Welcome back!

Hello, little blog of mine! It’s been a while since I’ve posted in this space. Life got away from me and my blog fell away from my priorities. I was working two full-time positions for seven months while my department was down a person, breastfeeding/pumping full time, running a household (with Dave’s help, of course), raising an infant, volunteering at church, volunteering to be an advisor for a collegiate chapter of my sorority, and was asked to head a fundraising committee for a new non-profit organization in town. Did I mention that the majority of our families both live in another state and therefore weren’t easily accessible to come help or watch Carter for a little while so I could catch up on everything.

Stressed doesn’t even begin to describe how I was feeling.

I raised the white flag and sadly backed away from as many commitments as I could. First the nonprofit, then my sorority and finally church (mostly). I was still drowning in tasks at work with no help, even when I asked for it. I was doing as much as I could but spending the evenings engaged with my family (and an infant who thinks my laptop is a toy and would scream at me if I left the play area) and fulfilling my household duties left the wee hours of the morning for additional work time.

I burnt out quickly.

Even with the addition of a new staff member in June I had a lot to catch up on. And then with some additional staffing changes at work I inherited more responsibilities and the requirement to attend evening and weekend events – keeping me from my family even more. All with no financial compensation or additional time off. It was killing me that was spending so much time away from home while my baby is growing so fast.

But there’s a happy ending to this story!

Long story short, Dave’s postdoctoral position was coming to an end and he was offered a permanent position at the company which came with the awesome job title of “Laser Physicist” (how cool is that!) and a very nice raise.

This allowed us to finally take the steps to achieve one of our long-time goals…


I get to stay at home with Carter!

I officially quit my job this week and my last day will be either September 19 or 25 (they asked me to stay for a while to help wrap up projects but I also want a solid finish date so things don’t drag out). Either way, I’ll soon get to focus on playing, reading books, and going on field trips with my little guy, plus better supporting Dave in his new position and taking care of our home… and blogging more! I am beyond excited to have this opportunity and so grateful that I have a husband who supports me staying home.

Praise God for answered prayers!

I’m looking forward to this new stage of life and hope you’ll enjoy following along, too. Cheers!

He's standing! (with a little help)

The other night Carter pulled himself up to a standing position while holding onto my hands. It was so cute because he was SO proud of himself! He was just beaming and couldn't stop laughing and smiling and Dave was quick to capture it on video. Enjoy!

Carter - 7 months

Carter James, you are seven months old! I’ve been trying to write your heartfelt post all morning but you keep crawling into my lap and trying to play with the computer, pull on my hair, and give me hugs and “kisses” (you open your mouth and move towards my cheek or nose with your drooly smile) - all which make it very difficult to type. But this is typical of life lately! You crawl all over the place and are into everything - you barely sit still! We had to baby proof this month and even switched our living room and family room spaces in order to give you a larger, safer place to play and explore. You seem to love to have the freedom to roam around and play with your toys and we love having the room to get on the floor and play with you (and let you crawl all over us).

You are getting better and better at eating solid foods and we can already start to see which foods you do and do not like. You LOVE oatmeal, rice cereal, and your veggies (peas, green beans, broccoli, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes) but you are not a fan of bananas, unless they are mixed with something else. Go figure. We’re excited to continue to introduce new things and see your reaction!

You still like going to Carrie’s house and reach out to her when we drop you off in the morning and even when you see her at church. It breaks my heart a little to see you so comfortable with someone else, but I’m glad that you are so comfortable with your caregiver when I have to work.  I’d much rather have you reach out to her than cry! Carrie takes very good care of you and we are so lucky that we have her!

Carter, you are so amazing to us with everything you are learning and doing. To think that this time last year you were just a little guy inside my tummy blows our minds. You have won over our hearts and we can’t imagine life without you! We love you, Bug!

Weight: 20 pounds, 4 ounces

Length: 28 1/2 inches

Clothes size: You just barely still fit in size 9 month or 6-12 month clothes and I’m sure we’ll have to move you to your 12 month clothes in a couple of weeks or less.

Diaper size: Size 3

Sleep: At night you go to bed between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. You sleep in no consistent pattern but can usually be resettled easily without having to nurse. I usually end up nursing at your first wakeup between 1:00-3:00 a.m. and then again around 5:30-6:00 a.m., but that is it. If you wake up at any other point then we snuggle, rock and sing you back to sleep. Some nights you are a rock star sleeper and other nights you wake up frequently - and I’m sure teething isn’t helping you. You still end up in bed with us by the end of the night because nursing is easier that way, but I also love snuggling with you and waking up next to your sweet, smiling face.

Eating: You are still a distracted nurser and breastfeed for 5-15 minutes on each side… unless you are really hungry, then you get to business right away. You have 3 100mL bottles of expressed milk along with 2 oz of solid food at Carrie's house and we still breastfeed any time Mama is not working. You have gotten the hang of eating solid foods and very much enjoy meal time! So far you have had rice cereal, oatmeal, puffs, pumpkin, avocado, sweet potato, green beans, broccoli, peas, peaches, pears, and bananas. We are still introducing a new food every 4 days to make sure you aren’t allergic to anything we are giving you and we’re still making all of your food with organic produce.

Likes: Playing with your toys (favorites are your remote, helicopter, musical monkey, and giraffe), sucking on your binky, being held, army crawling, watching Gromit, listening to music, trying to play with our cell phones and TV remotes, going to public places and taking in all of your surroundings, and playing in your Baby Einstein Activity Jumper. Favorite songs right now are Going to the Zoo, Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine, the theme song to “Jake and the Never Land Pirates”, and the special song Grammy made up for you.

Dislikes: Being hungry, being bored, having a dirty diaper, and being overly hot.

Milestones this month: Still army crawling, crawling to us when you want to play or be picked up, crawling to chase Gromit, going from the crawl position into a sitting position, grabbing things with your thumb and pointer-finger, getting your first tooth, ever-improving motor skills, and “talking” more and more.

Memorable moments: Going to the farm and doing the corn maze and taking pictures in the pumpkin patch, meeting the Upsilon ZTA girls, riding in the shopping cart at the grocery store, and Grammy visiting and watching you for a few days.

First tooth

It has been a big week at our house. Dave has been off and on with work on account of the government shutdown, but I am happy to report that he is back to work on his regular schedule! He only lost two 2014 holidays as a result of the shutdown but we will gladly take that over losing his pay. Let's just hope this fiasco doesn't repeat itself in January/February.

But in bigger news this week, Carter got his first tooth!

His gums have been swollen for a while but that first tooth (his bottom left) finally popped through. It been a rough week of being fussy and presumably some mouth pain but we got through it.

It looks like the other bottom front tooth may poke through soon and then I think the top ones may be next. The next few weeks and month will be interesting!

Carter - 6 months

Carter James, you are six months old! How has half a year already passed us by? I was looking through photos from the past six months and pulled together your one, three, and six month photos. You have changed so much! You went from being so uncertain about us and your surroundings to the giggly, cuddly, bouncy boy we know today.

You have started to army crawl across the floor and we know we’ll have to start baby-proofing soon. I’m not quite ready for you to be so mobile but I think if you had it your way you would get up and walk. It’s just a matter of time! You started sleeping in your crib in your room across the hall this month… well, you start out there (while I keep a close eye on you from the video monitor) and after your first or second wakeup I put you in the pack n’ play in our bedroom before you eventually end up in bed with us. I don’t sleep as well when you are in our bed, but you just love snuggling up next to me and I can’t complain about how easy it is to nurse you back to sleep when you wake up. You started eating solid food this month, just a week before your six month “birthday”. You’re still not too sure about what I am putting in your mouth but you love to play with the empty spoons. I can’t wait to see which food you do and do not like as we start to introduce new things to you.

You are such a joy to be around! We love that you reach out to us when you see us and that we can make you smile and laugh. We love that you still want to snuggle with us when you’re tired and fall into our arms when you’re excited. We love sharing life with you and we love you, Bug!

 

Weight: 19 pounds, 6 ounces

Length: 27 inches

Clothes size: You are wearing size 9 month or 6-12 month clothes and we are currently buying some 12 month items in preparation for your next growth spurt.

Diaper size: Size 3

Sleep: At night you go to bed between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. You usually sleep until 11:30-12:00 and then wake up every 1.5-3 hours in no consistent pattern. You most often wake up during the night because you are unsettled and start rolling around in your bed. I try to settle you back down before nursing and sometimes that works, while other times nursing is the only thing that will comfort you back to sleep. Often times you wake back up when I try to put you back in your crib or pack n’ play so you end up in bed with us (usually starting between 2-4 a.m.) but that makes it easier for us to "side nurse" which lets both of us get more sleep and seems to keep you settled for longer periods of time. Because of this I now have a kiddie rail installed on the side of the bed to keep you from rolling out. Safety first!

Eating: You are such a distracted eater and breastfeed for 5-15 minutes on each side and often stop eating to talk me or pop up to check out what is going on around you. You now have 2 100mL bottles of expressed milk at Carrie's house and we still breastfeed every 2-4 hours any time Mama is not working. You started solid foods one week before you turned six months old. I’m so glad that we were able to exclusively breastfeed for so long before starting solid food. You are still getting the hang of “chewing” and swallowing but you are getting better every day! So far you have had rice cereal, pumpkin and avocado. You have had pumpkin for lunch at Carrie’s house and rice cereal and pumpkin or avocado for dinner at night. We are introducing a new food every 4 days to make sure you aren’t allergic to anything we are giving you and we’re looking forward to expanding your pallet.

 

Likes: Playing with your toys, sucking on your binky, being held, army crawling, watching Gromit, listening to music, taking baths and splashing, going to public places and taking in all of your surroundings, and playing in your Baby Einstein Activity Jumper (which you LOVE!). Favorite songs right now are Going to the Zoo, Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine, the theme song to “Jake and the Never Land Pirates”, and the special song Grammy made up for you.

Dislikes: Being hungry, being bored, having a dirty diaper, waking up on your tummy, and being overly hot.

Milestones this month: Army crawling around the floor and getting faster every day, pushing up on your hands and knees, starting solid foods, sitting up by yourself, reaching for (and moving towards) things you want or drop, reaching for us when you want to be picked up, recognizing who we are, ever-improving motor skills, and “talking” more and more.

Memorable moments: First airplane ride, first campout (we didn’t spend the night though), first trip to the park, meeting more extended family members, and riding in your front-facing stroller.

First solid food

Tonight was the night - Carter had his first taste of solid food! On the menu this evening was Gerber Rice Cereal mixed with breast milk. Yum! How did he like it? See for yourself:

He had the mouth opening motion down (we’ve been practicing with empty spoons), but he wasn’t too sure about the new taste on his tongue. The good news is that he ate more than ended up on his bib, so all in all I guess that counts as a success!

We’re going to stick to trying milky rice cereal once a day for a week or so before introducing pureed fruits and veggies one at a time. That should be an adventure!

Although I’m excited for this next phase, I’m also a little sad to say goodbye to being his sole source of nutrition. I have fought so hard to breastfeed and I am so glad that I have been able to exclusively give him breast milk for the first six months of his life. It will be weird to see him start to eat food that is not from me. At any rate, we’ll continue breastfeeding until (hopefully) Carter is one, so fingers crossed that we can keep it up!

That’s all for now. Hooray for solid foods!

Carter - 5 months

Carter James, you are five months old! We can't believe how much you have grown in just a month! You are so much more aware of your surroundings and you are ready to interact with everything you see. You are becoming more expressive and we love watching you smile at us and the things you like and your laugh just makes our days! You are excited to reach for things that you want to hold and put in your mouth and you love to bang on tables, arms, hands, and anything else within your reach. You have started to enjoy tummy time as long as there are toys or Mama and Daddy around to entertain you while you're on your stomach. You also love to watch Gromit and track him across the room anytime he walks by. When you have had enough tummy time you fuss and then pout by putting your head down on your hands on the floor. It's funny to watch and we can't help but laugh a little when you do it.

You seem to be enjoying going to Carrie's house (daycare) and all of the little boys there love to help take care of you. I love the big smile on your face when I come to pick you up - it's like you know that I am Mama and I'm there to come and snuggle you up and take you home. I love it! We know you are in loving hands there and are so glad you are so well taken care of while we work.

You continue to amaze us with your growth and development and we just love that God made you a part of our family. We love you, Bug!



Weight: 18.3 pounds

Length: 27 inches



Clothes size: You are wearing size 6 month or 6-9 month clothes, both which are already getting tight on you and seem like they just barely fit you. You grew out of a whole size in just a month! Mama is not ready for such a big boy!

Diaper size: Size 3



Sleep: At night you go to bed between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. You usually sleep until 11:30-12:00 and then wake up every 2-4 hours in no consistent pattern. You most often wake up during the night because you are unsettled and start rolling around in your bed. I try to settle you back down before nursing and sometimes that works, while other times nursing is the only thing that will comfort you back to sleep. Often times you end up in bed with us so we can "side nurse" which lets both of us get more sleep and seems to keep you settled for longer periods of time.

Eating: You are such an efficient eater and eat for 8-15 minutes on each side and often like to stop eating to talk me or pop up to check out what is going on around you. If Daddy is making noise somewhere nearby then you have to check out what is going on. You usually have 3 3oz - 100mL bottles of expressed milk at Carrie's house and we still breastfeed every 2-4 hours any time Mama is not working. We are still not having any issues with going back and forth between the breast and bottle. Hallelujah!



Likes: Playing with your toys, sucking on your binky, being held, taking baths and splashing, playing on the floor, looking at lights and ceiling fans, going to public places and taking in all of your surroundings, and playing in your Baby Einstein Activity Jumper (which you LOVE!). Favorite songs right now are Going to the Zoo, Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine and the special song Grammy made up for you.

Dislikes: Being hungry, being bored, waking up on your tummy, and being overly hot.



Milestones this month: Rolling from your back to your tummy, scooching around on the floor by yourself moving mostly in circles, sitting up with less help, reaching for things you want or drop, reaching for us when you want to be picked up, recognizing who we are, ever-improving motor skills, and “talking” more and more.

Memorable moments: Meeting Grandma and Grandpa, meeting extended family members, going to your first birthday party, getting your first cold, and going to the farmer's market.

My new Mommy-mobile!

I loved my Volkswagen Beetle (which we called the bug) and always felt it was the perfect car for me. Cute, fun, powerful and bright yellow. You couldn't help but smile looking at it. Plus it was super funny to watch people punch each other when I drove by.

But the time came for my cute little bug to be replaced.

It was 11 years old, had 140,000 miles, had some quirks with the electrical system, needed new brakes, next year's registration was due soon, and it recently had some work done on it which made us fearful that it was just the tip of the iceberg of needed maintenance and repairs. Plus getting the infant carrier in and out of the back seat was no easy task and to make it fit we had to slide the passenger seat waaaay forward leaving little leg room for any additional passenger. And when Carter moves up to a bigger, stationery car seat soon, it would have been really difficult to get him in and out of the tiny back seat. My back would not have survived. So it was time to look for a new car.

We thought about getting a minivan but decided that it was too expensive to pay for seating and extra space that wouldn't be used very often. So we changed our focus to full-size sedans and small SUVs. After a lot of research we had a short list of cars we liked and local dealers that were offering incentives on used cars and 2013 model clearances. 

After many unnecessary hours at the dealership we we offered a great deal and traded in my beloved bug and drove off with a 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan! Hello, new Mommy-mobile!

This car, while not top-of-the-line, is super fancy to me. I still have a turbo engine (which I had gotten used to with my bug and LOVE), airbags everywhere, power locks and windows, and air conditioning. But I upgraded to a huge sunroof that goes all the way behind the second row of seats, plenty of trunk room, an electronic display for things like mpg calculations, tire pressure monitoring, etc., and its set up for bluetooth connectivity to my phone (so I can make phone calls or listen to music through the car speakers) which is a HUGE upgrade from my former car that still had a cassette deck. Now I just need to find a way to attach my flowers to the dashboard...

Although I miss my cute little bug, I'm happy with the upgrade to a more grown-up vehicle. And if you see me driving down the road feel free to (lightly) punch the person next to you - I may not be in the bug anymore, but since I owned one before, it still counts!

Grandma and Grandpa meet Carter!

A couple of weekends ago Carter's Grandma and Grandpa (Sue and Rick who are Dave's parents) came out from Colorado to visit and meet Carter! We were SO excited that they were able to come!

Even Gromit was excited to see them. See the smile on his face?

It was so special to see Carter be so comfortable with his grandparents right away. It’s like he just knew that they were family!

I swear Carter doesn’t always have his hands in his mouth, but most of these pictures don’t seem to support that statement…

Anyway, we had a pretty low-key weekend just hanging out and playing with Carter. We managed to get out a bit to show our guests our little town including where we both work. We even stopped to have lunch on the property where I work overlooking a beautiful golf course. Of course, we didn’t take any pictures while we were there - oops!

We also got a special visit from Sue’s aunt and cousins who live in other parts of California - Dorothy, Deb, Rob and Dwight. It was fun to be able to meet them and to introduce them to Carter. They only stayed for a little bit, but they will certainly have to stay longer next time they are in town! Below from left to right is Dorothy, Deb, Sue and Carter.

It was a very special weekend for us and we are so glad that everyone was able to come and visit. We can’t wait until Grandma and Grandpa can come back again! We love you! 

New Carter tricks

Hi all! It’s been a while since I’ve posted and Carter has learned to do a few new things that I wanted to share with you. We aren’t always able to capture things in pictures or on video (since Carter is more interested in staring at the camera/phone than performing for it) but we do our best.

First new Carter trick: he can scoot backwards (with help from Daddy)!

Second new Carter trick: he can put his binky in his mouth by himself! Please excuse the background noise in this video, we were near a power generator… it’s a long story.

Third new Carter trick: He can almost sit up!

Fourth new Carter trick: He found his toes! And he “talks” to Mama a little bit too.

Fifth, and last, new Carter trick: he can roll over from his back to his tummy!

Well, thanks for humoring me. I hope you enjoyed the new Carter tricks and we’ll be back with more updates soon!

Carter - 4 months

Carter James, you are four months old! You have gotten so much bigger this month - both physically and developmentally! I almost cried when I had to put away the 3 month size clothes because I can’t believe you have gotten so big. You have pretty much mastered taking your binky out of your mouth and putting it back in all by yourself. You only have difficulty after you lose your grip on it and can’t get it back in your mouth at the correct angle. Whenever you are awake you love to sit up and be entertained with toys, books or talking to us. You love playing with all of your toys and love being able to aim at what you want and be able to grab it. You like sitting up on the couch and in your boppy with just a bit of support from Mama or Daddy. You are really enjoying your new Baby Einstein Activity Jumper and you think the musical part of the toy is really cool. You will listen to the songs and watch the different shapes light up and you have the most serious look on your face when you do it. It’s like you are studying it as best as you can. You started liking being in the Ergo carrier when we go out which is a lot easier to carry you in because your increasing weight is better distributed on Mama and Daddy. You are becoming a drool machine so we know it is just a matter of time before you get your first tooth. We love you so much and are enjoying each stage of your development. It is so fun to watch you see, learn and grow! We love you, Bug!

Weight: 16 pounds

Length: 25 and 3/4 inches

Clothes size: You are wearing size 3-6 month or size 6 month clothes. Yikes! You are growing so fast!

Diaper size: We just opened the box of size 3 today

Sleep: At night you go to bed between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. and then it’s a free-for-all. You wake up every 2-4 hours in no consistent pattern, which makes Mama very tired. You are taking some good naps at daycare, so it seems that you just want to spend more time with us when you are home - even if that means waking up throughout the night. Hopefully you will get used to our new routine in a couple more weeks so we can all get some much needed rest.

Eating: You have become a much more efficient eater and eat for 8-15 minutes on each side and often like to stop eating to talk me or to check out what is going on around you. You usually have 3-4 3oz bottles of expressed milk during the day now that Mama has gone back to work and we still breastfeed any time Mama is not working. We are still not having any issues with going back and forth between the breast and bottle.

Likes: Eating, sucking on your binky, taking baths and splashing, playing on your play mat and aiming for and hitting the dangling toys, looking at lights and ceiling fans, going to public places and taking in all of your surroundings and playing in your Baby Einstein Activity Jumper (which you LOVE!). Favorite songs right now are Going to the Zoo, Wheels on the Bus, Patty Cake, Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine and the special song Grammy made up for you.

Dislikes: Being hungry, being bored and being overly hot.

Milestones this month: Rolling to your sides (and still from your tummy to your back), sitting up with help, finding and playing with your toes, getting your binky in your mouth by yourself, moving from sleeping in the rock n’ play to sleeping in the pack n’ play, ever-improving motor skills, “talking” more and more and starting daycare.

Memorable moments: First day of daycare, having Aunt Erin babysit you during the day, celebrated Independence Day and saw fireworks for the first time and going to a friend babysitter for the first time.