Carson is almost 2 months old!

How did that happen?

We had Carson's 2 month appointment today. He got his first set of vaccines and it was very traumatic for both of us. He cried, I cried, it pretty much sucked. He however was over it by a little while later, I'm still bummed out about it, my poor little baby just screamed and screamed. He is now 11 lbs 6 oz, right on the 50%ile for weight and 23 1/4 inches which is at the 75%ile for height. He is growing great! He wore his first 3-6 month outfit today. Everything that is 0-3 months is too small if it has feet in it and most of them are getting too short but everything 3-6 months is still basically huge. My little guy is getting so big!

We got Carson's pictures taken last week and they turned out GREAT! We got the proofs online today and I can't wait to get our actual prints and start working on his scrapbook, now if only I can find the time to do it.

Anyway, time for bed...and have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

We came up to Tigard this week to spend Christmas with our families and got snowed in. We did manage to get to the mall to take pictures with Santa for Carson's first Christmas though. He had just woken up from a nap so he was a little groggy when he met Santa, but he thought that Santa's soft fuzzy outfit was a comfy place to sit and he was quite content. We had lots of fun with my parents and Brian and Kellie on Christmas Eve and with Bryan's parents and brother on Christmas day.

On Christmas Eve I put and outfit on Carson that said "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night" and my lovey little baby gave me the best gift ever, 6 straight hours of sleep, which was a record all in itself, then he woke up for only 15 minutes to eat then back down for a little over an hour, it was pretty much the best thing ever.

Finals are finally over!!

Bryan and I are finally finished with fall term and I am so thankful to be done and have a few weeks to just enjoy Carson without worrying about classes. Carson is getting so big already, he is up to 10 lbs 7 ounces at 6 weeks old. He has started smiling a couple of weeks ago and now he smiles lots and lots, I love it! Carson also loves his bath now, he just hates getting out. It is snowing here right now and I hope it sticks around until tomorrow so we can get Carson all bundled up and take some pictures of his first time seeing snow, even if he won't know what snow is.

A post about everything...

Seeing as I haven't had the time to blog at all lately, I thought I'd just throw everything into one giant post...

Carson is now a month old! I'm not sure how exactly that happened, but it did. He is getting so big, he now weighs 9 lbs 14 1/2 oz. He smiled for the first time on Tuesday, it absolutely melted me heart. I've yet to actually catch it on camera because I get too wrapped up in playing with him to actually take too many pictures, I tend to cherish those moments when he is happy and content and doing something other than eating or crying. We also discovered that the only way to get him to sleep at night is if he is in our bed with us. At the hospital he slept in my bed because after the c-section it was easier to just have him in my bed, apparently he got used to it. After coming home from the hospital I started taking naps with him in bed with me. I was still in a lot of pain from my c-section so having him right next to me when he woke up was just easier than having to get up every hour or 2 while I was still healing. When he was about 2 or 3 weeks old he slept in our bed for like 3 nights in a row and all three nights he slept for about 4 or 5 hours, then I started putting him in the bassinet and he stopped sleeping longer than 2 hours, but I totally didn't correlate the two things, I just thought it was a fluke that he had slept for that long those few nights. Well about 4 nights ago now I had him in the bed and I was honestly just too tired and lazy to move him once he fell asleep so I let him stay and lo and behold, he slept for 5 hours! So ever since he has been sleeping in our bed and goes for about 4-5 hours then wakes up to eat and sleeps another 2 or 3 hours, I have never been so thankful for 4 hours of consecutive sleep in my life, but I'm already dreading trying to get him out of our bed when he gets a little older but for now I'll take the sleep and deal with it when the time comes.

Thanksgiving was great! We went to my Aunt Susan's for dinner then up to my mom's for the weekend because my brother Eli, sister-in-law Jenny and niece Isabelle were in town. It was a ton of fun to get to see them and for them to meet Carson.

This week Carson and I have colds, it is no fun having a sick newborn and extra not fun to be sick myself on top of it. Today he didn't sleep longer than 20 minutes at a time all day, the poor little thing. He finally went to sleep about 3am or so, which finally gave me the chance to finish my final project for flat pattern, which was a big giant mess. I should be sleeping but seeing as when I finished the project I only had about an hour until I need to get up to get to class on time to turn it in, it seemed like sleeping for that short of a time would just make me more exhausted, but hey at least I actually had a chance to update this...right? Hopefully Carson's lack of sleep fort he last 24 hours will mean the he will be in a sleepy cuddly mood when I get home from class.

It's been a very long week...

I got this in an email a while ago and sent it to my mom, she sent it back to me today as a reminder and it couldn't have come at a better time as it has been quite the week...

PARENT - Job Description

This is hysterical. If it had been
presented this way,
I don't believe any of us would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging, permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills
an d be willing to work variable hours,
which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including
trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments
in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least
temporarily, until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60
mph in three seconds flat in case, this time,
the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars
and coordinate production of multiple
homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize
social gatherings for clients of all ages
and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety
testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys,
and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be
prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability
for the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor
maintenance and janitorial work
throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position
for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that
those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a
continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will
help them become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.


Forward this on to all the PARENTS you know, in appreciation for everything they do on a daily basis, letting them know they are appreciated
for the fabulous job they do...
or forward with l ove to anyone thinking of applying for the job.

AND A FOOTNOTE - THERE IS NO RETIREMENT -- EVER

I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking when I decided that taking full time classes when I was due in the middle of the term was a good idea, or even a sane idea for that matter. It is now Sunday night and I have had since last Sunday to do my homework for econ and family studies, leave it to me to just have finished it about 10 minutes ago. The sad part is that it wasn't due to procrastination, it was due to sheer lack of time. Whoever said that newborns eat 8-12 times today clearly never met Carson, he nurses a minimum of 15 times per day (seriously) and usually closer to 18 or so. He also likes to have marathon nursing sessions about 5 or 6 times a day where he nurses for an hour straight, then rests for 20 minutes and nurses for another 45 minutes to an hour, it is amazing that I ever get anything accomplished. This blog, for instance, has taken me 2 days so far to write out because the second I start doing anything Carson wakes up.

In my flat pattern class for our final project we had to create a design and make the pattern for it, we then get assigned someone else's pattern to actually sew, well today we gt our assigned patterns and I must say (and seriously I'm not trying to be conceited) that sometimes I really hate being good at my major. I got assigned a pretty difficult pattern that has a lot of corrections that I need to make before I sew because that pattern was done incorrectly, our teacher told me "It is one of the hardest ones and has a bit of a mess to fix, but I think you're one of the people who can handle it." which is totally a compliment that she thinks I can do it, I just have no idea when I'm going to find the time...Hopefully Carson will be occupied with my mom on Thanksgiving for long enough for me to get a start.

Oh yea, one more thing...I can't find the cord for my camera ANYWHERE so even though I have the most amazing picture for Carson's birth announcements (that I really need to get done soon considering he is almost a month old--crap how did he get so old already?) I have no way to get that picture onto my computer...

Carson's 2 week appointment

Carson had his 2 week appointment on Thursday, he is finally gaining back weight, but he hasn't quite made it to his birth weight yet. He was 9 lbs 3 oz at birth and lost more than the Dr. wanted him to, they most they are supposed to lose is 10% of their body weight and Carson lost 13%. He got all the way down to 7 lbs 15 1/2 oz but he is now back to 8 lbs 13 oz, woohoo! He has also grown from 20 3/4 inches at birth to 22 inches, he is tall just like Daddy. We go back this Thursday to weigh him and he will hopefully be back to birth weight by then.

He eats ALL the time, I don't think he likes for me to sleep at night. The worst part is I'm starting to see a pattern in his sleep schedule and its not a very fun pattern. He sleeps from about 9pm until 1030 or so, then he wakes up and nurses for an hour, is wide awake looking around after that until about midnight then he eats for another 45 minutes or so, awake time until 130 am then another hour of nursing....finally around 230 he goes to sleep for about an hour then he eats from 330 to 430 then sleeps for two hours (woohoo for 2 hours!) then is usually awake or eating from 630 until around 8 am, then he FINALLY goes to sleep until around 11 am or so. That is my night during the day he sleeps for 2-3 hour stretches all day so I'm not sure why he's up so often all night...I really hope he starts sleeping more soon, it doesn't seem like a newborn should be up that much.

Carson is here!

Ok, so Carson has been here for almost 2 weeks now, but I figured I may as well start at the beginning.

My water broke at 3 am on Halloween. Bryan and I drove to the hospital thinking how Carson must be my baby because he was clearly determined to come on Halloween, just like I didn't want. We checked in to the hospital and they got me all hooked up to my IV and gave me a sleeping pill hoping I would get some sleep before labor really wore me out. I was way too wired at this point to sleep, so the pill was pointless. My mom and Spencer showed up a couple of hours later so we hung out and let Bryan get a little bit of sleep.

Around noon my contractions were still only about 4 minutes apart so they hooked me up to pitocin to try to get things moving along a bit more. By 8:30 that night my contractions were coming right on top of each other so I asked to be checked. I had planned on going without an epidural but they hurt so badly that I decided I would see how far dilated i was then decide if I wanted it. I told Bryan that if I was 8 or 9 cm I would keep with the plan to not get it, but if I was only 6 or 7 I would get it because I couldn't take a whole lot more. I was only 3 cm!! So I asked for the epi. an hour and a half later the anesthesiologist finally showed up and I hardly even felt my epi because the contractions hurt so bad. I did make it 19 hours without the pain meds though.

At 5:30 am on November 1st they came to check me again. No Halloween baby for us, he just wanted to stress me out I guess. My midwife checked me and I was only 4 cm dilated after 26.5 hours in labor. She said that they would turn up the pitocin and check me again in 2 hours, if I hadn't made significant progress I would be getting a c-section. 2 hours later and labor had gone backwards, I went from a regular 4 cm to a very tight 4 cm due to swelling from Carson's head being stuck. It was time for a c-section.

Carson was born at exactly 9 am on November 1st. He weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. He is the most precious thing I have ever laid eyes on and it amazes me how much I can love someone so much that I have only just met, especially someone who keeps me up all night and screams so loudly that my ears ring : )