"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!!

You Wash My Back and I'll Wash Yours

Just wanted to document the boys' first bath time together. This was also Caden's first time in the regular tub, and he LOVED it! They had a great time playing together, and I only had to calm Carson's roughness a few times. He likes to throw his toys as hard as he can and drum in the water as fast as he can.





I know this isn't the greatest picture, but check out our little vampire baby... :)

Capturing the Moments...a photoblog

Lots has happened recently, but I don't really want to blog about every one of them, so I figured I would touch on a few things this way...

"Two ones walking" ... this is what Carson calls it when you walk with two people.




Bedtime




A few faces of Caden:




For Cary's Father's Day and Birthday this year, I ordered him a set of irons that he's been dreaming of. The order took so long to come in that we had given up hope and thought we would have to figure something else out. Then they came in last week. :)


This past Wednesday, Cary gave me the night off for fun with the girls. My friends Kari, Stephenie and I grabbed dinner at Elephant Bar (YUM!) and then went to the Beyonce concert. We had SO much fun!! The concert was incredible, and we saw lots of strangely dressed audience members who had gone all out for the occasion. It was a night to remember!


I finally captured some video of Caden's version of crawling...

Teeth....again

Caden cut his 4th tooth on Monday. The left top one that will be beside his middle two whenever they arrive. Carson also has fully cut another set of bottom molars. I noticed them coming in a few weeks ago, and they are in all the way. I have to say that teeth coming in for a toddler has been SO much easier than for an infant. He hasn't seemed bothered at all.

Also, Caden was supposed to have his 6 month check-up yesterday, but it ended up being a follow-up visit for his minor pneumonia spell. He is weighing 15 lbs, 12 oz, so feeling crummy hasn't hindered his appetite at all. He's up 3 ounces after only 2 weeks. He has been wheezy still even though his antibiotic was finished on Sunday, so I was thankful that we already had the appointment scheduled. Everything looks good, he just can't seem to kick the chest congestion, so we got sent home with a nebulizer that has a fish mask and albuterol. (Lindsay - I know you are feeling me on this one. :)) We have to give him breathing treatments every 4-6 hours for 3 days, and then 2 times a day for 2 weeks, and then we'll go back in for him to be checked out. Hopefully this fixes it. He hates the mask, but thankfully gets distracted by chewing on the strap, and the nurse said we could just hold it close to his face rather than strapping him into it - which he FLIPPED over! Poor baby. I'm so thankful that he doesn't 'seem' like he feels bad. If it weren't for all of his congestion, I'd have no clue!

Photo Shoot with Caden and lots of other stuff....

Just having some camera fun while Carson was napping a few days ago. I did this with Carson at about this age, so it was fun to do again. :) Enjoy...







He makes this face ALL the time:


Lots has happened in our family this week. We celebrated my Papa's 78th b-day on Saturday by having a picnic in the mountains. It was such a fun time, and Carson LOVED playing in the creek that ran by our site. Carson has been talking so well lately. His sentences have become much more fluid and I'm surprised everyday at how complex his sentences are becoming. He throws a football better than I do, and he loves to play pitch-matching games where Cary and I sing a note and he tries to sing it back. He's fairly accurate too, which is fun. (Yeah, I realize many of you are going to think we are SUCH music nerds :)) And he will sit and sing songs with you for as long as he can, and when you think you are done, he will think of another song to sing. Caden cut his third tooth on Saturday, his top tooth that is to the right of his two center teeth (he doesn't have those yet). He is going to look so funny when it comes in fully, and the opposite tooth is not far behind. He is also sitting up really well, and launching himself all over the room. He stands up on his hands and feet with his bottom up in the air and then throws himself forward. He also pulled himself up onto our pastor's couch today during our meeting after church, and I missed it. I can't believe he is doing these things so early!

Two other major things happened this week as well. My sister Natalie:

decided to move to California to be near my brother and all of our family out there. I think it is going to be an awesome mover for her. Her hairstyling business should do really well, and I know it will be awesome to be a part of our uncle's church there and to be by all of our Daddy's family. I'm so excited for you Natalie!!

Also, my sister Kelsey became engaged on Friday!

Congrats Scott and Kelsey! We are SO excited for all of the things to come in your lives and your life together! Kelsey also leaves for college on Thursday, but we are all trying not to think about that... :) She is going to have SO MUCH FUN!!!

Want a Cheap-er night out?

Check out this website a friend just told me about: http://www.restaurant.com. They have all kinds of coupons and gift certificates on there for restuarants based on zip code. You pay less for the certificates than what they are worth, like a certificate worth $25 might go for $10. Restaurants make the certificates available to get more business. It's also all guaranteed, according to the website. If you have a problem redeeming your certificate, your money is refunded, no questions asked. Just thought I would pass this along to all of my fellow budgeting friends!

Happy 27th Birthday To Me!!

Since Cary had to leave today for a short business trip, he went WAY overboard in helping me celebrate my birthday. :) Saturday morning, he surprisingly let me sleep in until 9 a.m. - which is huge in this house!! He woke me up with a hot breakfast in bed. We took the day easy, and that evening, my parents kept the boys for us while we had a yummy sushi and Japanese dinner followed by a double feature - Harry Potter and Bourne Ultimatum. SO SO good! :) They were such good movies! Then at church on Sunday Cary worked my birthday into the announcements and gave me 2 dozen long stemmed red roses! So sweet, and totally surprising! :) They are SO pretty! That evening, our church softball team had a championship game, which was so fun and such a close game. After the games, we usually catch dinner with someone, but every one seemed to have places to be, so we were just going to find a place to eat. There are a whole bunch of restaurants in the same area nearby, so we headed there. Cary asked where I wanted to go and we were parked in front of an Irish pub type of place that we hadn't tried so I suggested it. When we got in the restaurant, all of our friends from the game were there! It was so much fun and I was so surprised! :) I got lots of fun gift cards and a really nice flat iron for my hair that I've been wanting for forever. Can't wait to go shopping now that I have an excuse too! :) Happy Birthday to me!

Caden's Miserable Doctor's Appointment

Caden has been super congested for about 3 and a half weeks now. At first we chalked it up to teething, and then he got this horrible cough. We had a friend of ours, who is a doc, look at him a week or so ago, and she said since his congestion seemed to be moving okay, that he was probably just fighting a cold and we should just keep doing the things we were doing... saline and suctioning, baby vapor rub and things like that. Well over this last week, it has just gotten worse and worse. He is still as happy as can be, and has yet to run a fever, but his cough sounded horrible, and several times he has coughed to the point of projectile vomiting. I sent his pediatrician an email on Wednesday, hoping to avoid the nurses telling me that it's just normal, and to continue what we were doing. She responded Thursday morning with an email that we needed to get in just to make sure it was just teething since he had been congested for so long, so I proceeded to call the help line to get him an appointment. Then the barrage of nurses began. I talked to several different nurses throughout the day that told me to just continue what I was doing, and one told me that I could use a decongestant. Then I received a call an hour later from the same nurse saying that the CDC has put a notice out to stop using decongestants on any child under the age of 2 because they are investigating several deaths of infants who had been given decongestants, specifically pseudophedrine (sudafed). After I asked how long I should keep doing what we were doing before really becoming concerned since we had been doing them for several weeks, and she finally said she would have our doctor call us. So finally, at 5:30, I get a call from our doctor, and she apologizes profusely that the nurses gave us the run-around when she said she wanted to see him, and while she is talking to me, Caden starts hacking his head off again. Then she asked if that was him, and she said that we might want to take a trip to the ER. I was like "What!?" So we talked for a bit, and she asked me if his breathing was labored, which it isn't, and about his color, and he was normal peachy pink, meaning he was well oxygenated, so she agreed that we could see her this morning. She was worried that he could have pertussis (whooping cough). So we went to the doc this morning, me, Carson & Caden. His oxygen levels were good, which was a relief - 95%. Then she did all of the normal check up stuff. His throat was red, but not infected. Then she checked his ears, and she had to scrape wax away from his eardrum - which she said is a normal thing for lots of kids - and it made him totally freak out, because they had to hold him down. He was thrashing about so much that it took over 10 minutes to get a good check on his ears. Thankfully, they were fine. Then she listened to his chest again. She said that at times they seemed totally clear, but then he would move and they would sound watery, so she ordered an xray to rule out pneumonia, so off we went. In order to get a chest x-ray of an infant, you have to set them into this plexiglass body cast of sorts that pins their arms up against their head and immobilizes them for the x-ray. He totally freaked...so much so, that he almost cried himself to sleep before the 2 shots were taken. I felt so bad for him. So I get him calmed down, and he's almost out by the time we get back up to the room. Then they have to do the pertussis swab, which means that we have to pin him down again while they stick a tube up his nose, flush both sinuses with saline and suck it out for a culture. He was so upset, poor guy. The pertussis test takes about a week to get the results, but hopefully it will be negative. The xray did show a small spot that looks like it could be a minor case of pneumonia, so we have him on amoxycillin now. Thankfully, it looks like its not the contagious kind, but the kind the forms after congestion or fluid is aspirated and not coughed out efficiently enough. Caden is happy as can be though, and aside from his terrible cough, you wouldn't even know he was sick. But at least now I don't have to worry for one more weekend....

They really do come by it naturally, don't they...

I asked Carson what he would like to eat for lunch today. He thought for a minute and then looked at me mischievously and responded, "Poo-poo. Eat poo-poo, Mama."

We had pb&j.