We had a fantastic Christmas! We hope you did too. We celebrated many ways. Christmas Eve with the Moe Family, Christmas Day morning with my Mom and Dad, Christmas Day Afternoon with Jason's Mom and Dad plus the 3 other celebrations earlier in the month. Carson loves his present Santa brought him, The Leapfrog Learn and Groove Table. This has so many rave reviews from Moms on some of my daily visited websites and boy were they right! He is even pulling himself up on the table already to play with it. Hayden has been asking non stop to play one of his new videogames, but is loving his new Basketball Hoop and all the new games he received, we've been playing all sorts of games. Hayden gave him a pretty ring and Jason gave me Pearls! It was so much fun this year, Hayden really enjoyed everything and Carson loved the wrapping paper and bows....he would crawl to the bows from just about anywhere, especially the sparkly ones!
Hayden celebrate with 2 cakes(Smith made him one with green frosting! Papa bought him one with Green Sprinkles) He even received a couple birthday presents, an AirHog Switchblade from Smith and Papa and Gator Golf from us. We are having his big party on Jan 31st with Sliding and Skating again, apparently this is the only way to celebrate his birthday in his mind!
On Saturday we went to Brainerd with my mom and dad for a little vacation(Hayden told us it was the best vacation ever!) We enjoyed the waterpark, cookie decorating, playing in the arcade and other Brainerd musts, like eating pie at the Barn. On the way home we drove past an awesome light display in Sawyer(like 35 minutes from home), check out the link! We also got a super flat tire, but made it to the Holiday/Mcdonalds by Spirit Mountain and then Jason came and rescued us. We love that boy!
We now are resting, trying to find room for all the new toys(there is a ton!) and cleaning up all the boxes.
Happy New Year! Cheers to a great 2010!


Christmas Highlights Slideshow

Today marks Hayden's fifth birthday! And Christmas, of course! Merry Christmas Everybody!

Hayden you've become quite the little man. Your personality is much bigger than your body. You are amazingly smart and "your brain tells" you so much as you put it. Each day you amaze us with another fact or accomplishment we didn't know you were capable of doing. You love to count and math. You count to 100 ALL the time, if its shooting baskets in the house or just stuff you are always counting. You recently want to know about money and are learning all about quarters, pennies etc. You love your Shooting Stars Preschool with Mrs Starry at the Y. You play in the gym and show of your basketball skills! You are in the highest swimming class in your preschool and do well. Mommy was shocked that they taught you how to dive...you are still working on that skill! You still love to "snuggle" and lay with us in bed. You still use your "fringies" and love Rudolph(any time of the year) and Diego. Your imaginations is amazing and always doing things with Diego and Alicia. You like hats, milk, Reese's peanut butter cups, basketball, being outside, shoveling, swimming, baths, showers, waffles, golf, Wii and so much more. You look forward to Mondays with Papa Smith and love getting sprinkle doughnuts with Papa Moe. Green is your favorite color. You wear size 5 in pants and 5/6 in shirts. You weigh the same as you did last year! But have grown taller...you go see Dr. Maria in 4 days. You are a sports nut! Always playing golf, or basketball, or anything with a ball. You really want to learn how to play hockey and Mommy will sure try to teach you this winter. You love your brother and are a huge helper. You can always make him smile. You are always concerned about him crying and love to feed him puffs. You are daddy's buddy. You are also in Mommy's opinion is double...personality wise for sure! You are two peas in a pod. You do different things with Mommy. We've cooked, baked, played computer games, and let me dress you in all my funny outfits...and of course take lots and lots of pictures of you. You have beautiful eyes, eyelashes and curls!

We love you so much! Never stop amazing us. We have faith that you were grow up to be an amazing person that will accomplish much!

Yeah! Carson finally did it! He is officially crawling as of Friday. He now is a trouble maker, pulling himself up on things and pushing buttons on the DVD player. He isn't very fast on our hardwood floors yet...thank goodness!

He also has a few times growled at me, when I tell him no! 7 months and already back talking...I think I am in trouble!

Hayden's excitement for Christmas and his birthday are bursting at the seams. I can't wait to spend this week with him. I have a few things in store for him.

I am officially on Christmas Vacation, oh wait Winter Break. I couldn't be happier...I was getting snippy with those sassy teenagers.

My friend Sarah lost her dear father in law on Wednesday. Please keep her and their family in your prayers. Its so nice to have her home for the next couple weeks. I miss her terribly.

We've celebrated 3 out of our 5 christmas(es). We had so much fun at all of them. Hayden has so much fun playing with his cousins. Jessica on Jason's side and all the crew on mine(Jacob, Ben, Hudsen, Toby etc!) Its fun to see him play so nicely with everyone...we were always a little worried about his socializing.

Carson was Baby Jesus at the Routh family Christmas(Hayden was the wisest wise man!!Well in my opinion!) He was super cute sitting on stage in his swaddling. Hayden was very proud of him too. Hayden also loved his blue shiny dress and crown. We've talked about the birth of Jesus and he knows the role of the wise men, and thought it was cool he was bringing his brother a gift.

We've been to Bentleyville twice. I highly recommend going. It was well worth the 90 minute wait to see Hayden and Jessica's faces when they meet Santa and received their hats(Hayden picked Green, of course!)

I turn 26 tomorrow. Yikes!

Here is a mini slideshow of some of my favorite pictures I've taken recently...

Oh Carson! This month has flown by. I can't believe you aren't crawling yet! You try SO hard! But you get around pretty good by wiggling, squirming and scooting. You still love food and will eat anything! You are such a happy baby, except at night. You don't sleep! You are working on it though! You met Santa this month and was very pensive in his arms. You have started pouting your lip...just like me! Use it, its powerful! You love your brother and give him the biggest happiest smiles every morning!

You are now into size 3 diapers.

Clothing size 6, 6/9 and 9 month.

0-6 shoes still!

Eating fruits, veggies, cereal, puffs and crackers. Mommy is even making most of your baby food. Yummy things like squash, which seems to be your favorite.

We can't wait to celebrate christmas with you for the very first time!

We traveled with Nana, Papa and Brandon to the cities after Thanksgiving! You saw 3 parades! We went to Bentleyville and you LOVED the lights, you were so excited and were literally jumping in your sling for joy. You saw a play "Hansel and Gretel". You months are sure packed with lots of fun! We love you!

Nana took the picture! On the Santa Trolley in Excelisor.

Here are a few pictures! Jason got his 1st opening weekend buck! 3 bucks total were taken down between them. Jason was so excited. 2 nice little 8 pointers and a little 3 pointer. So now he is all mine this week! lol. But he does get to baby sit the kids!
Carson has used "more" a few times in the last two days to eat. Also when he sees his highchair he'll say "mmmmarh" So sweet. As this was Hayden's first word too! Even though he said "Hay Hay" to Hayden the other day a couple times, he hasn't said it since.
He is also on the move, scooting, turning and going from the sitting to crawling position.
Hayden has started basketball and I am so proud of him. He listens very well to the coaches and man can he handle the ball. He has total control over it! He is swimming too! He is already learning different backstrokes, and getting those butt muscles strengthened so he can become a strong swimmer! He is such a natural at sports and loves it so much! I don't know if I ever put on here that Hayden got his first Boogie in Sept at Nemadji!
Okay enough bragging about my boys!

Happy guy!

Bubbles on one of our wonderful Nov. days!

He looks like Mommy here!

Hands!

Happy 6th months Carson!!! This half of year has flown by in record time. I wish I could make time stand still and be able to hug you and see your smile forever, just the way you are right now.
Carson can now sit up alone for very long periods of time.( 5months2weeks) He has his two bottom toothers(Oct 27th the first one came through the second on the 29th). He loves, loves, loves food. Favorite is Sweet Potatoes, not too sure about fruit yet though. He can demolish a cracker in no time. He weights 16 pounds 6 oz, a whole 3 pounds more than at 4 months, crazy! Rice cereal must stick to your bones. You wear 3-6 and 6 months clothing and size 2 diapers. You still love your baths and now showers too. Your favorite toy seems to be the star stacker's(green star!). Brother can always make you smile and you love to snuggle with mommy. You are still a great nurser, Mommy never thought we'd nurse this long, and we'll keep going until you want to stop.

You've been to Madeline Island and rode a ferry boat, went to Madison and saw the capital. We travelled to Lutsen and rode a tram. We've been able to enjoy the fall weather, with you eating leaves and sticks.

You are closer to crawling probably another couple weeks. You can scoot backwards and turn yourself around.

We are amazed at you everyday and we eagerly await to see what this month will bring you!

 

Here are some pics of my Happy Hayden.

I know I am a huge slacker blogger. But I've been busy! Fall is crazy around here! Here are a few pictures I did recently. I bought this outfit last year before Gap closed in Duluth(sniffle, sniffle) before I knew Carson was going to be a boy, I just imagined him in it during the fall, its perfect, big but perfect.
Hayden is so in love with his brother lately and Carson can't get enough on Hayden either!
Hayden is loving school and does "lots" every time he goes.
Carson is sitting up alone for shortish(2 mins) periods of time, he is growing up too fast!
We are trying to avoid the H1N1 and everything else going around...key word trying!
I've been doing some photo shoots around lately.....loved to do more!!!!

We had an adventure on Tuesday, since Mom didn't have work. Papa Moe, Brandon, Dayton and us went on an adventure. It took us to Quarry Point(brrrr, big waves!), Twin Falls(Apples!), the Village Inn and Iron River Bakery. It was a fun day, had by all!

I feel as if I haven't blogged enough about my favorite things for Baby Carson. I LOVE my sling. Its seriously is the greatest thing I purchased for him. I bought some things(the sling, video monitor, trumpette socks etc) because they are in....and well I could! But the Sling is so loved and I recommend it to any Mom out there.

My Sling is the Serene Sling in Chocolate/Ivory. It was a very wide shoulder strap to distribute the weight well, very well. I have only had a sore back once and I had the sling on with Carson in it for well over 3 hours walking around the fair. I like when Jason pulls the shoulder strap down and lays it flat, you can't even feel it on you! The pocket is deep, when he was little a bit too deep but its perfect for throwing my wallet and phone into with the baby. The fabric is awesome and must be very breathable because we never got uncomfortable this summer with it on. Carson always stayed cool. It also has held up very well. The pattern in attractive and I receive many compliments on it. It comes with a pamphlet showing you the different holds. We have tried a few now and we like when he faces me snuggled up to my chest.

I did not pay the price on the website...I bought it from another online baby store that had it marked down to $36.00, I think they forgot the 1 in front, but oh well for them. I am in love with my Serene Sling and excited that it will be with us through Carson's toddler years.

The Many Faces of Baby Carson....

Scrub Look

Mommy not feeding me

Ohhh Hi Mom(almost sitting up alone!)

Bath Time!

Hayden started Preschool this week! I can't believe my baby is old enough for school. Its a program from 9-11:30 2 days a week. Its only his first week but he loves it! Yeah! On Thursday he gets a swimming lesson, which I am sure will be the highlight of each week. He has a little hook with his name on it and a little person that he puts on the home/school side of the board each time. He eagerly picks out his name tag and can't wait to play with the dinosaurs in the rice table...and he gets a green dot at circle time. Life is great for this little guy!

Today I came early to pick him up, Mama was curious how the swimming lessons worked and his teacher came up to me and told me what a nice, polite little boy he is. She however was most impressed that he could make a basket in the gym, in the adult sized hoops. Hehehehe, we knew that! I laughed she was like Holy Cow. Hayden is also about a head taller than any other little boys. There is another girl who just turned 5 on Sept 2 that is just about Haydens size, she is from Haiti actually. Okay since its my blog and I'll brag if i want to. The Aquatics director came over to me and asked if I was Hayden's mom and wanted to know where he had been taking swimming lessons...which he hasn't and told me he was a very advanced swimmer and she was really impressed. He got bumped up to the highest level class. He makes his Mommy very proud!

On Tuesday when we got there I was a little nervous, he is a man and doesn't talk about his feelings so I wasn't sure how he felt about me leaving him and we got to school and I asked him if he wanted me to stay for a while(we were welcome too) and he said "Bye Mom you can go now" Whew. Looking back on it I probably should of been a little heartbroken but thats what I needed to hear to know he was going to be okay! When I picked him up I asked him all about school, not really getting anything from him, what kid does, but I asked him if he made any friends and he told me that he was going to make them on Thursday. Funny, funny Hayden.

Football starts on Saturday, should be a good time....kinda. Program kind of sucks, oh well he has fun.

The swim director also informed me of another program for Hayden on Fridays but I don't think he'll be able to do that one with my work schedule for now....

Happy 4 months Baby Carson! You amaze us everyday. You are such a great baby, talking and singing to us. You weigh 13 lbs 6 oz and are 25" long. You had a cold today(your first!) so you only got 1 shot and 1 oral vaccination. Dr. Maria said you are getting too skinny and should start cereal, so you had your first taste tonight...we weren't sure what you thought. You made your happy noise but then wouldn't eat anymore after a couple of minutes, thats fine you can just eat watermelon and bananas! Mommy gave you a little taste of those this month, you loved them! You are such a strong boy almost sitting by yourself and standing so well on your legs. You have a good hold on your head and don't bobble all around. You start playing in your exasaucer this month and like to have stare downs with my monkey. You just found your feet and now are always holding on to those toes! You even had a toy in between your toes the other day and another in your hands, talented. When Mommy picks you up after work you nuzzle into my neck, mommy loves this. You are still a good breast eater and eat every 3 hours. You also still are in size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes, although some 3-6 month are fitting you finally. You love to watch your brother play and keep your eyes glued on him.

This month you went to Craguns, again! The MN state fair, Paul Bunyan land(you rode on your own horse on the merrygoround), the Barnum Fair(you rode on a tractor), a train ride and I am sure lots of other places. We enjoyed the last month of the summer as best as we could. You went into your first lake(Minnesuing) and loved that just as much as your warm baths that relax you so much.

We love you little monkey, or Car-Car! Have Sept 8th to you!

I know, I know I've majorly neglected my blog but I've been very busy! First with lots of family time and vacation time and now work time. And secondly with pictures, pictures, pictures. I've done 3 photo shoots and editing like mad! Its a little overwhelming.

We spent some time in Brainerd at Craguns and in the Cities doing our annual State Fair trip. Jason was able to join us for the whole time for once, it was great to have him there. We had beautiful weather for Craguns getting to enjoy the outside pool, movies on the beach(Sandlot) and bbq-a lot! We went to Paul Bunyan land and went on lots of crazy old rides. Had pie at the Barn(Custard for Jason and Coconut for me) And enjoy campfire time with my whole family-even Emily was there! Its rare that everyone is together. The time flew but we knew we were headed to more fun, making it a little easier to leave. In the cities we ate cookies and drank milk at the fair, of course, watched the Twins win, played with a puppy, mini golfed and so much more.

The boys were great enjoying all the time with Nana, Papa and Daddy, they see me lots! Its crazy how fast the summer went, as do all summers around here. I survived my first week back to school, missing my boys like crazy. We had a wedding in Eau Claire this weekend and it was so nice, the weather and the wedding. I'll post more and lots of pictures... I have a sick baby right now with just a cold....for now and hopefully thats all it is.

Having Fun? We are!

Happy Birthday Carson you are 3 months old!

You are getting to be a big boy! You still are wearing 0-3 month clothes and a couple smaller 3-6 size. You still are working on the 1-2 size diapers too. You are SO strong. You like to be sitting up seeing whats going on. If you are laying down you will done little baby crunches to try and sit your self up- not quite yet though. You have total control of your head and probably be sitting up by yourself soon.

You've found your hands! Your right hand is more dominant than your left already and can get what you want now it just takes a little time. You've grabbed mommy's necklaces more than once and on purpose!

You laughed at Mommy for the first time on Aug 1st! She was sticking her tongue out at you and you being a little sleep deprived giggled and giggled, it was the sweetest sound ever. You still smile all the time and give us great big 4 dimplers!

Your Mommy greatly appreciates the fact you've been sleeping through the night here and there. Your brother didn't do this until he was over a year. You like to eat in the morning and then go back to sleep until 9 or so. Just like your daddy!

You love to snuggle. You nuzzle your head into Mommy and show her how much you love her. You have to snuggle a blanket when you are sleeping and it needs to touch your face still.

You seem to love music and when we sing to you. You even sing with us! Lately you seem to like songs with actions and Twinkle Twinkle the best! You really like to look at the baby in the mirror, you! You light up when you seen yourself just as we do.

You went in the Jumperoo for the first time too this month. You really like the sun that spins. You may be a little young for it yet but it gives you time to suck on your fist and drool, which you do a lot, you are a faucet sometimes!

Our family loves you so much and can't believe you've only been with us for 3 months! Happy Birthday Baby Carson! AKA Little Monkey and CarCar!