Goodbye 2009!!

Well, I guess 2009 is coming to an end!  This year has had its ups and downs but it definitely has to go down as one of the best for me because it was the year Carson was born!!  I keep thinking back to this day last year - New Year's Eve 2008 - and it was the day I was put in the hospital.  So New Year's Eve last year was not so great.  I was worried and upset and definitely not expecting to be put in the hospital that day.  I ended up staying until January 9th!  That was one long hospital stay that I hope to never have to experience again!  But out of it came the greatest gift and blessing we could have ever received - our beautiful son!  

I am looking forward to a great day today...we are going to the Tigers/UT basketball game at 3.  I love Tigers basketball and know this game is going to be a lot of fun to watch!  We don't have any plans for tonight, will probably just watch a movie and some TV and just relax.  Sounds like a great way to ring in the New Year to me!  

I am looking forward to 2010 and enjoying Carson as he enters toddlerhood!  Hopefully Justin will be able to find a good job in the near future and if not, he will enjoy staying home with Carson for a little longer which is ok too!  Happy New Year to everyone out there!  I hope the new year brings great things for you!

Carson's First Christmas

Wow, it seems like Christmas has come and gone very quickly this year!  I guess I didn't really get into the Christmas spirit until school let out for the break and that was just 1 week before Christmas.  We got our real tree and decorated it a couple of weeks before Christmas.  I love getting a real tree, they are so pretty and smell so good!  We thought Carson would be pulling on the tree and trying to take the ornaments and lights off but we were wrong!  He hasn't really touched it at all, we think he is kinda scared of it.  I need to get a family picture in front of the tree before we take it down!  

We also went to Zoo Lights this year.  It was REALLY cold!  But we got all bundled up and went into the warm buildings along the way so we didn't get too cold!  We went with Paul, Anna, Greta and Jackson and had a lot of fun!  Carson was so good and all of the lights were so pretty!  The new Teton Trek is really nice too, it was the first time we had seen it.  We will definitely be going back for years to come, it is a fun thing to do for kids and adults!  I really want to go to Starry Nights at Shelby Farms too, maybe sometime this week.

Of course, we had to take Carson to see Santa.  We saw a billboard that said that you could get a free photo with Santa at the Bass Pro Shop.  I have never stepped foot in Bass Pro Shop before but figured we might as well take Carson there since we didn't know whether he would like Santa or not!  At the mall and Zoo Lights, you had to buy a package and the cheapest was $20 and we are on a budget so we decided to go with the free Santa and I am so glad we did!  This is how the picture turned out...

Needless to say - Carson was not into Santa this year...maybe next year!

The week leading up to Christmas, it was nice having all 3 of us home just to spend time together as a family.  We made some yummy food and finished up the Christmas shopping and listened to lots of Christmas music.  My best friend, Liz, came into town from Orlando so I got to spend some time with her also which was great.  Christmas Eve was a very nasty, rainy day.  We stopped by Liz's parents house to visit for awhile and then headed over to my parents house and had a nice dinner with them.  We opened some of the presents that night and decided to open the rest on Christmas Day.  

On Christmas morning, we all slept in a little (until around 8!) which was wonderful and then my parents came over to have breakfast with us and open more presents.  We helped Carson open his presents and he enjoyed his new toys as well as the wrapping paper and bows!  We then headed down to Senatobia, MS to celebrate Christmas with Justin's family.  We had a lot of fun down there eating and opening presents.  When we got back to Memphis, we headed over to my parents to finish opening presents over at their house.  When we finally got home, we were all exhausted!!  But it was a fun day!  Christmas is so much more fun with a little one around!  

And I almost forgot!!  Carson took his first steps on Christmas Eve!!  He took 3 little steps and then fell down.  I was the only one who saw it but he did it again on Christmas Day in front of Justin's whole family!  We all just started clapping and cheering for him when he was done.  It is so cute!  Each day since then, he has been practicing walking more and more!  My baby is growing up!!  We just got a new video camera so I will post a video of him walking soon.  

We are looking forward to the New Year and Carson's 1st birthday!!!  More on that soon...

Pictures from Carson's First Thanksgiving!

We tried to get a good family picture for Christmas cards but that did not happen!!  Oh well, we will try again later!

Another try!  Carson was not cooperating!!

Ready to eat some yummy food!

Having fun at Thanksgiving!

Carson's First Thanksgiving!

Carson celebrated his first Thanksgiving on Thursday!  We had a good day traveling to Water Valley, MS to be with Justin's family and eat lots of yummy food!  It was kind of a long day because we left around 10:30 to drive there (it takes 1.5 hrs) and then we ate and visited for a few hours and then headed back around 4:00.  Carson did really good though, he pretty much slept the whole way there and back!  I contributed to Thanksgiving by making deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie - they all turned out pretty good!  Carson loved visiting with his Nana and David, cousins Greta and Jackson, his 4 Uncles and Aunt Anna!  He also tried some of the food - his favorites were the sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, and homemade rolls!

On Friday, we had another Thanksgiving dinner with my parents at our house.  We ate more yummy food - I made green bean casserole and chocolate pecan pie.  My parents brought turkey, lasagna, deviled eggs and rolls.  Carson had a good time playing and eating. We watched the Alabama - Auburn game...which turned out to be a close one but the Tide pulled it out to go undefeated in the regular season!  Hopefully they will beat Florida next week!  

We are thankful for so much this year - although this year has had its ups and downs.

1 - We are so thankful for Carson - he is such a sweet little boy and it has been a joy watching him grow this year!  

2 - I am thankful for Justin - he is such an awesome dad and husband. 

3 - I am thankful that Justin and I have both been able to stay home with Carson this year.  I stayed home with him from January to August and Justin has been home with him since August.  It is so worth the sacrifices we have made to be able to afford this!

4 - I am thankful for my mom because she watches Carson when Justin has something going on, or when we go out on the weekends.  When Carson was first born, she would come over every afternoon and hold Carson while I took a shower and got some chores done.  This was a lifesaver for me!

5 - I am thankful that both of our families are close by so that we can visit with them often! 

6 - I am thankful for a job that I love and that provides for our family.  I love teaching and being able to make a difference in the life of a child.

7- I am thankful for good friends!  I don't get to spend as much time with them since Carson has come along but we always pick up right where we left off when we get together.

I am glad I put this in writing because I need to remember all of this when I am down or worrying too much!  Pictures to come of Carson's First Thanksgiving!

Update on Carson

Okay I have been a bad blogger!  But I am going to be better I promise!  Now for an update on Carson...I guess it has been about 2 months since I have posted and we have been having lots of fun during that time!  

Carson had his first Halloween...he was a pumpkin!  The cutest pumpkin ever in my opinion.  The downside of his first Halloween was that he was sick with a cold which turned into his first ear infection...not fun!  So we just hung around the house on Halloween and handed out candy.  

He had his 9 month doctor appointment and he weighed 16 lbs. 5 ozs. which is still the 3rd to 5th percentile...but he is healthy and happy and that's all that matters!  We got the go ahead to start him on table foods and the doctor says he has free reign on fat/calories for the next 4 years!  Wish I could say the same for myself!!  We are still nursing and he doesn't seem like he is going to stop anytime soon.  My goal is to make it to 1 year and I think we are well on our way!  I am proud of myself for sticking with it for this long...it has been hard at times!

Carson is now 10.5 months old and is all over the place and into everything!!  He is not walking yet but is cruising the furniture and can stand on his own for a few seconds.  He is such a fast crawler that I think he is going to be content doing that for awhile!  He has been saying "bye bye" while waving his arm at times and also will say "mama" although I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what either of them means.  He is sleeping better but still not sleeping through the night...we will get there someday, I hope!  Justin is being a stay at home dad for now while he is looking for another job.  It has been hard at times financially but is definitely a blessing that Carson gets to have his Daddy at home with him.  Thanksgiving is coming up and we are looking forward to spending time with family and eating lots of yummy food.  I am also looking forward to a few days off!  Before we know it, it will be Christmas!  I am looking forward to taking Carson to meet Santa and enjoying our first Christmas together!  

I have been finding myself thinking back to this time last year a lot.  I think I will be doing a lot of that in the upcoming weeks leading up to Carson's 1st birthday on January 7th.  I remember last year I enjoyed eating a LOT during Thanksgiving and also feeling so thankful for a healthy pregnancy and baby.  I had both of my baby showers the first week of December which were a lot of fun!  

On Dec. 17th, I went for my dr. appt. and my blood pressure was very high.  I only had 2 days left before Christmas break and begged my dr. to let me work.  She agreed that I could work a half day the next day to wrap things up but that I had to come back to her office the next afternoon to get my BP checked again.  Well, I went to work and then headed to the dr. and it was still high so I was officially put on bedrest until further notice and had to go to the dr. 2 times per week for ultrasounds.  I was really upset about all of this as I was only 34 weeks at this time.  I missed my class Christmas party and also was not prepared to have another teacher take over my class because I had planned on being able to come back after the break!  I spent my Christmas on the couch and was not able to do any Christmas shopping.  It was definitely a Christmas I will never forget!  I was feeling very worried about the baby and if my blood pressure was hurting him or her (we waited to find out the gender!).  My blood pressure remained somewhat high and all of my ultrasounds looked good so I just continued on bedrest after Christmas.  

New Year's Eve rolled around and I had a dr. appt. that day.  We were planning on having Justin's brother and his family over that night to hang out since we couldn't go anywhere.  Well, at the dr. appt. they did an ultrasound which revealed that the baby had not grown at all in over a week and was measuring small.  My dr. was very concerned about this and sent me over to the hospital right away.  I was referred to a specialist and he decided that I needed to stay in the hospital for closer monitoring.  So we spent our New Year's Eve (a Wednesday) and New Year's Day in the hospital and they decided that I would stay until they would induce me at 37 weeks which would be January 7th (the following Wednesday)!  I was so worried about the baby and also the fact that my house was not ready for the baby either!  So my holiday season last year was definitely different and I am looking forward to enjoying it much more this year!!  More to come on Carson's delivery and birthday on another post!  And now for some updated pictures of Carson!

First Post!

Well, I have finally decided to try blogging!  Carson is growing so fast and doing so many cute things that I want to have a place to write it all down and share with everyone!  

He is now 8.5 months old and currently his favorite thing to do is pull up on everything - the coffee table, couch, our legs, etc.  He is definitely starting to get into EVERYTHING and we probably need to baby proof the house better.  I think he probably weighs around 16 pounds right now...so he's still on the small side but has come very far from where he started!  He is very vocal and loves hearing his voice yell and make noises.  His 2 bottom teeth are in and I think he is starting to work on getting his top teeth.  He is not sleeping through the night, he's usually up at least 1-2 times per night but I am used to it by now!  He pretty much likes all of the foods we have tried with him, we have gotten through all the Stage 1 foods and now have started on Stage 2 foods and I just got him some of the YoBaby yogurt.  He is such a sweet baby boy and we are just loving being his parents!!  Pictures to come soon...