22 Weeks, 2 Days

Things are going good with the babe #3 and I. I had an appointment today, and everything is going well. I'm measuring 23 weeks, which is good because my external measurements had been running 3 weeks ahead, and I was feeling panicked about how big I might get. The baby's heartbeat was 150, has been at each appointment, so at least he's consistent. :) My weight gain is right on track too, which is never a fun thing, but at least it's normal... I was also glad to find out that all of the results from the ultrasound were perfect. I'm feeling this little guy move all the time now, and have even seen my belly jerk a time or two. I first felt him really early, like right at the end of my first trimester, but it's been random until 3 or 4 weeks ago. Now I can lay down and feel him dance all around. This pregnancy has flown, and I know D day will be here before I know it. Crazy.

Carson and Caden are doing well. Carson is so excited about the next arrival, and every time he sees a baby, whether in person or on TV, he says "Hey! We're going to have one of those!!" So funny to see his excitement. Caden will point to my belly and say baby, and then go get a stuffed animal, but I'm sure he doesn't grasp it. He may be a bit more jealous than Carson was his first time around, but he's such a Mama's boy, I'll take all of the loving I can get. :) Carson asked me what the baby's name is the other day, and I told him I didn't know. Then I asked him what he thought we should name him and he said, "Kiley." I told him that was a girl name and someday if we had a girl we could use that name. Then he said we should name the baby "Caden," and I said we already have one of those. He responded with ".... yeah... Hmmm...." and seemed a little troubled over it. I have to admit, that's about where I am too. We'll come up with something that we love because I have to love the name to decide it's okay, but it might not be until we are checking out of the hospital... I've always worked well under pressure... :)

On a totally different note, and just for my records... Caden got his right top and bottom molars a few weeks ago, and his left top one this weekend. If the swelling would go down on his bottom left that one would be in too, so I'm sure it will cut the surface soon. I'm so glad we get molars when we are babies so we don't have to remember the discomfort. But aside from a random fever here and there, he's handling the eruptions quite well. Such a trooper.

Carson hasn't had any accidents in a few weeks - even while we were out of the house! I don't know what my folks did while we were in NYC, but they totally conquered his aversion to going #2 on the toilet. I still get nervous leaving the house without pull-ups, and always have a change of clothes or two for him, but he has done so well! Super proud of him, just so you know... I think I might loan each of our kids to my folks for a week or so when we are potty training since this has been so successful! ;)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Carson!!

I can hardly believe 3 years has passed since we welcomed our first son into this world. He is so smart and so funny, and I feel so blessed to call him mine. I am honored to be his Mommy. I am overwhelmed that God has seen fit to allow us to shape his sweet heart. He is such a big boy. There is so little toddler left in him, and I am amazed every day at the things he knows. He is so funny and has such a huge imagination and large personality. He keeps us guessing and giggling all the time.

We celebrated Carson's birthday this past Saturday at Chuck E. Cheese, which was quite a hit with him. Chuck E. came and sang to him and he got to play all of the games. It was tons of fun. DeAnne (Grandma DeeDee) and Stephanie (Auntie Stephanie) got to come to enjoy the day as well as Mother's Day, which was such a nice surprise and we also had lots of our other friends and family with us at the party. After having several parties at home, I have to say that this one was much easier on Cary and I as parents. We got there, and everything was ready and we just enjoyed the time. Then when we decided we were done, someone else cleaned up for us! Yay for that! :) It really was such a fun time!



He was quite intense with his game concentration...


Loving on Auntie Stephanie:










Miss Brittany (one of our very sweet youth girls) was our hostess. YAY!! :)







Mother's Day
Our Mother's Day was relaxed and so nice as Sunday's go! We all headed to my parents' home after lunch and Dad and Cary and the rest of the non-mom's cooked dinner - so yummy! And then we basked in the sun while the boys (my boys) played in the yard. Just a few pictures from the day...



Carson decided he wanted to climb Poppi's (my dad's) trees, and Caden followed suit...





Note: I know I've been behind on blogging about major things for a while now, so I just wanted to say that if you have time, see the post below... I finally updated on our DC/NYC trip. :)

DC, NYC and some random catching up

I think I've gotten so far behind that I have just continued to put this off.... so.... I'm going to make this largely a picture blog with some narration here and there... But I really do want to share our trip with everyone. It was truly awesome and one I will never forget!

Our time in DC was a short one. We had a little more than 24 hours to cram in as much sight seeing as possible, so we spent a lot of our time around the Capital Mall and we also went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It was so much walking and I was totally worn out the next day, but it was so worth it! Since you all know what the buildings look like, I'll just include a few landmark type pictures. I had been super excited about seeing the apple blossoms around the area, but we missed them by a week or two. We did get to see some gorgeous ones in NYC though!



The WWII Memorial:














On Thursday morning, we drove to NYC where we picked up our friends Joey and Natalie, and headed to the loft where we were staying. It was truly amazing. The loft was gorgeous and state of the art. It was very contemporary in it's decorating. We were right in the middle of Time Square next door to the M&M factory store and across the street from the Hershey's store. It's still overwhelming!

The view from our balcony:




Taking in the city... It didn't seem to matter what time of day it was, there were people EVERYWHERE! You know this before you go, but it's so odd to see in person...




The guys had flowers delivered to the loft for Natalie and I. It was such a sweet surprise.


Our first night there, we didn't have dinner plans, and just kind of walked around looking for pizza. This hole in the wall was recommended, and was really good, but we were pretty scared to see what might be behind this door. It was just kind of gross feeling as restaurants go...


The view from the roof access of our building (How cool is that!!??)




The next day, the guys had set up pedicures and massages for Natalie and I at this awesome day spa called Cornelia's. It was SO nice! Then we got ready and met the guys for lunch at a deli before heading to Soho for a little shopping. We went to Century 21 that day. It was so overwhelming, but I did find a cute purse there. And of course we checked out the Statue of Liberty:




And Ellis Island:


Then we headed down to Little Italy and had dinner at this great Italian restaurant.

On Saturday, we headed to Central Park. So cool!






hahahaha!


I LOVE this pic of Joey & Natalie. It's how I see them when I think of them...


Then we had lunch at the famed Serendipity III. It was SO good! It definitely lived up to my hopes! :) Obviously, Natalie and I were much more excited about this prospect than the guys were...


We took it easy Saturday afternoon, but that evening we got all dolled up and had dinner at a place called GILT. It definitely makes you feel a little guilt by the awesomeness of the food and the steepness of the cost, but it was SO worth it, and we all agreed it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was in an old mansion across from St Patrick's Cathedral. I WISH we had brought our camera but we decided not to bring it along when we were all dressed up... I know... in hindsight, what were we thinking???? Anyway, dinner was probably the most amazing dining experience I've ever had, and was one of those places where each patron has their own waiter and there is a butler who explains each course, and before you've even decided you're heading to the ladies room, someone is helping you with your chair. Truly amazing.

After dinner, Joey was feeling pretty worn out, so he rested while Natalie, Cary and I headed down to Rockefeller Center to see the lights and everything. I'm so glad we did, because it was truly gorgeous!




Sunday, we shopped at H&M which may very well be my new favorite store. I so wish that they had an website you could shop on...but rumor has it that Denver may be getting an H&M store in 2009. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. While Natalie and I were taking our time, Cary went to snap a few pics of St Patrick's...


And then we headed to Rockefeller Center to have lunch and take a few last pics before Cary and I had to head to the airport.






It was such an awesome, once in a lifetime trip. We were so excited to get home to the boys, but it really was sad to leave!


During the week that we were gone, the boys seemed to have grown up so much. It always seems like this, but here were some fun things that happened our first week home...
Caden discovered that if he climbed on his toys, he could see out our front windows...


Carson discovered that he could lower himself into our smaller window well to get his ball...he also discovered that he could NOT get himself out... Cary and I laughed SO hard! And then we told him to NEVER EVER do that again. :)


We had our first day warm enough for sprinklers. Carson loved it.




Caden wanted to love it.




But he didn't.




Carson was a little concerned...


And Caden was still mad about the cold sprinkler water.


Just so you know...all of the sprinkler shots were shot over a total of about 2 minutes. I know...mean mommy...but I just couldn't help myself! :)