7 month baby

Carson at 7 months...where do I start? For starters, I think we have finally kicked the ear infection roller-coaster ride. It started in December and between the ears, the congested chest, and snotty nose... I think we've both lost plenty of sleep and couldn't be more ready for spring and healthy babies! I honestly feel like I am just getting to know the "real" Carson. He's been sick for so long and not normal that I am not sure what his real demeanor is. He actually is a very happy baby, really. I have loved these last couple weeks where he has been himself more and wanting to do something other then be held, pull his ears, or cry :(  He is very animated, reminds me of Jaxon a lot. He smiles and giggles a bunch, he scoots everywhere, is sitting up (not the best, but can do it), started eating 1 veggie a day about 2 weeks ago and seems to love it (carrots first), transitioned from our bed to his pack n play right next to our bed (we're still figuring our nights out now that he is feeling better!), and loves to be outside. He is so fun to sit and play with. He loves faces. He loves big brother Jaxon. He loves to put everything in his mouth. He loves books still. He loves stroller rides around our block. He loves our dogs and will grab at them if they are in reach. He loves to talk. Yes, I have another talker I believe! He will "talk" while he's playing, talk to you if you give him good face to face time, talk while I am singing, talk while in his carseat. He has a pretty fun personality and I expect him to be fitting right in with his big brothers in no time. Oh, and he has 2 bottom teeth and 1 on top coming in.

In the past couple months, I found myself at times, actually kind of sad because he has been sick and miserable and I was bummed I was missing out on really sweet, fun baby moments. I am so thankful he is coming around and getting better. I have enjoyed the wonderful times we've had lately getting to just have fun together, instead of just taking care of each other. Even though I need some serious sleep, I love snuggling him when he settles in with me at night and I love laying on the floor and having him scoot to me. I love getting him to laugh and watching him tune into his brothers and dad. These days do seem long at times, but the months are just flying by. So fast. This sweet baby boy is just the best and we sure love him.

 Oops... he found a red marker. My heart fell to the floor when I found him like this and thought it was blood!! He thought it was very funny.

 First Valentine's Day! (you know you are the 3rd kid when mom didn't even think twice about getting you a cute Valentine outfit and your big brothers had their's picked out weeks before the fun day!) "quick, throw a Valentines headband on him for a picture" :)

 Finally learned to sit up about 2 days before turning 7 months.

 Jaxon loves to write his monthly signs. Here Carson was holding it so well. Jaxon sure is a good big brother and helper.

 Baby boy starting to fill up the basket!

 Happy 7 months, sweet baby boy!

the boys @ 7 months

Isn't it so fun to compare your kids baby pictures? I can tell the difference in almost all of them, but a few have me double checking to make sure I guessed the right baby! With almost 8 years since we started having babies, there is also such a change in how I store pictures! All of Jaxon's first year pictures are from a 35mm camera, printed off and stored in albums. Austin and Carson's are all downloaded on our computer, saved away for printing "someday". Here are our boys all right around 7 months. I will be posting on my current 7 month old later today hopefully :)

JAXON @ 7 months...sitting up and crazy happy all the time!

AUSTIN @ 7 months... very laid back and go with the flow, happy little guy!

CARSON @ 7 months... pretty darn happy when not sick and scooting everywhere! Just barely started sitting up, as in about 2 days ago :)

a little (big) change

Recently our family made a big decision to do things a little different around here. It's been an interesting year of school for our oldest and after much prayer, conversation, more prayer, some more conversations, and even more prayer and following my gut instinct...we decided to do what is called dual enrollment with Jaxon starting 2nd semester. Dual enrollment is a great program our district offers (actually one our state has available) and it simply means that Jaxon goes to the elementary school for part of his schooling and the other part he does "home school" with me. He goes every day to school in the mornings until 12:35 and then I bring him home for the afternoon when we do our part here. I have many reason why we ended up with this choice, but to save you a lengthy post, you can just check out some pictures from our first few weeks and if you want to hear more about my heart on this matter... jump on over to my "In the Trenches" link in a day or two once I am done with that post.

 First day at home school! He was pretty excited....I was nervous, scared, and excited all at once!

First week of home school completed. To celebrate... Scratch Cupcakery of course!

One of the benefits of this new life-style...flexibility. When the sun is shining and baby is awake, we use the warm winter afternoons to get outside some days and do our school work when the temps go down and baby is asleep.

Austin has enjoyed doing some school work with Jaxon. Here they are working on read alouds and story time.

I would lie if I said I didn't like the teacher in me getting a chance to create fun learning experiences! Our first social studies unit was about community helpers...our friend, Firefighter Darwin, was more than happy to let the boys come down for a lesson in what he does for our community. Plus, the fire-truck exploring was an extra bonus!

I've been doing some researching and experimenting with "boys and learning". This energetic boy seems to focus better while sitting on a bouncy ball to let him release some energy while he works away on book work. Pretty sure I am learning just as much in different areas as we do this together.

I set up a little "classroom" area and both boys work well together in their new space. I've been letting Austin skip nap 2 days a week for preschool. He thinks this is the coolest thing ever and Jaxon actually works best on these days.

 

I have daycare kids 1 afternoon a week when Jax is home. He is a good helper most those days and leads story time before naps.

I love seeing my boys work together and getting a chance to teach them right now in this season. We are learning lots as our family adjusts to this new routine!

when it is winter

Wow! February is flying by so fast. I love that it is already starting to stay light til 530 or so and we can stay outside longer... by the end of winter we have to get VERY creative to keep things hopping here. Before we know it we will be planting gardens and riding bikes in the driveway everyday again, yeah! But while it is still just a bit cold in the mornings to be outside just yet and the warm afternoons only last 1-2 hours, we are finding some fun things to keep us going...

 Saturday morning Kids Frosty Flicks. We've been taking advantage of the $2 movie deals for kids on a few weekends. we've made it a cousins event a couple times and it's been fun to gather the crew. Even Jaz & Carson get a little face to face time in :) Here they are checking each other out.

 Obstacle course! Our front room has been many things at different times...today, it was an obstacle course for a rowdy group!

 We've made some baby food and let Carson have some taste... he liked the banana the first night and a few nights later loved the carrots! Go Baby!

 Dave found some time to surprise me with a new sink!! I had no clue and LOVE it. He did good!

 Carson loves it too!! (and so does my back at bath time!!)

 Last minute play dates... :)

 And if all else fails...just have mom squeeze into the dress-up clothes and chase you around the basement :) The things we do for our kids...

A weak moment...

...will get you one of these! Austin fell in love with these puppies at Thanksgiving and by his birthday he had mom & dad doing a "trial period" with one from the puppy litter. Once he was named by day 2 I knew deep down, he was a keeper. Sucker! Percy joined us 2 months ago already and while he was a normal new puppy at first (peeing everywhere) he did train fairly easily and is bell trained. He has caught on quick and most days is totally accident free. Of course, he is in the bite everything stage now....so that is our next challenge. A year from now he will be a great kids dog I believe and for now is cute enough to get away with a little mischief :) Kinda like our kids, ha! 

 First night at our house

 First days at our home...Austin just loved up on him all the time.

 Just watching for Jaxon to come home from school...

Welcome little one! You are lucky I have had no sleep and my judgment has been thrown off a bit...why not add a puppy in the middle of winter over the holidays with a sick baby at home.... why not? :)

Carson 6(1/2) month pics

Carson turned 6 months, but was in no shape to have his pictures taken. I am SO blessed to have SUCH a talented sister-in-law who can photograph our family. Seriously, it is such a blessing to be able to capture so many milestones and stages through her creative and beautiful work. I can't say it enough...THANK YOU, Aunt Holly!!!! These are more like Carson's 6.5 month pics and almost became his 7 month pics....whew, what a couple months this poor boy has had. He is feeling pretty normal finally, I think, and I am grateful for some daily smiles, giggles, and him letting me put him down from time to time :)

 A typical baby in a sea of crazy big boys at our house!

 These boys make every event something to laugh about...

 I love the "old" look of everything...and these photos capture the old wood floors that are scratched and worn from these boys playing, crawling, scooting, sliding, jumping, walking, and dancing on them. The old blanket is one an old friend made for me for my birthday one year. It's become a favorite back drop for almost all of Carson's professional pics and still one of my favorite to cuddle under with a good book!

And I had some great pictures to redesign our blog too! Thanks Holly... I am so grateful.