep Carson so I could help Nelson.

With the weather so beautiful we have pulled out the rice table and filled it with water. Grant it his lips were a little blue but he said he was good.Again, beautiful weather means Zoo time. I only live a few minutes away so we have been going once sometimes twice a week to the Zoo. The pass is coming in handy. Carson wanted to lick the water ball. He said he was thirsty.Courtney and Maggie came last week while Joey was away. The kids were so good together. They never fought over toys. Carson would sometimes antagonize her because he knew it made her upset. We took them to story time, the mall, the ball pit, playground, out to eat, and the zoo. They were worn out by the end of the day. It was nice having another pregnant person around to compare stories. We are so excited she is having another girl, Miley Claire. I have also been doing my favorite thing, gardening and potting flowers. This was the best way I could keep the boys from picking every flower. I told them it was there job to hide and make sure the flowers don't fall. They loved it and I got to get my flowers. Although one time I turned around and they had put around 10 extra plants on my cart. They told me they were helping.

And lastly, I have been trying to play outside with Carson as much as I can. I want to enjoy the last few months just the two of us.

Sorry for the long post, I just love going back and seeing what we have done over the year.

3rd Trimester Already, Really?

2011-03-28T12:44:00.000-05:00

How is it possible that time can go this quickly? I remember when I had only 12 weeks left with Carson and that was over 2 1/2 years ago. So it will be 2 1/2 years from now before I know it. I went to the doctor today and all was great. It took him a little while to find the heart beat, apparently Lovebug had his/her butt up in the air.

He said I have one more appointment in 3 weeks then I'm on the 2 week rotation and I get to schedule my c-section-yay! This is like a treat for having a scheduled c-section, I get to pick out the time and date. FYI, I'm having another section because of my lovely hips, apparently they don't like children coming out of them. Carson's head wouldn't budge and he is assuming the same for this one. I actually didn't mind having a section. Last time I said that is what I'd do again. Every woman is different.

I did fail my 3 hour glucose test last month and I got the nice label of gestational diabetes again. My sugars have been so low even eating what I wanted. My doctor said today I probably don't have GD and I just got false positive results.

Currently food and I have a serious love relationship. I am wanting it all the time. A perk of having GD, or thinking I had it, was having to wait 2 hours in between meals and snacks so I could check my sugars. Otherwise I might be way past my goal weight.

Other than that everything is great and again I love it. I get a little sad every time I leave another appointment because that means I'm getting close to baby. Yes, I can't wait for the baby but I longed so badly to get to go for checkups and be pregnant and now they are flying by. I don't want to rush it but enjoy everyday of it. Hopefully everything with Peanut will be smooth until my next appointment in 3 weeks.

Peanut, Bambino, Geppetto, Connor, and Baby

2011-03-06T15:15:00.009-06:00

These would be the various names that Baby #2 is called at any given time. I usually stick with Baby or Peanut, Nelson likes Bambino or Geppetto (which the youth call it during prayer time- which always brings giggles during serious moments), and Carson will only call it Connor. The beauty of not finding out the gender, Baby gets called many names. I try to teach Carson that the baby is called Baby, but every time without fail he says Connor. I went to pick him up from the nursery at church the other day and one of the workers said she thought I wasn't finding out the sex, but Carson kept saying Connor. I explained it to her and then Carson said "Connor get out Mommy with nine(knife)." Brady asked the other day how the baby was going to get out. Instead of telling him to ask his mom like a good babysitter should do I told this naive 4 year old that he will get cut out. Brady told me he was very glad boys don't have babies. I didn't realize Carson was listening until I heard him explain the process to some ladies at church. Now he loves that mom has to get cut open. Since peanut hasn't gotten much blog love I wanted to write a little about him/her. So a few things on him/her.

24 weeks

-I went to the doctor today and thankfully all was great, well with the exception that I didn't pass the 1 hour glucose test. Shocker! But on the plus side I was only a few points from what I needed to be. With Carson I was 30 over, so I am hoping when I do the 3 hour test Wednesday after hour 2 I will be good to go. Fun news, I am now on a 3 week rotation for seeing my doctor until 33 weeks. It's getting close!!

- I love being pregnant. I am for sure enjoying it this time around more so than with Carson. With Carson I didn't have anyone distracting me and now that's not the case. I was so paranoid when Carson wouldn't move or any little thing happened, now I know it's all normal and okay.

-Speaking of moving, this baby is SOOOO active. Carson really moved only when I would lay down or on my side. This one is constantly kicking. I was hoping that this baby was going to be a little calmer than Carson and not so busy, but I'm starting to doubt it.

- I dreamed it was a boy so today I think boy, but I would love a little girl today. It really has been fun not knowing. Right now I would go this route again.

-It is true with the second one, you just don't worry about getting everything ready so far in advance. By this time with Carson I had almost everything done except my hospital bag ready. With this one I have nothing ready. My mom is coming the last week of May while Nelson is at Youth camp so I figured we'd do everything then. I looked at the calendar and realized that was only 3 weeks before my hopeful c-section date.

- I can't wait to see Carson as a big brother. Surprisingly he love babies. When I keep Christopher (my nephew) or we are around babies he wants to hold or pet them. We were at Emily and Gustavo's the other night and everyone was holding Christopher, Carson just stood by me and kept asking if it was his turn to hold him. When he did get his turn he loved it. I kept asking if he wanted me to take him and he said, "No mam, I hold him."

-I truly love, love, love being pregnant and hope I get to do it at least once again. It has gone by so fast. Only 15 weeks left. I am really hoping the baby will stay in until at least the 20th of June, we have a youth event the week before.

What Brings You Joy?

2011-03-06T13:40:00.008-06:00

This week my bible study leader asked us what brings us joy. Several things I noticed on my list involved Carson or doing new things with Carson, or just watching him love life. Now that the weather is pretty we have just been having fun doing new things and things he did last year but doesn't remember and loves them anew.

A few weeks ago we went to my parents for a few days with Courntey and Maggie. While there Carson and Maggie spent most of the time playing outside. My mom got a sand table that we filled with water since it was warm out. Carson was so insistent that if it had water in it, he should be able to get in. The problem, it was the middle of February and freezing water. As you can see from the pictures he and Maggie didn't stay dry long. They both ended up naked, the life of a 2 year old.My dad was on call most of the weekend so we had to go to the hospital so Carson could hang out. My mom paged him and he came out into the hall to see Carson and Carson was ecstatic. Carson and I talk a lot how Papaw takes care of sick people and gives them medicine and band-aids, so he loved that Papaw was "dressed" up to take care of sick people. It was also cute to see the patients get a kick out of how great Carson thought my dad was. This is a picture of dad and Carson leaving to go home.

The other day I put shaving cream on a crawfish tray and let Carson and Brady go to town with their trucks just making a mess. It was great entertainment. I've come to realize that I'm not going to be able to do art projects, or coloring, or puzzles with Carson (just yet) because he doesn't sit for more than a second. Courtney and I laugh because Maggie will sit for 30 minutes organizing her puzzles and Carson just likes to pretend the puzzle pieces are his skates that he can slide around on.His Daddy, I would have to say, is his most favorite person besides my Dad. They have been having so much fun playing hide and seek, chase, and going to an LSU baseball game. Friday night I had to help coordinate a wedding and Nelson had Carson. He really wanted to go the game but wasn't sure if he wanted to go alone with Carson. He did it and Carson had a blast. Nelson said he was great and it was fun teaching him about running the bases. When Carson got home he told me all about his a-shoo (LSU) game he went to.

Carson also learned how to ride a tricycle. I heard 100 times, watch me mommy, and it was too cute seeing him learn something new.
I have found many things to be joyful about. Tomorrow I go to the doctor, so hearing the heartbeat will just add to my collection. Let's just hope I pass my glucose test that I failed last pregnancy.

Things I Don't Want to Forget

2011-02-16T21:08:00.001-06:00

I know I said I probably wouldn't blog for another month but there were alot of fun things that have been happening that I just want to remember them.

-We finally got to see Meme after almost 2 months. That is the longest Carson has ever gone without seeing her. Carson was really missing her and asking for her alot lately. We went out to eat at Las Palmas with her so Carson got his Meme fix.

-The weather was s so gorgeous that today we went to the Zoo to enjoy being outside and so the boys could ride the train. We stayed 2 1/2 hours. By the time we were leaving the boys were begging to get in the buggy. They napped for 3 hours and I had to wake them. I'm going to buy a season pass, they had a blast!

- Tuesday we went over to one of the youth family's house that has a farm and four-wheeler. The boys got to pet horses, watch roosters, and ride 4-wheelers. After the farm we went to the fire station where Nelson's secretary's husband is a fireman. The boys got to play in the fire truck and hear the siren and wear the helmet. They were in heaven.

-For my birthday Nel gave me a gift I couldn't resist, a few hours of shopping ALONE. I save up my Christmas gift cards every year for the spring/summer clothes. I got Carson all shopped for and hopefully won't have to get him anything again until October. The perk of boys, they don't break the budget buying clothes. All their clothes pretty much have the same theme, Polo style shirt and shorts. Easy enough! Except for Carson's latest- Camo just like my dad. Today he wore Camo shirt and shorts that didn't match, but he was cute.

- My parents came in Friday and kept Carson so Nel and I could have a night away. We went to our fav place, Texas de Brazil. We planned on going to a movie but my stomach was so full I could actually feel the separation of my stomach and womb (gross). So what did Nel want to do, go back to the room and do a puzzle. I know that sounds no fun but surprisingly we had a blast doing it. He loves doing that and since Pj's sounded like the most heavenly thing at that point I didn't care if we built a model plane. We enjoyed our time just the two of us and are so grateful my parents want to give up a weekend to keep my little one.

-Saturday Nelson had to preach a funeral so Carson, my parents, and I went to the Bass Pro Shop. They happened to be having a boat show so Carson spent most of his time playing in the boats. This was the greatest place to take him it had everything he loves- fish, ducks, fishing poles, guns, elevators, 4-wheelers, stuffed animals, and boats. He was shaking and telling me he was cited to be there. Only one meltdown when leaving. My dad and I made the mistake of letting him get into a boat that neither one of us could reach him. I tell him he can drive a little more and then we are leaving with a happy heart. He said yes mam and I thought good he will leave peacefully. I think he realized we couldn't reach him because I told he lets go and he got in a corner and just gave the look of you can't get me so I'm not leaving look. My dad and I are on each side, I'm giving him the evilest eye and saying come here. After practically threatening him with his life he finally came and was not near as happy about leaving as he was entering. So the moral of the story, don't let him get in such a big boat next time.

We Made It

2011-02-07T13:14:00.002-06:00

Carson feels like he is a "gone-up" grown up with his hands in his pocket like Daddy and Papaw. Today we had our 20 week ultrasound and appointment and we both made it without finding out what Bambino is. Week before last I was really debating whether to find out or not. Nel and I had gone to get something for the baby at Babies R Us and I had gone through the clothes and started having a moment of weakness. But last week I regained my strength and made it. We brought Carson with us and the whole time he would say Connor on tv. A long time ago we told him both names and Connor was the name that stuck with him and that's what he calls the baby. When I say Connor or Caroline he says no Connor. The u/s tech did a great job of not tempting me. She did all the diagnostic stuff and it looked great and she said she couldn't tell the sex because the legs were closed. Then we looked at fun stuff like the baby yawning, kicking,etc and then it was over. As we were leaving I asked if she knew and she said yes. How did I miss it? Carson said bye Connor and the tech said we'll see. I was like we'll see because it's a boy or we'll see because it's not a Connor. She just smiled and said see you at the end of your pregnancy for one last u/s before the baby is born. So I leave really having no idea, which I am excited about. I know everyone says they don't care what it is and I really don't. A boy would be fun since I have boy stuff and Carson would have someone to wrestle with, but at the same time a girl would be a blast too. I would always have me a buddy and Nel has his buddy. I feel like it's a boy but we shall see.
This is me at 21 weeks with Carson. I think I'm about the same with this one

So this past month:
-Nelson and I found this amazing Fun Zone that has apparently been here for 20 years and we never knew about it. It is like a place I went to as a kid called Discovery Zone. Carson and Nelson had a blast. I laughed the whole time watching Nelson trying to crawl through tunnels and moaning in pain. Every time Nelson would try to take a break Carson would say come on Daddy come on and Nel couldn't resist. We stayed 3 hours and were going back this week.

-I started watching a little 2 year old girl two days a week. What a difference between boys and girls. She is so sweet and tiny and just quietly plays. Carson thinks she is a baby because she is so little. He tries to hold her and she starts crying, no noise just little tears streaming down her face. I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom and getting to babysit from home is a great way I get to make extra money and stay home.

-We have decided that we are staying in our apartment again. A couple from our church offered us a great deal on his mother's old place that passed away but my asthma couldn't take it. We were excited to be getting a place for free and with land but then when it fell through I was confused why God would give this opportunity then a week later take it away. Nelson said maybe God was just trying to teach me to be content where we are. So when I get my moments of weakness and think I need a house with more rooms, land, etc., he reminds me that He will meet my needs according to His glorious riches (Phil 4:19) and I'm just fine where I am. So I'm actually excited to be here. Mom came a few weeks ago and we organized and got things cleaned out to make room for the baby.

-Last week I got to baby sit my 5 week old nephew Christopher. Carson was in heaven looking at "Skip-pee-ter" while I got to rock him. I forgot how sweet and fun holding newborns were. I can't wait.

-The other night I went to pick Carson up from nursery at church and they said he wanted to go potty so they put him on the toilet and he went. I was so excited, this was his first time to every actually go. The only problem they told me or as Carson told me was" Carson tee tee on da for (floor)." They said he forgot to hold it down. Hey I was so excited he actually went. I hadn't planned on really attempting potty training until July or August but he might be getting ready sooner. Who knows?

-Thursday Carson and I went to my parents for a few days while Nelson was suppose to be at a conference, but the weather cancelled his trip. Courtney and Maggie came too so we all stayed at Honey and Papaw's and played inside a whole lot. Play dough became our good friend. They each wanted a mustache and hat.
-This weekend my parents are coming in to keep Carson so Nelson and I can get away Friday night for my birthday. I just love going out to eat and going to a movie so that is what we are going to do. And the added bonus of getting to stay in a hotel.

I can't believe it's already February. I probably will be a bad blogger and not update again until next month which is my glucose test. I failed it last time, so I'm sort of expecting it again. We shall see.

Time Is Flying

2011-01-06T18:48:00.003-06:00

*This post is going to go backwards due to the fact it takes a long time to put the pics in order on Blogger.

So as the title says, time is flying. I can't believe I'm already sixteen weeks. I went to the doctor today and at 16 weeks I've only gained six pounds! What does that mean, I got a King Cake. This pregnancy is going fast and great.Last week Carson got cousin #8 on the Santa Ana side, Christopher Todd Santa Ana. After Carson saw him, he wanted to take home Key-pee-ter.

For new years we went to DeRidder so Nelson could go hunting. Carson was more fascinated with the four-wheeler than the ducks, but he did like touching the blood. I wouldn't even know what to do with a girl.

We went to DeRidder for Christmas and Carson's favorite part was Santa (especially his hat).

Nelson's side has a tradition of singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blowing out the candle on a cake. Since he couldn't be with his family this Christmas, we did it with my family this year. Carson's favorite part was licking the candle.

Coy dressed up as Santa and even though Carson figured it out, he still didn't want to sit on his lap. He just gave him high fives.

Courtney had bad morning sickness the entire time and had to lay on the couch and watch movies the whole time. If you know Courtney, you know she's nothing like that. I loved every minute of it because I got to lay guilt free because she was laying around too.

He Is Finished

2010-12-21T22:05:00.010-06:00

Nelson has finally finished seminary!!!! After 5 1/2 years of school he has his Master's of Divinity. I am beyond proud of him. I told him he was holy now that he has mastered divinity :) Nelson has been in school for 24 years straight with one semester off and our whole marriage. It is so nice to have him home!
Nelson, Carson, and I went with my parents Friday night and got a hotel in New Orleans. It was so pretty for Christmas and COLD. Carson was nicely bundled ask we walked around that night.

Saturday Nelson's family and some church members came in for the graduation.
Afterwards we went to Bubba Gump in the Quarter for the celebration meal.
We got him a cake but it was in my room a whole night before it was to be eaten and if anyone knows me that's too long to not be touched, i.e. the hole in the cake.I can't believe he is finally done. We have been waiting so long for this day! Again I am really proud of all his hard work.

Also a few other things we have been doing this month:

1. Carson helped decorate the tree, only a handful of ornaments have since been broken as he helps me turn on the tree. It's just an ornament, I love the excitement he gets when he has turned the tree on, "I hup (help) mommy, you elcome (welcome)" is priceless.

2. He and Brady decorated cookies, or Brady decorated and Carson just ate them.

3. Carson is obsessed with trucks/tractors and digging dirt and dumping. So we have been doing alot of digging. I am convinced just a pile of dirt would be his favorite gift for Christmas.

4. Carson went to his first Christmas parade and loved it, except for the sirens, "Too oud (loud)"
5. And telling me "I on go potty" and taking all his clothes off to just sit, flush, and put the lid down. He doesn't actually go, he just likes to pretend. No rush, I figure when he his ready he'll go.

What Will You Be?

2010-12-02T14:02:00.003-06:00

Wednesday I had my checkup with my OB and had to get another ultrasound because last time he found a hematoma on an ovary so he was checking to see if it was gone. I was put on pelvic/lifting/and pretty much strenuous rest for the last few weeks which thank goodness for family and Nelson because I couldn't lift Carson. It killed me every time he would say hold you mommy.
My cousin's husband took these and I thought they were too cute Praise the Lord when he did the ultrasound he couldn't find anything wrong. So off rest and back to lifting my little man. Also the baby was so cute to watch, she (that's what I'm feeling today) was kicking her legs and waving her arms. It was so adorable. I have been feeling a boy this whole time, but the last two times peanut has had 180 and 178 HR and Carson had 159 in the beginning so that's why I'm feeling like a girl. Since we're not finding out I'll have to play the heart rate game. My SIL Andrea isn't finding out either so we have fun trying to guess the sex with the heart rates for each baby.

My sickness is finally coming to an end. It was much worse this time around than with Carson. I was sick all day this time and throwing up. But the good part out of that, I only gained 2 pounds this time. So when I got home I treated myself to fudge. Who eats fudge after finding out they've gained 2 pounds? Oh me! I was excited I survived Thanksgiving and no exercising for 2 weeks and only gained 2 pounds!!! I go back in a month so we shall see what peanut is doing then.

A Very Thankful (and Growing) Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T12:38:00.000-06:00

Last week was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family. Carson, Courtney, Maggie, and I came to DeRidder together last Monday and got to be together all week playing. Later in the week Nelson's side came in and Carson got more cousins to play with.

He wanted to wear jewelry like Maggie
We enjoyed all the family and we are super excited that next Thanksgiving we will have 4 new babies!!! My sister-in-law Emily is due in about 3 weeks, SIL Andrea is due May 25th, my sister Courtney is due July 30th and well...

ME!!!!!!!!!! I'm due June 26th!!! I'm 10 1/2 weeks and super excited! It will be a busy summer with lots of babies!
As I've mentioned before we tried for a while for this little guy and couldn't ask for better timing. A few fun things about # 2:

- Last year when I went for my annual I prayed before I went that God would use Dr. Lawler to give me hope and peace about the next baby. While talking to Dr. Lawler and telling him we had been trying for a while he said he felt by next time this year (November) I would be pregnant. I had a peace that only comes from God come over me and I had hope. Month after month went by and I just keep praying God would sustain my faith. I found out 2 weeks before November 1st. Talk about a faith building hearing from God. I felt like Moses :) except no burning bush.

-We are not finding out what we are having this time!!!

- Our baby will be grandbaby #10 for Santa Ana side and #3 for Duplechain side. My mom is going to have to rest up between Courtney and I having babies a few weeks apart.

- I am so excited Courtney and I get to do this again together. Carson and Maggie are 4 months apart and these two will be about 5 weeks!!!

Those who wait on the Lord He renews their strength... Isaiah 40:39. This is the verse that carried my through our wait.

October Happenings

2010-10-20T12:33:00.002-05:00

This past month we have enjoyed celebrating Nelson and Carson's birthday a few times. The first weekend was Carson's and to celebrate Nelson and I went to the LSU/TN game. Not good for the nerves. It took me a week to get over that game. But Carson got to hang out at his babysitters house where he got to play outside the whole time.

The next weekend all Nelson's family was in so we went out to eat and then did cake and presents for he a Carson with them. Since Carson is 2 I figured he wouldn't notice that he didn't get his own party. All he cared about was eating the cake and playing with his cousins.

Last weekend my parents came in to watch Carson Friday night so Nelson and I could celebrate his birthday just the two of us. We went to our fav, Texas de Brazil, and then saw Social Network. Saturday the Dressler clan came in and the four of us went to the LSU/McNeese game while Honey and Papaw watched Carson and Maggie. My dad brought his 4-wheeler so Carson got to enjoy riding with Dad all morning.

Next week my mom is coming in to help me get our church Fall Fest together. I've been working on that this week and I'm almost done :). October has gone by so fast, can't believe November is around the corner.

Happy Birthday Carson!!

2010-09-30T21:11:00.003-05:00

Happy birthday Carson. Can't believe you are 2!!

The last time I blogged I was waiting for Nelson to get home from Haiti-yes he made it about 7 weeks ago. I haven't been blogging in a while due to carpal tunnel I developed over the past two months from typing and texting. It only took an othro, neuro, tests, injections, and wrist braces, and most importantly my dad to figure it out. I shouldn't be typing this but I really miss it. So hopefully sooner than later I'll be able to get back at it. Just had to write about Carson. We took Brady ( I am babysitting him again this year!!!) and Carson to the zoo and then got him some boots and an umbrella ( the kid loves the rain :). All day when we asked Carson a question he would answer it by saying 2. I guess I asked him so much how old he was that he assumed all questions were about his age. Hopefully I'll post before 7 weeks this time. Happy birthday buddy!

28 Hours

2010-08-13T21:34:00.007-05:00

28 Hours is all I have left until I see Nelson. I'm super excited to see my hubby at 3am Sunday morning!!!!! In Haiti Nelson mostly ate beans/rice/chicken so I have his favorite meal planned and desserts. I'll also have the air on and his fan blowing and bed pulled back. They slept in screened in rooms under mosquito's nets with no electricity and dogs and pigs going all night. So he will be ready for his house. I talked to him an hour ago and he is all packed and so ready to come home.

While Nelson was away this week we have been with Honey and Papaw. We have been playing outside in his pool, on the golf cart, riding the lawnmower with Honey and Papaw, playing at Meme's, seeing Gram and her fish pond, and getting all the attention a 2 year old could get. He will be sad leaving them tomorrow, but I know he'll be excited to see his house. Off to pack and get ready to head home tomorrow. Lots of fun memories made.

One Down and One To Go

2010-08-09T12:59:00.006-05:00

Nelson has been in Haiti for almost a week now and he has one week left. To occupy our time we did my favorite thing...go see the family. This past week Carson and I went to Lake Charles to stay with Courtney. Maggie and Carson are so fun together. She is definitely the bossy one of the two. If she wants Carson to do something she grabs his hand and pulls him. He goes wherever she leads. They spent most of their time playing in Courtney's backyard. They were very happy to ride together in the car.

Courtney and I went to hear a comedian with her mother in law Friday night. Surprisingly she was really funny, we laughed so hard and had such a great time.

Sunday we went to church with Courtney. I figured Carson would do fine but instead he screamed mommy through the door for 10 minutes. I almost went to get him but when Court went to check one more time and he finally stopped.

That afternoon we went to a going away party for some friends of ours that are moving to Saudi Arabia. There we lots of little kids and a little mini pool that was great entertainment. My friend's brother in law came to sit in the little pool and Carson went up to him and tried to pinch his nipples, I was mortified especially since I didn't know this guy. I apologized several times but he left that pool and didn't come back. Kids! We got to DeRidder today and will be here for the week.

I got the international calling plan so I've been able to talk to Nelson quit a bit. He told me they have been helping out at the orphanage they are staying at and one afternoon the kids wanted to take him and some others down the mountains to the beach. After an 8 mile hike they made it to a spring with old naked women bathing. He had some of his youth boys so that was interesting. On the way back they came across some natives with machete's. They told him to give him water now so he threw them his water bottle and escaped quickly. He said the outing wasn't near worth the danger. I made him swear on his life no more leaving the orphanage. I can't wait for him to get home, but glad he is getting to minister to the Haitians.

Galveston Family Vacation

2010-07-30T21:53:00.014-05:00

Last week the 3 of us went with my family and Courtney's family to Galveston. We had originally planned to go to Orange Beach but with the oil spill my parents switched to Galveston since it was closer for them. At first I was nervous about switching from a condo in Orange Beach to a hotel room in Galveston. Sharing a room meant one of us would have to be in the room with Carson during his naps for 2-3 hours and go to bed each night by 8. Fortunately we got joining rooms so it worked out perfectly. Carson loved sharing a joint room with Honey and Papaw. Every morning when he woke up he would start calling for Papaw and got just that. He and Maggie were spoiled by the g-parents. At the end of the week I realized Carson never whined or got any spankings, then I realized how could he get in trouble he got what he wanted when he wanted.We stayed at the San Luis Resort. It was gorgeous and had huge pool where we stayed most of the time. Our days where spent at the pool in the mornings, naps, and evening activities and supper time. During nap times my dad or Nelson would stay with Carson and Court, mom, and I would go to the pool. I even feel asleep for 2 hours and enjoyed every minute. My eyelids even burned but it didn't interrupt my nap.

We got there Tuesday night and walked along the seawall and got Ben & Jerry's ice cream as a treat for walking. I have to make sure I keep it all leveled out.

Wednesday we swam at the hotel pool, napped, and that evening went to Moody Gardens then supper at Rainforest Cafe. At Rainforest Cafe they have a boat ride that floats through a mock Rainforest. Courtney and Joey didn't think Maggie would do well so she stayed behind but I was certain Carson would love it. Poor thing he was clinging to my neck but trying to beat his chest like a gorilla and starting to cry all at the same time. Once the fake thunder and lighting went off it was over. He was so traumatized that when we sat down to eat he went nuts when the gorilla's went off that my dad had to take him back to the hotel.

Thursday we went to Schlitterbahn for the morning. It was great entertainment, naps that afternoon were 3 hours- HEAVENLY. That night we went to the Strand to eat a Fisherman's Wharf then went to La King's Confectionery. As if Nelson and I weren't bad enough parents the night before taking Carson on the ride, that night we over fed him on sweets and he was up until 11:30 pm wired and not going to sleep.

Friday we went to the beach for about 10 minutes. Carson loved it but the beach wasn't very pretty, it was seaweed filled. That night we went out to eat at the Strand again and went back to La King's Confectionery, but only a bite for Carson this time. At night after the kids went to bed Courtney, Joey, Nel, and I would go to the pool/hot tub and hang out. Saturday we headed home and enjoyed our own bed. That night Carson was out at 7:30 and we had to wake him at 8:45 the next morning and his nap that afternoon was 3 hours. He missed his bed.

We are getting repacked now to head to LC and DeRidder. Nelson is leaving for Haiti for a mission trip so well stay with Courtney and my parents.

He's Back

2010-07-10T15:01:00.013-05:00

Nelson and I got back yesterday from youth camp in Tennessee. I was so distracted with everything going on it wasn't too hard without Carson, well actually it was great. I had no responsibilities all week. Today my parents and grandma brought him back home today. I was literally watching out the window waiting for the truck to pull up. When I got outside as they pulled up I could see Carson bouncing trying to get out. He was shouting Mama and reaching for me. I was so overjoyed when I got to hold him again, he was precious. He was just as excited to see Nelson, but I begged Nel to stay inside so I could hold him first because I knew once he saw his daddy he would have nothing to do with me again.

All my family had a blast with Carson and from the looks of the pictures my mom took so did he. One thing I am excited he got to do was play with my Grandmommie. I love that he will be able to make memories with his great grandma.

What Carson's week looked like:

1. He ate whatever he wanted, i.e.- cookies for lunch

2. Watching movies with Papaw

3. Reading, Reading, and more reading
4. Playing at my dad's clinic on the typewriter

5. Serenading Honey and Papaw

6. Maggie and Courtney came one night. Mom said he was so hyper when she was there.

7. Bathing in the kitchen sink. Mom said he wanted in the sink so she stripped him and let him play in it.

8. Fishing at Papaw's farm9. Sitting on Papaw's tractor. His obsessed with tractoo's (as he says). Today my grandmommie gave him a huge tractor poster that was my grandpa's. He is carrying it around kissing it.

10. Playing outside with Honey

11. Honey and Papaw said he kept pushing them away because he wanted to sit by himself.

12. Playing with the fish Papaw caught.

13. When they got home from the farm, dad put the fish in his swimming pool and let him get in and play with the fish.

14. Riding in the wheelbarrow

15. Play with the golf clubs and ride in the golf cart

16. He also spent a day with his Meme at her house. So he got all his grandparent loving in!

I am so glad he got to spend a week with his grandparents. I have so many memories of the summer's I stayed with mine. I want him to grow up with great memories of his. It's safe to say he didn't think about Mommy once, but I'm so glad to have him back home.

Bye My Buddy

2010-07-03T21:30:00.010-05:00

Tomorrow I drop Carson off with my parents for the week. Nel and I leave for youth camp Monday and I figured I would be of more assistance without my little sidekick tagging along. Last year I brought him but he was only 8 months and not mobile, this year he would be everywhere and the drive is longer. I was excited about the break but now I'm starting to get sad about leaving him. Once Monday comes I know I'll be distracted and excited about camp so it won't be so bad, plus he is about to get whatever he wants once he is with Honey and Papaw and he gets to spend an afternoon with Meme too. He'll be saying "Mommy who?" once out of my sight.

This evening after supper we all 3 went to the Parade grounds at LSU and let Carson burn some energy by having Nelson chase him. By the time we got home he was pointing to his bed and out he went. I still have about 10 things left on my to do list and one includes finishing Gone With the Wind. So as Scarlett says it, "I'll think about it tomorrow," and off to finish the movie!

He didn't want to take the picture, he wanted down

Crafts, Singing, and Playing

2010-06-19T17:02:00.007-05:00

This week we had VBS and Carson was old enough as opposed to last year when he was 8 months to actually get to be a little more involved this year. One night I snuck in his class to check on him and he was in the middle of about 12 kids dancing and clapping to the song they were learning. And last night he came home with his little mark he drew on his paper which would be called his artwork. He even got a little certificate on stage. He was so cute sitting with his class. Nelson and I had 6th grade and we were several rows back but could see his little faux-hawk sticking up above the pew. He started to turn around and talk and he spotted Nelson and I . It was so cute when he saw us, he started shouted out Mama Mama and got up and ran to our row. He also got a new friend this week. I started to babysit a 17 month old little girl, Evan, that goes to our church. I have her 2 days a week in the mornings. The first day she fell asleep in my lap with Carson running around and she slept for 2 hours on the couch. Why did Carson never do that? I trying to teach him that we don't body slam her.

Also, KK did have her surgery on Wed and they were able to remove most of the tumor but they found while in there that the tumor had grown down into her brain stem and they couldn't reach it. They will have to begin chemo and radiation in 2 weeks at St. Jude. As of this morning they said she was doing so well she could be released to go home today or in the morning. Right now Janice(my friend and KK's grandmother) said they are so mentally, physically, and emotionally trained so if you could please lift them up. Thank you again for your prayers and please continue, they have a long road ahead of them. KK is tired and ready to just go home she said.

Last week I got all the Sunday School classes to make gift bags of stuff for them to entertain and pass time while in the hospital. It amazes me of people's generosity. We had the church office filled with things for KK, mom, dad, grandparents, gas money, snacks and homemade cookies, and a back pack full of stuff for her little brother. Please continue to pray for the Kirkland's, they have a long road ahead of them.

"Oney" and KK

2010-06-13T13:10:00.004-05:00

This past week my mom came and stayed the with and Carson can now say "Oney" for Honey. It is so cute to hear him say it. Our goal was to just stay home and hang out but as usual we were gone everyday. One day we took him swimming with Brady and the rest out shopping or eating, and planting a flower bed at the church.
Also this week we found out that a good friend of mine (the music minister's wife at my church) 4 year old granddaughter KK was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. KK's brother Hunter is in Carson's nursery class and her mom Alie was one of Nelson's youth a few years ago and a friend of mine. They leave today for St. Jude and her surgery is Wed at 7am.

Alie had sent KK to her room to go to bed and KK reached up on her dresser to turn her dvd player on and pulled the dvd player onto her head. She started to throw up so Alie took her to the ER and they did a cat scan and found the tumor. It was no freak accident that this happened and the doctors said it was a blessing it happened otherwise they wouldn't have found the tumor until later. Today they were all at church and we got to pray over KK before they left. She has a Caringbridge site (kimberlynnkirkland), but I ask that if you remember Tuesday evening and Wed moring to please pray for KK and her family.

Playing All Summer Day

2010-06-02T12:34:00.006-05:00

Carson and I are having so much fun with these long summer days. We spend most of our day outside mostly in the pool or water hose. With playing outside so much, Carson has developed an even deeper love for FOOD. Carson is quite a fan, and fortunately he isn't that picky. I have to be creative with getting him to eat some things. But without a doubt it takes no effort to get him to eat sweets and pudding.I love to plan his weekly meals. I try to pretend that everything he eats is healthy but is it healthy when his cucumber's and carrots have ranch for him to dip them into? Or his raisins are actually yogurt covered raisins. Brady actually told me he didn't like purple raisins he likes my white (yogurt) raisins. His ham and cheese come in the form of grilled cheese style sandwiches. And corn has to be on the cob. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.

Last night I made Crawfish Fettucinni and he had 3 servings, a stick of string cheese, and apricot, and cup of pudding. I played him hard outside so I guess he was ready to eat my house. My grocery bill is only going to get more and more expensive as he gets older.

At the end of the day when I'm cooking I'll let him play in the sink with bubbles and wash my dishes. Who needs a maid when I have Carson to clean for me!

Tomorrow we are going to swim at Brady's in a "big" pool. Can't wait to see how he likes it!

This was last week when we were at Courtney's. She has a shaded picnic table so we let them eat all their meals outside. It was very easy cleanup and the kids loved it.

Splish Splash

2010-05-27T12:37:00.003-05:00

Today mom and I took Maggie and Carson to the park which has a little "spray" ground as it is called. They had a blast and wore out quickly.

Bittersweet Mother's Day

2010-05-10T07:55:00.004-05:00

This weekend was a great time spent with Nelson and Carson. Nelson took me out to eat at Ruffino's and even got a sitter for Carson (his mom and sister) so we could go alone. It was suppose to be a surprise but my grandmother had a massive heart attack Saturday so he had to tell me in case she passed away yesterday. She did pass away this morning and initially Saturday when she had the attack and we knew she wouldn't make it I was sad, not so much about her death because she was beyond ready, but because her life would be gone. She left me such wonderful memories that I will always cherish. She was 82, in a nursing home, and unable to walk anymore. Her husband died when my mom was a young girl, so she has been saying she can't wait to go to heaven to see Jesus and her husband. My mom told me when she went to visit her Saturday she asked her if she was ready to go see Jesus and she was shaking her head yes and so ready. I know she is in a much better place and I will see her again. My mom texted me early this morning to say she is no longer suffering, I immediately texted back and said praise Jesus because she is no longer bound to a wheel chair but at the feet of Jesus walking :). I took a muscle relaxer last night because my TMJ is acting up. I'm not exactly normal or coherent when I take it so I wouldn't have understood if she had called so texting worked out best.

So like I said it was a bittersweet mother's day. It was nice that I got to spend it with family. Tomorrow Carson and I will head to DeRidder for the rest of the week so I am excited to have a reason to see all my family :)

Names

2010-05-07T08:02:00.005-05:00

Over at Kelly's Korner she did a post on naming children and why we chose that name. I have literally been choosing names for my children since I was 5. Back then all my children and dolls had names of boys I liked at the time, go figure. I have been making list of children's names on my computer and saving them since I was in high school. I still like to go back and see some of the awful choices I liked. Once I started dating Nelson it sure made it easier picking names because I could pick some of his family names to incorporate into my made up list. He never jumped on my "let's name all our children before we are even married" bandwagon. Finally he will indulge me and let me tell him all 5 of our children's names. No, I don't want five but I have 5 names so I joke with him and tell him we have to have 5 so I can use them all. So onto the names.

Carson David Santa Ana
We hadn't gotten pregnant yet, but it didn't happen much longer when we chose Carson's name. I know this is a terrible way we named him, but what can I say I go back to my original system of naming kids, by the boys I liked :) We were driving I was thinking of how cute the NFL quarterback Brady Quinn is and told Nel let's name our 1st boy Brady- veto he said. So I kept thinking of cute quarterbacks with cute names ( I know shady), Carson Palmer came next to my mind. Carson, he liked it and that was it. We never swayed from Carson after that. David is Nelson's middle name so that was a given.

Connor Samuel
Not quite sure where we got Connor but Samuel is special. Originally when we started trying in August it was going to be Connor Russell (my grandpa, uncle, and brother's middle name), but after several months of no baby I was reading the story of Hannah and her asking the Lord for a baby. When she got pregnant she thanked the Lord and said, "because I asked the Lord for him" he will be Samuel. I instantly felt drawn to that name since that is what I'm doing for #2. So that is where Samuel comes from. And I 100% believe our next one will be a boy!

Jacob Coy
Just love the name Jacob. Coy is my brother and grandpa's first name and my dad's middle name.

Jude Randall or Thomas
Again always have liked Jude, but I had put it at the bottom because my sister in law wanted that name, but since she hasn't picked it up yet it's back on the list. Andrea, if you want it we'll have to arm wrestle for it :) j/k! Randall is my dad's name and Thomas is on Nelson's side.

And IF we have a girl, which I really don't believe I'm going to have it is ...
Caroline ....Ruth
Caroline is from Nelson. He has never given a name or even an idea except for Magnum so since he likes it I said that will be our daughter's name. And Ruth, well I NEVER in a million years thought I would type or say this but Ruth is my middle name and I hated it my whole life, still not crazy, but it is a long line family name. My 99 year old great aunt is still alive and that is her name. So I just can't let it die with me. Caroline can let it die! This is my list and we shall see what happens. I'd love to see your favorite names. This is such a girl game because you know you all have planned it all out too.

Ya'll-Nelson still seriously wants to name our next boy Magnum. He tells me everyday. What is wrong with him. Magnum Santa Ana. Ve-to! Poor baby, everyone would call him Magnum P.I. and try to give him a little stache!

Water Time

2010-05-06T14:38:00.004-05:00

Summer weather, aka 90's, is the perfect time to pull out the sprinkler! Since it was so hot today I figured the boys would like to play in the water so we went to the local hardware store and picked up a few sprinklers. We got home and put their suits on and played, played, and played. They stayed out for over an hour just running threw the sprinkler!!!Nap time was great, Carson slept 2 1/2 hours and Brady is still asleep and working on 3 hours! I think I have found our new daily activity.

Everyone Wants Mommy

2010-05-03T12:46:00.006-05:00

The other day Nelson got home from work and gave me a kiss. Well I guess Carson felt he needed to join in so he moved Nelson out of the way and grabbed my face like Nelson did and kissed me. It was sweet yet odd at the same time considering he isn't quite sure how to kiss with his mouth CLOSED yet. I told Nelson he better watch himself, he has someone who thinks they deserve kisses just as much!!!

It is crazy how much he is growing and copying everything we say, or attempting. The only problem- snack, class, bath all come out the same way a**. The first time he said a** for class it was in front of the youth and they of course started to laugh so naturally what does my angel do. He wants a laugh so he says it again and they laugh harder. He wouldn't stop until I took him out of the room. Not sure if you have picked up on it but my child LOVES to be the center of attention and especially to make people laugh. He is his daddy's child.

I'm really enjoying seeing new things he loves- Corn on the cob, talking with Papaw, hiding from me, playing in the rain, and playing with crawfish. Dad cut of the pinchers of live crawfish and let Carson carry them around. Another favorite is smelling my flowers. I have figured out he pretends to like to smell them to stall from going inside. The second we get out of his carseat he says "smay fa-wers" (smell flowers) so we smell flowers then I say let's go inside. He holds up a finger and says "smay fa-wer", I think its so cute and cant' resist so we do this a good 5 minutes then I have to drag him in. He knows how to 'trick' me especially when he says "tease" (please) to stay a little longer!

Today he is sick again with 103.8 fever and throwing up. I again pray that it will pass quickly and Nelson and I don't get it. Nelson is getting ready for finals so a stomach bug isn't' what he needs right night. Off to Comet some kitchen floors! Please pray for healing in the Santa Ana household!

Keeping Me On My Toes

2010-04-19T21:33:00.005-05:00

The last two weeks Carson has somehow figured out how to get into almost everything he shouldn't. I thought I had baby proofed until I realized he kept finding more things and getting into and onto everything. It's amazing how much an 18 month old really knows and understands. The other day he was climbing out of a chair and I said, "okay one, t... and he looked at me with a huge grin and said twwwoooo." He didn't make it to three, but I had the proud mama moment. Nelson wants it known that he taught him how to count!

With the good also came the not so fun!

I was cleaning in the bathroom and he was playing, I heard " uh-oh" (his favorite new word), he had taken a Vaseline jar and taken all the Vaseline out and put it in his hair. I went online to see what to do and it said cornstarch and warm water. So I poured the box on his head and after 3 washes it came out.

The other day I bought Brady some paint and left it on Carson's tray for a second, it didn't stay there long, but it sure did look tasty to Carson.

He loves to put everyone else's shoes on, especially my heels!

Crawling under everything, or in this case attempting to.

Sleeping on his new big boy pillow. My mom got him a monkey pillow last week and he hasn't let go since.

Climbing is the thing that makes me the most nervous. I stop him the second I see it, but when I'm not around he tries so hard. He climbed onto the toilet and reached over and climbed onto the bathroom counter so he could sit in the sink. He keeps me on my toes. Good thing I got certified in CPR/first aid today. Lord willing I will NEVER have to use it. He is just growing up too fast! At least he still lets me rock him to sleep!

A Week With the Grandparents

2010-04-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

Nelson had a lot of school work this week so Carson and I went a few days ahead of Nelson to DeRidder and stayed with my parents and the rest of the family. Carson and Maggie did what they do best- play non stop with the occasional issue of not wanting to share. We did lots of outside playing and the park.

Helping Honey with the dishes
Friday we had a big crawfish boil for my dad's birthday. Carson really liked the crawfish when he wasn't busy eating everything else off the tables, people's plates, the ground, and the ice chest- did I mention my son LOVES to eat. Especially things not great for him. Anytime someone would say the word chocolate he would run to the cabinet and grunt for the chocolate eggs.

Courtney's family needed some new pictures of them so I took them for her-190 to be exact, but it went really quick.

And she did the same for our family, we saved alot of money and minus a long photo session

Saturday before we left we dyed some eggs and the kids got their Easter baskets from Honey and Papaw. We had to get back to Baton Rouge because Nelson was the narrator in our church Easter musical and he had practice.

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T10:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a fun day with worship and family and of course food. I made a roast and mashed potatoes for our family and Kris and Mary Grace (Nel's sister and niece) and we had deserts from Ambrosia bakery. Nelson and I do Lent every year and this year we or I gave up sweets and made Nelson do it with me. So a chocolate cream pie and a chocolate/white triple layer butter cream cake was a wonderful way to end it. Now my stomach is killing me and I don't want another sweet, but I have a feeling that won't last too long.
After lunch we took the kids out to hunt eggs. I just threw Carson's in one pile in the grass. At first he loved putting the eggs in the basket until he figured out the eggs were stuffed with- you guessed it, his favorite thing, CHOCOLATE! The rest of the afternoon he went through all the eggs trying to find candy.
To close out the night Nelson and I watched "The Passion of the Christ." Every year since it came out we watch it on Easter as a reminder of what Christ did for us on the cross. I hope everyone had a great time this Easter. Spring break is over and back to babysitting Brady and things of day to day life.

Here are the pictures of Carson and Maggie getting their Easter baskets from my parents and dying eggs. Carson wanted his and Maggie's candy eggs.

Fun In The Big Easy

2010-04-04T13:48:00.005-05:00

Carson finally got over the stomach virus and was feeling well enough to pack up and head to New Orleans. Nelson had class Thursday through Saturday so my parents said we should make it a mini vacation. My parents picked Carson and I up and we headed out last Thursday.
We woke up Friday morning had breakfast, walked through the Riverwalk, and then headed to the Children's Museum. We stayed almost 2 hours and Carson was in heaven. If you live in driving distance it is two stories of pure heaven for children and you should go.

That evening Nelson had the night off so we went to the zoo. The weather was perfect and the park was cleared out by the time we got there. It was so cute watching Carson try to make the animal sounds. His favorite part wasn't the animals but the water fountain at the entrance.

He was very fascinated by the ducksSaturday we took Carson to the Aquarium. He again didn't really care for the fish, but the buttons that give information when pushed about what's in the tanks was a real hit

After his nap we headed to City Park- AMAZING. I have never been. It was HUGE and it was gorgeous out. Carson loved Fairy-tale land and the train ride. We stayed about 2 hours. Carson was worn out when we were done.
Mini vacations are so fun, especially when the grandparents come and play with him the whole time.

Lovin' Some Things and Others Not So Much

2010-03-23T14:46:00.009-05:00

Spring is here and that means the season leading up to my favorite one- summer! I love spring time for the weather and being able to go outside without bundling up and playing for hours outside. It reminds of my childhood days. Carson seems to be loving this weather also. Spring time also means CRAWFISH. Last week we got our first batch and they were tasty. Carson thought they were very funny looking.

The not so fun things in the past week have included Carson's first visit to the ER and his first stomach virus.

Last Thursday we were at the playground and Carson and I went up to the top area which is a little over 8 feet high and he stepped off into a hole that was cut out in the middle and hit his head on a metal bar and feel through the hole and 8 feet down. My dad was worried about headed trauma and that he cried 2 hours STRAIGHT so we went. They observed him for a few hours and wanted us to get him to go to sleep to see how he does. After an hour nap he woke giving high fives and laying in the hospital bed eating chips and watching Full House. We got the okay to leave and he was good to go. Praise the Lord!

Saturday night we were driving home and he started throwing up a lot and through his nose. He has never thrown up before except for spit up as a baby so this was a whole new adventure. He is still really sick and throwing up when he drinks , he won't eat, and all he does is sleep on us anywhere. That's how I know he feels terrible. Once he throws up he wants to play a little, but then he is out of energy and just starts to whine. My heart hurts so bad seeing him sick, at first I loved the cuddle time, but I just want my healthy baby back. We are suppose to go to New Orleans Thursday with my parents for a few days, hopefully he'll start feeling better by then. So these are some things I'm loving and not so much!
Today after eating a popcicle he had a burst of energy and was playing, but Then he started to look like this again.

Wedding...AKA High School Reunion

2010-03-14T13:19:00.006-05:00

This past weekend our family went to Lake Charles so Nelson could perform a wedding for one of his best friends from high school, Jared. Since Jared is a high school friend that meant alot of people we went to school with would be there, aka a mini reunion. This May will be 10 years- CRAZY! I still feel like I just graduated, until the youth quickly remind me that I'm old and they were like 5 when the world trade center happened.

It was great seeing all our old friends. It's funny how much people really grow up and change in 10 years. Most of them are now married with children and successful careers. It really was good getting to see everyone again.

The wedding was outside and beautiful, aside from the train that came through behind them, the steam boat that blew its whistle during the vows, the helicopter flying overhead, and the lovely pair of ducks getting it on in front of the audience, it went great and Nelson did a fabulous job.

Meanwhile, Carson was having a blast with Honey, Papaw, Maggie, and Aunt Courtney. They played outside pretty much the whole time. We got home last night and today we're enjoying this gorgeous weather.

Regret

2010-03-09T09:07:00.007-06:00

Regret is something we hate to live with. We regret we said something to someone, we worried about something, we didn't do something, or in my case I didn't say something. I hate regret and the thought of what could have been, had only I said something else or more. The dictionary says regret is to feel sorry for something: to feel sorry and sad about something previously done. My regret is not telling an old co-worker about who Jesus is and the price He has paid for her. I had opportunity after opportunity and I didn't take advantage of it. This was several years ago, but it stills bothers me to this day. I pray that I have the chance one more time to tell her. Why is it so hard to not tell someone something that could save his/her life or for that their eternity? Because we don't want someone to not like us or think we are just a little different. Well we are. We are followers of Christ, which means we are never going to fit in nor should we. My sister in law once told me Jesus was never cool or part of the in crowd and He won't ever be on this earth. "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." John 15:18.

Sitting Still For This

2010-02-27T13:42:00.001-06:00

What could possibly keep a 1 1/2 year little boy sitting still for 20 whole minutes...

Yes, Hannah Montana!

I was washing dishes and turn around and see him standing on a chair, then fall off the chair landing on the back of his head. There was screaming and consoling. I flipped the channels to see if something would distract him and low and behold, Hannah got him quiet to the point he wouldn't take his eyes off the t.v. His daddy would be so proud!

Menome's Birthday Celebration

2010-02-26T07:34:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we celebrated Menome's (Nelson's mom) birthday with the family. A few of us went to Outback and then the movies. Fun Times!

Sunday, Andrea and her boys flew in so they came over and played for a little while.

Carson has started to do what the other grandchildren did when they were small, calling Ms. Mary Meme or Me. He can't get out Menome yet. It's cute how excited he gets when his Meme comes over. She was walking up to the door and I told him Meme was here. He ran to the door and started screaming Me Me. When he saw her he ran to her and gave her a hug. Grandparents are so much cooler than parents in kids eyes.

Sunday night the Santa Ana crew joined everyone at Kris' house. It gets fun and crazy when everyone is all together, even though our family wasn't there, we missed getting to hang out.

Also last week Carson and I stayed with Honey and Papaw. Brady' mom was on vacation so I was on vacation. We had fun playing outside a lot each day. I don't have many pics of last week, I left my camera in my jacket that Nelson accidentally took back to Baton Rouge.

Very ready to leave to head to Honey and Papaw's

Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar...Carson

2010-02-25T07:40:00.004-06:00

I always joke to Nelson about Carson being a little porker and loving food. Even someone yesterday told me he looked like he loves his food. Well he does. Yesterday after the boys woke up from nap time I gave Carson some fruit and Brady wanted some pudding. Carson cleared his plate and Brady said he was going to leave his pudding on the table for later. We all went on our merry way, I was washing dishes and the boys were playing, at least that's what I thought, and this is what I see out of the corner of my eye.

I could hear him straining and I saw him reaching for the table. I turn around and he has his face in the pudding cup licking the pudding out. He managed to clear the cup. What can I say, my boy loves food!

Is it bad some of his words he is saying are "gi che" = grilled cheese and "a-in"= raisins and his favorite "o-it"- chocolate!

Freedom

2010-02-12T16:39:00.003-06:00

Tonight my parents offered to spend the night here and keep Carson so Nelson and I could go away for my birthday/valentine's day. My excitement is beyond explaining and I can't wait. We are going to eat at Texas de Brazil, go see Dear John, and spend the night at a hotel in Baton Rouge, sleep in, and go to breakfast.

Today I checked us into the hotel early because I wanted to put some surprises for Nelson in there without him seeing. While checking in the hotel clerk asked why I was so giddy and I had to tell her this was a night alone with my hubby and no child!!!

Honey and Papaw just got here, off to a wonderful night!

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do...Or Not

2010-02-09T12:35:00.003-06:00

Carson and his Paci are BFF. He has been attached to that thing since the day he was born and I was actually fine with it because it comforts him and gets him quiet when needed. I knew I wanted to break him of the habit at 1, but that didn't happen. I would read books and they would say I should have already stopped, but then I would talk to my friends and family and they would say he won't go to kindergarten with it. I was torn. One night I tried to hide them and put him to sleep, didn't work and he got all 10 back in his bed. I decided that I didn't care whether or not he had it, I was really caring what others would think if they saw him with one in his mouth. I realized that no one else lives with us or mothers my child and I don't really care if they are judging so I quit debating and let him keep them.

I wasn't kidding about be attached from the beginning

I forgot how fat he was
Lately he hasn't wanted them while playing or riding in the car, just to sleep with- great he is breaking the habit on his own. Yesterday I was putting clothes away and was just talking out loud and said, "Oh Carson we need to put paci back in the bed with puppy (puppy is a whole other issue, he can sleep with him til his married, I don't care). All of a sudden I hear little feet cutting through the bathroom and a look around the corner and he took his paci out and threw it into his bed and came back to my room and finished playing. Yay! He #1 understood a command and #2 is slowly doing it all by himself. This week we have also started teaching him to put paci back in his bed once we take him out of his bed and he thinks it hilarious to throw it back in. Little steps to becoming depacified! And I worried he would never give them up. Typical of being a parent.

Thank Heaven For Little Boys

2010-02-04T21:00:00.004-06:00

Before I had Carson I always said my "pretend" children plans were 3 boys and 1 girl, my boy being first. I don't know why we even say what we want or ask what we want because we have no control over this, but it sure is fun to plan and think what you would like. Like I said, I wanted a boy first. I knew I was having a boy by week 5 of being pregnant and fortunately was right.

Boys, I love them, always have and always will. I love that they are rough, yet such good cuddlers at the say time. I love that they like to get dirty and it doesn't bother them. I love watching the difference between Carson and Maggie. She is so dainty and does everything meticulously and Carson does is hard and fast. I hope that whenever I have another baby it is a boy. I just love the idea of lots of boys. They are fun to dress up like little men and fun to rough house with.

About a month ago I started babysitting 4 days a week a friend of mine's little boy Brady. He is about to be 3, 18 months older than Carson. Everyone told me this was perfect because Carson would have someone to play with. I didn't think Carson would really notice or care, but I was wrong.

He LOVES Brady. Brady gets here at 7:15 and Carson gets up around 8:30. The time in between Brady is constantly asking for Carson to get up and the second Carson gets up he wants to play with Brady. The eat together, nap together, and as of today wrestle and play chase together.
You see my Nichols Sparks book, Dear John, I have to get some feminineness in this house

It took a few weeks to get Carson on the sharing train, he isn't there 100%, but def getting much better. I've sort of let them duke it out and see how they solve it. They work it out pretty fast. Today while they were wrestling I realized this was my life now, a boy that likes to play tough.

We try to go or do something everyday. Today was story time at the library and tomorrow is the playground and grocery shopping. It really is fun with two and I have enjoyed Carson having a playmate.

He sweetness quickly turned into attacking Brady, that's something else we need to master

Birthday Girl

2010-02-03T13:40:00.005-06:00

Last weekend was Maggie's 1st birthday party. The kids had fun playing while Mom, Courtney, and I did some cooking, cleaning, and decorating. The weather was so cold so Court and Joey closed the garage and put toys in there. It was the hit of the party. All the kids played the entire time in there. Thanks goodness for daddies, Nel stayed in there with Carson so I could hang and visit.

I hear Oscar ( he is grouchy when he wakes up so that's his nickname after naptime) waking up so no more updating!

Such A Good Helper

2010-01-23T22:05:00.012-06:00

Carson has finally gotten to the stage where he understands what I'm asking him to do and he actually gets excited after he helping. He tends to clap for himself every time he does something good.
While I was on the phone he took a picture of himself

It's funny to see a year ago what he looked like outside with Honey
Not really wanting to take the picture
He loves feeding everyone what he is eating, he doesn't want us to miss out
Wants to put my shoes on for me
Thinks he is big stuff putting on Nelson's hat

Carson, Where Are You?

2010-01-07T12:51:00.002-06:00

This is why I shouldn't use the computer while he is awake. He managed to find my tax papers and have a little fun.
Then he decided to hide in Nelson's closet and I had to say his name repeatedly. I then heard a distinct giggle and I found my little hide and seeker.

How Is He 15 months Already

2009-12-31T00:18:00.004-06:00

Carson turned 15 months old yesterday! It seems like I just blew out his candles. He is no longer taking small steps or depending on me for everything. Everyday he runs a little faster and gets a little more independent by the day. He has always been a cuddler and wanted me to rock him at night. Some nights I needed to do stuff and I would want to cut the rocking short but I wouldn't because I knew the day would come when he would want me to stop, it has come. This week he now wants down or reaches for his bed. I was so sad tonight because I miss just rocking him.

He now wants to eat with a spoon, not hold my hand outside, run, and play non-stop. He has started to wave bye bye to everyone, but today he made the connection it means go and he headed for the door. He gives big wet kisses and high fives, and knows when I'm not happy with him.

In the mean time I will just take each moment and enjoy them all. Because he won't be at this age very long.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-30T00:00:00.001-06:00

This Christmas was much different than last. Last year Carson was almost 3 months and didn't move, now he is 15 months and not just sitting around anymore. He spent most of his time outside with Papaw and Nelson or playing with his cousins.

12/08
Not so still anymore He and Maggie loved the bouncy machine
Last Tuesday Nelson, Carson, and I packed up and headed to DeRidder until Sunday. We had my parent's house filled with Courtney's family, my parents, us, and Coy. Maggie and Carson again were the best part, just watching them play non stop is hilarious. A lovely new trick Carson picked up this week is getting mad and taking toys from Maggie when she had something he wanted. Talk about battle of the wills- Carson vs. MOM. I am glad to say I won, but he doesn't give in easily. Maggie also learned that she wanted to start sucking a paci again after seeing Carson's. They would take each other's out of his/her mouth and try to suck it.

Exhibit A: Not wanting Maggie to get in the car with him

They love their movies
Maggie and her new love, the pacifier
Christmas Eve I cooked all day for mom's family that came over that night. We went to the Christmas Eve service that night at my parents church, Nelson had to walk the halls with Carson. He didn't exactly want to sit quietly.

Carson and Grandma Franks had on matching sweaters
Carson is obsessed with giving high fives

But not quite sure about Uncle Gary's mustache
Coy and Nora were good sports playing with the babiesChristmas morning I got up at 5:30 and made my cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I didn't want to wake anyone so I mixed the icing in the garage in 40` weather, but they were worth it. We then headed to Nelson's mom's house to open gifts with the kids then went back to my parents and opened there. Carson loved ripping the paper off the gifts.

Carson with some of his Santa Ana cousins
Saturday was more cooking because Dad's side came over. More of family, food, and fun.

While cooking, mom found him digging and eating out of the fridgeI love going home for the holidays and its always fun to all be together, can't wait to see what next Christmas brings. Also seeing what Carson learns how to do while in DeRidder is fun. He has many people teaching him different things I wouldn't think to teach: blow kisses, say PuPu for Papaw, and feed people his leftover food.

Today we have been unloading and reorganizing toys. Now time to take down the Christmas decorations and get ready for New Year's! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Just Call Me Betty Santa Ana

2009-12-15T10:11:00.001-06:00

***When I read Nelson the title of my blog he asked me who Betty Santa Ana was. I was trying to be creative and mean Betty Crocker, but Betty Santa Ana. Hope you knew what I meant. And here is where you can get the recipe. Happy baking! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

I love this time of year, it means I get to make goodie bags for people for Christmas. And goodie bags for others= nibbling on their gifts for me! For Nelson's staff I made boxes with white chocolate Oreo balls, peanut butter fudge, and lemon poppy seed bread. Glad those are out of the house, I think each box is missing a few things due to my picking. Last night I made these AMAZING Cinnamon rolls from scratch. It is a hard and long recipe but I knew it would be worth it and they were. I made these for Nelson's Sunday School teachers. Again, I had to explain to them why there was a hole in their pan-oops! I can't resist a sweet! The famous saying, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" went right out the window after biting into one of these rolls.
Carson felt he needed to help me!

Our family Christmas picture as we head to church, I know Nelson's eye looks weird, not sure what happened. Friday I watched the Santa Ana kids. I'm a great Aunt/Mom, bribe little children with Christmas cakes, it works! This was at LSU when mom was here. Every year at Christmas time we love to go to the LSU bookstore and browse around. We then met up with Coy and all went out to eat. Carson loves Coy, he thinks he is hilarious!

This week (Carson) and I have been cooking and cleaning, we have the youth Christmas party here Friday night. It's a white elephant party and with teenagers it is so fun, the are terrible at the gift exchange. But we have fun every year. I make my Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, Queso, fudge, and cookies. Can't wait and have a great week!

Wimbeldon Right Before My Eyes

2009-12-09T11:49:00.008-06:00

Last night Nelson and I went with some of our Friends to Elton John and Billie Jean King's Smash Hits tennis charity match at the PMAC. We were 15 rows up and I had amazing views of Lindsay Davenport, Tommy Haas, Anna Kornikova, Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, Elton John and Billie Jean King.

Every since I've been watching I've been a little crazy over Roddick so I went a little nuts when I saw him-quietly and with my binoculars. Remember we were very close so I looked a little stalkerish with the binoculars. I warned Nelson I might start to hyperventilate. No hyperventilating happened, but definitely some serious excitement.

I was so excited I had my camera ready to snap snap snap and it died. Oh well I got to watch some amazing players all in one night. This was better and cheaper than one Wimbledon match.

Also this week we have had Honey here with us. We mostly did Christmas shopping and playing.

Oh Christmas Tree and a Very Bad Mommy

2009-12-05T13:58:00.006-06:00

Every year Nelson and I get our tree on the day of the SEC championship and really like it when LSU happens to be playing, there not so Go Gators! Some years it's warm outside and others it's like today, freezing. This year was extra fun because it snowed last night so we even had a hint of snow on our tree. I don't like the cold, but I would love to be in the mountains one year and cut my own tree that's covered in snow. But I hate the mountains and the cold, so that would probably turn out to be a miserable trip. I was just having a Clark Griswiold moment!

I had us on a budget and a size this year, we usually get a HUGE tree that can't fit in our den and extremely overpriced. But we mangaged to get one 6 feet and only $35!!! We went to Lowe's and found the first one we liked.
While loading the tree on top of the car, Carson was sitting nicely in his stroller by me and Nelson was on the other side tying it down. Since we were both tying I wasn't' paying much attention to Carson in his stroller. BAD move mommy! I turned and he was gone and his hat on the ground. Complete panic went over me, I start shouting his name, Nelson and I are looking under, around, and in cars to find him and we can't. Thoughts come to me, is he kidnapped, stuck under a car, or about to get hit by a car. Complete fear and terror over came me. It was HORRIBLE. Finally Nelson found him walking beside a car a few over and he was laughing. Once I grabbed him the tears started pouring, for me not Carson. The moral of the story, BUCKLE YOUR CHILD IN THE STROLLER. I'm sure all you wonderful mothers do, but I thought he was fine right next to me. Courtney had an experience a few weeks ago with Maggie falling out of her stroller because she wasn't buckled , but I guess I have to figure it out on my own.
We have the tree up and it looks perfect- semi perfect. I convinced Nelson to "trim" the top and now we don't have a top for the angel. Now to teaching Carson he may touch but not pull on the tree, lights, or ornaments. Let the fun begin. Off to Gustavo and Emily's to watch the game!

Photo Shoot

2009-12-02T15:10:00.001-06:00

Over the holiday, Courtney and I had Maggie and Carson's pics taken together. Julie Pearce is the girl who took them and I think they came out fabulous. Click on the link below to check them out.

Go to proofing, courtney d, click enter, and password is dressler

http://julieannspictures.com/

Catching Up In November

2009-12-01T10:39:00.000-06:00

November has been a great month that has kept us on the go. It started out with Carson going to my parents a few days while Nelson and I went to a conference in Birmingham. Carson mostly played, played, and played. He did get to go to Papaw's farm and loved it. He also did some major playing with Maggie. Apparently they both like to pull on each other, but still get excited when seeing each other.

He has finally started eating almost everything, which is nice now when making his meals. He particularly loves Nelson's fudge Popsicles.

He has been trying to drop his 2nd nap but mommy isn't quite ready to break it. So I keep trying. He has started something new, cuddling in the bed with me in the morning. I'll get him when I hear him and put him in with me and he snuggles right under my neck and rubs my check. Which then turns into him trying to pick my nose. So cuddling only last a few minutes, but I love it. Yay! The cold weather has come. Generally I'm not a cold weather person, I could have it summer all year and maybe one month of 60's, but nothing colder. But I love when it initially comes! My mom got Carson this snuggle suit, aka a snowsuit, for our walks. He was nice and bundled, he even fell asleep in his stroller while walking.
Nelson has kept us in the ER and the orthopedic from tearing a tendon and spraining his foot that came with a fever. He has a boot and is feeling better. He went to Mexico this past week while Carson and I came to Lake Charles and DeRidder.

Thursday the 20th, a big group of us went out to eat and then went to the midnight showing of New Moon. We had a blast and got home around 3 am.

Saturday Carson and headed to DeRidder. While in DeRidder we mostly cooked, played with babies, and hung out.

In Dry Creek with my mom's side. So many little ones now!

We got home Saturday and went straight to our niece Ella's 2nd birthday party then Nelson and I went to the LSU/Arkansas game. Carson stayed with Nelson's sisters and Mom. Today is decorating time. It's perfect because it is freezing out so I can stay in my workout clothes and stay warm.

Menome with all her grandbabies
Thanksgiving at the Santa Ana's- playing Mexican Train
Almost the whole Santa Ana family -minus Lee and Anastaisa
My favorite holiday is over and now to decorating for Christmas and shopping. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

See Ya' Later Mommy

2009-11-05T14:39:00.003-06:00

Carson is off to stay with Honey and Papaw a few days. He is so excited that he helped me pack or I should say unpack.

I know he'll have fun because Maggie will be there too. What's better than your grandparents and your cousin!

Fall Fest

2009-10-29T19:39:00.007-05:00

Last night our church had its Fall Fest. After two 3 hour naps Carson woke up feeling good so Mom and I took him to the church. He was a tiger, but that only stayed on for a minute. He loved every minute. I had so much fun watching him all over the place.

Carson and his two favorite ladies, Menome and Honey

Nelson got to see him for a minute, he was the MC for the event so we could hear him everywhere, but just couldn't see him. Carson and I would be out in the field playing and he would hear Nelson's voice and start saying Dada.

Emily and her kids, Kris & MG came to the festival
Nelson and Bro. Ron
I have to brag on Nelson. Every year the church puts on the Fall Fest and he is in charge. He does an amazing job and each year the crowd gets bigger and bigger. This year we had almost 500 people. He is such a hard worker.

I Can See Clearly Now

2009-10-28T10:55:00.004-05:00

Mr. Carson is now hopefully gunk free of the eye. We got up bright and early and headed to the surgical center and had his eye surgery and he did great. He was Mr. personality with the nurses. When the nurse asked if he was ready to go back he started clapping. He didn't even cry when she took him away. It only took 2o minutes and then I got to see him. While we were waiting my mom, Nel, and I kept saying how grateful we were that this wasn't a long or life threatening or life saving procedure. I wasn't nervous at all I knew he would be fine.

Once he woke up they let us go back to see him. He wasn't near as happy after as he was before. His eyes were half open and he was crying but a sort of out of it cry, and he had a little IV. I didn't know he would have one. That is when I got teary eyed. I rocked him and he just laid on my shoulder crying in and out.

We were then cleared to leave. Once we got home he ate some oatmeal and fell asleep in my mom's arms. She said he was snoring when she laid him down. Hs is still out and hopefully he'll wake up feeling better. Today made me more grateful that I had a healthy little boy whose not in a hospital bed. There is a baby who needs some prayers today. It's the same little boy that's Carson's age that I've been praying for for a while, Stellan. He isn't doing good. Please remember to lift him and his family up today.

Date Night and Tailgating

2009-10-25T12:04:00.000-05:00

Date night and LSU tailgating, is there anything better than that? Friday night Emily and Gustavo were very generous to babysit Carson so Nelson and I could go on a date to Mike Anderson's. The fun part for them was they already had their 3 kids and Mary Grace= 5 children. Gotta love family!

Mommy thought I needed my winter snow suit

Saturday we got up and headed over to Nelson's best friends parents house, the Kings. Bradley, Patti, and the kids were in for the game. They have 3 kids and 1 of theirs is Carson's age. It was fun watching all the kids play. Since it was a gorgeous day we headed to LSU to tailgate with the Kings and their friends. We ended up staying for 3 hours and Carson was fabulous considering he had no naps. I guess since he got to play outside the whole time he was happy. The second we got to the car he was out. He never even woke when we got home, he went straight to his bed. He NEVER does this. My child does not just fall asleep unless he is in a bed. Must have been worn out by all that tailgating.

Dads taking charge and doing what they do best

He loved eating Elizabeth's bike

Carson was quite entertained watching Joshua

Outside

2009-10-22T10:56:00.005-05:00

Outside has been Carson's favorite word for me to say. The second I say it he is at the door banging on it. He is obsessed with being outside. This morning I was putting on my shoes and I guess he knew what that meant so he ran to the door. With this new love for the great outdoors has also come with tantrums when going back inside. As a teacher I didn't allow the whining or showing they were upset when they didn't get what they want so now that he has started this fit it gets to me.

Everytime we come in the door he starts crying. I've been trying to figure out what to do when he does it. I don't want him to think if he cries he is going to get what he wants, but at the same time I want to teach him we don't throw a fit when we don't get what we want. What to do what do to??? I know he is young but I tell him he is not going outside and if he tries to fall on the ground I make him stand up and tell him we don't throw fits, and I don't let him go back outside for awhile. It's tough with the discipline process but I know how important it is and in the end it will pay off.
The other day Emily and I took the kids to City Park to the playground. This was an AMAZING and huge playground. Carson was in heaven.

He and Ella having fun playing together

MOPS Meeting and a Good Eater

2009-10-19T20:26:00.004-05:00

Today was our MOPS meeting. I love going to my MOPS group because I enjoy getting to hang out with other moms. Emily went with me today so that was fun having someone with me. Also was craft day which means I was in charge. We did a Martha Stewart craft with a pumpkin and mums. Every ones turned out great, mine not so much. Oh well, at least it was fun hanging out with everyone.

Carson felt like playing outside before we left

Mommy and son pic that the son didn't want to take

Making the pumpkin plant craft at MOPS

Now to my new good eater! Carson has been so picky lately only eating waffles, fruit, crackers, and yogurt but now he is spreading his taste bud wings. Today I made his plate with homemade beefy vegetable soup, blueberries, and sliced apple and he ate it all. I was so excited that my man finally liked his meats and veggies. Maybe tomorrow he'll go for tofu and veggie burgers-just kidding!

He's All Boy

2009-10-18T19:42:00.007-05:00

I love how children are so full of life, not too much gets them down. It's all about playing and living life. Watching Carson play truly brings me joy has I see him loving life and just having fun.

Tonight at church I took Carson outside to play on the playground before the youth got there. This was a first for him now that he is walking. I've taken him before but he couldn't walk so it wasn't so much fun. Walking and playing is a whole new game, cause mama has to run and chase to keep up.

He loved playing on the slide/tree house. He would climb up the stairs and zip down the slide. The first time I wasn't prepared for how fast he would go and he literally flew off and landed on his stomach and face. He jumped up and started laughing-BOYS! He wanted to do it over and over.

He also loves to play chase, so mommy decided to be the good mommy and chase him.

Tonight while I was putting on his p.j.'s he was standing and I asked if I could have a good big boy hug (I had my arms open) and he squeezed my neck so hard. Then I asked if I could have a big boy kiss (pretending to kiss him) and he kissed me and looked at me and said "mama" and hugged me again. Can I tell you the boy knows how to melt his mama's heart. Also, he is officially done with the bottle as of last Wednesday! My baby is getting so big.

Nelson checking to see if he put any rocks in his mouth- all clean

And, last thing I promise, he moved up to the next Sunday School class today and for the first time EVER when I dropped him off he grabbed my leg and started crying. The teacher took him and brought him to the big kid table and put him in a chair and gave him a cracker, he was good to go then and I quietly escaped. He never cries for me so when he did it killed me. My baby loves his mommy, what can I say.

I've Got My "Eye" On You

2009-10-14T20:41:00.001-05:00

Cheesy title, I know, but it kept coming in my head as I typed this post. The eye, which happens to be a nuisance for Carson has drained green goop since he was 4 weeks old. We have tried several drops, steroids, and many pediatric opthamologist visits and it wont go away. I have been praying over this eye for a year now and it wont let up. Poor baby, when he wakes up his eye is matte shut and I have to pry it open. I'm constantly trying to keep it clean and assure people that he isn't sick.

After many months of waiting, his doctor along with us agree that surgery is the best option. We went last week and the doctor said it was a quick procedure to open up the tear duct and he'll be out in 30 minutes. He does have to be put to sleep, but she says it works. We prayed about it and I felt a peace and my dad and Carson's ped said it was safe and worth it.

Right now his eye is not draining terribly so if it stops and gets better then obviously we'll cancel it, but as of right now the 28th is the big day, 6 am sharp. My mom was already planning on coming in because that night we have fall fest at church. It works out perfect for her to be here with us. I am going to continue to pray for complete healing before the surgery.

Doing What I Love

2009-10-13T20:17:00.003-05:00

Today I started tutoring a little boy from my old school today at my house. I'm doing it twice a week and hour a day and I LOVE it. I miss teaching, but I don't miss all the rest and leaving Carson so this is the best of both worlds. It worked out perfect because Carson went down for his nap right as Avery got here, otherwise he would have been mowing while I tutored.

I'm so excited that I have this opportunity and hopefully I'll get to minister to him and his grandmother in the process and help him pass the LEAP test. It's also nice to get a few extra bucks on the side.

Now I'm Back...Again

2009-10-12T10:24:00.005-05:00

What have we been up to? Tending to a swine flu husband and son. Last week Carson and I went to DeRidder to go to the fair and literally as we were walking out the door my dad noticed Carson was warm. His temp was 102.5 and he was fussy. We took him to my dad's clinic and he did a flu test on him and it came back positive for Swine flu. We ended up staying in DeRidder until Thursday. Carson handled it much better than Nelson meaning his symptoms weren't bad at all. He only had fever one day, but a runny nose the rest. By day 3 you would have never known he was sick. Fortunately I stayed well and now everyone is healthy and back in the swing of things.

Saturday my parents came in to watch Carson so we could go to the game. Even though we lost, we had a great time going.

We met up with our good friends Bradley and Keny B at the game

I'm loving this age. Grant it I have my cabinets rubber banned shut, but he makes me laugh. If I squat and open my arms and tell Carson to hug me he runs to me and wraps his arms around my neck and squeezes. He loves to play outside and waits at the door to go out. According to my mom he can moo. And he loves to take everything out of draws. He is only drinking one bottle a night, but soon I'll start breaking that. I wasn't going to break him while he was sick. He pretty much only eats table food now. I love this because I can just put his food on his tray and sit or do what I need to while he eats. He loves fruit cut up, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, graham crackers, fruit bars, yogurt bites, yobaby yogurt, waffles, broccoli, and whatever is on my plate. He is so funny now.

Today is Nelson's birthday and I promised him I would cook him something special, so off to the kitchen. I will hopefully get back into the blogging mode again.

We Have A Swiner

2009-10-01T19:23:00.002-05:00

We have a swiner is what Nelson's doctor told him today while at his office. Yes Nelson has Swine Flu. Dr. Landry went ahead and prescribed Nelson and me Tamiflu and Carson's doctor did it for him. We are praying our hearts out that Carson and I don't get it. So when you're praying please keep us in them. Gotta go tend to my hubby now.

Happy Birthday Big Boy

2009-09-30T10:27:00.003-05:00

Today is the big 1st birthday. How life has changed! It's hard to remember life before and I'm glad I don't have to.

The sound that changed my world. I still remember every detail and moment like it was yesterday. Happy birthday my little man. I love you!