Long time no blogging, lots to say

Well, maybe not a lot to say, but we've had a lot of things happen. So, I'm going to try and go one by one and post pictures as necessary :)

We are doing well here in the Yocum household. Thanksgiving was wonderful - don't remember if I talked about that in my last posts - oh well. Carson enjoyed a lovely jar of squash as he shared in his first Thanksgiving :). The next day, Cary and I braved the crowds and went to Hobby Lobby - yes, Hobby Lobby :) to get Christmas decorations. It was so much fun! I was so excited that I put our tree up at 10 p.m. that same night! Carson LOVES our tree, especially the lights! Every time I turn it on, he just stares and stares!



We've been really busy with youth and church and my siblings games and concerts and such. Just today, we helped my sister move into her own apartment - so fun for her! and my brother had a basketball game. We have had three concerts and four athletic events since Saturday - it really is a little ridiculous, but it's lots of fun. Anyway, now to the point of my story, we have had a lot of snow in this last week, and with snow comes melting and freezing, and ice. My sister had a recital on Saturday, and as we were walking to the car, I fell.....while holding Carson!!!! Talk about a scary moment. He cried so hard!! Thankfully, neither of us were hurt, but it could have been so bad! Here is Carson during one of our busy days this week in the hat that Poppi (David, my dad) bought him:


Since we have had all of this snow, and Christmas is coming up, I decided that this would be a perfect time to take a picture for our Christmas cards. So, I dressed Carson all up in this great little outfit, and put a blanket out on the snow and sat him on it. He was so excited and started to play with the snow. I went to turn my camera on, and all of the sudden he starts SCREAMING like crazy! The only thing I can figure out is that the cold snow hurt his hands, but it was SO sad. Anyway, I took a picture because it was so perfect, and I wanted to have something to remember the moment, and then we rushed inside and got him warm again, he fell asleep in the process and all is well, but it was really sad and funny all at the same time. I suppose I'm going to have to come up with something else for our cards, but wouldn't this have been perfect if he wasn't crying:


Oh well! :)

Tomorrow, we are getting on a plane and heading for Cali for Cary's work Christmas party. His work is sending all of the wives to a day spa before dinner. Carson is coming along with us and is going to get to play with other kiddos his age. And, our good friends Natalie and Joey are going to be there too since Joey works with Cary. I can't wait to see them! It is going to be so much fun!! :) Hope you guys have a great weekend! :)

Milestones

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Cary was in Michigan on business all week, and our home computer was at the Dell repair center. Oddly enough, I had been feeling like I had nothing to post about, but when I was without a computer, I had all sorts of things to say. Isn't that how it always goes...

So Carson has learned many new things all of a sudden. He rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time, so now we are turning circles. He is now a pro sitter-upper. I sat him down on the floor last Tuesday like I always do. Usually he teeters for a bit and falls over before 2 minutes have passed. On this day however, and every day since, he just sat there. In fact, he sat up straight and looked at me, then grabbed a toy and stuck it in his mouth in one foul swoop. I am so proud of him! Now, he prefers sitting to laying, and gets frustrated if I am not quick enough to set him up after he falls over. So funny! We also started a new veggie - sweet potatoes, and he LOVES them!! He went from eating 1/3 of a jar to a whole jar like it was nothing. He's such a good boy!! :)

We've been really busy too. Cary was gone all week, and I had stuff going on every night, which was nice because it made our time apart pass quickly. Then the day he was coming home, he had flowers sent to me. So nice! :) Just because flowers are the best!!! Saturday, we had a hayride party with our church. It was so much fun!! We had hotdogs and chilli and a hoedown band with banjo and washtub, spoons and guitars - too funny. And then we square danced - yeah you should have seen us - and made s'mores. It was so much fun!! Anyway, that is the short version of my weekless posting. Here are some pictures - since Cary was gone, I've been taking pictures like there was no tomorrow! :)



I know his eyes are closed on this one, but he was laughing so hard, I couldn't pass it up!


He was so funny sitting up for the first time in the tub. He just kept splashing the water with all of his might and then he would stare at the splashing like "How did that happen???"




This one is definitely one of my recent faves. He did this over and over again...too funny! :)

We have a biter

CAUTION....this may get graphic, so if you are male, or faint at heart....please come back in a day or two for my next post....




Carson bit me....on my boob....three separate times....I screamed and then nearly cried, and quickly smooshed his face into my boob so that he would let go. Don't worry, he was not in danger of suffication, I just had to get him to open his mouth. We're going to see if we can't nip this in the bud, but we may be speeding up this whole food introduction thing. Nipple piercing is NOT something I am interested in, and definitely not by way of small, sharp baby teeth!!! Oh, and the funniest part about it, is that every time he would finally let go, he would grin up at me with those two pearly whites like he had just done something SO funny!! It's a good thing he's cute!!! :)

Happenings

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I haven't had much to say, I guess, but I have loved reading everyone elses blogs. We've been keeping busy with youth and church and such. We've also been going to my brother Austin's games, which has been fun. He's quarterback on the football team, and indoor lacrosse just started. I'm sure Carson will become a quick fan when he realizes what it is we've been dragging him too. :) Our youth games went really well the other day. We had so much fun! My grandparents were up this weekend too. It was so great to see them. Seeing my family so often is definitely one of the benefits of moving here. Carson is doing well, and growing by leaps and bounds it seems. Cary has closed several more deals with his work lately, which is fantastic, although I'm afraid it means quite a bit of travel in the next few weeks. I don't mind him traveling so much, I just hate it when it's a lot close together or long trips. Oh well... We're hoping that one of his trips will bring him close to his sister so that he can see her while he's away on business....Hi Aunt Em!!! We miss you!!! Well, I suppose that's the gist of our happenings, sorry...this probably isn't of much interest to you all, but here are some pictures to give some oomph to this post :) I know that's why most of you check back here anyway!! :)

Here are some pictures from lunch right before my brother's football game last weekend:

TWO TEETH!!!

Okay, I know that I just posted, but this is so big it deserves it's own post!! So this is how it went: Today, Cary, my mom, my two sisters and I were at Target. I was trying to show Natalie Carson's tooth that he got Monday. I was pulling his bottom lip down and pushing back his tongue, (this is quite an effort because since his tooth came through, he is constantly rubbing his tongue on it...really funny) and she says "Wow! Two teeth!" To which I responded "TWO????" I had just checked them last night and there was only one, but I looked, and sure enough, there are TWO TEETH!! Our little guy is getting so big!! And he wasn't even upset about these sharp little buggers...in fact, he has been very, very happy all day. Sweet boy. So, here is a picture of Carson's first two teeth...in one week, no less:

Our Little Liger

Last night we had a Napoleon Dynamite dress up night at youth group. Carson was a liger.

Cereal

Tonight Carson got his first taste of rice cereal. It was so much fun! He seemed to like it okay, and even figured out that he could get more off of the spoon if he opened his mouth. I'm afraid he got more cereal on his face and bib than in his mouth, but it was fun all the same. Here are some pictures:

testing out his big boy highchair:






He kept trying to help me so I finally just let him play with the spoon:

Sure enough...

The game day is being postponed. I guess it's okay, I just hope we still have a good turn out. We're having it Sunday now instead, which is supposed to be a beautiful day. Besides, it would have been hard to have Carson outside all day when it is so cold, no matter how much I bundled him up. Oh well...

Possible bummer day

So our kids (the youth) are on fall break right now, and we have planned a fear factor meets the olympics game day for them. Everyone has been so excited, and tons of their friends from school are supposed to be there. Here's the problem...it rained last night, the event is outside, it's COLD outside, and it's supposed to rain more. UGGHHH!!! Pray HARD that the rain holds off until at least 5. Cary will be soooo bummed if we have to reschedule. :(

Oh!! Guess what!!! Carson's first tooth cut through yesterday, and I can see the second one right under his gums!! I can hardly believe it! As soon as it cuts through a little more, I'll take a picture and post it for you all. So cute!!! And he wasn't even really fussy about it! :)

Next stop...crawling

We had a great weekend here in the Yocum home. Cary went to my brother's football game Saturday morning and Carson and I hung out at home. It's cold in the mornings in the mountains! Anyway, Carson slept until 9:30 Saturday!!! Praise Jesus! I actually got to sleep in!!! When I went into his room to get him, he was talking to himself, up on his hands and knees, and rocking back and forth! Oh my! I couldn't believe it! He'll be crawling in no time!! Then I went to get a pedicure with my mom and sister, Kelsey...I know, rough life...and all of the ladies were ooing and aweing over Carson. I don't think I will ever get tired of that! :) Then Cary went and played poker with some guys in our apartment complex and won first place...Tommy would be proud. He was so excited...he won a clay chip poker set.

The other great thing is that Carson (who has been sleeping 7-8 hours straight through the night since he was almost 2 months) has been sleeping 12-13 hour stretches since Thursday night. And he's still taking good naps during the day. He is such a good boy!!!! I can't tell you how good it feels to go to sleep after he does, and wake up before he does, totally rested! This is awesome!!!!!

I tried to catch a picture of Carson rocking on his hands and knees, but he collapsed and laughed at himself before I could get a shot of it...


Hope your weekends were as good as ours! :)

Congrats Lindsay & BJ!!!!!!

The title says it all. Lindsay and BJ had their sweet baby girl after 22 hours of grueling labor. Poor thing! She's just beautiful, and you can see a picture of her if you click here. I can't wait to see her in person!!!

We've been doing well. We had our staff retreat/conference with our church at the beginning of last week. It was awesome!! We were in Vale at this beautiful home, and the conference speaker was Pastor Jack Hayford, which is always fantastic. It was really a great time of planning and bonding. The rest of our week flew by. This weekend we got to see my old boss and sweet friend, Marilyn. It was so good to see her again!! We were so busy this last week, I can hardly believe we are already at the beginning of another one! I know you all can relate. Tomorrow is the start of a new Beth Moore Bible Study that the women are doing at our church. I am so excited about it. Who knows, maybe I'll come up with some great insights that I'll have to relay here. Oh! Today we received our first big snow of the season! I think Cary was a little amazed. There is almost a foot of snow on the ground. It's beautiful, and we christened the moment with a sample of snow ice cream....yum!! Although we miss all of our wonderful, dear friends in TX, I can't say I'm minding this weather! :)

In all our busy-ness, I did manage to have a bit of a photo shoot with Carson. I must share!! :)

New Trick

Oh my gosh!! Look what Carson just did! I caught this right before he fell over, so he's leaning quite a bit, but I am such a proud mama!! :)

Johnny Jumper

Carson got his new toy yesterday. He just loves it! It's so funny to watch him bounce and spin and concentrate and laugh at himself. I think he would stay in there all day if I let him. Here are some pictures of his test run :)

Stats

Hello everyone! Not much new here, except that Carson had his 4 month appointment today. It went very well, and once again, he has been determined gifted. :) haha. He is doing all of the things he is supposed to be and a few more at that. At 4 months and two weeks, he is weighing 15 lbs and 13 ounces - that's 12 ounces up in just 2 weeks...wow! He is also 25 inches long, and the doc says we are likely going to have to buy him a big boy carseat before he is even 6 months...guess we had better start saving :) He measured 75th percentile for both height and weight, yep, he's a Buddha. Then we finished off the appointment with 4 more shots in his legs. Poor guy screamed and screamed. It was really sad! But, all for the good of the boy.

We have a busy week this week. Lots of meetings for youth and church. Also, some friends of ours from Waco are here this week, so we are hoping to get to see them at some point - yeah!! Cary's leading worship this Sunday at church, which is always fun, and then the three of us are heading to Vale for a church staff retreat/meeting thingy. I know...our lives are tough :)

We've been praying for all of our friends and family that have been dealing with Rita, and are so glad you all are safe and sound, especially the pregos. Take care everyone!

Fun with family

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been absent! I've been keeping up with all of your posts, especially Lindsay's, we're praying for you, Linds!! Anyway, we spent the weekend in Arkansas introducing Carson to his aunts, uncles, cousins and great grandparents on that side. It was lots of fun. Unfortunately, it was a short visit and now Cary and I feel like we need a vacation from our vacation. Oh well, I guess that's how it goes! :O) I hope you all are well! I hope to have new pictures of our sweet boy to update you all soon. Here is one of Carson and his cousins getting aquainted. They were quite taken with each other.

Congratulations

to my sister the homecoming queen and my brother, a member of the freshman court. Way to go guys!

Since I know it will be a while before any of you can visit...

welcome to our home via the web :) Would you like a tour?

The dining room:


The kitchen:


The living room:



And!! My very favorite room...the nursery!!





Hope you enjoyed your stay! :) Come back anytime!!!

Getting settled

Hi everyone! Well, we've been in Colorado a little over a week now, and we are finally starting to feel like we are at home instead of on vacation. It's amazing how that happens when you hang pictures on new walls. Carson's room is nearly finished as of today, and it is my absolute favorite room in our home. I'll post pictures of our home for you soon. I love it! :)

Cary is doing well with work and is loving youth pastoring. We had all of the kids and many of their folks over to our place tonight so that they could hang out and see where we live. It was a lot of fun - crazy, but lots of fun.

A new highlight, my sister and brother were nominated to their homecoming court this week. Way to go Kelsey and Austin!! Very exciting. Mom, Carson and I are going to go to their pep-rally Friday to see if they win. It is so awesome to be close enough to do normal things like that.

I hope you all are doing well. We miss you all!! Each and every one!

Oh, and just for your viewing pleasure, pictures :)

Here is one I took yesterday of Cary and Carson - he is getting SO big! 17 weeks tomorrow.



And here is one from his bath on Monday. He is so funny in the tub. He'll stay in there as long as we'll let him...even when the water is cold. He just kicks and kicks and laughs at himself. I have a funny video of it, so Cary is going to see if we can upload it.



Happy Thursday everyone!

Last Day

Today is my last day at work! It's been quiet and unassuming, which is how I like it. I turned in my keys and my car tag and met with my HR rep, I'm in the process of packing up my few belongings, and as of 5 p.m. central time, I am officially a stay-at-home mom!! Yippee!! First order of business...PACK! Haha... Tomorrow, I am taking Carson to daycare and I am going to attempt to finish packing. Pray for me people, pray hard. I feel like there is soooo much left. I know it will get done, but it sure seems daunting.

So, tomorrow I pack, and Friday we are off to Colorado. I think we'll have internet fairly soon, so once we get sort of settled, I'll update, and maybe post a picture or too. We'll see. One thing is for sure, it will be a couple of days at least. I'll miss reading all of your blogs, but I'll check back soon! :)

Pray for us!! :)
Melissa

For DeAnne, Stephanie & Emily :)

It fits!!

Sleep, Glorious Sleep!!!

11 HOURS STRAIGHT!!!!! Yep, Carson went down at 8 last night for good and didn't wake up until 7 this morning, and that is only because I got him up so I could feed him. Then he went back to sleep until we had to leave at 7:40!!! Who knows how long he would have stayed down if he had been able too! I thought this sleeping through the night thing was a fluke, but the night before last, he slept for 9 hours, ate and then slept for another 3. Maybe we're on to something here.

I am so blessed! Today is a wonderful day!

In other news...we had to nearly shave our poor yorkie, Fisher. He's looking pretty pitiful right now, but is acting as proud as ever. He has beautiful soft gray hair, but it is extremely fine and the undercoat gets matted super easily. When we took him to get him groomed, they said we needed to trim him to 1/2" and start over. Poor Fisher. I should post before and after pictures - he doesn't even look like a yorkie right now.

We also finalized our moving plans. We are loading a moving truck Thursday night, and Friday morning Carson and I will fly out and Cary will hit the road. I'm super excited because when I get there, my mom and I are going to paint the nursery and hang a border - I'll be sure to post pics when it's done - I think it will be very cute!! Hopefully I'll get the paint on the walls before Cary arrives with the furniture! :)

Have a wonderful day everybody!!

Moving!!!

Yep, that's right! We're moving to Colorado. Cary has accepted a youth/college pastor position at Solid Life Christian Center in Castle Rock, CO, and I get to be a stay-at-home mom!! We are just thrilled! Our kids are just awesome and desire God's move in their lives so much! We can't wait to hit the ground running!

Now for the crazy part... We are hitting the road in 11 days. Yep. 11! We are loading the trucks and driving (well, Cary and some guys from the church are driving, I'm flying with Carson :)) on August 26th and 27th. I have only 12 boxes packed so far and so much more to go! I know it will all come together though. Oh, and today we are signing a lease for our 3-bedroom, 2-bath, almost 1300 sq. ft. apartment that we are only paying $800 a month for! God is so good!! All of the other apartments in the area were smaller and closer to $1300!

This move is bittersweet, because most of our friends are here, as well as Cary's family, but we are so excited for what God has in store for us. I am overwhelmed already with how He is working out the details.

Going to Colorado :)

Yeah!! It's finally Thursday, and that means that I get to see Cary tomorrow!! I cannot wait! I've missed you, babe!! :) Our house has been awfully quiet. Our week has gone well though, I must say. Carson has been so happy this week - which he usually is. He's gotten himself on a solid routine of going to bed around 7:30 which has helped me so much during my short-term single parenting. :) I have even managed to keep the house cleaned up, the dishes done, and all of the laundry done twice! I feel so accomplished, ha! Oh, and I even cooked myself real dinners! I know, this is totally boring and so not a big deal, but I'm feeling very proud! :) I even got half-way packed for our trip last night.

Cary says his trip is going well so far, I can't wait for Carson and I to join him! We have my cousins wedding (whom I haven't seen since 1999). It's going to be so fun! And then because of General Counsel, we will be spending several days next week catching up with a bunch of my aunts, uncles and cousins at a timeshare in the mountains. It is going to be so much fun! Cary hasn't met most of them, and he is so in for it because when we all get together it's kind of a mix between the partridge family and the brady bunch. We even sing! I know it's corny, but we have so much fun! :) And I'm really excited to introduce them all to Carson. He is the first of his generation for our family. I cannot wait!!! :)

Be praying that our flights go as well as last time! He slept the whole way before, so maybe he will again... Oh, and please pray that we get further in our quest to move to Colorado! We may try and work out some details while we are there. Thanks everyone!!!

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!!
Melissa and Carson :)

What does your birthdate mean?

Wow...this is pretty accurate... Is it for you???

Your Birthdate: August 13

Being born on the 13th day of the month should help make you a better manager and organizer, but it may also give you a tendency to dominate people a bit. You may be more responsible and self-disciplined than you realize. Sincere and honest, you are a serious, hard working individual. Your feeling are likely to seem somewhat repressed at times. You are apt to be much more practical, rational, and conscious of details. Your intolerance and insistence on complete accuracy can be irritating to some.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Chatting it up.

Carson has been quite the chatterbox this week. :) I think he's found his voice. If you look at him and grin or talk, he just talks right back, and I've even caught him chatting with his stuffed bear. We're doing pretty good while Cary is gone. Just hanging out and doing fun things like grocery shopping. :) I've even started to learn how to crochet this weekend. How susie-homemaker of me, I know. I was spurred on by my friend Doris who crocheted edging around receiving blankets for Carson - they are really nice, so useful, and get fun compliments from people everywhere. SOOO if I can master the technique, I might have to make some for my friends to have too. No promises, but we'll see how it goes.

Here are some new pictures...











Happy Monday everyone!!

sleep

Yeah!! Carson only woke up one time last night!! He went down between 8:30 and 9, slept until 2, was back down after eating AND a diaper change by 2:15 and slept until 7:20!!! How great is that! Granted, I had to be up at 6:30 for work, but still!! What a great start to the day!!

Cary leaves tomorrow evening for Colorado. He's helping my parent's church while my Aunt Jessie (their worship leader) is gone on vacation. He'll be there for two weeks. Carson and I plan on joining him next Friday. That's a whole week without Cary!! Whatever will we do?? My house sure is going to be quiet. I think this is the longest time we have spent apart since we got married. I'm really bummed. Of course, with Carson and work, I'm sure the week will fly by. I won't have much time to sit around and ponder his absence, that's for sure...

So, does anyone have great plans for the weekend?

The Yocum Family - professional photos!! :)

Here are the pictures of Cary, Carson and I from the same photographer.

Whew...that's a lot of pictures!!! :)