"ROAR!!!" "Hissss," uh... I mean "cluck"

The boys' halloween costumes arrived today! Thanks DeeDee and Papa Tom!! They look so super cute in their costumes. Both boys loved trying them on, and Carson didn't want to take it off for naptime!







Carson kept walking around our house roaring and clawing the air. Since Caden is still missing his two front teeth, he has learned to hiss. It's hilarious, and he does it all the time.

Caden has also begun pulling up on things during the last couple of days. Now if he could just learn to get back down... He already has a few marks to show for his efforts. The pictures below (he's hissing at me in the first one. :)) show his favorite and first pulling up place. He gets to the top of the suitcases and just grins and hisses at his picture. (Please ignore the dust. Obviously, I haven't been at this point of view in a while.)

I'm SICK of the sickies

Caden had what was supposed to be his 6 month check-up today. This was our second attempt, and since he hasn't run fevers and is behind on his vaccinations already, our pediatrician went ahead and gave him his shots today. He had three and with each one, he turned a deeper shade of crimson. Seriously, I have never seen a person turn such a deep shade of red...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Caden had been prescribed albuterol breathing treatments when he had a mild case of pneumonia, which was really just chest congestion he couldn't kick. After doing the breathing treatments a whole week longer than our ped had suggested since we hadn't seen extreme enough improvement, I felt confident that his breathing sounded much better. Well...I was wrong. :( He is still wheezing! That means that our poor baby has now been sick for three, almost four months! That's 2/3 of his life! Not that you would know it most of the time, but I feel horrible for him! Anyway, we have to do his albuterol breathing treatments again, four times daily for two weeks, as well as oral prednisone twice a day for 5 days. Our ped said that if he is not completely better when we visit in a few weeks, we will have to look further into whether or not he has asthma or an allergy to our dogs or something like that. Obviously, having it be an allergy is the lesser of the two evils, but still not a fun thing... So when you think of us, please pray that this goes away, and that this is not something that Caden will have to deal with forever.

Oh, I forgot about his stats. Caden is growing, but not putting on weight as quickly as he probably should be. I suppose this could either be due to his ridiculous amount of mobility, or the fact that he spits up so much because of all of the congestion in his tummy. Anyway, at a little over 7 months and a week, he is 16 lbs., 9 oz. and 28" long(2' 4").

The Last Nights of Summer

After dinner tonight, Cary and I took Carson outside (Caden too, but he's pretty confined still...) for some fun on our culdesac. Just by chance, we also got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset. Oh how I love summer in Colorado!

What have we been up to?

Sorry, family, friends and bloggers. I'm afraid I've been a bit lax on my posts lately. I have had several posts on my mind, but am waiting for projects to be completed so that I can share before and after pictures, so they will have to wait for a bit. :)

Cary's Mom and sister, Emily came to visit us last week. We had so much fun, and Carson and Caden loved all of the extra attention! We celebrated Cary's birthday on Tuesday, the 11th with a wonderful dinner out. During the week, we spent some time shopping of course, and Carson got the CUTEST shoes! He got a slick pair of brown dressy-ish shoes for church and such, a make-you-run-super-fast pair of white tennis shoes. And his very first pair of SNOW BOOTS! They were on sale, and I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that he got them! Winter will be so fun since he can stay warm and still play in the snow! :) Just wait for all of the fun pictures I will have! DeAnne and I also rode the Pikes Peak Cog Railway with the boys, which Carson absolutely loved. It's a long ride, and when we were done, he still wanted back on. I'm going to have to look for more train adventures, I think. We took lots of pictures from there visit, but they are all on DeAnne's camera, so I will post them as soon as I get them. Here is the only picture I took on my camera while they were here....but isn't it sweet! :)



Caden is doing better with his breathing treatments, and we are now just down to doing them as needed. Yay!

He is about to cut his two front teeth though, and is becoming super congested again...ugghh! I'm beginning to feel like the cycle will never end. He is super busy and always on the move, and has been trying to pull up on things lately. I've already baby proofed our stairs because he has gotten so fast. Here he is standing in his seat at one of our favorite hangouts - Red Robin... YUM!


On Saturday, we took the boys to their first pro baseball game. The Rockies didn't play well at all, but it was fun to go anyway. Carson took part of one of my very favorite childhood memories...peanuts & baseball games! :)


He ate almost an entire bag all by himself, and loved shelling them. Truth be told, he was more interested in peanuts than baseball, but we were quite a ways up. We were right behind home plate though, and our friend, Brandon, caught a foul ball. Since it was a night game, Cary and I took turns in this position: (although I will admit, Cary spent more time here than I did...thanks, babe!)


It was a lot of fun!

Nigh-Night Song

I made up this song for night-night time about 6 months ago. Every night, Carson sings it to me, then I sing it to him right before lights out. It's become more of a requirement than anything else in our bedtime routine...it is even more important than stories. A few weeks ago, Cary put Carson to bed when I wasn't home, and Carson requested the Nigh-Night Song. Cary tried to make it up, and Carson quickly informed him that he wasn't singing it right, and then Carson sang it for him. Since then, Carson has sang the Nigh-Night Song for everyone that will pay attention. It's become quite the contender for the Top 40.

So, without further ado, the Nigh-Night Song, featuring Carson. May it ade in your peaceful slumber.



Lyrics to the Nigh-Night Song:

Nigh-Night, sleep tight
Lay your head upon your bed
It's nigh-night time
So close your eyes
I'll see you when you wake up

Labor Day Weekend

Cary and I decided to take advantage of the three day weekend and get away with the kids, so we used one of Cary's free hotel stays that he has earned to stay in Colorado Springs. We took it easy Sunday morning, and then went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Love that place. Then we went to the US Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Cary hadn't been there before, so it was nice to look around. Their chapel is gorgeous, and Carson LOVES the airplanes that are modeled around the base. He got a souvenir rubberband powered airplane that he and Cary had so much fun playing with. Then we checked into the hotel and attempted a nap for Carson, which failed miserably. There was just to much to check out in the room for him. Then we drove around to different areas of Colorado Springs, and decided to have dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We haven't eaten there since we moved to Colorado, and I LOVE their rolls and cinnamon butter. Mmm!





Then today, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. If any of you ever come to Colorado, you should definitely put this on your list of things to do. It's such a fun zoo. It's at the base of the mountains, so the terrain is hilly, and it's pretty. Plus, there are all kinds of unique exhibits and a shrine that is sort of like a castle that you can tour as part of your admission. It was SO much fun! My grandparents came up for the weekend, so they joined us at the zoo, along with my parents, my brother Austin and my sister Natalie. Here are some (some meaning lots!) pictures from our fun day at the zoo.









Feeding the giraffes **this is one of my favorite zoo memories as a kid**:




Natalie, Me and Caden:


Grammy, Papa & Caden:


Carson and the choo-choo train: **He talks about trains everytime zoos are mentioned. I think he thinks that every zoo has a train. Good thing this one did!**


Grammy and Carson riding the zebra:


The Carousel **I still love these, and they are SO much better through a child's eyes!**


Mom and Caden playing at lunch:


The boys in an egg shell:


Carson and his pal Papa:


Feeding and holding the birds at the open air exhibit **SO COOL!!!!**:


A finch came to Caden and I, and the guide said that it was quite a feat, because the finches tend to be too nervous to come to anyone.


Pony ride:






Here are the boys within minutes of strapping them in:




They were definitely worn out, but we had SO much fun!!