It's finally Summer!

School is finally out for the Summer and it feels so nice to know that I get to spend nearly 4 months just hanging out with Carson and not having to worry about classes! Carson is learning so many new things and that is a lot of fun. He is moving all over the place, you look away for a second and he is well on his way to another room, it's pretty cute. He also loves to be standing and he can pull himself up. He has also taken a couple of wobbly steps while holding onto his crib or the coffee table.

We went to the doctor for another weight checkup on Tuesday and Carson still isn't gaining properly. He is now, at nearly 7.5 months old, only 15lbs 2.5oz. In the past 13 weeks, he has only gained a total of 8.5oz, which is barely anything for and infant. He has completely fallen off of the growth chart for weight, although he is still at the top of the charts for height at 28in. We have started supplementing with soy formula after two nursings per day to see if that will help him gain. They also ran a urine analysis to test for kidney problems that could be contributing to his low weight gain, but instead found that he has a UTI, so we are going to back in next week to test his urine again to make sure the infection is gone and to test for kidney problems. We then go back again in July to re-check his weight. We are hoping at that appointment to have significant weight gain from the help of the formula. If he is still not gaining properly then we move on to blood tests to figure out why exactly he is not gaining weight. Hopefully his appointment next week shows weight gain and no more infection, and we are really really hoping that our appointment in July shows enough weight gain to avoid blood tests, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

Thats about all that is new here for now, I'll post some new pictures just as soon as I find my camera adapter that I once again lost, I have some super cute ones of Carson's first swing ride at the park and first time in his baby pool, or rather his feet's first time in the pool as he was too freaked out to actually make is all the way in :)

It's been awhile...

This is Carson's teddy bear, Teddy

Eating with Daddy

This is the Atlanta Braves Diaper I made for Carson

Angry baby! I swear, he was totally fine until I pulled out the camera, then he flipped out and wanted to be picked up! Don't worry, I picked him up as soon as I took the picture :)

Oh dang, its sideways...this is another diaper I made for him :)

This term has been the most difficult yet and I haven't had time for much of anything, least of all blogging, so here is an update on the goings on around here :)

I have officially, as of about 5 minutes ago, withdrawn from my math class. Its like a huge ball of stress has just floated away and I feel so much better about the rest of this term now. I decided to take my required math class online, as I have done with any classes possible since Carson was born, so there was less time I either had to be away from him and pump (oh how I HATE pumping) or less class I had to bring him with me to. Well it was an exceptionally bad idea to take in online. There is no homework, so your entire grade is based on 2 midterms and a final exam. Well I managed to fail the first midterm. It was the first failing grade I have ever received in my life, and I knew after finishing the exam that it was coming. I figured out that just to pass the class (passing being a C- or better because apparently D stands for failing these days, but I digress) I would need to get very close to 100% on both my second midterm and final. The likelihood of this happening is next to nothing but I already paid for the class and I didn't want to drop it and have to pay for it a second time to take it on campus, so I thought, well I *might* pass, a miracle could happen, and if I don't well then I still have to pay for it a second time. But the more I realized that there was no way in heck I was passing, and I would inevitably have to pay for it a second time, I realized that I did not want to kill my near perfect GPA with a failing grade. It feels so much better not to have that class hanging over my head anymore...even if I do still have to take it next year.

Now onto more exciting things, because lets face it, most of the you, people who read my blog, are way more interested in whats going on with Carson than with me :) And I totally understand, he's way cuter and far more exciting! He is coming up on 6 1/2 months old and still hasn't even hit the 15 lb mark. We went to his 6 month appointment on Tuesday and he is 14 lbs 13.5 oz, yea that's right, I'm counting the half ounce! He has only gained 3.5 ounces in the last month. He has fallen from the 85th% for weight at birth, to the 50th %ile from about a week old until roughly 3 months, then to around the 20-25th%ile around 4 months and is now below 10%. We're not sure why isn't gaining like he should, but we are going back in just over a month to weigh him again and reassess his weight gain. He is still consistently in the 80th% for height at 27 inches tall! We are hoping his weight gain is just due to genetics seeing as Bryan is tall and skinny too, but on average babies double their birth weight by 6 months old and for Carson that would be weighing about 18.5 lbs, which he is nowhere near.

He is also still not a sleeper, its just not happening. He wakes up hourly all night and it is pretty exhausting. We have tried just about everything we can think of/have read about/have had suggested to us, and nothing works. I'm beginning to think that he is legitimately hungry that often seeing as he is having such a hard time gaining weight.

He moves all over now, you look away for one second and he's nowhere close to where he just was and off trying to play with something else. He also learned how to reach for people so that is fun because he will reach for people to hold him. And he LOVES baby Einstein dvds, they are pretty much the best thing ever for calming him down when fussy and I watched the first signs one with him and we did sign language together, ok I did sign language for him, but its fun and I'm hoping he will learn some of the signs soon if e watch it regularly and I do them for him whenever I am doing stuff.

More pictures

Mmmmm, carrots!
Being super stoked about his super cute faux hawk.
Being happy on his little tummy.
Trying to figure out that whole crawling thing....

How he fell asleep in his swing.

Ok, so I never blog, I know, I'm lame!

Carson's super cute Bum Genius cloth diaper and leg warmers :)

Matching hair with Daddy.

Saying bye-bye to Grandpa.

Playing in his walker.

The monkey outfit I made for Carson.


It seems that between school and taking care of Carson and attempting (although ever unsuccessfully) to keep my apartment clean, I just don't ever have the time. So here is an update, which is grossly overdue, I know.

Carson is growing fast! He is so smart and really advanced for his age. He is sitting up unassisted for at least a minute, and has been for a few weeks now (since just over 4 months) which something that normally doesn't happen until 6-7 months. He loves to drink from my cup whenever I have one has gotten pretty good at actually taking sips of water instead of just teething on my cup. We also introduced the sippy cup to him a couple of days ago and he is slowly figuring it out, although right now it seems like more of a toy than anything else. His other favorite toy right now is wipes packages, he just LOVES to play with the pack of wipes from his diaper bag! He is deep in the throes of teething and is drooling and biting things constantly trying to cut a couple of teeth.

We are switching from disposable diapers to cloth. It is going to save us tons of money, and they are much cuter :) Now before you go and think that I am crazy and they are so difficult, let me explain that these are NOT the clot diapers from days past. There is no folding, no pins, no extra step of putting a diaper cover or plastic pants over the top (although those do still exist) We are using all in one and all in two diapers. They go on in one piece, just like a disposable diaper does, ad have either snap or velcro closures. I am also venturing into the cloth diaper making world. There are tons of them selling on ebay and esty, the average sale price of the type I am making that are also home made, not factory produced, is about $12 per diaper. They only cost about $4-8 to make (depending on pattern, fabric type, etc) so I will be making a pretty decent profit. I have so far drafted the pattern and will start making them just as soon as my fabric and snap press come in the mail. I'm really excited about it. They are one size adjustables, meaning that depending on where you snap the rise, they fit most babies from 5-35 pounds, so basically most babies from birth to potty training.

In other exciting news, I am the recipient of a $6000 scholarship for next year for outstanding academic and leadership skills! I got the letter from the mailbox today and jumped up and down I was so excited. Of all of the scholarships in my department (The college of health and human services) I got highest amount offered through any of the college of HHS scholarships so that was really exciting.

Thats about all that is new here right now. Bryan and I are just going to school and wishing we were done already. We go in in about a month from now for Carson's next checkup to see just how much bigger he has gotten, I can't wait.

The Purple Dress

I took draping this term, I love draping...not such a fan of doing for a grade though...

My first project was the recycled garment, it turned out decent, but not the best I've ever done. It also earned me my first non-A on an assignment in an apparel class ever...I got an 88% OUCH!

Second, we did swimwear, I was determined to make up for my less than stellar grade on my recycled project. My 80's inspired swimsuit earned me a 96%, now that is more like it!

My final project in the class was the purple dress. It was supposed to be a blue dress. I drew the design earlier in the term and couldn't wait to make it. It was to be a floor length formal dress in periwinkle with a violet gathered tulle midsection. It was going to be glorious! So I went fabric shopping. They have periwinkle fabric in chiffon, and tulle, and plain weave cotton. They have it is fleece and baby flannel, and just about ever hing you could possibly thing of that is either non-formal, or flowy formal, I needed something with some structure! So I find it, the PERFECT fabric, except that is is 100% silk dupioni and $20 a yard, and I happened to need about 3 yards. So I decide to get violet taffeta and make it out of violet. Well I just couldn't do it, it HAD to be periwinkle. So I went back, with a 40% off coupon, thinking ok, $12 a yard isn't so bad. But I couldn't find it. So I ask if they moved it...turns out it went clearance and was gone. So I had to go with the purple taffeta. I had to change my design because it just couldn't be the original dress. I would have gotten a 93 on it, but I skipped the progress check day because Carson didn't sleep all night and showing up was worth 10 points! Ao I got my lowest apparel grade ever, an 83....at least it turned out pretty...

My tiny baby is getting so big!

Carson had his (almost) 4 month appointment today. He weighs in at a tiny little 13lbs 5oz (about the 20th %ile) and is 25 1/2 inches talls (80th %ile) he is still tall and skinny just like daddy. His doctor said that he is very developmentally advanced for his age and that probably has a lot to do with how skinny he is, he is just a very active little boy. He is sitting as well as at least a 5 month old, almost a 6 month old so that is super great! He is also very social now and LOVES to flirt with all the girls at school when he goes with me.

We had planned on not starting solid foods with Carson until 6 months but he has been showing all the signs of readiness lately and some babies with severe reflux like Carson's are helped by starting a little cereal. So we talked about it with his pediatrician today and decided to go ahead and start a little baby oatmeal (rice cereal unfortunately all has soy which he can't have) but don't plan on starting veggies for another month. He liked it a lot actually, which surprised me. He had a hard time keeping it in his mouth and swallowing without it coming out of his mouth so more of it ended up on him and in his little tummy but he kept lunging for the spoon for more. I'm really excited to try it again tomorrow and I can't wait until he can actually keep it in his mouth.

I know, I know, I'm a slacker...

laughing at Daddy
Eating his feet
After his first roll over!
My soda can dress

Where to start? I haven't posted a blog in over a month so I've got quite a bit to cram in here..

It has been a loooooooong month
I posted before about our "new" baby due to reflux medicine, yea that lasted about a minute (or 2 days, but who's counting?) We switched from zantac to prilosec for reflux and when that didn't work I had to cut out all things dairy and soy to see if Carson was having an allergic reaction. Well, it seems to be a combination of reflux and a dairy sensitivity and possible soy sensitivity. Carson is now on both zantac and prevacid as well as Mommy having a no dairy/no soy diet and he seems to be like a normal little baby now! He still doesn't sleep great at night, but honestly, I'll take the 2 or 3 hours over none at all and today he took an almost 3 hour nap! He has never ever napped that long! Things have just finally gotten good over the last almost a week I guess, but the month (or rather 3 months) leading up to this point have been the longest, most sleep deprived 3 months of my life! Now that I am starting to get used to it, rice milk and spelt bread aren't all that bad, but I will have to say that I would kill for yogurt right now, I never realized how much I loved yogurt (or how EVERYTHING has dairy or soy in it, geesh!)

New things this month
Carson does so much new stuff now! He rolled over for the first time, that was super exciting, he went from back to tummy and once on his tummy held his head up and was happy, which is odd since he HATES tummy time with a passion, then he decided he was done and rolled back to his back to play with his toys. He also not only found his feet, but now has figured out that he can get them in his mouth, it is pretty entertaining. He laughs now too! That part is pretty new, just for the last few days and only happens a little bit, but of course he laughed his way all the way through a giant blowout diaper change.

School
School has been crazy this term. Thankfully there are only 3 weeks left in the term. I love draping, but sometimes it just totally stresses me out, I have 3 weeks to design and perfect 2 garments...eep! Hopefully it wont be too tough.

Thats all I can think of for the moment, but I'll try to post more than just once a month from now on....