Bath Time

Date Night

Of the many life-altering changes Carson has brought, "date night" might not be the most significant, but is certainly blog-worthy. We are among those most fortunate parents who have grandparents less than 5 miles away. Bill and Bel are truly more eager to take Carson off of our hands for a while than we are for a break. So we've arranged that every Thursday night, Bill and Bel will babysit so we can go on a date. Last week we had a great night out with our friends, Jerry and Pamela - we went to Ninfa's, then Cold Stone, then the church gym to play around with soccer and basketballs. This week was a little different ... we dropped off Carson, picked up some Chinese food to go, and went to bed at 8pm! I didn't even wake up at 10 when Daniel left to go pick him up. Essentially, I was able to sleep until 3am -- which is 7 hours of the most glorious slumber I've ever experienced. The most consecutive hours of sleep I've received before that was 3 in the past month - and 2 is much more average! So here's to one of the best dates we've ever had!

Road Trip

Yesterday Carson and I took our first trip out of town. I haven't left College Station since August and have certainly been feeling a little stir-crazy (most of my friends know that I love leaving town and taking day trips). We went to Plum, TX where my mom's parents live. (Plum is a small town outside of LaGrange and is about an hour and a half away) My Granny and Grandpa came to see Carson in the hospital, but never got to hold him because he was taken in to the nursery right when they got there, so I thought we'd make it up to them.
Our trip went very smoothly. Maybe too smoothly, because Carson pretty much slept the entire time and woke up only for about 10 minutes so his great-Granny could feed him. In the meantime, we had lunch, went for a walk, and went to see my Granny's sister, Marlene, to show him off. We'll be back up there for Thanksgiving, so even though he didn't see too much of the country this time, he'll get another chance soon.

check out the cute shoes!

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Carson and I took a little field trip to a pumpkin patch right by our house with our friends, the Mortons. Shannon is one of my best mommy friends and has two little Morties, Elizabeth (4) and Abigail (9 mos.) We had a great time outside taking pictures (though, eventually both of our cameras ran out of battery power :)
Here are some of the best pics of the day.

A baby pumpkin the same size as Carson's head

We haven't quite been able to teach him how to pose for the camera - he was really squirmy

Abigail was all smiles for us


The Morton Fam

America's Next Top Model?

Brothers ... sort of

So how has Wrigley handled the new addition to our family?
It's been tough on him for sure. At first he was noticeably hurt by us bringing the new puppy (Carson) home. He wouldn't even really look at any of us. Slowly, he has adjusted, though, and now possibly even accepts the little guy as part of his pack. They aren't best buds yet, but I think that in a year's time, the two will be inseparable.

Lessons learned

Here's what happened when I carried Carson naked from his room to his bath. I forgot the warnings about little boys being armed and loaded.

Still alive... right?

Well, we've made it to the two week mark. I know I haven't given you guys an update in a while and I appreciate your patience as I try to figure out this mommy business - appearantly its either really hard, or I'm just a slow learner. Here's a breif update of what's been going on in our lives:
Week 1: We didn't get to leave the hospital until Sunday after Carson was born - that's 4 nights! Carson was struggling w/ jaundice and had to go under the lights. He also wasn't feeding well. Finally we got to go home, only to finish the week w/ daily doctor visits and of course, sleepless nights. It was definitely the hardest week of my life, I'd say.
Week 2: Much better! At Carson's two week check up, he still wasn't back up to his birth weight, but gaining - so that's good.
Here are a few of our favorite pictures captured during our first two weeks as a family: