Carson is 1 Month Old

 Our little cutie sleeping

Today our sweet little boy is one  month old.  Man, this month seemed to fly by.  Not going to lie, I'm glad.  I'm different than most I think, because I'm not a fan of the newborn stage,  You don't sleep, you don't feel good and baby sleeps, eats, and fills his pants.  Well after one month, he still eats, sleeps off and on and doesn't fill his pants as much.  We still aren't getting that much sleep but that's going to change this month (fingers crossed).  However, he's becoming more and more alert each day and is trying to focus a lot on things.  He already thinks he is big and can hold his head up for little bits of time. He doesn't like tummy time, but likes his play mat for short periods of time. Carson is a cuddler, he loves to lay on our chest and sleep that way.  He falls asleep a lot in his swing, unlike his brother who never liked his.  He is getting used to bathtime and we are starting to semi form a daily routine.  He has been taking a long nap in the afternoon lately and it has coincided with his brother's which is good for mom.  Also  he has been going to bed at a fairly decent time but then gets up through the night about every 2-3 hours.  He has been smiling a lot, I don't think they are supposed to smile at people yet, but he really seems to every once in awhile.  This week he has been such a good baby, which I'm so thankful for.  He is still being breastfed but we have started bottles here and there this week.  Not quite sure big man is getting enough. 

Yesterday we went to the doctor for his 1 month visit and everything was good  He weighed 8lbs and 10 oz, and was 20 1/2 inches.  At his birth and 1 week check up he weighed 6lbs and 4 oz so he has gained quite a bit in a few weeks and has grew 1 1/2 inches.  I knew he was getting taller because he is starting to outgrow in length a lot of his newborn clothes and we have moved up to size 1 diapers.  So our new little man is doing great and looking more and more like Noah each day.  We have been blessed with two cute boys!  Love them!

Wide awake playing on his playmat.  He has learned he has to stay alert to watch out for that crazy brother of his always trying to get as close as he can to him. 

Carson

Carson at 3 weeks old....

Noah at a few weeks old.. 

Carson at 3 weeks old

 Noah at a few weeks

I think they look so much alike, except for Noah was so much bigger.  Carson is still in newborn, he's starting to get too long for a few things, but Noah had completely gone up a size already.  However he did start out 3 lbs heavier so that has a lot to do with it. 

Blessed with two cute boys!

Up to No Good

Noah has been something lately.  He is always up to something. 

Noah thinks it's funny when his little brother cries.  Mom doesn't think so funny!

 Loves playing with the swing, whether Carson's in it or not

 Whats this, lots of shoes in the laundry basket, who did this?

 That's right Noah, it's his new fascination, taking all my shoes from my shoe rack and putting them all in the laundry basket.  Frustrating because 1) makes a mess and 2)  I can never find the shoes I want because never fails the ones I want are buried in the hamper. 



Thankful

Last week sometime Dinah had emailed me a link to her sisters blog and to a particular post about a couple who have now lost 2 babies.  This family I haven't been able to get off my mind.  My heart goes out to them and boy has it made me thankful.  This last week, I have been thankful for the presence of my two beautiful, healthy boys.

These last few weeks haven't been what I would call a piece of cake
Noah's behavior has been exhausting
Carson has kept us up and given us many nights with minimal amounts of sleep.
I have  been stressed and overwhelmed about life and was very emotional after the birth of Carson.

But after reading this story about Erik and Chelsea, what I'm going through has been nothing.  My boys are here and I get to experience life whatever it may be with them every day.  I haven't had to go through the heartache of losing a child not once but twice.  We are truly blessed and am so thankful for the wonderful children God has given us. 

Here is a link to the story of Erik and Chelsea as wrote by MaryAnn (Dinah's sister)
http://www.maryannemorganblog.com/365-project-2011/365-project-day-250-i-will-remember/

Then from her blog or  the following link you can get to Chelsea's own blog which she has wrote a few posts herself.   (Warning, they are tear jerkers!)
http://tearsinpreciousbottles.blogspot.com/

Our Two Boys

Carson is now 3 weeks old.  Last week we got his newborn pictures taken.  The photographer did a great job.  I was kind of bummed Carson woke up after we changed him into his lil bro onesie and then we never could get him back to sleep so some of the pictures I had in mind we didn't get.  However she still got some great ones I love.  It was a challenge, pretty much we would have a pacifier in his mouth right up until she took each picture then I would take it out and she would hurry up and take it, then we would start all over getting him to calm down and take the paci so we could just take it back out. We took them at night which is usually a fussier period so we probably should have tried for a morning session but I wanted Matthew to be able to be there to help with Noah.  Also Noah is at an age where he just doesn't listen too well and didn't want to sit by Carson, so we opted for him holding him to get pictures together.  After we got this one we just quit trying and gave up on the idea.  Maybe when they get a little older we can try again to get some more pictures of them together.  For now I will just have to deal with separate ones! 

One of my favorites from the session

 Sweet little feet

When it comes to sleep there hasn't been too many good nights of sleep.  We have some nights that are better than others.  Some nights we can't get him to bed until really late and others he will decide to be up for hours in the middle of the night.  Most nights though we do get him to bed by 11 and then he's up about every 2 hours to eat.  He then usually takes a great long nap in the morning, which I would love to move up into the night where I could sleep along with him.  When you have a baby everyone says sleep when baby sleeps well when you have a 20 month old I can't exactly do that so I don't get to make up for my lost sleep at night during the day like I could with Noah.  It's okay we are making it and hoping he starts sleeping better soon.  Overall he seems to be a pretty good baby, but thinks whenever he's awake he needs to eat so we have started using a pacifier to hold him over until it's closer to a 2 hour stretch in between feedings. 

Our boys together. ....
So far Carson sleeps through his big brothers squeals and screams.  Thankfully!  Hoping this will make for a sound sleeper later on

Noah is very interested in Carson and has to know where he is.  Every morning when he wakes up and we bring him to the living room he will look for him.  Then when I change a diaper or an outfit Noah likes to be right by Carson and gives his version of a kiss or tries to grab his hand.  We have to  watch him closely though he doesn't get how gentle he has to be. He also likes to help him swing or bounce in the bouncer but tries to do it a little too hard.   There are also times though when he doesn't want to be close to Carson and doesn't want us to be either.  Sometimes when we are holding him he will say down and try to  pull him away or tell us to put him in something like the swing.  And one last thing. he thinks it's funny when Carson is really crying.  Overall Noah is doing better than I thought he would.  I'm proud of our big boy!  I think once Carson gets to the moving stsge Noah will really start to enjoy him even more.

What Noah's doing at 20 Months

Noah at 20 months is something else!  There isn't a perfect word to describe our big boy, so that's all I have.  He is all boy and a major character. 

Noah...
-talks all the time now, we just have no idea what he is saying
-really interested in his new brother and likes being by him, even though it's a dangerous thing, we have to watch really close
-still doesn't eat any new foods... grrrr
-has the cutest laugh/giggle
-thinks he is the boss around our house.  All day he is pointing and telling me where to put Carson, or taking my hand and leading me where he wants me to go.
-has really started climbing on everything he can, coffee tables, chairs, his play table.  It's weird how all of a sudden he just started doing that
-loves playing with kids
-loves walks in his stroller lately, weird because we went through a phase where he screamed everytime you put him in one
-has been sleeping in later, perfect timing since we aren't getting much sleep with Carson
-loves stickers
-is getting very quirky.  He has to have everything just how he wants it.  A few examples
When he is with me and I get the mail (usually before we go somewhere so we are in the car) he points at it and grunts then I will give it to him and he puts some of it on each side of him in the car seat and leave it there until we get home
With fruit snacks, he will dump them out on the coffee table, throw away the bag, then eat all of them but 4 usually and those last 4 he will just keep in his hands for awhile until he decides its a good time to eat them
Every morning when I tell him it's time for breakfast he has to run in his playroom and get some trucks to bring to breakfast and has to arrange them a certain way on his tray. 
In the morning when we watch a show and he's drinking his juice or milk, once it's gone he will hand it to me to put on the coffee table, it can't go anywhere else but the same table every day
I'm sure there are a lot more things, just can't think of them right now.  He's just interesting to watch, you wonder what he is thinking when he does half of the things that he does!

Has been in love with the book Hungry Caterpillar the last few weeks, and has a favorite page that we have to do over and over and has a few other favorite books that we read daily (not sure if you can really call it that sometimes)

Still throws fits and definetly does things he shouldn't to get our attention but now he has a brother he's competing with.  I'm sure some of his new ornery behaviors are to be expected after bringing a new baby home.  We still love him more than ever and do our best to spend as much quality time with him as we can. 

Hanging out with my Boys

Nothing exciting, just some pictures from the last few days

Apparently I'm not the only one who has been a little sleepy.  Noah still loves his burp cloths.  He raided the drawer and grabbed all he could.

 Another sleepy boy, chubby cheeks for such a little peanut!

 Noah hanging out with his little brother.  He really seems to like him, he was getting ready to rub his head here.  Gotta watch him though, doesn't fully understand that we have to be gentle with the baby yet.

 Today was our first attempt at playing with play-doh.  It was mostly me making bowls and balls out of the play doh and Noah moving the balls from one bowl to another.  He seemed to enjoy it though, so that's all that matters.  I have been trying to think of new things to do with him.  I'm getting bored, being here every day all day with the same toys.  Matthew always says Noah doesn't need any more toys, what he doesn't realize is sometimes new ones are for me! 

 Snack time on the deck, while Carson was sleeping.  It was so nice this morning, the breeze was awesome out on the deck.  I could of stayed out there all morning, my kids not so much! 

 Noah pointing to the trees. They are starting to loose a lot of leaves, they were flying all over this morning, I just love fall.  Anxious to get our double stroller so I can start walking and enjoying it. I haven't taken Noah outside much since Carson came since there really isn't anything to do with him out there.  However, stroller should come in tomorrow so now we can all go on walks together.  Hopefully it stays warm enough for awhile to take Carson out.  Walks help mom burn off some more of that baby weight and gets us all out of the house, win win for all of us!