6 months since our last post?

Really?! Half a year? I can't believe that time has gone so fast!

So much has happened that I don't even know where to start. Carter is almost 10 months old. His last check up went really well. He weighs about 22.5 lbs and is about 30" tall! It's crazy to think that in a couple months he will be turning 1. At his check up they also noticed he has ANOTHER ear infection. So the pediatrician recommended an ENT specialist to us. We had an appointment yesterday and the ENT wants Carter to get tubes put in his ear to drain fluid and pressure. This will help decrease the amount of fluid that accumulates in his ears and cause less ear infections to develop. Both Ryan and I agree that he needs the procedure and he is scheduled to have it in about a week. The fluid in his ears is also causing some hearing loss and in the long run could cause speech development issues if not taken care of. We are relieved that this will help Carter and relieve him of the pain of ear infections. Other than that, he is crawling ALL OVER the house. He loves the door stoppers attached to the bottom of doors. He just hits them over and over while they make their "boing" noise. We removed most of them, but for some reason he always finds the ones we haven't taken off! He also likes to pull himself up on the couch, chairs or coffee table and walk around them while holding on. My prediction is that he will be walking by his birthday.

Carter has also found amusement in many random things like zippers and the "shwsh" noise that I made once while pretending to slice an imaginary sword through the air. He finds the two pretty hysterical and laughs so hard when hearing them. Last week I also bought some bubbles from Target and both Carter and the dogs LOVE them. Carter waves his arms in the air frantically at them while the dogs jump up and eat them. I think next time I go shopping I need to pick up a bigger bottle of bubbles and a bigger wand. Such a cheap fun thing!

As far as work goes... I just crossed the 6 month mark in my new position! All of my team members still consider me the "new boss". I have definitely have had some challenges in the past few weeks, but it has only made me a stronger manager. I only hope that the next 6 months go as well as the first.

Ryan's work is about the same. Busy with budgets, meetings, conference calls and the usual. His boss and boss's boss recognize Ryan's great work and have recommended him for a double promotion to HR. Unfortunately at this time, his company (like many companies) is not giving out too many promotions. So we will have to wait a little while to see where it takes him. It's still good to know and hear that the work he does is appreciated. His neck is pretty much completely healed. He has an achy day here or there, but nothing that causes severe pain.

We are still trying to plan a summer vacation. We were talking about a road trip to see Ryan's Dad or maybe a camping trip (I wouldn't mind heading up to Yellow Stone). Considering we didn't travel last, I think a summer vacation is well deserved! But, I guess we'll see what happens.

I'll try to blog again after Carter's surgery to keep everyone up to date! Until then...here is a quote I found and love. I put it in a book I made Ryan for Christmas about Carter's life thus far.

"A boy is a magical creature you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can't lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can't get him out of your mind. Might as well give up he is your captor, your jailer, your boss and your master a freckled-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing bundle of noise. But when you come home at night with only the shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words Hi, Dad!"

-Alan Marshall Beck

Life with a 4 month old and adjusting to my new store

So obviously my personal goal of posting more often is not achievable! :) I feel like there aren't even enough hours in the day for me to hardly see my family let alone post blogs, clean my house, do laundry or get my car it's oil change (it's at least 4 months past due!). A typical week day for us is....We get up around 7am, Ryan, Carter and I get ready, we eat breakfast, take the dogs out and feed the dogs. We are out the door by 8am, one of us drops Carter off at daycare. We both work until about 5-5:30pm and whoever gets off firsts picks up little man. We get home around 6pm, take the dogs out, make dinner, get everything ready for the next morning (wash bottles and get clothes set out), start bath time for Carter, feed him and put him to bed by 8:30-9pm. Then we get ready for bed and it's usually lights out by 10pm (I know...we are lame!). So yeah...anyway....

Carter is 16 weeks old! Or should I say Bubby? Somehow everyone seems to have adopted the nickname Bubby, which Ryan came up with. It has stuck with him pretty well. Sometimes we will call him Bubby, Bubbalicious or Bub-a-bub. We have a check up scheduled for him along with more vaccinations in about a week. He is feeling much better these days. Last week Carter, Ryan and myself were sick. It was a nasty sore throat with lots of congestion. Carter ended up getting an ear infection and is on antibiotics now. Poor little man.

He has learned a few new tricks. He is learning to roll over, but his arm gets stuck under him so he doesn't quite roll over all the way. Today we reached a milestone, he is wearing a 6-9 months outfit. The shorts are a little big, but the shirt fits perfectly. I also noticed today that he is starting to grab his feet and holds on to them while thrusting his legs up. Silly Goose.

I am slowly adjusting to my new store and new team members. I had a surprise audit yesterday with my bosses boss and district auditor. The store actually did pretty well, just have to "tighten" some things up. After they were finished they pulled me aside to tell me that the team members have nothing but good things to say about me and that they are really happy with the transition so far. YAY!! That makes me very happy! :) Here is a picture of my office, I took it with my iPhone so it's not the best. It's a good sized office, but very plain. I am thinking of ordering a "motivational" picture or two to spice things up.

Well I guess I should stop abusing my "privileges" and get back to work....

3 months old, back to work and adjusting to a new schedule....

Little man is 3 months old now!  Holly cow! A lot has happened in the past few weeks.  I sadly went back to work on June 30th.  Wow is it weird, but good at the same time.  I am not very good at adjusting to things so going back to work to a new store, new position, new people, and leaving my baby has proven to be a little difficult.....ok A LOT difficult!  I am trying to act and be my normal self, but it has been a challenge.  I just keep telling myself that I am doing it for Carter and that makes it worth every minute I have to be away from him.  So now I am a working Mom.  In all actuality though....being back has been good.  I am sure I will have many more challenges in my new position, but I can't complain about the pay increase that comes along with it.  That in itself will help us out a lot.

Carter is getting so big....I know I say that all the time, but seriously I can't believe how fast he grows!  He is in 6 month clothes now because he is so long. He weighs close to 15-16 lbs. He smiles ALL the time and the other day had his first REAL laugh!  It was so cute!  Of course we couldn't catch it on video.  He is also discovering his legs and feet, he sucks on his hands like crazy and occasionally positions one of his fingers or thumbs to be sucked on.  It's pretty cute! He hasn't rolled over YET, but is getting very close. He loves sitting up, but still needs a good amount of support or he will fall over.  I know I am getting very excited for Carter to start trying out real food.  He is only a couple months away from it.  I love all kinds of food and just can't wait for him to be able to test them all out and discover all kinds of new tastes.  :)

The dogs are feeling slightly neglected these days.  It is hard to get out of the house with Carter and 2 dogs with 90 degree weather.  The dogs don't care about it being so hot, but Carter does.  So we have spent a lot of time inside. Plus the mosquitos have been absolutely horrible this year!  Every time I go outside I get bitten at least 3 times!  Ah!  I hate them!  I know it will get easier once Carter gets a older too.

Ryan is doing well, but is still having some neck muscle issues.  He is going to physical therapy for it and we are hoping for a good recovery soon.  It may take a little bit more time though  :( .

That's about it for now....I will update again soon.  I have made it a personal goal to update the blog more often.  It seems like I only get around to it once a month! 

11 weeks old!

Well well...I can't say I have much time to do much of ANYTHING lately. Which is why I haven't updated this blog in a while.  People that update everyday...please tell me how you do it! Carter is definitely a full time job and I can't even imagine what things will be like when both Ryan and I are working full time and then coming home to a full time baby.  

So Carter is 11 weeks today!  Wow...I am amazed at how big he already is.  He had his 2 month check up a few weeks ago and weighs about 13 lbs and is almost 25" long.  He got 3 shots and didn't hardly cry at all. He sleeps maybe a 3-4 hour stretch, if we are lucky, BUT we are working on that.  He is learning how to sit, in fact he really doesn't like laying down.  He would rather be up looking around at everything.  I only have about a week and a half left before going back to work, but until then Carter and I try to do lots of things through out the day.  I read books to him, he plays on his playmat, we listen to a lot of music while dancing and singing, and we like to take the dogs to the park and walk around.  Allee and Aston are adjusting very well.  They both love to give kisses to Carter and I help Carter pet them.  They h

ave it coming to them once Carter starts to get mobile.  :)

On a different note Ryan and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary on  June 7th.  I can't believe it has been a year already and a very full year at that.  We spent the day with Carter, hanging out at home which was special for us.  Maybe next year we can have a trip planned back to Hawaii....that's the plan...well...at least it's my plan. :)  I love that place and hope to take Carter there.  In the mean time we love summer in Colorado and are enjoying the weather! 

2 Months Old ALREADY! Where did the time go?

I can't even believe 2 months have already gone by since bringing Carter home.  He has definitely stolen our hearts and makes our life so much more complete.  He changes literally every single day, there is always something new he has learned.  He LOVES the mornings, each morning we come downstairs and he lays on his changing pad while we get breakfast going and he talks non stop (we always say he is telling us stories).  He can hold his head up much better now, but it still a little bit of a bobble head. He is learning how to grab toys that hang from his play mat. And the past couple days he has actually kind of started laughing.  It is only a half laugh and it happens very rarely, but it's so awesome when it does happen.  We are hoping to get out and take some 2 month photos of Carter this weekend, maybe even get a few family shots. 

Unfortunately by Carter being 2 months old now, that means I only have 1 month left of maternity leave from work.  I am a little bummed out about it.  I wish I could just stay home with my little Goose and if we were in a little bit better of a place financially I would...BUT some good news is while on maternity leave I applied for a promotion at work and GOT IT!  So when I go back to work I will be at the Highland's Ranch FedEx Office as the Store Manager.  This is a great opportunity for me and the family and I am anxious, nervous and excited about it.  

New toy!

With Carter getting more and more active everyday it seems like it is getting harder to entertain him.  We don't really have many toys for him, not that he could really play with anything at this point, so we decided to go out shopping.  We found a really cool play mat/tummy time mat.  It's perfect because tummy time was getting a little boring without much to look at.  We also got a cute jiggling froggy toy to hang on his carseat.  As soon as we got home we put together the play mat and tested it out...turns out he loves it! He was smiling at the toys and talking while watching the lights it has.  Definitely a good buy!

Happy 1 Month Birthday Baby Boy!

So here we are one month into parenthood and are we exhausted! Everyone tells you that you aren't going to get any sleep and that you will have to wake up every 2-3 hours during the night to take care of your baby, but you don't listen.  You think oh I'll be fine or that it won't happen to you.  Well surprise! Sleeping even 4 hours straight is a miracle and so refreshing! But it rarely happens these days.  Nevertheless, we are doing quite well and are enjoying our new little bundle of joy.  Carter is awesome and is changing so much every day.  He is awake more often now and is learning how to track with his eyes.  He will follow objects back and forth and stare for long periods of time.  He is also imitating a lot lately.  If you make faces at him he will try to make the same face back.  Our favorite right now is sticking our tongues out at each other.  He weighs somewhere in the 9 lb range and has officially outgrown all of his newborn clothes.  He has also graduated to size 1 diapers....no more really tiny cute newborn diapers. :(  

We are also learning how to venture out of the house with Carter.  It can be challenging at times, but it is so nice to get out.  We met Ryan for lunch with some of his co-workers yesterday which was yummy, Carter slept the whole time. Next week we are going to try and get out a little more.  Maybe make a trip to the bank, visit some cousins and visit Nana (Pam's Mom) at her work to show Carter off to her co-workers.  It should be a fun busy week.